Snowflakes

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <h1 class="booktitle">SNOWFLAKES</h1> <p class="h3top">BY<br/> ESTHER NELSON KARN.</p> <p class="h4top">PHILADELPHIA:<br/> PRESS OF GEO. F. LASHER.<br/> 1900.</p> <p class="h4top">COPYRIGHTED BY<br/> ESTHER NELSON KARN.<br/> 1900.</p> <p class="h3top">TO MY HUSBAND, <br/> <big>S. A. KARN,</big><br/> <br/> WHOSE KIND ENCOURAGEMENT HAS ENABLED<br/> ME TO WRITE THIS LITTLE BOOK, THE<br/> SAME IS LOVINGLY INSCRIBED.</p> <p class="author">The Author.</p> <hr class="chap" /> <h2>Table of Contents</h2> <p class="first"> <SPAN href="#DANCE_OF_THE_SNOWFLAKES">DANCE OF THE SNOWFLAKES.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#AN_OCTOBER_DAY">AN OCTOBER DAY.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#WELCOME_SWEET_MAY">WELCOME, SWEET MAY.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#LAKESIDE">LAKESIDE.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#AUTUMN">AUTUMN.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#TO_A_WATER-LILY">TO A WATER-LILY.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#THE_CYCLONE">THE CYCLONE.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#SUNSET_ON_THE_LAKE">SUNSET ON THE LAKE.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#TO_MY_WHEEL">TO MY WHEEL.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#DESPONDENCY">DESPONDENCY.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#AN_OLD-FASHIONED_GARDEN">AN OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#DANCE_OF_THE_RIPPLES">DANCE OF THE RIPPLES.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#THE_PESSIMIST">THE PESSIMIST.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#THE_FIRST_EASTER_DAWN">THE FIRST EASTER DAWN.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#INDIA">INDIA.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#WEARY">WEARY.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#TO_A_VIOLET">TO A VIOLET.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#GOLDEN_DAYS">GOLDEN DAYS.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#BABY_MINE">BABY MINE.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#LULLABY">LULLABY.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#A_DAY_IN_JUNE">A DAY IN JUNE.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#CHRISTMAS_ON_THE_FARM">CHRISTMAS ON THE FARM.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#MY_LITTLE_BROWN-EYED_SWEETHEART">MY LITTLE BROWN-EYED SWEETHEART.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#I_KNOW_TWO_EYES">I KNOW TWO EYES.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#CUPIDS_MISTAKE">CUPID'S MISTAKE.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#DEWEYS_VICTORY">DEWEY'S VICTORY.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#BATTLE_OF_SANTIAGO_BAY">BATTLE OF SANTIAGO BAY.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#THE_OLD_MANS_STORY">THE OLD MAN'S STORY.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#TO_MY_DOG">TO MY DOG.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#SOMEBODY">SOMEBODY.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#THE_HERO_OF_EVERY-DAY_LIFE">THE HERO OF EVERY-DAY LIFE.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#THE_CHILDS_INQUIRY">THE CHILD'S INQUIRY.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#TO_THE_OLD_TOWN_CLOCK">TO THE OLD TOWN CLOCK.</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#AFTERWHILE_SOMEWHERE">AFTERWHILE, SOMEWHERE.</SPAN><br/></p> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_5">[Pg 5]</SPAN></span></p> <h2 id="DANCE_OF_THE_SNOWFLAKES">DANCE OF THE SNOWFLAKES.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"Let's dance to the brown old earth to-night!"</div> <div class="verse02">Cried one little flake of snow;</div> <div class="verse00">"The autumn days have all passed by,&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">I'm tired of my home here in the sky."</div> <div class="verse02">So they all agreed to go.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">They dressed themselves in a misty film</div> <div class="verse02">Of purest pearly white;</div> <div class="verse00">Their feet were clad in velvet down,</div> <div class="verse00">As soft and white as the filmy gown</div> <div class="verse02">They wore to the dance that night.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Wrapped 'round with a drape of raveled gauze</div> <div class="verse02">Were these little fays so fair.</div> <div class="verse00">When out from a cloud a pale star beamed,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_6">[Pg 6]</SPAN></span><div class="verse00">Bright diamonds sparkled, laughed, and gleamed</div> <div class="verse02">In their fleecy, tangled hair.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">All ready, so pretty a crowd were they</div> <div class="verse02">That naught could their charms enhance;</div> <div class="verse00">Then softly and quickly they sped away,</div> <div class="verse00">For the whisp'ring wind was the cab that they</div> <div class="verse02">Rode in to the snowflakes' dance.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">They flew over housetop, hilltop, dell,</div> <div class="verse02">With dances and with delight.</div> <div class="verse00">Though ne'er did sound of their presence tell;</div> <div class="verse00">Wherever their fairy footsteps fell,</div> <div class="verse02">All turned to a crystal white.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">In the daintiest robes the trees were dressed,</div> <div class="verse02">That ever you'd wish to see;</div> <div class="verse00">The wayworn traveler, he was blessed,</div> <div class="verse00">And stroked, and kissed, and soft-caressed,</div> <div class="verse02">By these fays in rapturous glee.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_7">[Pg 7]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Into every crevice and crack they peeped,</div> <div class="verse02">They danced till the morning light;</div> <div class="verse00">They left the print of their tiny feet</div> <div class="verse00">O'er country road and city street,</div> <div class="verse02">In frolicsome fun that night.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">When the rosy face of the morning sun</div> <div class="verse02">Peeped timidly out to view,</div> <div class="verse00">He beheld the earth, last night so brown,</div> <div class="verse00">Arrayed in a snow-white velvet gown</div> <div class="verse02">That sparkled like dancing dew.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_8">[Pg 8]</SPAN></span></p> <h2 id="AN_OCTOBER_DAY">AN OCTOBER DAY.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">'Tis sunrise o'er the eastern hills.</div> <div class="verse02">All hail! thou lovely morn!</div> <div class="verse00">Thy tender blush, thy mellow light</div> <div class="verse02">Proclaim "The autumn's born."</div> <div class="verse00">All nature is so wondrous fair,</div> <div class="verse02">Bedecked with golden sheen&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">A fleecy cloudlet, here and there,</div> <div class="verse02">In azure sky is seen.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The gold and crimson leaves that give</div> <div class="verse02">The trees their autumn gown,</div> <div class="verse00">Are scattered by the gentle breeze</div> <div class="verse02">Upon the meadows brown.</div> <div class="verse00">Tho' summer flow'rs that were so fair</div> <div class="verse02">Have faded, one by one,</div> <div class="verse00">The goldenrod, in beauty rare,</div> <div class="verse02">Her reign has just begun.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_9">[Pg 9]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The grapevines now are laden with</div> <div class="verse02">Sweet clusters, oh, so blue!</div> <div class="verse00">And scattered o'er the orchard ground</div> <div class="verse02">Are rosy apples, too.</div> <div class="verse00">Oh, who could sigh for summer skies,</div> <div class="verse02">For summer flowers and trees,</div> <div class="verse00">For singing birds and rainbow showers,</div> <div class="verse02">'Mid autumn scenes like these?</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">As sinks the glorious "King of Day"</div> <div class="verse02">Adown the western sky,</div> <div class="verse00">He bathes the trees and hilltops in</div> <div class="verse02">A flood of crimson dye.</div> <div class="verse00">He sets the westland all aglow</div> <div class="verse02">Before he sinks away;</div> <div class="verse00">So endeth, as a beauteous dream,</div> <div class="verse02">This lovely autumn day.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_10">[Pg 10]</SPAN></span></p> <h2 id="WELCOME_SWEET_MAY">WELCOME, SWEET MAY.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse04">Welcome, sweet May!</div> <div class="verse06">With thy sunshine and showers</div> <div class="verse04">Thou'st driven away</div> <div class="verse06">Old winter's dark hours.</div> <div class="verse00">Poor fellow! he seemed rather loth to depart,</div> <div class="verse00">Till thou, with thy sunshine, compelled him to start.</div> <div class="verse10">Welcome, sweet May!</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse04">Welcome, sweet May!</div> <div class="verse06">That bringest to me,</div> <div class="verse04">Wherever I stray,</div> <div class="verse06">A sweet memory,</div> <div class="verse00">When fragrant pink blossoms hung thick overhead,</div> <div class="verse00">And love lay asleep in a violet bed.</div> <div class="verse10">Welcome, sweet May!</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_11">[Pg 11]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse04">Welcome, sweet May!</div> <div class="verse06">With thy sunshine and showers,</div> <div class="verse04">When young love awoke</div> <div class="verse06">From sleep 'mong the flowers.</div> <div class="verse00">Each year, in thy sunshine, 'neath heavens of blue,</div> <div class="verse00">With thy sweet, fragrant blossoms he's wakened anew.</div> <div class="verse10">Welcome, sweet May!</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_12">[Pg 12]</SPAN></span></p> <h2 id="LAKESIDE">LAKESIDE.<SPAN name="FNanchor_1_1"></SPAN><SPAN href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">'Tis the dearest, coolest place I can find;</div> <div class="verse00">There the locust and the wild grape entwined</div> <div class="verse02">Float their dewy fragrance ever</div> <div class="verse02">O'er the dancing St. Joe river</div> <div class="verse00">On the wings of the soft drowsy wind.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">In the coziest of homes, neat and new,</div> <div class="verse00">Dwell its people so kind-hearted and true.</div> <div class="verse02">Not a wall or tower high</div> <div class="verse02">Mars the tender, sunlight sky,</div> <div class="verse00">Or shuts out the glad rainbow from view.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">When a dwelling for his mate is in quest,</div> <div class="verse00">Does the robin find its shelter the best.</div> <div class="verse02">There his sweetest notes he brings,</div> <div class="verse02">And a flood of music flings</div> <div class="verse00">O'er your head as you pass 'neath his nest.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_13">[Pg 13]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">There are morning-glories dripping with dew,</div> <div class="verse00">And the dogwood blossoms hang over you.</div> <div class="verse02">In a drowse of rapture sweet</div> <div class="verse02">Does this vale look up to meet,</div> <div class="verse00">And to bask in the smile of the blue?</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Would your soul free from troubles be made?</div> <div class="verse00">All its worries and its burdens unlade?</div> <div class="verse02">From the tumult and the heat</div> <div class="verse02">Of the noisy city street,</div> <div class="verse00">Take yourself to the bliss of its shade.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">There you'll drink till you stagger as you plod,</div> <div class="verse00">Of the sweets from the blossom-spangled sod,</div> <div class="verse02">While your weary frame is drenched,</div> <div class="verse02">And your thirsty soul is quenched,</div> <div class="verse00">In a shower of the great love of God.</div> </div></div> <div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_1_1"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></SPAN> The above is a description of the Lakeside addition to Ft. Wayne, Ind.</p> </div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_14">[Pg 14]</SPAN></span></p> <h2 id="AUTUMN">AUTUMN.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Enchanting dawn of autumn days,</div> <div class="verse02">So clear, so cool, so calm,</div> <div class="verse00">O'er all creation breathing forth</div> <div class="verse02">Thy sweet refreshing balm!</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The woodland dons its brightest hue,</div> <div class="verse02">Its rainbow-tinted gown;</div> <div class="verse00">Each soft and dreamy breeze that blows</div> <div class="verse02">Brings showers of crimson down.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Old earth now groans beneath her load</div> <div class="verse02">Of grain and fruited vine,</div> <div class="verse00">That thickly hangs o'er orchard wall,</div> <div class="verse02">And drips with mellow wine.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The birds fly lazily above,</div> <div class="verse02">Bathed in thy misty light,</div> <div class="verse00">While on the hillside loll the kine</div> <div class="verse02">In morning's gold delight.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Wrapped in thy folds of golden mist,</div> <div class="verse02">This restless soul of mine</div> <div class="verse00">Is lulled into a blissful dream</div> <div class="verse02">Of peace and love divine.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_15">[Pg 15]</SPAN></span></p> <h2 id="TO_A_WATER-LILY">TO A WATER-LILY.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Sweet flower, what cold, unfeeling hand</div> <div class="verse00">Hath plucked thee from that shady land</div> <div class="verse02">Where clear, cool waters lie,</div> <div class="verse00">And velvet mosses kissed thy feet?</div> <div class="verse00">Who took thee from thy loved retreat,</div> <div class="verse02">And left thee here to die?</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Thou fairest gem of all the earth&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">E'en bonnie wilds that gave thee birth</div> <div class="verse02">Thy petals' sweetness hold.</div> <div class="verse00">I drink thy breath in fragrant draught,</div> <div class="verse00">Sweeter than royal lips e'er quaffed</div> <div class="verse02">From cups of burnished gold.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Who took thee from thy crystal home,</div> <div class="verse00">Where finny tribes delight to roam</div> <div class="verse02">And frisk in morning play;</div> <div class="verse00">Where never harsher sound was heard</div> <div class="verse00">Than fall of leaf or trill of bird,</div> <div class="verse02">Or winds that softly sway</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_16">[Pg 16]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The trees that bend thy nook above,</div> <div class="verse00">And, bending, whispered low of love</div> <div class="verse02">To thee, my bonnie flower,</div> <div class="verse00">Or whir of swallows' silken flight</div> <div class="verse00">Across the waves, the calm delight</div> <div class="verse02">Of evening's dappling shower?</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Although thou'rt crushed beneath my feet,</div> <div class="verse00">Thy dewy fragrance is more sweet</div> <div class="verse02">Than at thy frail life's dawn.</div> <div class="verse00">Thus, flow'r of love and purity,</div> <div class="verse00">This lesson I have learned of thee:</div> <div class="verse02">That when my friends are gone,</div> <div class="verse00">And fate's rude tread has crushed my heart,</div> <div class="verse00">Its blossoms shall more sweets impart</div> <div class="verse02">Than at its first love's dawn.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_17">[Pg 17]</SPAN></span></p> <h2 id="THE_CYCLONE">THE CYCLONE.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">How still the morn! no leaf is stirred,</div> <div class="verse02">Nor fruited branches sway,</div> <div class="verse00">Save now and then, from dewy glen,</div> <div class="verse02">A breath of new-mown hay,</div> <div class="verse00">Or blossoms of the summertide,</div> <div class="verse00">Is wafted up the mountain side.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">How softly floats the cuckoo's song</div> <div class="verse02">Across the sleeping vale;</div> <div class="verse00">In mystic glee the echo free</div> <div class="verse02">Gives back the fairy tale.</div> <div class="verse00">The stream, in drowsy ecstasy,</div> <div class="verse00">Is gurgling onward to the sea.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The lark swims slowly in the blue,</div> <div class="verse02">The giant oaks so high,</div> <div class="verse00">In sunlit haze their branches raise,</div> <div class="verse02">As if to kiss the sky.</div> <div class="verse00">We hear above the twittering birds,</div> <div class="verse00">The placid lowing of the herds.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_18">[Pg 18]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The silvery laughter from the lips</div> <div class="verse02">Of children at their play;</div> <div class="verse00">And in the rill below the mill</div> <div class="verse02">The horses paw and neigh;</div> <div class="verse00">While youths and maidens plight their vows,</div> <div class="verse00">And workmen sing behind the plows.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The noon is here, the sky is clear</div> <div class="verse02">And tender as the morn;</div> <div class="verse00">The ploughman's blest with perfect rest,</div> <div class="verse02">Where noontime shade is born.</div> <div class="verse00">The bird has ceased his song to trill;</div> <div class="verse00">The lowing of the herd is still.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Unnoticed, a dark speck appears</div> <div class="verse02">Above the trees!&mdash;on high</div> <div class="verse00">At rapid pace and fast increase</div> <div class="verse02">It scuds across the sky!</div> <div class="verse00">Nor stops to rest o'er sea or lands,</div> <div class="verse00">Till o'er this lovely vale it stands</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">An instant, then, as if possessed</div> <div class="verse02">Of some aerial deil,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_19">[Pg 19]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse00">With shriek and yell this imp of hell</div> <div class="verse02">Swoops down upon the vale!</div> <div class="verse00">Snatches the giant oaks from earth</div> <div class="verse00">That nourished them and gave them birth,</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And hurls them 'gainst the mountain side!&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">One sweep of its black wings,</div> <div class="verse00">And all is o'er! And as before</div> <div class="verse02">The streamlet laughs and sings;</div> <div class="verse00">But carries on its sunny tide</div> <div class="verse00">Fragments of debris to the wide</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And surging sea,&mdash;the shattered boughs</div> <div class="verse02">Of oaks that proudly grew</div> <div class="verse00">Beside the stream,&mdash;is it a dream?</div> <div class="verse02">No, there's a baby's shoe!</div> <div class="verse00">The sunset's crimson rays are shed</div> <div class="verse00">Soft o'er the dying and the dead.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">While angels hover near and spread</div> <div class="verse02">Their dewy shadows o'er</div> <div class="verse00">The vale where morn in joy was born&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">A blackened pile! But for</div> <div class="verse00">The song of one lone whip-poor-will,</div> <div class="verse00">Like to the morning, all is still!</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_20">[Pg 20]</SPAN></span></p> <h2 id="SUNSET_ON_THE_LAKE">SUNSET ON THE LAKE.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">'Tis evening; on Winona Lake</div> <div class="verse02">The last glad sunbeams rest,</div> <div class="verse00">Shedding their golden glories o'er</div> <div class="verse02">Her soft and silken breast.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And as my little boat glides forth</div> <div class="verse02">Into their light, behold!</div> <div class="verse00">The splashes from my oars are like</div> <div class="verse02">Great drops of liquid gold.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And now a softer, richer hue</div> <div class="verse02">O'erspreads the western sky;</div> <div class="verse00">Trees, hilltops, water&mdash;everything</div> <div class="verse02">Seems bathed in crimson dye.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And o'er the bosom of the lake</div> <div class="verse02">Soft summer breezes glide,</div> <div class="verse00">Bringing incense from the lilies</div> <div class="verse02">On the other side.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_21">[Pg 21]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">I wonder, oh, I wonder so,</div> <div class="verse02">If in that world of bliss</div> <div class="verse00">Where sunsets never come, there's aught</div> <div class="verse02">More beautiful than this.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Oh, Father Time, if thou from me</div> <div class="verse02">All else that's lovely take,</div> <div class="verse00">Leave only in my memory</div> <div class="verse02">This sunset on the lake.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_22">[Pg 22]</SPAN></span></p> <h2 id="TO_MY_WHEEL">TO MY WHEEL.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Thou'rt bonnie, my steed, though a bit out of style,</div> <div class="verse00">We've traveled together full many a mile;</div> <div class="verse00">Yet nothing can give me such perfect delight</div> <div class="verse00">As to spring to thy saddle and spin out of sight,</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Away from the city of turmoil and strife,</div> <div class="verse00">Away from the cares that beset business life,</div> <div class="verse00">To a shady, green-carpeted country retreat,</div> <div class="verse00">Where hearts ever loving may placidly beat.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Away over pathways with dewdrops bespangled,</div> <div class="verse00">Where myrtle and wild morning-glory are tangled,</div> <div class="verse00">And the violet borrows its velvety hue</div> <div class="verse00">From the God-given radiance of heaven's own blue.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_23">[Pg 23]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And cowslips and buttercups grow where we tread,</div> <div class="verse00">The breeze whispers soft through the trees overhead,</div> <div class="verse00">As showers of pink blossoms, with fragrance so rare,</div> <div class="verse00">They shed o'er the ground, over us,&mdash;everywhere.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Thou faithful old friend, always ready to go;</div> <div class="verse00">Ne'er found out of order like others I know;</div> <div class="verse00">And when off we go for a nice little spin,</div> <div class="verse00">Unlike others, thou'st never left me to "walk in."</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Exchange for another that's handsome and new!</div> <div class="verse00">No, no, bonnie steed, I will not part with you.</div> <div class="verse00">But when thou art old and thy usefulness o'er,</div> <div class="verse00">In a nice, cozy attic thy frame I will store,</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And every day, be it sunshine or rain,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_24">[Pg 24]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse00">I'll steal to thy side and in fancy again</div> <div class="verse00">We'll skim the green meadows, my steed, you and I,</div> <div class="verse00">'Mong the flowers that grow 'neath the soft, tender sky.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Then come, let us bask in the dewy delight</div> <div class="verse00">Of the country&mdash;hi! ho! we are soon out of sight.</div> <div class="verse00">Though a bit out of style, just the same is thy speed.</div> <div class="verse00">I love thee! I love thee! my bonnie bright steed.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_25">[Pg 25]</SPAN></span></p> <h2 id="DESPONDENCY">DESPONDENCY.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Oh, balmy night&mdash;a night in June&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">What endless beauties thine!</div> <div class="verse00">Hast thou a balm thou'lt gently breathe</div> <div class="verse02">O'er tired souls like mine?</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The cricket 'neath the old porch floor</div> <div class="verse02">Chirps forth a merry lay;</div> <div class="verse00">The roses nod and smile at me&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">"A sweet good-night," they say.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Oh, cricket, hush your merry song;</div> <div class="verse02">How can you be so gay?</div> <div class="verse00">Ye roses bow your crimson heads,</div> <div class="verse02">And mourn my vanished day.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_26">[Pg 26]</SPAN></span></p> <h2 id="AN_OLD-FASHIONED_GARDEN">AN OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">How oft from the din of the hard city street,</div> <div class="verse00">The show and the splendor, in fancy, my feet</div> <div class="verse00">Stray backward through paths that are dripping with dew,</div> <div class="verse00">To an old-fashioned garden my babyhood knew.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">A wealth of red roses hung over the wall,</div> <div class="verse00">And, laden with pink, downy peaches, a tall</div> <div class="verse00">And willowy tree did its long branches sway</div> <div class="verse00">O'erhead, as you passed, in an inviting way;</div> <div class="verse00">While from its green shelter the oriole's song</div> <div class="verse00">Rode on the soft breezes the summer day long.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The currant-bush flourished in rows near the wall,</div> <div class="verse00">The sugar corn waved its soft leaves over all;</div> <div class="verse00">And buttercups, daisies and peonies grew,</div> <div class="verse00">The fragrant June pinks and the wee bells of blue;</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_27">[Pg 27]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The marigolds, poppies, and pansies so sweet</div> <div class="verse00">Lifted their dewy faces towards heaven to meet</div> <div class="verse00">The first smile of morning; the fragrant sweet pea</div> <div class="verse00">Wound its delicate tendrils round pickets, and we</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">To drowsiness drank of the odor it spilled,</div> <div class="verse00">While sunflowers nodded to us as we filled</div> <div class="verse00">Our baskets with blossoms for table bouquets,</div> <div class="verse00">Or lolled in the bliss of the soft morning haze;</div> <div class="verse00">Or, with aprons outspread, in our childish delight,</div> <div class="verse00">The butterfly chased in his foraging flight</div> <div class="verse00">'Mong the flowers; or the hummer, that gay little thief,</div> <div class="verse00">That pilfered the sweets from each petal and leaf.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But long years ago the old garden was sold!</div> <div class="verse00">Its walls, rustic gates, are all crumbled to mold;</div> <div class="verse00">Its beds and smooth pathways 'neath grass-tangles hid,</div> <div class="verse00">For the breezes of June-time are whispering 'mid</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_28">[Pg 28]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse00">The flowers that blossom her pallet above,</div> <div class="verse00">Who tended that old-fashioned garden I love;</div> <div class="verse00">And singing their lullaby sweetest where lies</div> <div class="verse00">My playmate and sister with bonnie blue eyes.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And I hope when my sojourn of usefulness here</div> <div class="verse00">Is past, to the place that my bosom holds dear</div> <div class="verse00">I may go, and there pillow my head 'neath the tree</div> <div class="verse00">Where robin and oriole chirrup in glee,</div> <div class="verse00">While my soul slips away from the spot that I love,</div> <div class="verse00">To old-fashioned gardens that grow up above.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_29">[Pg 29]</SPAN></span></p> <h2 id="DANCE_OF_THE_RIPPLES">DANCE OF THE RIPPLES.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">I stood, one night, by the old St. Joe,</div> <div class="verse02">Where the moonbeams love to loiter;</div> <div class="verse00">Watching the ripples come and go</div> <div class="verse00">And the willow trees their shadows throw</div> <div class="verse02">On the mystic, murm'ring water.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">As I lingered there on the vine-clad bank,</div> <div class="verse02">Where the pale rays glint and quiver</div> <div class="verse00">Through the silvered leaves, a perfumed breeze</div> <div class="verse00">So softly swayed the willow trees,</div> <div class="verse02">And dappled the laughing river.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The waters murmured so low and sweet,</div> <div class="verse02">Then an echo, soft and clear,&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">Not the sound of lute or song of bird,</div> <div class="verse00">But the sweetest music ever heard,</div> <div class="verse02">Fell on my enchanted ear.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_30">[Pg 30]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The silvered ripples all leaped for joy!</div> <div class="verse02">And over the waters glancing</div> <div class="verse00">I saw, in the light, a pretty sight;</div> <div class="verse00">In an ecstasy of glad delight,</div> <div class="verse02">The ripples all were dancing.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">They danced in the midst where the stars look down&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">No shadowy branch to hide them;</div> <div class="verse00">They danced where the willows kiss the stream,</div> <div class="verse00">Then back again in the moonlight's gleam,</div> <div class="verse02">And the fish peeped out and eyed them.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">They danced in the shade of the iron bridge,</div> <div class="verse02">Where the aspen's shadows play;</div> <div class="verse00">And the great moon smiled as the dancers fled,</div> <div class="verse00">And spangles dropped on each little head,</div> <div class="verse02">As they laughed and danced away.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_31">[Pg 31]</SPAN></span></p> <h2 id="THE_PESSIMIST">THE PESSIMIST.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Arrayed in a garment of fleeciest down,</div> <div class="verse00">The Winter-king rides over meadows so brown;</div> <div class="verse00">Through wild wailing woodlands so stark and so bare,</div> <div class="verse00">He rides on the wind to the great everywhere.</div> <div class="verse00">He dresses the trees in the daintiest gown;</div> <div class="verse00">And over each window in country and town,</div> <div class="verse00">With fairy-like fingers, unheard and unseen,</div> <div class="verse00">He pictures, in crystal and silvery sheen,</div> <div class="verse00">Most beautiful cities with steeples and towers,</div> <div class="verse00">And wild tangled mazes bespangled with flowers.</div> <div class="verse00">But 'mid the sweet music of jingling bells</div> <div class="verse00">You hear the old pessimist counting his ills.</div> <div class="verse00">With a sorrowful shake of the head murmurs he,</div> <div class="verse00">"Such nasty cold weather I never did see;</div> <div class="verse00">The streets are so slip'ry one can't walk at all,</div> <div class="verse00">For danger of breaking a leg by a fall;</div> <div class="verse00">Unless a few days bring a great change about,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_32">[Pg 32]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse00">The wheat in the ground will be all frozen out."</div> <div class="verse00">But roguish old Winter soon bundles his pack</div> <div class="verse00">Of ice, frost, and snow, on his jolly old back,</div> <div class="verse00">And hies to the mountain, but leaves in his stead</div> <div class="verse00">The Goddess of Love, with the blossom-crowned head;</div> <div class="verse00">And a breath that is filled with the nectar and dew,</div> <div class="verse00">She stole from the heart of the violet blue;</div> <div class="verse00">A voice&mdash;O, the music that swells on the air</div> <div class="verse00">From fresh-budding woodland, from hedge,&mdash;everywhere,</div> <div class="verse00">Caressed by the sunlight and bathed by the showers,</div> <div class="verse00">She walks on a carpet of mosses and flowers.</div> <div class="verse00">Again comes the pessimist, grumpy and grim,</div> <div class="verse00">And says the fair goddess has no charms for him.</div> <div class="verse00">"'Tis raining too often, the corn and the wheat</div> <div class="verse00">Will rot in the ground; there'll be nothing to eat;</div> <div class="verse00">Besides, the old crow, in his greedy delight,</div> <div class="verse00">Now raideth the cornfields from morning till night.</div> <div class="verse00">A famine is certain! 'Tis sure to prevail!"</div> <div class="verse00">And thus the old pessimist keeps up his wail.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_33">[Pg 33]</SPAN></span><div class="verse00">At last this fair goddess descends from the throne,</div> <div class="verse00">Gives place to another we've all loved and known.</div> <div class="verse00">Her crown is of roses, her garment of grain,</div> <div class="verse00">With silken folds falling and rising again,</div> <div class="verse00">As scent-laden wind o'er their soft billows plays;</div> <div class="verse00">Enraptured, she basks in the blue summer haze,</div> <div class="verse00">Till bliss is dissolved into tear-laden showers,</div> <div class="verse00">That drench all the trees and refresh all the flowers.</div> <div class="verse00">As softly they fall on the roof o'er our heads,</div> <div class="verse00">O, the sleep-haunted rapture their lullaby sheds!</div> <div class="verse00">Though harvest with plenty his gran'ries hath filled,</div> <div class="verse00">The murmuring pessimist never is stilled.</div> <div class="verse00">He says, as he brushes the sweat from his brow,</div> <div class="verse00">"I don't see the use of such hot weather now;</div> <div class="verse00">'Twill dry up the fruit, the grapes on the vine&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">Unless there's a change, they will yield us no wine."</div> <div class="verse00">And thus the old pessimist grumbles away</div> <div class="verse00">The brightness and joy of the long summer day.</div> <div class="verse00">He teases the evening, he teases the morn,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_34">[Pg 34]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse00">Until the fair Goddess of Autumn is born.</div> <div class="verse00">She comes heavy-laden with fruit from the vine,</div> <div class="verse00">Sweet clusters that drip with the mellowest wine;</div> <div class="verse00">And rosy-cheeked fruit from the old apple-tree,</div> <div class="verse00">And ears that are golden as golden can be.</div> <div class="verse00">Enrobed in a garment of crimson and brown,</div> <div class="verse00">A garland of goldenrod forming her crown,</div> <div class="verse00">In the mystic delight of the autumn she stands,</div> <div class="verse00">And showers her gifts o'er the pessimist's lands;</div> <div class="verse00">While he from his orchard-land turns in disgust,</div> <div class="verse00">Saying, "Labor avails me but dust, mould, and rust;</div> <div class="verse00">The winter comes on altogether too fast,</div> <div class="verse00">The corn that's unhusked will be caught in the blast;</div> <div class="verse00">My bills, they increase, while my business is slow;</div> <div class="verse00">I soon shall be broken and bankrupt, I know!</div> <div class="verse00">There's no satisfaction on land or on sea,</div> <div class="verse00">For nothing is what I desire it to be."</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Say, Pessimist, say, while you grumble and fret,</div> <div class="verse00">Know ye not there is One who your needs won't forget?</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_35">[Pg 35]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse00">Think ye the kind Father of wisdom so great</div> <div class="verse00">Forgetteth the things which His hands did create?</div> <div class="verse00">The sparrow sings neither by day nor by night,</div> <div class="verse00">Yet He, in His tenderness, guideth its flight.</div> <div class="verse00">He maketh the lily of waxen-white hue,</div> <div class="verse00">And feeds it on showers, on sunshine and dew;</div> <div class="verse00">Yet lives there a king in such garments arrayed?</div> <div class="verse00">Such beauty as robes this sweet flower of the glade?</div> <div class="verse00">In rapturous reign, the cool waters beside,</div> <div class="verse00">It looks up and trusts, and its needs are supplied.</div> <div class="verse00">The richest of treasures to thee will be given,</div> <div class="verse00">If thou, like the lily, wilt look up to heaven.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_36">[Pg 36]</SPAN></span></p> <h2 id="THE_FIRST_EASTER_DAWN">THE FIRST EASTER DAWN.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The night is past, the thunder's roar</div> <div class="verse02">In distance dies away;</div> <div class="verse00">And in the east, a gleam of light</div> <div class="verse02">Foretells the coming day;</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And women, bearing spices sweet,</div> <div class="verse02">Are hast'ning on their way</div> <div class="verse00">Toward that tomb, so dark and deep,</div> <div class="verse02">Where Jesus' body lay.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"But who," these faithful women ask,</div> <div class="verse02">And pause upon their way,&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">"When we have reached our Master's tomb,</div> <div class="verse02">Who'll roll the stone away?"</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">At last they reach the hallowed spot,&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">The tomb that Joseph made,</div> <div class="verse00">Wherein, three days before, their loved</div> <div class="verse02">And loving Lord was laid.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_37">[Pg 37]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The glory of the golden sun</div> <div class="verse02">Fills budding woods with light,</div> <div class="verse00">The morning dewdrops sparkle on</div> <div class="verse02">The Easter lilies white.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Sweet odor from the hyacinth</div> <div class="verse02">Upon the breeze is borne;</div> <div class="verse00">All nature now proclaims with joy,</div> <div class="verse02">"It is the world's first morn!"</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The women stand beside the tomb</div> <div class="verse02">In deep surprise and fear;</div> <div class="verse00">For lo! the stone is rolled away&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">Their Master is not there.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Impulsive Mary Magdalene</div> <div class="verse02">Stays not, but hastens on</div> <div class="verse00">That she may tell the wondrous news</div> <div class="verse02">To Peter and to John.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_38">[Pg 38]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">She tells them and they come with her</div> <div class="verse02">Unto the hallowed place,</div> <div class="verse00">And find it just as she has said&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">Of Jesus there's no trace.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Then silently they turn and go</div> <div class="verse02">Each on his way&mdash;save one;</div> <div class="verse00">'Tis loving Mary Magdalene</div> <div class="verse02">Who stays and weeps alone.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">She's thinking now of days when friends</div> <div class="verse02">Away from her all turned,</div> <div class="verse00">When thoughtless Mary Magdalene</div> <div class="verse02">By all the world was spurned.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">How Jesus, in His wondrous love,</div> <div class="verse02">Had touched her heart within,</div> <div class="verse00">And led her into righteous paths</div> <div class="verse02">From those of vilest sin.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_39">[Pg 39]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And as she weeps, she stoops and looks</div> <div class="verse02">Into the sepulcher,</div> <div class="verse00">And sees two angels sitting there</div> <div class="verse02">Who kindly say to her:</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"Why weepest thou, oh, woman?"</div> <div class="verse02">And Magdalene replies,</div> <div class="verse00">"Because they've taken away my Lord;</div> <div class="verse02">I know not where He lies."</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">As Mary speaks she turns around&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">Another form is there!</div> <div class="verse00">She thinks it is the gardener,</div> <div class="verse02">Who kindly says to her:</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"Whom seekest thou, oh, woman?</div> <div class="verse02">Why stand ye weeping there?"</div> <div class="verse00">Says Mary, "If you've borne Him hence,</div> <div class="verse02">Oh, please, sir, tell me where."</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_40">[Pg 40]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The Saviour's loving heart is touched;</div> <div class="verse02">(For it is He who speaks&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">Her loving Lord and Master, whom</div> <div class="verse02">So earnestly she seeks).</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">He draws a little closer now,</div> <div class="verse02">That she her Lord may know,</div> <div class="verse00">And answers only, "Mary,"</div> <div class="verse02">In accents soft and low.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">She raises now her tearful eyes,</div> <div class="verse02">They are no longer blind;</div> <div class="verse00">For none but He could speak her name</div> <div class="verse02">So tenderly and kind.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Forgetting, in her love so blind</div> <div class="verse02">The cause for which He'd died,&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">Forgetting <em>all</em> save at His feet</div> <div class="verse02">No harm can her betide,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_41">[Pg 41]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">With beating heart and outstretched arms</div> <div class="verse02">She flies her Lord to greet.</div> <div class="verse00">"Rabboni!" then she kneels among</div> <div class="verse02">The lilies at His feet.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">He looks with tend'rest pity on</div> <div class="verse02">That face with tears still wet,</div> <div class="verse00">And says "You must not touch me now;</div> <div class="verse02">I will not leave you yet.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"But by and by I will ascend</div> <div class="verse02">Unto my God and thine;</div> <div class="verse00">Go thou and tell, when thou dost find</div> <div class="verse02">Those true disciples mine."</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The day is spent, the lily folds</div> <div class="verse02">Her leaves upon her breast;</div> <div class="verse00">The violets close their dewy eyes</div> <div class="verse02">And sweetly sink to rest.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The westland crimson glory fades</div> <div class="verse02">From hilltop, wood, and lawn,</div> <div class="verse00">Night's tender dews fall softly o'er</div> <div class="verse02">The world's First Easter Dawn.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_42">[Pg 42]</SPAN></span></p> <h2 id="INDIA">INDIA.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">There's a country o'er the billows deep,</div> <div class="verse02">As fair as fair can be;</div> <div class="verse00">Its north is bounded by mountains high,</div> <div class="verse00">With sunlit summits that kiss the sky,</div> <div class="verse02">Its south by the boundless sea.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">A stream flows down the mountain side,</div> <div class="verse02">And swells to the great Ganges;</div> <div class="verse00">Its placid depths, unknown, untold,</div> <div class="verse00">Reflect the sunlight's orient gold,</div> <div class="verse02">Then rest in southern seas.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The silken palms their branches wave</div> <div class="verse02">As soft as summer sails;</div> <div class="verse00">And drowsy winds, so passing fair,</div> <div class="verse00">With odors laden, strange and rare,</div> <div class="verse02">Blow soft o'er sunbright vales.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_43">[Pg 43]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And nestling close 'mong shelt'ring hills</div> <div class="verse02">The bamboo huts are seen;</div> <div class="verse00">Like golden billows fall and rise</div> <div class="verse00">The seas of grain 'neath Indian skies,</div> <div class="verse02">By woods of silvered green.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The date, the orange, the fig grow ripe</div> <div class="verse02">In that golden country, where</div> <div class="verse00">Through fragrant meads the pathways lead.</div> <div class="verse00">Wouldst see God's handiwork indeed?</div> <div class="verse02">Go view the sunset there!</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">'Tis veiled in clouds of splendid hue,</div> <div class="verse02">In melting colors rare:</div> <div class="verse00">Church domes in crimson waves are dyed,</div> <div class="verse00">And everything seems glorified&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">Thank God there are churches there!</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Where once the starry heavens looked down,</div> <div class="verse02">And wept a nation's blindness,</div> <div class="verse00">Which knew no God to soothe its grief,</div> <div class="verse00">And women&mdash;slaves! found no relief</div> <div class="verse02">In love or human kindness,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_44">[Pg 44]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Millions of homes to-day rejoice</div> <div class="verse02">And praise our God above;</div> <div class="verse00">Millions have learned the hymn to swell,</div> <div class="verse00">Through missionaries, sent to tell</div> <div class="verse02">Of Him whose name is Love.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But millions still are left in doubt,</div> <div class="verse02">In darkness and alone;</div> <div class="verse00">Their restless souls are wrung with grief,</div> <div class="verse00">They find no respite or relief</div> <div class="verse02">In heathen gods of stone.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">They've never heard of Him who gave</div> <div class="verse02">Their glorious sun-kissed shores;</div> <div class="verse00">God grant that we our efforts lend</div> <div class="verse00">To teach them of a loving Friend</div> <div class="verse02">Whom Freedom's land adores.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Prosper, O Lord, this land of ours,</div> <div class="verse02">So glad, so proud, so free,</div> <div class="verse00">That we may missionaries send</div> <div class="verse00">Till all that beauteous India land</div> <div class="verse02">Has learned to worship Thee.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_45">[Pg 45]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Nothing we give our Father's cause</div> <div class="verse02">Escapes His watchful eyes;</div> <div class="verse00">Each mite will be a jewel rare</div> <div class="verse00">To deck the crown we'll surely wear</div> <div class="verse02">Some day in Paradise.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_46">[Pg 46]</SPAN></span></p> <h2 id="WEARY">WEARY.</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Weary of the tumult of the town,</div> <div class="verse00">Of the burdens and the cares that weigh me down,</div> <div class="verse00">Of oppression, greed, and strife,</div> <div class="verse00">Of the din of city life,</div> <div class="verse00">Disappointments that my noblest efforts crown.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Weary of the world's vain, gilded styles,</div> <div class="verse00">Though my moments he with softest words beguiles;</div> <div class="verse00">Though he warble ne'er so blandly,</div> <div class="verse00">His old heart is false though friendly,</div> <div class="verse00">For he lingers near me but when fortune smiles.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Weary of his griefs and empty show,</div> <div class="verse00">To the quiet woods alone I love to go,</div> <div class="verse00">And in sweet repose abide</div> <div class="verse00">Where the sylvan echoes ride</div> <div class="verse00">On October's drowsy winds that whisper low.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_47">[Pg 47]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Where the bonnie squirrel flits among the trees,</div> <div class="verse00">And the quail his piping flings upon the breeze,</div> <div class="verse00">Where the gold and brown leaves quiver</div> <div class="verse00">O'er the winding, osiered river,</div> <div class="verse00">Bearing on its soft, low music to the seas.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And the forest oak, so grand, majestic, high,</div> <div class="verse00">With his rainbow-mantled branches woos the sky,</div> <div class="verse00">And the wind a fairy story</div> <div class="verse00">Breathing o'er the maple's glory,</div> <div class="verse00">Brings it down in twirling crimson showers, where lie</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Many springtime flowers, fast asleep,</div> <div class="verse00">Spreading over them a cover warm and deep;</div> <div class="verse00">And the sunlight glints and spangles</div> <div class="verse00">Through the wild and woody tangles,</div> <div class="verse00">Where alone the eye of God doth vigils keep.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Standing there on wild, leaf-covered sod,</div> <div class="verse00">Where perhaps no human foot before hath trod</div> <div class="verse00">My storm-tossed soul is blest</div> <div class="verse00">In a halo of sweet rest,</div> <div class="verse00">All alone within the crimson wood with God.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_48">[Pg 48]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="TO_A_VIOLET">TO A VIOLET.</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Violet, sweet violet,</div> <div class="verse02">Of modest, dainty grace,</div> <div class="verse00">Why dost thou hide among the grass</div> <div class="verse02">Thy pretty velvet face?</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Thine eyes are filled with dew, thy breath</div> <div class="verse02">Makes sweet the air of spring;</div> <div class="verse00">Thy whispers low, sweet memories</div> <div class="verse02">Of other springtimes bring.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Sweet olden, golden springtimes,</div> <div class="verse02">When bluebirds sang so gay,</div> <div class="verse00">As I plucked thy sister blossoms</div> <div class="verse02">From a woodland far away,</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">With her, whose eyes, in color,</div> <div class="verse02">Sweet flow'r, were just like you,</div> <div class="verse00">And like you grew in radiance</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_49">[Pg 49]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">From drinking heaven's blue.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Each spring, as lisping children,</div> <div class="verse02">As romping schoolgirls, too,</div> <div class="verse00">Our feet were bathed in violet banks</div> <div class="verse02">That dripped with melting dew;</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Our souls were bathed in bliss divine,</div> <div class="verse02">As all day long we basked</div> <div class="verse00">In sweet and fragrant winds we knew</div> <div class="verse02">Had kissed them as they passed.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But when the summer sun shone hot,</div> <div class="verse02">Their slender stems were dried;</div> <div class="verse00">Their modest heads bent lower, and</div> <div class="verse02">Their fragrant blossoms died;</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And could we pierce to-day the blue</div> <div class="verse02">Of heaven's dome so fair,</div> <div class="verse00">Methinks we'd see them blooming in</div> <div class="verse02">Celestial glory there!</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Culled by our angel Emma,</div> <div class="verse02">In a rapturous clime, that lies</div> <div class="verse00">In the radiant, springtime glory</div> <div class="verse02">Of the fields of Paradise!</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_50">[Pg 50]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="GOLDEN_DAYS">GOLDEN DAYS.</SPAN></h2> <p class="h4">SONG.<br/> <br/> (To my sister Emma.)</p> <div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">I've just seen the first robin of spring, Emma,</div> <div class="verse02">And he's warbling a sweet little song,</div> <div class="verse00">Bringing back tender mem'ries of you, Emma,</div> <div class="verse02">And of joys that to childhood belong.</div> <div class="verse00">He was singing a song to his mate, Emma,</div> <div class="verse02">A sweet song of happiness and love,</div> <div class="verse00">And it echoed thro' woodland and dale, Emma,</div> <div class="verse02">Over valley and hilltop and grove.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00"><span class="smcap">Chorus:</span></div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Oh, those happy, happy days gone by, Emma,</div> <div class="verse02">Their memory is ever dear to me;</div> <div class="verse00">Oh, those old golden, glorious days, Emma,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_51">[Pg 51]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">When I played 'mong the flowers with thee.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Bringing back tender mem'ries of you, Emma,</div> <div class="verse02">When life seemed only a song,</div> <div class="verse00">Holding neither a sorrow nor tear, Emma,</div> <div class="verse02">As we played 'mong the flowers all day long.</div> <div class="verse00">We gathered the mosses and ferns, Emma,</div> <div class="verse02">The cowslips and violets so blue,</div> <div class="verse00">And the crab-apple blossoms so sweet, Emma,</div> <div class="verse02">And the sweet, mellow May-apple, too.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00"><span class="smcap">Chorus.</span></div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">You remember the old apple-tree, Emma,</div> <div class="verse02">With its wide-spreading branches o'erhead?</div> <div class="verse00">Such perfume I have never since found, Emma,</div> <div class="verse02">As its sweet, fragrant blossoms did shed.</div> <div class="verse00">But now we are far, far apart, Emma,</div> <div class="verse02">The sunny days of childhood are o'er,</div> <div class="verse00">But we'll roam hand in hand 'mong the flowers, Emma,</div> <div class="verse02">That bloom on the Bright Golden Shore.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00"><span class="smcap">Chorus.</span></div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_52">[Pg 52]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="BABY_MINE">BABY MINE.</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Tired of laughter, tired of play,</div> <div class="verse10">Baby mine,</div> <div class="verse00">On my breast thy tresses lay,</div> <div class="verse10">Baby mine.</div> <div class="verse00">Cooing, loving, prattling, too,&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">Shine and showers the whole day thro',</div> <div class="verse00">Tires a bonnie thing like you,</div> <div class="verse10">Baby mine.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Little violets so blue,</div> <div class="verse10">Baby mine,</div> <div class="verse00">Close their eyes now wet with dew,</div> <div class="verse10">Baby mine,</div> <div class="verse00">Saying, sweetheart, unto you,</div> <div class="verse00">Close those orbs of azure hue,</div> <div class="verse00">Where that glimpse of heaven gleams thro',</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_53">[Pg 53]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse10">Baby mine.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Whence that dimpled foot and hand,</div> <div class="verse10">Baby mine?</div> <div class="verse00">Came they here at love's command,</div> <div class="verse10">Baby mine?</div> <div class="verse00">Or did angels, in their flight,</div> <div class="verse00">Drop this little blossom white</div> <div class="verse00">On the stream of time one night,</div> <div class="verse10">Baby mine?</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Dimples guard thy crimson lips,</div> <div class="verse10">Baby mine;</div> <div class="verse00">Prints of fairy finger-tips,</div> <div class="verse10">Baby mine.</div> <div class="verse00">Now the shade of angel wings</div> <div class="verse00">Sweet repose upon thee brings,&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">Silken soft thy slumberings,</div> <div class="verse10">Baby mine.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_54">[Pg 54]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="LULLABY">LULLABY.</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Rock-a-by, hush-a-by, baby, my dear,</div> <div class="verse00">Nothing can harm you, for mother is near.</div> <div class="verse00">The journey is short, and the stars twinkle bright</div> <div class="verse00">O'er your path into Byloland, baby, good-night.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Rock-a-by, hush-a-by, baby, my pet,</div> <div class="verse00">Grasses that cover your pathway are wet</div> <div class="verse00">With dewdrops that sparkle like jewels so bright,</div> <div class="verse00">Rock-a-by, hush-a-by, baby, good-night.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Rock-a-by, hush-a-by, sweetheart of mine,</div> <div class="verse00">Rest from their prattle those red lips of thine.</div> <div class="verse00">Bridges you cross in your Byloland flight</div> <div class="verse00">Sway to your footsteps, my baby, good-night.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Rock-a-by, hush-a-by, baby, my love,</div> <div class="verse00">Angels are watching thy cradle above.</div> <div class="verse00">Thy feet into Byloland's dreamy delight</div> <div class="verse00">Have entered, then rest, little pilgrim, good-night.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_55">[Pg 55]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="A_DAY_IN_JUNE">A DAY IN JUNE.</SPAN></h2> <p class="h4">(To Mercy.)</p> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">This is the month of roses, dear,</div> <div class="verse00">The sweetest time of all the year.</div> <div class="verse00">Field, woodland, roadside,&mdash;everywhere,</div> <div class="verse00">Is clad in crimson beauty rare.</div> <div class="verse00">The very earth beneath our feet</div> <div class="verse00">Is covered with their petals sweet;</div> <div class="verse00">Where'er we go the balmy air</div> <div class="verse00">Is laden with sweet fragrance rare.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And now and then, dear, we may see</div> <div class="verse00">The cheerful, busy little bee</div> <div class="verse00">From out this dainty, crimson flow'r,</div> <div class="verse00">Sip nectar for his winter store.</div> <div class="verse00">The sky is blue, and there and here</div> <div class="verse00">We see a fleecy cloud appear;</div> <div class="verse00">Nor tongue nor pen can e'er portray</div> <div class="verse00">The beauties of this sweet June day.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">In mem'ry, dear, it takes me back</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_56">[Pg 56]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse00">Along life's sunny backward track</div> <div class="verse00">Just thirteen years, to a sweet June day</div> <div class="verse00">And a little cot, not far away,</div> <div class="verse00">Where roses bloomed, and song of bird</div> <div class="verse00">Throughout the livelong day was heard;</div> <div class="verse00">But never was this song so gay</div> <div class="verse00">As on that blissful, bright June day.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Within that little nut-brown cot,</div> <div class="verse00">On earth the dearest, sweetest spot,</div> <div class="verse00">A wee pink flower, both sweet and gay,</div> <div class="verse00">First opened to the light of day.</div> <div class="verse00">As time flew by on fairy wing,</div> <div class="verse00">This wee pink flower, this dainty thing,</div> <div class="verse00">Of all our love demanded part,</div> <div class="verse00">And twined its tendrils 'round each heart.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Sometimes, without, 'twas dark and dreary,</div> <div class="verse00">But all within this cot was cheery,</div> <div class="verse00">Because this little floweret gay</div> <div class="verse00">Chased gloom and shadows all away.</div> <div class="verse00">This dainty thing, so dear to me,</div> <div class="verse00">This little flower I have in thee.</div> <div class="verse00">'Neath blue June sky and rainbow shower,</div> <div class="verse00">Long live earth's purest, sweetest flower.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_57">[Pg 57]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="CHRISTMAS_ON_THE_FARM">CHRISTMAS ON THE FARM.</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Don't you remember, oh, brother mine!</div> <div class="verse00">What fun we had at Christmas-time,</div> <div class="verse00">Out on the old farm, you and I&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">That home we loved in days gone by?</div> <div class="verse00">How up in the loft we used to climb</div> <div class="verse00">For nuts, stored there in autumn-time,</div> <div class="verse00">To crack and eat by the dear old fire,</div> <div class="verse00">While the cheerful blaze leaped high'r and high'r?</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And when it was time to go to bed,</div> <div class="verse00">How each tired, sleepy little head</div> <div class="verse00">Was laid on a pillow, soft and white,</div> <div class="verse00">To dream of Christmas the livelong night?</div> <div class="verse00">And how in the morn, before 'twas light,</div> <div class="verse00">Our eyes were opened wide and bright,</div> <div class="verse00">As we ran a race down the high old stair,</div> <div class="verse00">To see if "Santa" had been there,</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And brought his bundle of toys with him,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_58">[Pg 58]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse00">And filled our stockings up to the brim?</div> <div class="verse00">But dear old "Santa" would always stop</div> <div class="verse00">And fill them full to the very top.</div> <div class="verse00">Then we'd away to the old hillside,</div> <div class="verse00">The country shoemaker's cot beside&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">Just 'round the corner, near the wood,</div> <div class="verse00">Where the tall old beech-tree grew and stood.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And the snowbirds hopped on its boughs awry</div> <div class="verse00">As our brand-new sled went whizzing by;</div> <div class="verse00">And down to the foot of the hill we'd go,</div> <div class="verse00">Over the crystal Christmas snow.</div> <div class="verse00">Oh, could life's downward journey be</div> <div class="verse00">As free from care for you and me;</div> <div class="verse00">Our hearts be filled with the same glad rays</div> <div class="verse00">Of those olden, golden Christmas days!</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">When life was so sunny, bright, and new,</div> <div class="verse00">Oh, brother mine! for me and you.</div> <div class="verse00">A happier home none ever had</div> <div class="verse00">Than ours, holding hearts so light and glad.</div> <div class="verse00">But those happy Christmas days of yore</div> <div class="verse00">To us will come again no more;</div> <div class="verse00">For she who chased all our care away</div> <div class="verse00">Sings a Christmas anthem in heaven to-day.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_59">[Pg 59]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="MY_LITTLE_BROWN-EYED_SWEETHEART">MY LITTLE BROWN-EYED SWEETHEART.</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">When evening shadows gather round,</div> <div class="verse02">And work of day is done,</div> <div class="verse00">When down the west horizon sinks</div> <div class="verse02">The glorious, golden sun,</div> <div class="verse00">And sweetly sing the whip-po-wils</div> <div class="verse02">Ode to the closing day,</div> <div class="verse00">Back to my home among the hills</div> <div class="verse02">My visions often stray.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00"><span class="smcap">Chorus:</span></div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Tho' time from mem'ry may efface</div> <div class="verse02">All else that's sweet and tender,</div> <div class="verse00">Those happy olden, golden days</div> <div class="verse02">I ever shall remember.</div> <div class="verse00">Oh, happy, olden, golden days,</div> <div class="verse02">Oh, days with sunshine laden,</div> <div class="verse00">When I wandered o'er those verdant hills</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_60">[Pg 60]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">With a little brown-eyed maiden.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Where flowers were fair and fields were green,</div> <div class="verse02">And trees with blossoms lade,</div> <div class="verse00">'Twas there I met and loved and wooed</div> <div class="verse02">A little brown-eyed maid;</div> <div class="verse00">And oftentimes she'd sing to me</div> <div class="verse02">Sweetly her Flower Song,</div> <div class="verse00">As o'er those verdant, flowery hills</div> <div class="verse02">We gaily strolled along.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00"><span class="smcap">Chorus:</span></div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But that was years, long years ago,</div> <div class="verse02">Yet o'er and o'er again</div> <div class="verse00">In dreams I'm with my brown-eyed love,</div> <div class="verse02">And hear that sweet refrain.</div> <div class="verse00">Tho' death's cold frost has touched my flower,</div> <div class="verse02">And bid its life depart,</div> <div class="verse00">Yet still within my soul doth live</div> <div class="verse02">My little brown-eyed sweetheart.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00"><span class="smcap">Chorus:</span></div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_61">[Pg 61]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="I_KNOW_TWO_EYES">I KNOW TWO EYES.</SPAN></h2> <p class="h4">SONG.</p> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">I know two eyes&mdash;two jet-black eyes,</div> <div class="verse02">Yet fond and true and tender.</div> <div class="verse00">I see them in the twinkling stars,</div> <div class="verse02">And in the glowing ember.</div> <div class="verse00">You girls may talk of sweet blue eyes,</div> <div class="verse02">Or on soft brown eyes tarry,</div> <div class="verse00">But I will take those jet-black eyes,</div> <div class="verse02">So sparkling, bright, and merry.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">They come to me at twilight hour,</div> <div class="verse02">They come in morning early,</div> <div class="verse00">They come my every joy to share,</div> <div class="verse02">Those jet-black eyes so merry.</div> <div class="verse00">They come at noon, and when I'm sad</div> <div class="verse02">They look at me so kindly,</div> <div class="verse00">Their ever-tender, sparkling glance</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_62">[Pg 62]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">Dwells on me, oh, so fondly.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">I know two eyes&mdash;two jet-black eyes,</div> <div class="verse02">Yet fond and true and tender;</div> <div class="verse00">They're bright as any twinkling star</div> <div class="verse02">Up in the heavens yonder.</div> <div class="verse00">I look into those sparkling eyes,</div> <div class="verse02">Those jet-black eyes so merry,</div> <div class="verse00">And see within their radiant depths</div> <div class="verse02">The love-light of my "dearie."</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_63">[Pg 63]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="CUPIDS_MISTAKE">CUPID'S MISTAKE.</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Cupid looked forth one bright spring day,</div> <div class="verse00">And whispered, "Now I must away.</div> <div class="verse00">Old winter, with his frost and snow,</div> <div class="verse00">Took his departure long ago.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"O'er roadside, field, and woodland, too,</div> <div class="verse00">Sweet violets grow, with eyes so blue;</div> <div class="verse00">Blossoms of every hue and shade</div> <div class="verse00">The balmy air with perfume lade.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"There's light and sunshine everywhere;</div> <div class="verse00">All nature is so wondrous fair;</div> <div class="verse00">E'en from the woods the wild birds sing</div> <div class="verse00">A welcome to the newborn spring.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"This surely is my harvest time,</div> <div class="verse00">To make men bow at Love's sweet shrine;</div> <div class="verse00">For all around, below, above,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_64">[Pg 64]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse00">Will help me make men fall in love."</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">So from beneath his flow'ry tent</div> <div class="verse00">He started on this mission bent.</div> <div class="verse00">First to the halls of wealth and rank</div> <div class="verse00">Went cunning Cupid with his prank.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">On reaching them, to his dismay,</div> <div class="verse00">Those halls in deepest quiet lay;</div> <div class="verse00">And music, once the food of love,</div> <div class="verse00">Could not be heard below, above.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">So Cupid's little wings he spread,</div> <div class="verse00">And, flying, to himself he said,</div> <div class="verse00">"The lawyer will be in, I know,</div> <div class="verse00">He's poring o'er his books, I trow.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"Poor fellow, what a lot is his!</div> <div class="verse00">To be shut up a day like this,</div> <div class="verse00">From sunlight, flowers, and wild bird's song,</div> <div class="verse00">Trying to balance right and wrong.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"I'll take my tiny little dart,</div> <div class="verse00">And lightly touch the lawyer's heart,</div> <div class="verse00">And show him how love's sweet, glad light</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_65">[Pg 65]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse00">Can make his dingy office bright."</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But when he reached the longed-for spot,</div> <div class="verse00">He found the studious lawyer not.</div> <div class="verse00">These words he read upon the door,</div> <div class="verse00">"The lawyer will be in at four."</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"To the office of the doctor kind</div> <div class="verse00">I'll go," said he, "for there I'll find</div> <div class="verse00">Him tending to his patients' ills</div> <div class="verse00">With soothing balms and dainty pills."</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But doctor's doors were closed, and lo!</div> <div class="verse00">Just as poor Cupid turned to go,</div> <div class="verse00">These words he read 'twixt tears, alack!</div> <div class="verse00">"At six the doctor will be back."</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Next to the dentist man he flew,</div> <div class="verse00">And called upon the merchant, too;</div> <div class="verse00">In every place, the city 'round,</div> <div class="verse00">But not a bit of game he found.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"Well, well!" said Cupid, with a moan,</div> <div class="verse00">"The world has cold and heartless grown."</div> <div class="verse00">So once again his wings he spread,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_66">[Pg 66]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse00">And over country roads he sped,</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Back toward his home among spring flowers,</div> <div class="verse00">And shady walks, and leafy bowers;</div> <div class="verse00">But as he flew the stream beside,</div> <div class="verse00">A crowd of wheelmen there he spied.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"Ha! ha!" laughed he, "I've found them all,</div> <div class="verse00">Both short and tall, both great and small.</div> <div class="verse00">Oh, what a pretty lad I see</div> <div class="verse00">Gliding along so merrily!</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"With pretty boots laced to the knee,</div> <div class="verse00">His limbs how shapely, blithe, and free;</div> <div class="verse00">If I can get such game as he,</div> <div class="verse00">This trip a grand success will be."</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">So, saying this, his bow he bent,</div> <div class="verse00">And through the air his arrow sent;</div> <div class="verse00">Straight toward this pretty lad it flew,</div> <div class="verse00">And pierced his bosom through and through.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"My! wasn't that a blissful aim.</div> <div class="verse00">I'll fly to earth and get my game."</div> <div class="verse00">But when he reached that laddie's side</div> <div class="verse00">He looked perplexed, then horrified.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_67">[Pg 67]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Then quickly rose and flew away,</div> <div class="verse00">And as he went was heard to say:</div> <div class="verse00">"Oh, what a blunder! Now I see</div> <div class="verse00">Fort Wayne is not the place for me;</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"For, counting now my time and cost,</div> <div class="verse00">This lovely day is worse than lost.</div> <div class="verse00">My wings are weary, brain's awhirl,</div> <div class="verse00">For, oh, 'twas but a Bloomer Girl!"</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_68">[Pg 68]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="DEWEYS_VICTORY">DEWEY'S VICTORY.</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">'Tis morning at Manila,</div> <div class="verse02">The first dawn of the May;</div> <div class="verse00">Along the eastern horizon</div> <div class="verse02">We see the light of day.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">As spreads its golden splendor</div> <div class="verse02">And drives away the night,</div> <div class="verse00">The hills that guard the islands</div> <div class="verse02">Are decked with diamonds bright.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The cocoa palms so olden,</div> <div class="verse02">Now robed in silvered green,</div> <div class="verse00">Stretch their broad branches heav'nward</div> <div class="verse02">To golden fields serene.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And yon cathedral spire gleams</div> <div class="verse02">With glory from the skies;</div> <div class="verse00">The beauty of the Sabbath</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_69">[Pg 69]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">Across the city lies.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">A little bay rests softly</div> <div class="verse02">Among those sun-kissed isles,</div> <div class="verse00">Reflecting heaven's azure,</div> <div class="verse02">And basking in God's smiles.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Upon its sleeping waters</div> <div class="verse02">A Spanish squadron lies;</div> <div class="verse00">Her flags unfurl their folds, and</div> <div class="verse02">Upon sweet breezes rise.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Lo! another fleet approaches,</div> <div class="verse02">More beauteous and grand;</div> <div class="verse00">The flag she bears so proudly</div> <div class="verse02">Has waved o'er Freedom's land!</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">She comes across the billows,</div> <div class="verse02">And in Freedom's cause to-day</div> <div class="verse00">The smoke and fire of battle</div> <div class="verse02">Enfold Manila Bay.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Look! on Fort Cavite they're firing!</div> <div class="verse02">Their efforts now prevail;</div> <div class="verse00">'Tis shattered into splinters,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_70">[Pg 70]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">And Spanish cheeks grow pale</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The cannons belch forth thunder!</div> <div class="verse02">The shells burst thick and fast!</div> <div class="verse00">With might charge Freedom's heroes,</div> <div class="verse02">Amid the purple blast.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The handsome flagship Reina</div> <div class="verse02">Christina's sinking now;</div> <div class="verse00">She's robed in flames and ruin,</div> <div class="verse02">From th' Olympia's snowy bow.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Now all the Spanish squadron,</div> <div class="verse02">Its proud and dauntless crew,</div> <div class="verse00">Sinks 'mid the storm of battle,</div> <div class="verse02">'Neath troubled waters blue.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Nor falls a single hero</div> <div class="verse02">In Freedom's cause so true,</div> <div class="verse00">While fighting 'neath the banner</div> <div class="verse02">That's red and white and blue.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The Philippines are freed from</div> <div class="verse02">All tyrant rule and reign,</div> <div class="verse00"><em>Avenged</em> the noble sailors</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_71">[Pg 71]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">On board our gallant Maine!</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The gory hands of Spain are</div> <div class="verse02">In ocean waters laved,</div> <div class="verse00">O'er whose enchanted bosom</div> <div class="verse02">This morn her banner waved.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Hills, mountains, vales, and rocks ring</div> <div class="verse02">With shouts of victory,</div> <div class="verse00">As falls the sunset's crimson</div> <div class="verse02">Across the earth and sea.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And Dewey's noble squadron,</div> <div class="verse02">That bravely won the day,</div> <div class="verse00">On drowsy winds is floating</div> <div class="verse02">"Old Glory" o'er the bay.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">All hail! our great commander,</div> <div class="verse02">Thou hero of the sea,</div> <div class="verse00">With your brave and noble boys you</div> <div class="verse02">Have captured victory.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Your name is wreathed in glory,</div> <div class="verse02">Its praises will be sung</div> <div class="verse00">Wherever Freedom's flag is</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_72">[Pg 72]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">To Freedom's breezes flung.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The guns you've fired to-day,</div> <div class="verse02">On the first of flow'ring May,</div> <div class="verse00">Will thunder o'er Spain's hilltops</div> <div class="verse02">Ten thousand miles away!</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Fling higher Freedom's emblem!</div> <div class="verse02">Long may its colors wave</div> <div class="verse00">Where God has given victory</div> <div class="verse02">To Freedom's noble brave.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_73">[Pg 73]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="BATTLE_OF_SANTIAGO_BAY">BATTLE OF SANTIAGO BAY.</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Just off the coast of an isle that lies</div> <div class="verse00">Where silver'd, feathery palm-trees rise</div> <div class="verse00">As if their branches would kiss the skies</div> <div class="verse02">So blue, so far away;</div> <div class="verse00">When woke each vale the Sabbath bell,</div> <div class="verse00">On seas that gently rose and fell,</div> <div class="verse02">Our nation's warships lay.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">As dreamily, lazily basking, they</div> <div class="verse00">In quiet tropical sunshine lay,</div> <div class="verse00">In sight of a placid, sleeping bay,</div> <div class="verse02">Where anchored the Spaniard's ships,</div> <div class="verse00">"A big boat's coming from the bay!</div> <div class="verse00">The Spaniard's squadron comes this way!"</div> <div class="verse02">Came loud from a lookout's lips.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">As one by one came the fleet of Spain</div> <div class="verse00">Across the bay, toward the main,</div> <div class="verse00">With hope in each bosom they once again</div> <div class="verse02">Launched forth on open sea.</div> <div class="verse00">"Each man to his gun!" the commodore cried,</div> <div class="verse00">And the warships plowed through the cloven tide,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_74">[Pg 74]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">In the trail of the enemy.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"Full speed ahead! Open fire!"</div> <div class="verse00">The commodore's voice rose high'r and high'r,</div> <div class="verse00">'Midst smoke and flames to the enemy nigh'r,</div> <div class="verse02">The gallant fleet plunged on.</div> <div class="verse00">The cannons poured forth fire and thunder,</div> <div class="verse00">The great shells cleft the waves asunder,</div> <div class="verse02">As gun replied to gun.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Right through the hot hell-fire and shell,</div> <div class="verse00">Through mist and smoke and shot that fell</div> <div class="verse00">O'er ship and boiling sea, pell-mell,</div> <div class="verse02">Charged Freedom's heroes true.</div> <div class="verse00">For o'er the battle's smoke and fury</div> <div class="verse00">Waved high the synonym of glory,&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">The old "Red, White and Blue."</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Great crashing volleys, long and loud,</div> <div class="verse00">Swept from the decks the Spaniards proud,</div> <div class="verse00">Then wrapped their boats in a smoky shroud,</div> <div class="verse02">And left them beached and burning.</div> <div class="verse00">Their decks in human blood were laved,</div> <div class="verse00">O'er which the yellow banner waved</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_75">[Pg 75]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">So vauntingly that morning.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">That eve the sunset's crimson ray</div> <div class="verse00">Touched gently, softly, tenderly</div> <div class="verse00">The waves that moaned where the lost fleet lay,&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">The pride of Spain erstwhile,&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">And crowned the man who climbed the height</div> <div class="verse00">To plant "Old Glory's" spangles bright</div> <div class="verse02">On sun-kissed Cuba's Isle.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_76">[Pg 76]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_OLD_MANS_STORY">THE OLD MAN'S STORY.</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">We'd been a talkin'&mdash;me and Ma&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">A deal about our Bill.</div> <div class="verse00">He wuz well nigh onto thirty,</div> <div class="verse02">And gettin' older still.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">He wa'n't a lazy lad, you see,</div> <div class="verse02">Wuz tall and strong and big,</div> <div class="verse00">But to accomplish anything</div> <div class="verse02">He must git up and dig.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Next we sot out to talk of Sal;</div> <div class="verse02">She wa'n't a hansum lass,</div> <div class="verse00">But luvin'er or kinder soul</div> <div class="verse02">Ne'er stepped on medder grass.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Sez I, "Good wimmen never grows</div> <div class="verse02">Frum idle gals, 'tis true;"</div> <div class="verse00">So we decided Sally should</div> <div class="verse02">Airn her own livin' too.</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_77">[Pg 77]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And then we talked about the twins,&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">About our Joe and Jim.</div> <div class="verse00">Joe allus wuz a truant cuss,</div> <div class="verse02">And oft I've wallerp'd him</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Fer runnin' 'way from skule to watch</div> <div class="verse02">The ships cum in at sea.</div> <div class="verse00">He allus said, "When I'm a man,</div> <div class="verse02">A sailor I will be."</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Wuz allus gettin' inter scraps</div> <div class="verse02">On politicks at skule;</div> <div class="verse00">It wa'n't no use to send 'im,</div> <div class="verse02">He broke ever' gol-durned rule.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But Jim wuz sort o' studious;</div> <div class="verse02">He keered a heap fer books.</div> <div class="verse00">Lazy? I guess! On summer days</div> <div class="verse02">He'd find the shady nooks</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And lay and read, while me and Bill</div> <div class="verse02">Got out and dun the work,</div> <div class="verse00">And airned a decent livin' fer</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_78">[Pg 78]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">This lazy, wuthless shirk.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But Sue, she wuz a hansum gal;</div> <div class="verse02">Her cheek wuz like the rose;</div> <div class="verse00">Her breth wuz sweet as any breeze</div> <div class="verse02">The June-time ever blows.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Her eyes wuz dark and full of fire,</div> <div class="verse02">Her cheeks wuz churry red,</div> <div class="verse00">Her body sort o' willery,</div> <div class="verse02">But she'd a haughty head.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But if you wanted her to work</div> <div class="verse02">She never could be found;</div> <div class="verse00">And, mebby, if you scoured the farm</div> <div class="verse02">And all the country round,</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">You'd find her sittin' in a tree</div> <div class="verse02">A-whistlin' o' the tune</div> <div class="verse00">She'd heered the medder lark a-singin'</div> <div class="verse02">To the skies o' June.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And so one nite I called 'em in,</div> <div class="verse02">I think jest arter tea.</div> <div class="verse00">Sez I, "We've clothed and edecated you&mdash;</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_79">[Pg 79]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">Yer Ma and me;</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But now we're gettin' old, our j'ints</div> <div class="verse02">O' roomatism tells,</div> <div class="verse00">And it's high time fer you to airn</div> <div class="verse02">A livin' fer yoursel's."</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Our kids wuz proud as eny</div> <div class="verse02">Indiany's ever grown,</div> <div class="verse00">And so, afore another month</div> <div class="verse02">They left us all alone.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Bill went to Philadelphy town</div> <div class="verse02">And hired to a store</div> <div class="verse00">As keeps all sorts o' things in lots,</div> <div class="verse02">Oh, millions,&mdash;mebby more.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Sal went to work fer Deken Dobbs,</div> <div class="verse02">And Joe went off to sea;</div> <div class="verse00">But Jim turned out an editor&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">A mighty man wuz he.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Along kum one o' them air shows</div> <div class="verse02">With gals that danced and sang;</div> <div class="verse00">And, spite of all her ma could say,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_80">[Pg 80]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">Our Sue, she j'ined the gang.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">As years went by our Bill he wed</div> <div class="verse02">A hansum city wife,</div> <div class="verse00">And went to livin' in accord</div> <div class="verse02">With high-dad city life.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The children kum till he possessed</div> <div class="verse02">O' them a mammoth fold;</div> <div class="verse00">And ever'thing he teched jest seemed</div> <div class="verse02">To turn to yaller gold.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Sal, wed to Deken Dobbs's son,</div> <div class="verse02">Wuz happy, but so poor;</div> <div class="verse00">And meny children played around</div> <div class="verse02">Her country cabin door.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But then she loved that wuthless man,</div> <div class="verse02">And p'raps, when all is told,</div> <div class="verse00">She's happier 'n she would 'a' bin</div> <div class="verse02">If she had wed fer gold.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The last I heered of rompin' Sue,</div> <div class="verse02">I b'lieve it wuz a "hit"</div> <div class="verse00">They called it that she made in France,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_81">[Pg 81]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">And ever' night she'd git</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Great piles o' flowers, roses and sich,</div> <div class="verse02">O' yaller, red and white;</div> <div class="verse00">And ever' time she danced she fetched</div> <div class="verse02">Ten thousan' francs a night!</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But Jim&mdash;poor Jim! our lazy boy&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">He did'nt fare so well;</div> <div class="verse00">He's good in larnin', but, somehow,</div> <div class="verse02">His paper didn't sell.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But why it didn't I can't tell,</div> <div class="verse02">And of'n wonder yit;</div> <div class="verse00">Fer when the people brung in stuff</div> <div class="verse02">As fer his paper writ</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Thet didn't sound jest right to him,</div> <div class="verse02">And wuzn't right in looks,</div> <div class="verse00">He allus tuk and made it right,</div> <div class="verse02">Fer Jim wuz good in books.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">He know'd about the president,</div> <div class="verse02">Congress and senate, too;</div> <div class="verse00">Could tell you all that they hed done</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_82">[Pg 82]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">And what they'd ort to do.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And when he found he couldn't make</div> <div class="verse02">Enuff to buy a bike,</div> <div class="verse00">He <em>walked</em> off down the railroad track</div> <div class="verse02">Toward the Klonindike.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But do you know that wuthless Joe</div> <div class="verse02">Turned out the best of all?</div> <div class="verse00">When down-trod Cuby needed help,</div> <div class="verse02">He answered duty's call,</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">An' what he taught ol' haughty Spain</div> <div class="verse02">I guess she'll not forget;</div> <div class="verse00">Fer the way he licked them Spanyards</div> <div class="verse02">Wuz a caution, now, you bet!</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The people all went wild about</div> <div class="verse02">His bravery and fame,</div> <div class="verse00">An' now he's got an "Admiral"</div> <div class="verse02">Hitched on afore his name.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But nairy youngster would 'a' knowed</div> <div class="verse02">What in his brain-pan lay</div> <div class="verse00">'F I hadn't said, "Git up and dust!"</div> <div class="verse02">To them that summer day.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_83">[Pg 83]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="TO_MY_DOG">TO MY DOG.</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Noble fellow, faithful friend!</div> <div class="verse02">Devoted, kind, and true;</div> <div class="verse00">In all this wide, wide world I've found</div> <div class="verse02">No one who loves like you.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Faithful dog, rememb'rest thou</div> <div class="verse02">(Oh, lucky day for thee!)</div> <div class="verse00">When thou, a friendless puppy, came</div> <div class="verse02">To beg a crust from me?</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Then thou wast hungry, footsore, cold,</div> <div class="verse02">Thy sides were lank and thin;</div> <div class="verse00">But when I saw thy friendly face</div> <div class="verse02">I gladly took thee in.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Now thou art beautiful and plump.</div> <div class="verse02">Thy fur is soft and sleek,</div> <div class="verse00">A pretty collar buckled round</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_84">[Pg 84]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">Thy noble, glossy neck.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But thou, oh, noble, trusty friend,</div> <div class="verse02">Repay'st this care of mine</div> <div class="verse00">A thousand-fold, for who could spurn</div> <div class="verse02">Devotion such as thine?</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">I know if thou, in time to come,</div> <div class="verse02">Some other friend should find,</div> <div class="verse00">Thou wilt not say of me harsh words</div> <div class="verse02">And sentences unkind.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">So they who would our friendship scorn&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">My fondness would reprove,&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">Would better come to thee and learn</div> <div class="verse02">True gratitude and love.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_85">[Pg 85]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="SOMEBODY">SOMEBODY.</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">There's somebody stayin' aroun' our house&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">I don't know who or where&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">That sneaks about an' follers me out</div> <div class="verse02">An' in an' ever'where</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">I go; an' 'sturbs my skates an' things,</div> <div class="verse02">An' scatters 'em all about;</div> <div class="verse00">But you bet your stuff it'll go mighty tough</div> <div class="verse02">With 'im when I find 'im out!</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Though I hang my hat an' coat away,</div> <div class="verse02">Up on the peg with care,</div> <div class="verse00">I'll just be bound they can't be found</div> <div class="verse02">When I want 'em,&mdash;anywhere.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">When I've hunted for 'em till I'm late for school,</div> <div class="verse02">An' mad as one ol' March hare,</div> <div class="verse00">An' a dozen more, right down on the floor</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_86">[Pg 86]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">I'll find that hat, just where</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Somebody's went an' throwed it down,&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">It's the same with my books each day,</div> <div class="verse00">My bat an' ball, my mittens an' all,</div> <div class="verse02">Though I'm sure I put 'em away.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But I tell you this: if I ever find</div> <div class="verse02">Who that meddlesome "somebody" is,</div> <div class="verse00">I'll rout 'im, an' scout 'im, an' all that's about 'im,</div> <div class="verse02">I'll learn 'im to mind his biz.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_87">[Pg 87]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_HERO_OF_EVERY-DAY_LIFE">THE HERO OF EVERY-DAY LIFE.</SPAN></h2> <p class="h4">(SONG.)</p> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">We sing of the hero of battle,</div> <div class="verse02">We cherish and worship his name;</div> <div class="verse00">Of the hero of old, and the hero of gold,</div> <div class="verse02">Of him who has honor and fame.</div> <div class="verse00">The hero of love's tender passion,</div> <div class="verse02">Who basks in its mystical ray,</div> <div class="verse00">As we journey along, but never a song</div> <div class="verse02">For the hero we meet every day.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The one who can face, aye, so bravely</div> <div class="verse02">His losses, rebuffs, and defeat;</div> <div class="verse00">Whose heart will not break though the world may forsake,&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">From the enemy will not retreat.</div> <div class="verse00">Who never will murmur at fate, when</div> <div class="verse02">It seems an unmerciful foe,</div> <div class="verse00">But struggles along with a heart true and strong,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_88">[Pg 88]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">And strikes a far nobler blow.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Though his last golden castle is shattered</div> <div class="verse02">And sown to the wind long ago,</div> <div class="verse00">Each one that he meets with a warm smile he greets,&mdash;</div> <div class="verse02">His burden we never may know.</div> <div class="verse00">But hark! sweetest melodies mingle</div> <div class="verse02">With the din of earth's tumult and strife&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">Heaven's joyous bells ring and archangels sing</div> <div class="verse02">For the hero of every-day life.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_89">[Pg 89]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_CHILDS_INQUIRY">THE CHILD'S INQUIRY.</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Oh, where is that beautiful city, mamma,</div> <div class="verse02">The one that is called Fort Wayne?</div> <div class="verse00">Does it rest in the light of a clear blue sky,</div> <div class="verse02">'Way out on a sandy plain?</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Or may it be found where the roses climb</div> <div class="verse02">Over trellises built so high</div> <div class="verse00">That if you would pluck off the topmost one</div> <div class="verse02">You'd have to climb up to the sky?</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Or where all the streets are so smooth and so clean</div> <div class="verse02">That buggies and bicycles, too,</div> <div class="verse00">Glide along with all ease in the sweet dreamy breeze,</div> <div class="verse02">Like balloons in soft heavens of blue?</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_90">[Pg 90]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse04">Mother: Not there, my child, not there.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Fort Wayne is a hustling city, my dear,</div> <div class="verse02">On the banks of the old Maumee,</div> <div class="verse00">Where most of the folks are too busy to care</div> <div class="verse02">The beauties of nature to see.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">'Tis a place where they all pay a tax, my dear,</div> <div class="verse02">For repairing the street, you know,</div> <div class="verse00">That they all may enjoy their bicycles, dear,</div> <div class="verse02">As "bumpety bump" they go.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">And should you e'er enter that city, my dear,</div> <div class="verse02">Be sure that you always look down,</div> <div class="verse00">Or first thing you know in a rut you will go,</div> <div class="verse02">And find yourself flat on the ground.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Or if 'tis not you that is flat on the ground,</div> <div class="verse02">Your bicycle ruined will be&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">There are tacks, broken beer-bottles strewn all around,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_91">[Pg 91]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">And your tire will be punctured, you see.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Fort Wayne is the city of "tags," my dear,</div> <div class="verse02">As every taxpayer knows;</div> <div class="verse00">Tags on their horses, their wheels, and their dogs,</div> <div class="verse02">And tags from their heads to their toes.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">When its people go into the country, my dear,</div> <div class="verse02">To enjoy its cool breezes and shade,</div> <div class="verse00">They are bangled and spangled with tags, my dear,</div> <div class="verse02">Till they look like a circus parade.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse04">It is there, my child, it is there.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_92">[Pg 92]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="TO_THE_OLD_TOWN_CLOCK">TO THE OLD TOWN CLOCK.</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Oh, servant faithful, tried, and true,</div> <div class="verse02">Through sunshine, storm, and shower,</div> <div class="verse00">Thy face for nearly forty years</div> <div class="verse02">Has graced the court-house tower;</div> <div class="verse00">Thy hands have never idle hung,</div> <div class="verse02">Thy face was always cheery,</div> <div class="verse00">Thy ever-swinging pendulum</div> <div class="verse02">Seemed never, never weary.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">When we were late to work or school,</div> <div class="verse02">How gently didst thou chide us,</div> <div class="verse00">Telling in soft and muffled chimes</div> <div class="verse02">How swiftly time glides by us.</div> <div class="verse00">Oh, how the workman loved thy voice,</div> <div class="verse02">When thou, at set of sun,</div> <div class="verse00">Proclaimed in softest, sweetest chimes,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_93">[Pg 93]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">That his day's work was done.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">But to us all it lost its charm,</div> <div class="verse02">And sounded cross and surly,</div> <div class="verse00">When wakened by its loud alarm</div> <div class="verse02">In morning, oh, so early!</div> <div class="verse00">The maple trees that spread their boughs</div> <div class="verse02">O'er the court-house yard below,</div> <div class="verse00">Each year yield up their foliage</div> <div class="verse02">To winter's frost and snow.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">The birds that nest and sing among</div> <div class="verse02">Their boughs in summer time,</div> <div class="verse00">When winter winds begin to blow,</div> <div class="verse02">All seek a sunny clime.</div> <div class="verse00">But thou, oh, tried and faithful one,</div> <div class="verse02">Wert always just the same,</div> <div class="verse00">Keeping the time with merry chime</div> <div class="verse02">Through sunshine, snow, and rain.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">For forty years thou'st kept the time,</div> <div class="verse02">While in the court below</div> <div class="verse00">Stood he who perpetrated crime,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_94">[Pg 94]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse02">Waiting his doom to know;</div> <div class="verse00">And when a murderer was tried,</div> <div class="verse02">Who, for a little pay,</div> <div class="verse00">Did take the life of a trusting friend,</div> <div class="verse02">In a hut not far away,</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">"One, two, three," we heard thee say,</div> <div class="verse02">In measured tones and slow,</div> <div class="verse00">As forth, to be tried in heav'nly courts,</div> <div class="verse02">His blood-stained soul did go.</div> <div class="verse00">Oh, cruel was thy fate, old clock!</div> <div class="verse02">For many days ago</div> <div class="verse00">Thy old familiar face was crushed</div> <div class="verse02">By workmen's sturdy blow.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">They say they'll build a new court-house,</div> <div class="verse02">And that they will replace</div> <div class="verse00">By timepiece handsome, bright and new</div> <div class="verse02">Thy old storm-beaten face.</div> <div class="verse00">Then thou, oh, servant tried and true,</div> <div class="verse02">Through storm, sunshine, and show'r,</div> <div class="verse00">The music of thy mellow chimes</div> <div class="verse02">We'll hear again no more.</div> </div></div> <!--<hr class="chap" />--> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_95">[Pg 95]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="AFTERWHILE_SOMEWHERE">AFTERWHILE, SOMEWHERE.</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Some day the misty shadow</div> <div class="verse00">That covers your heaven of blue,</div> <div class="verse00">Will melted be, and you will see</div> <div class="verse00">The rainbow gleaming through.</div> <div class="verse00">The tears you've shed in silence</div> <div class="verse00">For love that was wasted here&mdash;</div> <div class="verse00">Be still, O soul! They'll find their goal,</div> <div class="verse00">Afterwhile, somewhere.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Though deeds of tend'rest kindness</div> <div class="verse00">Oft bitter reproaches bring,</div> <div class="verse00">As the drowning bee that you'd set free</div> <div class="verse00">Repays you with a sting.</div> <div class="verse00">The pain you bear in silence,</div> <div class="verse00">For confidence wasted here</div> <div class="verse00">Will blossoms yield in a sun-kissed field,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_96">[Pg 96]</SPAN></span> <div class="verse00">Afterwhile, somewhere.</div> </div><div class="stanza"> <div class="verse00">Though years of honest labor</div> <div class="verse00">Success has never crowned,</div> <div class="verse00">No fruit they brought, though nobly wrought,</div> <div class="verse00">Dire Fate has always frowned.</div> <div class="verse00">The seed you've sown with patience,</div> <div class="verse00">The labor you've wasted here,</div> <div class="verse00">Again will bloom in the harvest-home,</div> <div class="verse00">Afterwhile, somewhere.</div> </div></div> <SPAN name="endofbook"></SPAN> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />