A pun is not bound by the laws which limit nicer wit. It is a pistol let off at the ear; not a feather to tickle the intellect.

More from Charles Lamb

• Clap an extinguisher upon your irony if you areunhappily blessed with a vein of it.
• For thy sake, tobacco, I Would do anything but die.
• For thy sake, tobacco, I Would do anything but die. A Farewell to Tobacco
• I have had playmates, I have had companions, In my days of childhood, in my joyful school-days. All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.
• I have had playmates, I have had companions, In my days of childhood, in my joyful school-days. All, all are gone, the old familiar faces. Old Familiar Faces
• Who first invented work, and bound the free And holiday-rejoicing spirit down To that dry drudgery at the desk's dead wood? Sabbathless Satan!