“I don’t think I have,” said Mr. Pickwick.

“You astonish me, Sir,” said Mr. Leo Hunter. “It created an immense sensation. It was signed with an ‘L’ and eight stars, and appeared originally in a lady’s magazine. It commenced⁠—

“ ‘Can I view thee panting, lying

On thy stomach, without sighing;

Can I unmoved see thee dying

On a log

Expiring frog!’ ”