"The proper way for a man to pray,"
        Said Deacon Lemuel Keyes,
    "And the only proper attitude
        Is down upon his knees."

    "No, I should say the way to pray,"
        Said Rev. Doctor Wise,
    "Is standing straight with outstretched arms
        And rapt and upturned eyes."

    "Oh, no; no, no," said Elder Slow,
        "Such posture is too proud:
    A man should pray with eyes fast closed
        And head contritely bowed."

    "It seems to me his hands should be
        Austerely clasped in front.
    With both thumbs pointing toward the ground,"
        Said Rev. Doctor Blunt.

    "Las' year I fell in Hodgkin's well
        Head first," said Cyrus Brown,
    "With both my heels a-stickin' up,
        My head a-pinting down;

    "An' I made a prayer right then an' there -
        Best prayer I ever said,
    The prayingest prayer I ever prayed,
        A-standing on my head."

This poem is in the public domain.