s: Bold Captain Muggsy comes to bat, a batsman he of note,


s: And slowly o'er the ash-heap walks O'Reilly's billy-goat.


s: The yelling Mudville hosts have wrecked his slumbers so serene,


s: With deep disgust and sullen eye he gazes o'er the scene.


s: He notes the center-fielder's garb, the Mudvilles' shirt of red;


s: He firmly plants his sturdy legs, he bows his horned head,


s: And, as upon his shaggy ears the Mudville slogan smote,


s: A sneer played 'mid the whiskers of O'Reilly's billy-goat.


s: The valiant Muggsy hits the ball. Oh, deep and dark despair!


s: He hits it hard and straight, but ah, he hits it in the air!


s: The Mudville center-fielder smiles and reaches forth in glee,


s: He knows that fly's an easy out for such a man as he.


s: Beware, oh rash and reckless youth, nor o'er your triumph gloat,


s: For toward you like a comet flies O'Reilly's billy-goat.


s: Across the battle-field is borne a dull and muffled sound,


s: The fielder like a bullock falls, the ball rolls on the ground.


s: Around the bases on the wing the gallant Muggsy speeds,


s: And follows swiftly in the track where fast his comrade leads.


s: And from the field of chaos where the dusty billows float,


s: With calm, majestic mien there stalks O'Reilly's billy-goat.


s: Above the crags of Shantytown the flaunting pennant waves,


s: And cheering myriads chant the praise of Muggsy's lusty braves.


s: But wilder grows the tumult when, with ribboned horns and coat,


s: They see, on high in triumph borne, O'Reilly's billy-goat.


s: When Ezry, that's my sister's son, come home from furrin parts,


s: But all he fetched fer us was jest a fancy cuckoo clock.


s: 'T was all fixed up with paint and gilt, and had a little door


s: Where sat the cutest little bird, and when 't was three or four


s: Or five or six or any time, that bird would jest come out


s: Well, fust along we had it, why, I thought 'twas simply prime!


s: And used to poke the hands around ter make it "cuckoo" time;


s: And allers when we'd company come, they had ter see the thing,


s: And, course they almost had a fit when "birdie" come ter sing.


s: But, by and by, b'gosh! I found it somehow lost its joys,


s: I found it kind er made me sick to hear that senseless noise;


s: Well, things git on from bad to wuss, until I'm free ter grant,


s: I'd smash it into kindlin', but a present, so, I can't!


s: And, though a member of the church, and deacon, I declare,


s: That thing jest sets me up on end and makes me want ter swear!


s: I try ter be religious and ter tread the narrer way,


s: But seems as if that critter knew when I knelt down ter pray,


s: And all my thoughts of heaven go a-tumblin' down ter,--well,


s: A different kind of climate--when that bird sets out ter yell:


s: I read once in a poetry book, that Ezry had ter home,


s: The awful fuss a feller made about a crow, that come


s: And pestered him about ter death and made him sick and sore,


s: By settin' on his mantel-piece and hollerin' "Nevermore!"


s: But, say, I'd ruther have the crow, with all his fuss and row,


s: His bellerin' had _some_ sense, b'gosh! 'T was _English_, anyhow;


s: To get one solid thump on the head of the chump


s: And my molars I break on the tenderloin steak


s: If, up some dark alley, with him I might dally


s: I hain't no great detective, like yer read about,--the kind


s: That solves a whole blame murder case by footmarks left behind;


s: But then, again, on t'other hand, my eyes hain't shut so tight


s: But I can add up two and two and get the answer right;


s: So, when prayer-meet'ns, Friday nights, got keepin' awful late,


s: And, fer an hour or so, I'd hear low voices at the gate--


s: And when that gate got saggin' down 'bout ha'f a foot er so--


s: I says ter mother: "Ma," says I, "Matildy's got a beau."


s: We ought ter have expected it--she's 'most eighteen, yer see;


s: But, sakes alive! she's always seemed a baby, like, ter me;


s: And so, a feller after _her_! why, that jest did beat all!


s: But, t' other Sunday, bless yer soul, he come around ter call;


s: And when I see him all dressed up as dandy as yer please,


s: But sort er lookin' 's if he had the shivers in his knees,


s: I kind er realized it then, yer might say, like a blow--


s: Thinks I, "No use! I'm gittin' old; Matildy's got a beau."


s: I recollect I spent an hour a-tyin' my cravat,


s: And I'd sent up ter town and bought a bang-up shiny hat.


s: And didn't I feel like a fool when her young brother, Joe,


s: Sang out: "Gee crickets! Looky here! Here comes Matildy's beau!"


s: And now another feller comes up _my_ walk, jest as gay,


s: And here's Matildy blushin' red in jest her mother's way;


s: And when she says she's got ter go an errand to the store,


s: We know _he_ 's waitin' 'round the bend, jest as I've done afore;


s: My sister's best feller is 'most six-foot-three,


s: And handsome and strong as a feller can be;


s: And Sis, she's so little, and slender, and small,


s: You never would think she could boss him at all;


s: But make him jump 'round, like he worked with a string!


s: It jest makes me 'shamed of him sometimes, you know,


s: To think that he'll let a girl bully him so.


s: He goes to walk with her and carries her muff


s: And coat and umbrella, and that kind of stuff;


s: She loads him with things that must weigh 'most a ton;


s: And, honest, he _likes_ it,--as if it was fun!


s: He'll sit in the parlor and fidget away,


s: And she won't come down till it's quarter past eight,


s: And then she'll scold _him_ 'cause they get there so late.


s: He spends heaps of money a-buyin' her things,


s: Like candy, and flowers, and presents, and rings;


s: And all he's got for 'em 's a handkerchief case--


s: A fussed-up concern, made of ribbons and lace;


s: "'Cause she made it," he says, "with her own little hand";


s: He calls her "an angel"--I heard him--and "saint,"


s: And "beautif'lest bein' on earth"--but she ain't.


s: I jest make her coax me, and give me a dime;


s: But that great, big silly--why, honest and true--


s: He'd run forty miles if she wanted him to.


s: I jest think it's _awful_--those actions of his.


s: _I_ won't fall in love, when I'm grown--no sir-ee!


s: My sister's best feller's a warnin' to me!


s: It's getting on ter winter now, the nights are crisp and chill,


s: The wind comes down the chimbly with a whistle sharp and shrill,


s: The dead leaves rasp and rustle in the corner by the shed,


s: And the branches scratch and rattle on the skylight overhead.


s: The cracklin' blaze is climbin' up around the old backlog,


s: As we set by the fireplace here, myself and cat and dog;


s: And as fer me, I'm thinkin', as the fire burns clear and bright,


s: That it must be mighty lonesome fer the Widder Clark ter-night.


s: It's bad enough fer me, b'gosh, a-pokin' round the place,


s: To make the house a home agin, same as it used ter be


s: While mother lived, for she was 'bout the hull wide world ter me.


s: That's why, I guess, I'm what they call a "bach" at forty-four.


s: It's hard fer _me_ to set alone, but women folks--'t ain't right,


s: I see her t' other mornin', and, I swan, 't wa'n't later 'n six,


s: And there she was, out in the cold, a-choppin' up the sticks


s: To kindle fire fer breakfast, and she smiled so bright and gay,


s: By gee, I simply couldn't bear ter see her work that way!


s: Well, I went in and chopped, I guess, enough ter last a year,


s: And she said "Thanks," so pretty, gosh! it done me good ter hear!


s: Ah, hum! it must be lonesome fer the Widder Clark ter-night.


s: I sez ter her, "Our breakfasts ain't much fun fer me or you;


s: Seems's if two lonesome meals might make one social one fer two."


s: That she was mad, and, like a fool, come home; I wish I'd stayed!


s: Oh, the Friday evening meetings in the vestry, long ago,


s: Oh, the Friday evening meetings, how the ransomed sinners told


s: Of the fiery place of torment till we seemed to smell the smoke;


s: Oh, the Friday evening meetings, and the waiting 'round about,


s: When you walked home with an angel through a Paradise on earth.


s: Oh, the Friday evening meetings, and the happy homeward stroll,


s: When the farm work's done, at the set of sun,


s: And Ma, she sits on the porch and knits,


s: He's used ter me, and he knows, yer see,


s: And he knows the hedge by the brook's damp edge,


s: And he knows who waits by the pastur' gates--


s: So he stops, yer see, fer he thinks, like me,


s: Oh, he knows his road, and he knows his load--


s: No, he ain't the sort that the big-bugs sport,


s: But he suits us two, clean through and through,


s: When the cash I've saved brings the home we've craved,


s: He'll take us straight ter the parson's gate--


s: No noise but the thole-pins a-squeakin',


s: "And," says I, "All my life I've been fightin'


s: And "puff" came the breeze from the south;


s: And 'bout a mile off, by rough guessin',


s: My dream-ship's decks are of beaten gold,


s: And her fluttering banners are brave of hue,


s: And her shining sails are of satin fold,


s: And her tall sides gleam where the warm waves woo:


s: While the flung spray leaps in a diamond dew


s: From her bright bow, dipping its dance of glee;


s: For the skies are fair and the soft winds coo,


s: Where my dream-ship sails o'er the silver sea.


s: My dream-ship's journeys are long and bold,


s: And the ports she visits are far and few;


s: 'Mid the dear lost scenes my boyhood knew;


s: And Spain's fair turrets shine full in view,


s: Rare blooms that the old home gardens grew,


s: Sweet pictured faces, and loved songs trolled


s: By lips long laid 'neath the churchyard yew;


s: Hope holds the wheel all the lone watch through,


s: Heart's dearest, what though the storms may brew,


s: It's A wonderful world we're in, my dear,


s: Who spread their sails to the arctic gales,


s: While we must keep to the foot-path steep


s: For smooth is the road for the few, my dear,


s: Our feet are led where the millions tread,


s: Our steps are bound to the self-same round


s: A heart like thine, and a love like mine,


s: And we'll ease the pack on a brother's back


s: In the gleam and gloom of the April weather,


s: When the snows have flown in the brooklet's flood,


s: And the Showers and Sunshine sport together,


s: And the proud Bough boasts of the baby Bud;


s: On the hillside brown, where the dead leaves linger


s: In crackling layers, all crimped and curled,


s: She parts their folds with a timid finger,


s: The roystering West Wind flies to greet her,


s: And bids her haste, with a gleeful shout:


s: The quickening Saplings bend to meet her,


s: And the first green Grass-blades call, "Come out!"


s: So, venturing forth with a dainty neatness,


s: She comes once more in her fresh completeness,


s: Her fragrant petals, their beauties showing,


s: Creep out to sprinkle the hill and dell,


s: Like showers of Stars in the shadows glowing,


s: Or Snowflakes blossoming where they fell;


s: And the charmed Wood leaps into joyous blooming,


s: As though't were touched by a Fairy's ring,


s: And the glad Earth scents, in the rare perfuming,


s: The first sweet breath of the new-born Spring.


s: Come the dancing, glancing sunbeams, airy fairies of the May;


s: Till their jingle seems to mingle with the measure of my rhyme.


s: And the ripples softly splashing and the dashing of the seas;


s: And the ocean's sleepy tuning mocks the crooning in the pine;


s: See the clover bending over in a dew-bespangled mass;


s: And the old familiar places and the faces at the door.


s: Oh, the lazy days of boyhood, when the world was fair and new!


s: And my truant fancy straying, goes a-Maying as of old.


s: That cuts the cloud of the drifting dust,


s: When the joys of woods and fields begin,


s: He dreams of a nook by the world unguessed,


s: Lined with the fluff from the cattail's crest,


s: The marsh-hen builds, by the brooklet's edge,


s: He knows of the spot by the old stone wall,


s: And the sweet wild-cherry blooms softly fall,


s: And hid in the meadow-grass rank and tall,


s: He knows, where the sea-breeze sobs and sings,


s: The clamorous crows, with their whirring wings,


s: Tell of their treasure that sways and swings


s: For where is the boy who remembers school


s: Where the warm spring sunlight, streaming


s: With a softened silver sparkle in the dim and dusky hall,


s: And its blade, deep-bruised and battered,


s: Friend and foe--a gory tangle--tossed and torn by shot and shell.


s: Rode he proudly forth to conflict? What, I wonder, was his name?


s: Did some sweetheart look with longing for a love who never came?


s: But the grim old blade shall blossom on this mild Memorial Day;


s: For the memory of their heroes and the old swords on the wall.


s: Pavements a-frying in street and in square,


s: Mercury climbing the tube like a shot,--


s: Necktie and bosom and wristbands a wreck,


s: Handkerchief dripping and worn to a shred


s: Mopping and scouring my face and my head;


s: Back all afire with the prickles of heat,--


s: Dress me in naught but the thinnest of clothes,


s: Start up the windmill and turn on the hose:


s: If it should freeze me, why, that matters not,--


s: Brimstone and blazes! I tell you it's HOT!


s: Summer nights at Grandpa's--ain't they soft and still!


s: Just the curtains rustlin' on the window-sill,


s: And the wind a-blowin', warm and wet and sweet--


s: Smellin' like the meadows or the fields of wheat;


s: Just the bullfrogs pipin' in amongst the grass,


s: Where the water's shinin' like a lookin'-glass;


s: Just a dog a-barkin' somewheres up along,


s: So far off his yelpin' 's like a kind of song.


s: Summer nights at Grandpa's--hear the crickets sing,


s: And the water bubblin' down beside the spring;


s: Hear the cattle chewin' fodder in the shed,


s: Hear the "way-off noises," faint and awful far--


s: So mixed-up a feller do'n't know what they are--


s: But so sort er lazy that they seem ter keep


s: Sayin' over 'n' over, "Sonny, go ter sleep."


s: Summer nights at Grandpa's--ain't it fun ter lay


s: In the early mornin' when it's gettin' day--


s: When the sun is risin' and it's fresh and cool,


s: And you 're feelin' happy coz there ain't no school?--


s: When you hear the crowin' as the rooster wakes,


s: And you think of breakfast and the buckwheat cakes;


s: Sleepin' in the city's too much fuss and noise;


s: Summer nights at Grandpa's are the things for boys.


s: Come, with your hands all rich with stain


s: Come where the orchard spreads its store


s: Quick! they are waiting you here once more,--


s: One little cloud-ship becalmed and asleep;


s: Breezes all gone and the leaves hangin' still,


s: Shimmer of heat on the medder and hill,--Labor


s: "Hoe or the fishin'-pole--which'll it be?"


s: There's the old cornfield out there in the sun,


s: Showin' so plain that there's work ter be done;


s: There's the mean weeds with their tops all a-sprout,


s: Seemin' ter stump me ter come clean 'em out;


s: But, there's the river, so clear and so cool,


s: There's the white lilies afloat on the pool,


s: Scentin' the shade 'neath the old maple tree--


s: Dusty and dry droops the corn in the heat,


s: Gray squirrels chatter as if they might say:


s: "Who's the chump talkin' of _workin_' to-day?"


s: Robin's song tells how the pickerel wait


s: I ought ter make for that cornfield, I know:


s: But, "Where's the fishin'-pole? Hang the old hoe!"


s: Oh, the cool September mornin's! now they're with us once agin,


s: With the grasses wet and shinin', and the air so clear and thin,


s: When the cheery face of Natur' seems ter want ter let yer know


s: That she's done with lazy summer and is brimmin' full of "go";


s: When yer hear the cattle callin' and the hens a-singin' out,


s: And the pigeons happy cooin' as they flutter 'round about,


s: And there's snap and fire and sparkle in the way a feller feels,


s: Till he fairly wants ter holler and ter jump and crack his heels.


s: And the juicy Concord clusters are a-purplin' on the vine;


s: Now the crowd of cranb'r'y pickers, every mornin' as they pass,


s: Makes a feller think of turkey, with the usual kind of sass,


s: Till a roguish face a-smilin' 'neath a bunnit or a hat,


s: When _he_ went a cranb'r'y pickin' and a girl went with him, too.


s: And the earth and all that's on it seems a-bustin' inter rhyme


s: So's ter sing a big thanksgivin' fer the comin' harvest-time;


s: And I want ter jine the chorus and ter tell 'em fur and near


s: _They_ don't show how fat they 're growin'


s: Thought't was big ter chase and pick me,--


s: A stretch of hill and valley, swathed thick in robes of white,


s: The buildings blots of blackness, the windows gems of light,


s: A moon, now clear, now hidden, as in its headlong race


s: The north wind drags the cloud-wrack in tatters o'er its face;


s: Mailed twigs that click and clatter upon the tossing tree,


s: And, like a giant's chanting, the deep voice of the sea,


s: As 'mid the stranded ice-cakes the bursting breakers foam,--


s: The old familiar picture--a winter night at home.


s: The old familiar picture--the firelight rich and red,


s: The lamplight soft and mellow, the shadowed beams o'erhead;


s: And father with his paper, and mother, calm and sweet,


s: Mending the red yarn stockings stubbed through by careless feet.


s: The little attic bedroom, the window 'neath the eaves,


s: About the ice-fringed gables--the winter nights at home.


s: What would I give to climb them--those narrow stairs so steep,--


s: And reach that little chamber, and sleep a boy's sweet sleep!


s: What would I give to view it--that old house by the sea--


s: Filled with the dear lost faces which made it home for me!


s: The sobbing wind sings softly the song of long ago,


s: And in that country churchyard the graves are draped in snow;


s: Perhaps they know I'm dreaming of winter nights at home.


s: With the little feller's stockin' hangin' up beside the flue.


s: 'Tisn't silk, that little stockin', and it isn't much fer show,


s: And the darns are pretty plenty 'round about the heel and toe,


s: And the color's kind er faded, and it's sort er worn and old,


s: But it really is surprisin' what a lot of love 'twill hold;


s: And the little hand that hung it by the chimney there along


s: Has a grip upon our heartstrings that is mighty firm and strong;


s: So old Santy won't fergit it, though it isn't fine and new,--


s: That plain little worsted stockin' hangin' up beside the flue.


s: But whenever comes the season, jest so long's we've got a dime,


s: You know the story--it's centuries old--


s: How the Ant and the Grasshopper met, we're told,


s: On a blustering day, when the wind was cold


s: And the Grasshopper, being a careless blade,


s: Who all the summer had danced and played,


s: That the Grasshopper wore his summer clothes,


s: And the Ant, with a sealskin coat and hat,


s: Commanded the Grasshopper, brusque and flat,


s: To "Dance through the winter," and things like that,


s: Which he thought were "cute" and "smart."


s: But, mind you, the Ant, all summer long,


s: And had laughed with the rest of the happy throng


s: And he said to himself, as his cash he lent,


s: "The shif'less fool do'n't charge a cent,--


s: I've never been told how the pair came out--


s: The Grasshopper starved to death, no doubt,


s: And the Ant grew richer, and had the gout,


s: I know that it's better to save one's pelf,


s: And the Ant is considered a wise old elf,


s: But I like the Grasshopper more myself,--


s: Under the bank, where 't was dark and cool,


s: Just where the brook flowed out of the bog--


s: And do just nothing but croak and croak.


s: 'Till a Blackbird whistled: "I say, you know,


s: 'Tis a dismal world!" so he sadly spoke,


s: And voiced his woes in a mournful croak.


s: "But you're looking _down!_" the Blackbird said.


s: Look _up_, old fellow! Why, bless your soul,


s: You're looking down in a muskrat's hole!"


s: But still, with his gurgling sob and choke,


s: And a wise old Turtle, who boarded near,


s: Said to the Blackbird: "Friend, see here:


s: He's one of the kind who _won't_ be glad;


s: _I'll_ tell you something--and it's no joke--


s: Don't waste your pity on those who croak!"


s: How the mignonette's sweet blooming was perfuming all the walks,


s: By the edges of the hedges, where the spiders' webs were spun,


s: How the marigolds lay, yellow as the mellow summer sun


s: That made all the grass a-dapple 'neath the leafy apple tree,


s: Whence you heard the locust drumming and the humming of the bee;


s: I've seen the sun-rays turn the roof ter blist'rin', tarry coal;


s: I've seen the sunset flood the earth with streams of rosy light,


s: And every foot of sea-line specked with twinklin' sails of white;


s: A blind wind-devil overhead and hell let loose beneath.


s: And then ter watch the rollers pound on ledges, bars and rips,


s: And pray fer them that go, O Lord, down ter the sea in ships!


s: And often, through a night like that, I've waited fer the day


s: That broke and showed a lonesome sea, a sky all cold and gray;


s: That meant a woman waitin' fer a man who'd never come;


s: And all the drop of comfort in my sorrer I could git


s: Was this: "I done my best ter save; thank God, the lamp was lit."


s: It seems ter me that's all there is: jest do your duty right,


s: No matter if yer rule a land or if yer tend a light.


s: My lot is humble, but I've kept that lamp a-burnin' clear,


s: And so, I reckon, when I die I'll know which course ter steer;


s: The waves may roar around me and the darkness hide the view,


s: It stands at the bend where the road has its end,


s: And the sun flickers down to its gables of brown,


s: Through the sweet-scented boughs of the pine.


s: The roof-tree is racked and the windows are cracked,


s: For its portal so bare was a Paradise rare,


s: When a mother's dear face gave a charm to the place


s: And the breeze, as it strays through the window and plays


s: With the dust and the leaves on the floor,


s: And again in my ears, through the dream of the years,


s: The brother whose eyes were a glimpse of the skies,


s: And Father comes late to the path at the gate,


s: And the echoes ring out, at our welcoming shout,


s: But the night-wind has blown and the vision has flown,


s: And the shadowy mist, like a spirit, has kissed


s: But softly, afar, sing the waves on the bar,


s: A lullaby deep for the loved ones who sleep


s: When the tide goes out, how the foam-flakes dance


s: Through the wiry sedge-grass near the shore;


s: How the ripples spark in the sunbeam's glance,


s: As their beards of seaweed are tossed about,


s: Like giants who wake from a troubled dream


s: And laugh for joy when the tide goes out.


s: When the tide goes out, how the shining sands,


s: Like silver, glisten, and gleam, and glow;


s: How the sea-gulls whirl, in their joyous bands,


s: O'er the shoals where the breakers come and go!


s: With its clinging shells, seems a bar of jet,


s: Studded with pearls, when the tide goes out.


s: When the tide goes out, how the breezes blow


s: The nodding plumes of the pine-trees through;


s: How the far-off ships, like flakes of snow,


s: The Sea, as he moves in his slow retreat,


s: Like a warrior struggling for each redoubt,


s: But with flashing lances the sand-bars meet


s: And drive him back, when the tide goes out.


s: When the tide goes out, how each limpid pool


s: How the rills, like children set free from school,


s: The shore-birds cheerily call, the while


s: And the earth to laugh, when the tide goes out.


s: When the tide goes out, as the years roll by,


s: And I feel the chill of the depths that lie


s: Beyond the shoals where the breakers are,


s: "Hear! hear! hear! Hark to the word I bring!


s: Toilers upon the sea, list to the Bell-buoy's ring!


s: List, as I clash and clang! list, as I toss and toll!


s: Under me yawns the grave, under me lies the shoal


s: Where the whirling eddies wait to grapple the drowning crew,


s: And the hungry quicksand hides the bones of the ship it slew.


s: Swift on the outward tack! quick, to the seaward bear!


s: Toilers upon the sea, here is the shoal! Beware!"


s: "Hear! hear! hear! Hark to me, one and all!


s: Toilers upon the sea, list to the Fog-horn's call!


s: List to my buzzing cry! list, as I growl and groan:


s: Here is the sullen shore where the white-toothed breakers moan;


s: Where the silky ripples run with the wolf-like wave behind,


s: To leap on the struggling wreck and worry and gnaw and grind,


s: To toss on the cruel crag the dead with his streaming hair!


s: Toilers upon the sea, here are the rocks! Beware!"


s: "Hear! hear! hear! Hark to my stormy shriek!


s: Toilers upon the sea, the Whistling-buoy would speak!


s: List to my sobbing shout! list, for my word is brief:


s: Death is beneath me here! death on the sunken reef


s: Where the jagged ledge is hid and the slimy seaweeds grow,


s: And the long kelp streamers wave in the dark green depths below,


s: And then, o'er the silent sea, an answer from unseen lips,


s: A chorus of bell and horn, faint and afar and clear,--


s: "Thanks, O Guard of the Deep! Watchers, we hear! we hear!"


s: He gits no speech nor prayerful "preach"


s: A cloud of cinder-dotted smoke, whose billows rise and swell,


s: The dripping, rubber-coated form, scarce seen amid the murk,


s: Of Fireman Mike O'Rafferty attending to his work.


s: And then he seeks the window-frame, all sashless, blank and bare,


s: Then, standing on the slimy ledge, as narrow as his feet,


s: But Fireman Mike O'Rafferty can't stop to be afraid.


s: Sometimes he climbs long ladders, through a fiery, burning rain


s: To reach a pallid face that glares behind a crackling pane;


s: Sometimes he feels his foothold shake with giddy swing and sway,


s: And barely leaps to safety as the crashing roof gives way;


s: But sometime, somewhere, somehow, help may come a bit too late


s: For Fireman Mike O'Rafferty of Engine Twenty-eight.


s: And then the morning paper may have half a column filled


s: And all the small O'Raffertys go fatherless to bed


s: And he'll not be a hero, for, you see, he didn't fall


s: On some blood-spattered battle-field, slain by a rifle-ball;


s: But, maybe, on the other side, on God's great roll of fame,


s: Plain Fireman Mike O'Rafferty'll be counted just the same.


s: Light as the foam-flakes on the shore,--


s: From the garden path ter the old front gate,--


s: As the patterin' sound of them little bare feet.


s: Them little bare feet trot there with me,


s: And a shrill little voice I love'll say:


s: There's a spry little form somewheres on hand;


s: Is the welcomin' run of them little bare feet.


s: Oh, little bare feet! how deep you've pressed


s: Yer prints of love in my worn old breast!


s: And I sometimes think, when I come ter die,


s: 'Twill be lonesome-like in the by and by;


s: That little child's voice, so sweet and clear;


s: I'll miss the pat of them little bare feet.


s: Kind er _like_ a stormy day, take it all together,--


s: Don't believe I'd want it jest only pleasant weather;


s: If the sky was allers blue, guess I'd be complainin',


s: And a-pesterin' around, wishin' it was rainin'.


s: Like a stormy mornin' now, with the water dashin'


s: From the eaves and from the spouts, foamin' and a-splashin',


s: With the leaves and twigs around, shinin' wet and drippin',


s: Shakin' in the wind with drops every-which-way skippin'.


s: Like ter see the gusts of rain, where there's naught ter hinder,


s: Sail acrost the fields and come "spat" against the winder,


s: Streakin' down along the panes, floodin' sills and ledges,


s: Makin' little fountains, like, in the sash's edges.


s: Like ter see the brooks and ponds dimpled up all over,


s: Like ter see the di'mon's shine on the bendin' clover,


s: Like ter see the happy ducks in the puddles sailin'


s: And the stuck-up rooster all draggled, wet and trailin'.


s: But I like it best inside, with the fire a-gleamin',


s: And myself, with chores all done, settin' round and dreaming


s: With the kitten on my knee, and the kettle hummin',


s: And the rain-drops on the roof, "Home, Sweet Home" a-drummin'.


s: Kind er _like_ a stormy day, take it all together,


s: Don't believe I'd want it jest only pleasant weather;


s: If the sky was allers blue, guess I'd be complaining


s: And a-pesterin' around, wishin' it was rainin'.


s: When Twilight her soft robe of shadow spreads down.


s: When Evening is cooling the sweltering town,


s: And up in dim "Finnegan's Court," on the pavement,


s: Shut in by the loom of the tenement's wall,


s: 'Neath the swinging arc-light, on a warm summer's night,


s: They gather to dance at the hand-organ ball.


s: The costumes are varied, yet simple and free,


s: The ladies are gowned in their calicoes, fetching,


s: And coatless and cool are the gentlemen, all.


s: In a jacket, they say, one's not rated _au fait_


s: By the finicky guests at the hand-organ ball.


s: There's "Ikey," the newsboy, and "Muggsy" who "shines";


s: There's A. Lincoln Johnson, whose "Pa" kalsomines--


s: There's Rosy, the cash-girl, and Mame, who ties bundles,


s: And Maggie, who works in the factory, tall;


s: She's much in demand, for she "pivots so grand,"


s: She's really the belle of the hand-organ ball.


s: From his hurdy-gurdy the waltz is sublime;


s: His fair daughter Rosa, whose tambourine flies,


s: Is merrily thumping the rollicking time;


s: The Widow McCann pats the tune with her slipper,


s: The peanut-man hums as he peers from his stall,


s: To see the new steps at the hand-organ ball.


s: The concert-hall tune echoes down the dark street,


s: The mothers lean out from the windows to see,


s: While soft sounds the pat of the dancers' bare feet,


s: And tenement babies crow loud in their glee;


s: And labor-worn fathers are laughing and chatting,--


s: Forgot for an hour is grim poverty's thrall;--


s: There's joy here to-night, 'neath the swinging arc-light,


s: In "Finnegan's Court," at the hand-organ ball.


s: Make my life sweet with thoughts of her,


s: Climb to my knee, little boy, little boy,--


s: Where the cloud-hills rise in the western skies,


s: O'er the rosy sea, where the purple isles


s: To the fleecy height of the great cloud, white,


s: You may catch a gleam of the twinkling light


s: It's a wonderful place, little boy, little boy,


s: Where the slightest breeze through the candy trees


s: Where the fountains sprinkle their lemonade


s: And they pave each street with a goody, sweet,


s: It's a children's town, little boy, little boy,


s: Where "grown-ups" stay who are heard to say,


s: And half of the time it is Fourth of July,


s: With plenty of toys that will make a noise,


s: For Santa is king of this realm of joys,


s: Shall I tell you the way, little boy, little boy,


s: When you're snug in bed, and your prayers are said,


s: And wait till the sleepy old Sandman comes


s: O'er the sea of rose to the cloud, remote,


s: Ye children of the mountain, sing of your craggy peaks,


s: Your valleys forest laden, your cliffs where Echo speaks;


s: And ye, who by the prairies your childhood's joys have seen,


s: Sing of your waving grasses, your velvet miles of green:


s: But when my memory wanders down to the dear old home


s: I hear, amid my dreaming, the seething of the foam,


s: The wet wind through the pine trees, the sobbing crash and roar,


s: The mighty surge and thunder of the surf along the shore.


s: I see upon the sand-dunes the beach-grass sway and swing,


s: I see the whirling sea-birds sweep by on graceful wing,


s: I see the silver breakers leap high on shoal and bar,


s: And hear the bell-buoy tolling his lonely note afar.


s: The green salt-meadows fling me their salty, sweet perfume,


s: I hear, through miles of dimness, the watchful fog-horn boom;


s: Once more, beneath the blackness of night's great roof-tree high,


s: The dear old Cape! I love it! I love its hills of sand,


s: The sea-wind singing o'er it, the seaweed on its strand;


s: The bright blue ocean 'round it, the clear blue sky o'erhead;


s: I hear the mighty music of the surf along the shore.


s: The waves are pressed to the placid breast


s: And the muffled beat where the breakers meet


s: The great sun sinks, and the gray fog heaps


s: The night-wind creeps where the ocean sleeps,


s: A cloud of cinder-dotted smoke, whose billows rise and swell


s: A solemn Sabbath stillness lies along the Mudville lanes


s: A stretch of hill and valley, swathed thick in robes of white


s: Almost every other evenin', jest as reg'lar as the clock


s: "Blessed are the poor in spirit": there, I'll just remember that


s: Climb to my knee, little boy, little boy,--


s: For years I've seen the frothy lines go thund'rin' down the shore


s: From the window of the chapel softly sounds an organ's note


s: Home from college came the stripling, calm and cool and debonair


s: I hain't no great detective, like yer read about,--the kind


s: I remember, when a youngster, all the happy hours I spent


s: I s'pose I hain't progressive, but I swan, it seems ter me


s: I'll write, for I'm witty, a popular ditty


s: I'm pretty nearly certain that 't was 'bout two weeks ago,--


s: I've got a little yaller dog, a wuthless kind of chap


s: In the gleam and gloom of the April weather


s: It's a wonderful world we're in, my dear


s: It's alone in the dark of the old wagon-shed


s: It's getting on ter winter now, the nights are crisp and chill


s: It stands at the bend where the road has its end


s: Just a simple little picture of a sunny country road


s: Kind er _like_ a stormy day, take it all together,--


s: Me and Billy's in the woodshed; Ma said, "Run out-doors and play;


s: My dream-ship's decks are of beaten gold


s: My sister's best feller is 'most six-foot-three


s: My son Hezekiah's a painter; yes, that's the purfession he's at;


s: Now Councilman O'Hoolihan do'n't b'lave in annixation


s: O you boys grown gray and bearded, you that used ter chum with me


s: Oh, the cool September mornin's! now they 're with us once agin


s: Oh, the Friday evening meetings in the vestry, long ago


s: Oh! the horns are all a-tootin' as we rattle through the town


s: Oh, the story-book boy! he's a wonderful youth


s: On a log behind the pigsty of a modest little farm


s: Our Sary Emma is possessed ter be at somethin' queer;


s: Pavements a-frying in street and in square


s: Sometimes when we're in school, and it's the afternoon and late


s: South Pokus is religious,--that's the honest, livin' truth;


s: Summer nights at Grandpa's--ain't they soft and still!


s: Up in the attic I found them, locked in the cedar chest


s: _We'd_ never thought of takin' 'em,--'twas Mary Ann's idee,--


s: When Ezry, that's my sister's son, came home from furrin parts


s: When the farm work's done, at the set of sun


s: When the Lord breathes his wrath above the bosom of the waters


s: When the tide goes out, how the foam-flakes dance


s: When Twilight her soft robe of shadow spreads down


s: Where the warm spring sunlight, streaming


s: Ye children of the mountain, sing of your craggy peaks


s: You know the story--it's centuries old--


s: From the encouragement extended to our worthy publisher on the


s: Eliza obeyed, and when she returned several hours after, her face


s: Call back the yearning which would follow where


s: Around thy living ones; they need thy care.


s: But let it bring a thought of peace and rest;


s: That I am with the perfect and the blest.


s: For, though thou dost along life's desert roam,


s: Shall guide thee, through the darkness, to thy home


s: instrument to advance noble and beneficent aims,--when we are the


s: "Hope, like the rainbow, a creature of light,


s: It may be said that we scarcely live in the present. =Memory=, in


s: mortification, and greatly to the horror of their pious father.


s: muskets. The children were questioned concerning the village, the


s: Two months passed away; all the Indian women in the village were


s: Oh, it was a sorrowful thing to them to part with their little


s: It was Sabbath noon when the children arrived in sight of their


s: Oh, there was joy in that village that night again and again the


s: The sermon which was so happily interrupted by the return of the


s: ornament, or the disgrace, of any place. Yes, Boston is not, in


s: appearance or in fact, what it once was.


s: But again I am digressing too far from the story.


s: blasphemous, wicked word. He had uttered his _first oath._ The


s: And when her friends and mates came near


s: And flashed their waves in the glad sunlight,


s: The fountains _Pride_, and _Sin_, and _Wrong_,


s: And still she mourned, and still was sad,


s: And when she 'd drunk, and still would drink


s: _Goodness of heart, and speech, and life_,


s: Strange and almost horror-struck as I felt, I did not scream out,


s: I cannot tell how delighted I was with this suggestion, nor how


s: There is another shadow which you and I, and all of us, are


s: Will neither be worshipped exclusively here.


s: For God is a spirit, and they, who aright


s: Would perform the pure worship he loveth


s: In the heart's holy temple will seek with delight


s: In after time Shechem became the chief seat of the people who


s: _Sophronia_. Come, girls, let us go and have our fortunes told.


s: _Eveline_. Oh! I should like it of all things; where shall we go?


s: _Sarah_. Oh, but you know this is only for amusement.


s: _Eveline_. Of course, we shall not believe a word she says.


s: _Sophronia_. Well, I am sure I am not credulous.


s: _Sophronia_. Oh, fudge! Mary Ann. This is altogether too bad and


s: _Eveline, Sarah, Sophronia_. Certainly not.


s: _Mary Ann_. Do you suppose she thinks you believe so?


s: _Sophronia_. I doubt whether it is really benevolent.


s: _Sophronia_. None at all, Mary Ann. It is time wasted, and I am


s: _Mary Ann. (Takes her hand and looks at it intently.)


s: _Eveline_. Now tell me a pleasant fortune, Mary Ann.


s: Lively and loving, I would not chide thee,


s: Do thou thy duty, and joy shall betide thee.


s: We were all happy then. Even Ellen smiled as she kissed her dear


s: To become a childless mother is indeed one of the most severe


s: They were interrupted by the entrance of the oldest child of the


s: That mighty power which points the shaft,


s: Towards the sea is a cave, where it has been supposed that Elijah


s: travellers, when another, to be raised above, will be exclusively


s: "Have you hurt you?" exclaimed Annie, as she sprung to her side.


s: "There now," said the good dame; "don't you feel better?"


s: "No," said Annie, raising her head, for she had been thinking


s: earnestly; every word that her kind friend had spoken went with a


s: What lessons I did get! Whole chapters were recited from the New


s: "You know it's strawberry time, mother, don't you?"


s: "And what does Nelly want of a heap of money?"


s: Shall I tell how the long summer afternoon wore away, dear little


s: It was a pleasant walk under the drooping trees, and Nelly Grey,


s: "Let me carry your basket; it is too heavy for you."


s: The tears ran silently down the poor widow's cheek as she led the


s: "Oh no, Phil! I only did what anybody else would have done."


s: "_Anybody_? You know _I_ didn't want to Nelly," said Phil sadly.


s: "Oh, never mind _that_, Phil; you did afterward, you know."


s: "No, only Frisk's name;" and she turned to examine it with Phil.


s: "Why, Phil, I never saw it before; isn't it queer?"


s: He wrote his gospel at Ephesus, and, by his labors, the truths of


s: Children, will you think of that precept?


s: speaking; we had a few _real_ flowers, and some hardy girls even


s: These are the memories that come over me when I look out upon the


s: The bird glanced through the clear, blue air,


s: And where the bland and warm south-wind,


s: The stem sprang up--there waved a flower,--


s: treatment, the bursting forth of a happy nature in spite of man's


s: While threat'ning clouds the skies o'erspread.


s: Just like the friend, whose brightest smile


s: Through scenes of sorrow, care and strife;


s: that appears.--_Language_.--"I am not a summer friend."]


s: Where "old Blue" mountain's healthful breeze


s: There verdant fields and murm'ring brooks


s: Caused my young thoughts from earth to rise


s: When woo'd 'midst tumult, noise and strife,


s: While through my top the breezes played.


s: They said 'twould greatly soothe their woes


s: While forked lightnings round me played;


s: 'Twill not disgrace thee--none are near,


s: Behold that path wind through the grass,


s: Sweet flowers that shun thy gloomy shade,


s: Should all the streamlets cease to flow,


s: Were there no brooks, there'd be no bread--


s: Would cease to chant their notes of love.


s: That thy proud head would soon lie low,--


s: Thou 'dst fade and wither, droop and die,


s: Reared 'midst fair Franklin's hills and dells,


s: Then grasp the plough and till the soil--


s: It yields rich fruit, and corn, and oil,


s: The ox, or steer, which draws the plough.


s: 'Twould wound their pride--destroy their peace;


s: Their flaunting garments, light and frail,


s: Soon, soon, they'd come with humbled pride,


s: Should farmers their rich stores withhold,


s: Their lily hands would soon grow cold;--


s: No more their lips would curl with scorn,


s: At him who grows and brings them corn;---


s: Will tune their harps and chant their song,


s: The armies of Isr'el round Mount Sinai stood,


s: And heard, 'midst its thunders, the voice of their God;


s: All silent and awe-struck they heard the command--


s: "Bring unto the Lord the first fruits of your land."


s: These words are as sacred, their import the same--


s: As when they came pealing through Sinai's dread flame,--


s: The banner of Jesus should soon be unfurled,


s: And waving in triumph all over the world.


s: Salvation's glad tidings! Oh send them abroad!


s: And tell the poor pagan that there is a God!


s: Let those who are toiling in dark heathen lands,


s: Find Christians all ready to strengthen their hands.


s: Yet let not your gifts and your offerings all roam;--


s: He's spending his strength and his life in the cause,--


s: From wells of salvation pure water he draws.


s: The wells are our Father's, but still they're so deep,


s: That shepherds are needed to water the sheep;


s: And shall they thus labor and toil for our good,


s: And we not supply them with clothing and food?


s: How can we still hope that our souls are new born,


s: And muzzle the oxen which tread out the corn!--


s: Did God care for oxen, or did he say thus,


s: Designing to give some instruction to us?


s: St. Paul has explained it and told what to do--


s: "Who preaches the gospel must live of it too;"


s: Some say, were we able we'd give with delight;


s: But think of the widow who cast in her mite!


s: What though we've no money to pamper our pride,


s: She kept not a penny for wants unsupplied;


s: Yet Jesus beheld her and sanction'd the deed,


s: And promis'd in future to shield her from need.


s: Cast your bread on the waters; obey the command,--


s: The Lord will restore it; His promise will stand;


s: Who give unto these, in the name of the Lord,


s: A cup of cold water, shall have their reward.


s: Then joined their hands in wedlock there.


s: Till heaven's high arch with music rang.


s: The words you breathed have reached his ear;


s: Wilt thou, the bridegroom, till the end,


s: Still prove the fair one's faithful friend,


s: She trusts her fragile bark with thee,--


s: Till these fair forms turn back to dust.


s: Where death's pale shade is resting now;--


s: Well, well may grief suffuse your eyes,--


s: When tempest toss'd on life's rough sea.


s: Each art, which thy fond care has tried,


s: Pale death has robbed your household band


s: As throbbed in that which now lies still.


s: Those eyes, which such pure love revealed,


s: In death's deep slumbers now are sealed;


s: But I have watched the cloud that fades,


s: While earth was wrapped in twilight shades,


s: By beauties which the heavens displayed;


s: The stars shone out from depths profound,


s: To this pale form, clasped in his arras.


s: May still be hov'ring, while they sleep,


s: "We lay her in the earth, and from her fair


s: And unpolluted flesh may violets spring."


s: And flowers, which thou didst love so well,


s: mouths, between the ages of 15 and 21 years.


s: Where dwelt the bright eyed laughing boy;


s: The son, just launched on manhood's tide,


s: He smiles and cheers each weeping friend;


s: Faith, love and grief, their bosoms fill,


s: Do'nt weep for me, dear mourning friends,


s: While this dread truth their bosoms fill,


s: The long feared fatal hour draws near,--


s: Deep silence hushed the mourning throng,


s: That name her infant tongue first learned,


s: Voracious grave! thou ne'er wast cloy'd!


s: Though far from home and those dear friends


s: Which soothe his grief and crown his bliss,


s: While heav'nly peace reigned in his breast;


s: Dear mourning friends, now dry your tears;


s: My mind is free from doubts and fears,--


s: Well pleased, he leaves this vale of woe,


s: And blissful scenes at God's right hand.


s: Could be more sweet than these dear flowers


s: And nurse them through succeeding years,


s: Where placed by these fair youthful hands,--


s: Bloom on, sweet flow'rs, while yet you may;


s: Which passed from earth while skies seemed fair,


s: 'Neath summer skies these flow'rs will fade--


s: When Gabriel's trump shall rend the sky,


s: They'll leave this dull, this earthly sod,


s: Where frost and mildew ne'er can blight;


s: planted by two youthful sisters a short time before their


s: Composed on the death of Mrs. Mary M. West, of Jay.


s: Dear Mary, while thou art in heaven, at rest,


s: We're mourning thy absence, bereft and depressed;


s: For thou wert so faithful, so winning and kind,


s: That our hearts' ev'ry fibre around thee entwined.


s: How oft have we listened, unwilling to part,


s: While sweet heavenly music gushed forth from thy heart,


s: Till angels in glory, well pleased with the strain,


s: The sound of thy voice we can never forget,


s: Thy last parting smile sweetly lingers here yet;


s: And since thy freed spirit to heaven was borne,


s: Our hearts crave the boon o'er thy mem'ry to mourn.


s: Adieu, dearest Mary, thy spirit has flown


s: To those blissful regions where tears are unknown;


s: No trials assail thee, no troubles or fears,--


s: The smile of thy Savior has dried up thy tears.


s: No more shalt thou weep o'er thy dear Henry, dead--


s: For now by his side thou art resting thy head;


s: Thou now dost behold him in glory above.


s: But Jesus, thy Savior, outvies him in love.


s: Transported with joy, with thy Savior at rest,


s: Though angels are singing, you'll praise him the best.


s: Bright glories, unfolding, still burst on thy view--


s: The song thou art chanting will ever be new.


s: Thy sun at its zenith on earth ceased to shine,


s: But beams with new lustre in regions divine;


s: For ages eternal 't will ever shine on--


s: Still gath'ring new splendor from God's dazzling throne.


s: Occasioned by the sudden death of J.W.N.


s: The short lived, fragrant, vernal flower,


s: Which shone and vanished from the sight--


s: Why heaves the breast with bursting sighs?


s: His mental powers were deep and clear,--


s: Each word he spake, their grief to quell,


s: And prayed for garments white and clean,


s: His voice passed like the zephyr's breath,


s: One were their hopes, their joys, their fears,


s: Through adverse scenes they struggled long,


s: Which rendered nature's ties more strong,


s: Bathe her parched lips, and aching head,


s: She'll range the paths where they have strayed,


s: She'll view the grave, and that will say


s: There's naught within but mould'ring clay,


s: That much loved form she'll see no more,


s: "Long years we watched our lovely plant,


s: To those bright realms where dwells their friend,


s: And from their lips we soon should hear,


s: Oh, Edward, dear Edward! how precious that sound,


s: I seek for an equal--it cannot be found;


s: In tones soft and pensive it visits my ear,--


s: I fain would believe thou art hovering near.


s: Since thy happy spirit to heaven has fled,


s: Art thou with me by day, by night round my bed?


s: I visit thy grave and bedew it with tears,


s: To share in my sorrow, no Edward appears.


s: On earth 't was thy pleasure to soothe all my grief,


s: To wipe off my tears and to bring me relief;


s: Thy heart's warm affections were lavished on me,


s: I've spent happy moments conversing with thee.


s: My counselor, playmate, my guide, and my friend,


s: On whom I might always in safety depend,


s: In paths of fair virtue my feet thou hast led,


s: Where vice, that foul monster, dares not show his head.


s: Nor was all thy kindness bestowed upon one;


s: Thy dear honored parents drank deep of thy love,


s: None ever shared more but thy Father above.


s: Thy father now sinks 'neath a burden of woe,


s: His once brilliant eyes now with tears overflow;


s: Thy mother sits weeping, thy fond brothers sigh,


s: The dear little children cease playing and cry.


s: Fair nature is wearing a mantle of gloom,


s: Deep sorrow sits brooding all round our sweet home;


s: The soft venial zephyrs come sighing along,


s: The streamlets are murm'ring a sad, mournful song.


s: The gray twilight shades come attended with gloom,


s: While like a dark pall they encircle thy tomb;


s: When soft showers descend, something whispers to me,


s: That tears from the clouds are descending for thee.


s: No star spangled heavens nor cool shady bowers,


s: No deep ancient forest or fair fragrant flowers


s: Can fill up the void that I feel in my breast,


s: Although thou art tuning thy harp with the blest.


s: In dreams I behold thee when I am asleep,


s: It cheers up my spirits and I cease to weep;


s: Enshrined in my heart thy fair image shall dwell,


s: I'll keep it there always, I love it so well.


s: Which drooped beneath affliction's blow,


s: The hand that dressed these locks with care,


s: And 'ranged them 'round that brow so fair,


s: And closed those eyes, whose radiant beams


s: Yet whisp'ring still, were but faint gleams


s: Farewell, dear friend, these locks I'll keep,


s: "I am in a strait betwixt two, let the will of the Lord be


s: Life's trials and dangers will all soon be o'er,


s: I feel myself nearing the heavenly shore,


s: I'm weary of wand'ring, oh! fain would I rest


s: With Jesus, my Savior, and sleep on his breast.


s: I'm weary and thirsty, my spirit has flown


s: Almost to that river which bursts from the throne;--


s: I'd range its fair borders, and plunge in its flood,


s: And join with the angels in praising my God.


s: I'd rest in the shade of that tree, growing near,


s: Which yields its rich fruit every month in the year;


s: Its leaves are so healing, no sickness comes there,


s: To mar the new song as it floats through the air.


s: I think of the rest in those regions above,--


s: My soul spreads her pinions and soars like a dove,--


s: Yet I'm drawn back to earth by one tender tie,


s: Which oft clogs my wings;--then, oh! how can I fly!


s: I think of New England, my fair native land,


s: The friends of my childhood, that dear faithful band,


s: Who're waiting to greet me with hearts full of love,


s: Not knowing my bark will cast anchor above.


s: To see me, my kindred impatiently wait,--


s: I think of those dear ones,--my soul's in a strait,--


s: My father, my mother, my dear orphan son,--


s: Oh Lord, decide for me, let thy will be done'


s: Where have they laid thee down to sleep?


s: Where sunbeams through green branches play,


s: Though monsters should that form devour,


s: 'Twill rise in beauty, strength and power;


s: That voice, which rends the tombs and graves,


s: While, quick as thought, to join the song,


s: Then come, dear friends, and choose the path


s: What caused this stubborn heart to melt?


s: Must those bright hopes prove false and vain?


s: "There's joy in Heaven," the angels sing,


s: Though that brave heart was cased in steel.


s: Which flashed forth wrath that all might feel,


s: Though long she'd wept and quaked with fear,


s: As her light footsteps pressed the ground,


s: "What sent thee here, my love?" he cried,


s: Seemed caught from radiant orbs on high,


s: "Like a lost sheep I have gone astray."--_Psalms_.


s: "And the vail of the temple was rent in twain."--_Scripture_.


s: Come, with your guilt and sin oppressed,


s: In Christ there's pardon, peace and rest;


s: When Christ, the heavenly lamb, was slain.


s: Where those sainted parents watched thee,


s: Come, range New England's verdant hills,


s: 'Twill tinge thy cheeks with brighter bloom,


s: What though our leaves will fade and fall.


s: Come home to New England, the land of thy birth,


s: All nations still call her the queen of the earth.


s: Oh! come with thy partner and sweet rosy child,


s: Where friends in life's morning, around you have smiled.


s: Come, gather wild flowers, from the brookside and dell,


s: And fruit from the orchard you once loved so well,


s: And feast on the sugar, fresh made from the grove,


s: Where you and your brothers delighted to rove.


s: Come, sit in the shade of the clustering vine,


s: Whose tendrils around the old elm tree entwine.


s: Come, range o'er the intervale, island and plain,


s: And live o'er the days of thy boyhood again.


s: Thy Father in heaven seems acting his part,


s: He keeps those alive, once so dear to thy heart.


s: Thy brothers and sisters, and nieces a score,


s: And nephews, are waiting to greet thee once more.


s: Our Susan, the baby that clung to thy knee,


s: And prattled around thee in infantine glee,


s: Has grown up, she's married and two blooming boys


s: Have stirred in her bosom a fountain of joys.


s: You start and exclaim, can the story be true!


s: I fear that you'll stay till she's _grandmother_, too.


s: You've staid for our infants to grow up and wed,


s: Our young men are old, our old ones are dead.


s: Yes, white hairs are clustering round many a crown,


s: Which wore, when you left them, rich tresses of brown.


s: One dear faithful sister has faded-and died,


s: Don't stay till the others both lie by her side.


s: At night I behold thee, I laugh and I weep,


s: Alas! I awake, 'tis the vision of sleep;


s: Disheartened with pleading, and pleading in vain,


s: I saw the tear trembling in sister's blue eye,


s: In bright smiles she vailed it, full well I knew why.


s: That moment stern duty had called us to part,


s: Emotion was struggling for vent in her heart.


s: She asked, "will some angel in mercy descend,


s: And from all afflictions each loved one defend?


s: Or must pain and sickness make sweet home forlorn?


s: Will death send an arrow, ere I shall return?"


s: Dear sister, my thoughts did in unison flow,


s: My heart will be with you wherever you go;


s: And sleep brings refreshment when dreaming of thee.


s: "Be cheerful," thou saidst; that sweet sentence I heard,


s: Though filled with emotion, I spake not a word;


s: 'Twas music, more soothing than steals through the trees


s: With green tresses waving in twilight's cool breeze.


s: "Be cheerful," thou saidst, when about to depart.


s: In tones that said plainly, we come from the heart.


s: We think of thee sister, when absent or here,


s: And wish not thine eye to be dimmed by a tear.


s: "Be cheerful," thou saidst, but, O how can I be,


s: When thou, my dear sister, art absent from me?


s: Sweet home looks so vacant, so lonely and drear,


s: I cannot be cheerful as when thou art here.


s: "Be cheerful," thou saidst, when about to depart,


s: And conscious that grief was oppressing my heart.


s: I thank thee, my sister, thy counsel was good,


s: I fain would obey thee, I wish that I could.


s: Receive, dear friend, these parting lines,


s: In fancy's dreams, I'll oft be with thee,


s: The pleasing thought my heart shall cheer.


s: The home of thy childhood thou didst not forget,


s: The friends which dwelt with thee are dear to thee yet,


s: Thy warm friendly greeting betokens it now,


s: The smile of pure friendship still beams from thy brow.


s: I knew that thy heart was so faithful and true,


s: Thou wouldst not forget, though thou bad'st us adieu;


s: For thou didst rejoice with us when we were blest,


s: And sympathize with us, however distressed.


s: Say, wilt thou remember us, while thou dost live,


s: And cherish our virtues, our frailties forgive?


s: O think of us always, where'er thou dost roam,


s: For thy living image dwells ever at home.


s: But there is a home which is better than this,


s: The inmates all drink at the fountain of bliss;


s: A friend, than a father or mother more dear,


s: More close than a brother, this friend will adhere.


s: Wouldst find that blest home? go, and follow the road,


s: Which Christ and the prophets have marked out, to God;


s: The Spirit will teach you, and guide, lest you stray,


s: While legions of angels shall throng round your way.


s: While that bland smile o'erspread thy features,


s: With what a boyant step thou'dst meet me,


s: And, when fatigued, I sought retirement,


s: And strew my couch with fragrant flowers.


s: Come, let thy smiles and songs delight us,


s: Our garden walks would be most pleasant,


s: Far back, through the vista of long buried years,


s: I look through this valley of sorrow and tears;


s: Like pictures, in bright glowing colors displayed,


s: The scenes of my life's rosy morn are portrayed.


s: An image, the foreground presents to my sight,


s: Which shed o'er my pathway its radiant light;


s: An image of him who first held my soft hand,


s: And shouted with joy when his sister could stand;


s: From him, I first caught the sweet magical art


s: Of turning to language, the thoughts of my heart;


s: When first to the school-house he went as my guide.


s: His heart swelled with pleasure, affection and pride.


s: Delighted, we ranged o'er the hillside, in spring,


s: And listened with rapture to hear the birds sing;


s: Then stopped in the pasture to see the lambs play,


s: As frolicsome, cheerful, and happy as they.


s: We ranged o'er the meadow, the forest, and bowers,


s: Picked berries for mother, and gathered wild flowers,


s: Dear brother, how oft by the rosebush we sat,


s: While you caught the butterflies under your hat.


s: With gay happy hearts to the woodland we strayed,


s: When autumn its rich pensive beauty displayed;


s: The robin was chanting her sweet farewell song,


s: While blithe little squirrels went skipping along.


s: Those bright little rogues which the husbandmen scorn,


s: Sly'd into their holes with their cheeks full of corn;


s: The clear mellow sunlight, in quivering streams,


s: Sent through the tall tree tops its roseate beams.


s: Jack Frost and October, when evenings grew cold,


s: Had drest up the forest in crimson and gold;


s: The bright leaves were borne on the wings of the breeze,


s: While we picked up beach-nuts from under the trees.


s: When trees were all leafless, and snow-clad the ground,


s: Sweet pleasures at home in our cottage we found;


s: 'Round our bright blazing fire, we'd work, read, or play,


s: And find sweet employment to fill up each day.


s: And when evening came, the old hearth we'd surround,


s: While you cracked the nuts, which in autumn we found,


s: I tended my kittens, and made up their bed,


s: You made them a yoke and a nice little sled.


s: We heard the hens cackle, and thought we were blest,


s: You flew to the hayloft, and found a full nest,


s: Then caught up the treasure, and smiled as you run,


s: With a hat full of eggs, and a head full of fun.


s: We ran on the snow-crust like fleet nimble deer,


s: Until our fair cheeks would like rosebuds appear.


s: If Hiram, my brother, for company stayed.


s: O, then we were happy in winter or spring,


s: Yes, happier far than the happiest king.


s: You grew up to manhood, and left your old home,


s: I ne'er can forget how it made my heart grieve,


s: When you of the precious old homestead took leave;


s: I feared that with business and cares overrun,


s: You'd soon cease to love me as once you had done;


s: And earth would be shrouded in sadness and gloom,


s: If I, in your heart, could not always find room.


s: Though care leaves a shadow on thy manly brow,


s: Thy heart's warm affections are mirrored there now.


s: But when you are with me a brief space to stay,


s: I'm all the while thinking you'll soon go away;


s: Yet we shall soon meet in a far distant land,


s: God grant it may be at the Savior's right hand.


s: Deep mutt'ring thunders soon were heard,


s: Loud thunders through the forest pealed;


s: Exclaiming, "we'll soon reach the field,


s: Dear sister, though absent, your image is bright,


s: It dwells in my heart and prompts me to write;


s: Your health, is it blooming, your spirits in cheer?


s: You know 'twould rejoice me, such tidings to hear.


s: The din of the village, and hum of the mill,


s: Can they charm my sister like our quiet vale?


s: Does our little cottage seem humble and mean,


s: Embosomed with trees, and surrounded with green?


s: Like father and mother, are those where you dwell?


s: Like brothers and sisters who love you so well?


s: Or do you look forward and sigh for that hour,


s: When we shall all meet in your jessamine bower?


s: Where vines that you planted, will wave o'er your head,


s: And nature's green carpet sweet odors will shed;


s: Each cool breeze is playing with flowers growing near,


s: Which sister has planted, our spirits to cheer.


s: Your roses and lilacs, among the pine trees,


s: Are swarming with butterflies, humbirds, and bees;


s: I view them each morning, all spark'ling with dew,


s: And fancy they're emblems of sisters like you.


s: Come home and do housework, tend poultry and flowers,


s: At noontide recline in our cool shady bowers;


s: Could not such employment still yield you delight,


s: Where birds are all singing from morning till night?


s: Soon summer is coming, your flow'rets will bloom,


s: And spread new enchantments around your old home;


s: Our grove by the river in beauty is drest,


s: The Whippowil's notes sweetly soothe us to rest.


s: The sun, in mild splendor, sinks down in the west,


s: Encircling with glory the old mountain's crest;


s: The clouds o'er his head glow with purple and gold,


s: The river is catching the tinge of each fold.


s: The scene would be lovely, if sister was here,


s: But now I'm so lonely, it looks sad and drear;


s: The beauties of nature are losing their charms,


s: No more to divert me, till clasped in your arms.


s: But I'm growing weary, I'll draw to a close,


s: And seek for refreshment in needful repose;


s: If this, from a sister can give you delight,


s: Retire to your chamber, this evening, and write.


s: Adieu, my dear sister, until your return


s: Sweet home will be dreary, and almost forlorn;


s: May God be your guide, your supporter and stay,


s: Directing your footsteps, wherever you stray.


s: Dear sister, when they called thee bride,


s: When thou must leave thy childhood's home.


s: When, through that sweet refreshing shower


s: Pale trembling fingers sweep the strings


s: Shared all my pastimes, hopes, and fears.


s: Whilst I have tried, with beating heart,


s: But oft I fear, lest these dread showers


s: And tinge her cheek with bloom once more.


s: I've watched, till morn's unwelcome light,


s: When there's one sweet melodious strain,


s: Though from our eyes the tear-drop starts,


s: Bright scenes were to her view displayed.


s: Well pleased, she hears their grateful songs,


s: Her burning temples throbbed with pain,--


s: Whence art thou, frail, wand'ring stranger,


s: Or, wouldst thou our hearts be cheering,


s: I've ranged the bright streamlet in childhood's blest hour,


s: And culled from its borders spring's loveliest flowers,


s: Then bound up my bouquet, all glitt'ring with dew,


s: And smiled on my treasure as homeward I flew.


s: I've seen the sweet violet deck the green sod,


s: All fresh from the hand of a bountiful God,


s: While soft whisp'ring zephyrs breathed this in my ear,


s: "The wisdom of God in these blossoms appear."


s: I've looked on the mayflower, spring's earliest child,--


s: It peeped from the snowdrift and modestly smiled;


s: I've plucked the fair lily, arrayed in fair white,


s: And drank in its fragrance with heartfelt delight.


s: Yet blossoms that smile in the green woodland bower,


s: Ne'er rival this sweet intellectual flower;


s: This blossom sprang up from the depths of the mind,--


s: The heart's thrilling fibres its tendrils entwine,


s: Affection's pure fountain has watered the germ,


s: The bright sun of intellect cherished its form,


s: It's petals were colored in fancy's rich dye,


s: Till they, with the hues of the rainbow may vie;


s: I'll pluck thee, sweet blossom, pure fragrance I find,


s: When the rich perfumes are inhaled by the mind.


s: In dense dark folds, clouds hang around,


s: And flits around earth's brighter things,


s: "This earth is not all sighs and tears."


s: Whose notes were hushed all winter long,


s: Whose genial warmth revives the flowers.


s: Like budding flowers where thorns once grew,


s: Where all was dark, and drear, and wild,


s: 'Tis like the smile that beams through tears,


s: Roamed o'er those hills of graceful form,


s: Which came, soft stealing through the trees


s: "Shall these bright waves go dancing on,


s: Who throws his strength and skill away?"


s: Neat tasteful dwellings soon were reared,


s: Sweet hills and dales, all robed in green,


s: In quest of birds' nests, fruit, and flowers.


s: They'll range those hills and vallies o'er,


s: The hill, with oak and elm trees crowned.


s: With solemn awe they'd stand and tremble;


s: Than all their works, they'd own this greater,


s: But wherefore weave such strains as these,


s: And wouldst thou, sweet minstrel, if earth should unfold


s: To thee all her treasures of silver and gold,


s: Resign all thy riches, thy wealth, fame and power,


s: To sing like the birds in the green woodland bower?


s: Like thee, dear Amelia, I love the wild bird,


s: Their soft melting strains, at grey twilight, I've heard;


s: The whippowils, then, on the cool zephyr's wing,


s: Their clear pensive notes in rich harmony fling.


s: I listen each morning with heartfelt delight,


s: While birds bid adieu to the shadows of night.


s: And greet in sweet anthems the bright king of day,


s: As they through the forest are soaring away.


s: Yet thy flowing numbers, when breathing around,


s: Awaken such echoes as these never found;


s: A chord in my bosom, thy sonnet has stirred,


s: Which never was touched by the notes of a bird.


s: I love thee the more when such language I hear;


s: True greatness and modesty, when they combine,


s: Like stars of the firmament sparkle and shine.


s: The birds of the forest thy spirits can cheer,


s: Their songs fill with music thy sensitive ear,


s: But has that fair dove in thy heart found a nest,


s: Whose singing can make thee eternally blest?


s: While moonbeams through their branches stealing,


s: 'Neath these green boughs to make their home,


s: To build their nests and rear their young.


s: The rocks, the fields, the groves and flowers,


s: Are fraught with some mysterious powers,


s: Which naught can break while here I dwell.


s: The wild bird's note, the woodland dell,


s: While winds are through the forest roaring,


s: The sun's broad blaze, the moon's mild beams,


s: The lightning's flash, the thunder's roar,


s: Fair plant, well pleased on thee I look,


s: Fain wouldst thou our best passions move,


s: Though watched and guarded night and day,


s: The sun smiles on them, they grow bright,


s: Though lightnings in their misty shroud,


s: Sweet plant, so fair, so pure thy blossoms look,


s: His wing the feathers plucked, and of them, at


s: The twilight hour, thy snowy petals made.


s: That shining throng, which worship 'round the throne,


s: Could e'er such work perform. None but the hand


s: Sweet childhood's opening blossoms here,


s: O'er childhood's artless brow, it plays.


s: While on the fresh, young, dimpled cheek,


s: Whose fragrance fills our woodland bowers.


s: Those speaking eyes the power have caught,


s: With quivering lips and falt'ring breath,


s: She paused to steal one last, fond kiss.


s: In death's embrace those lips were cold,


s: Sweet babes! so helpless, frail and fair,


s: Beside the grave, where loved ones slept,


s: While clouds were gathering round his head,


s: Death would not pluck the last fair flower,


s: Sweet rosebuds, springing from the tomb,


s: Long round his hearthstone may you bloom,


s: Than, dressed in silk, with servants throng'd,


s: I'll milk while brother feeds the lambs,


s: Shine glim'ring through the waving trees,


s: worthy of you, we will send him along."--_Editor_.]


s: Would you not blush, should friends deride


s: Some pleasant grove, where we might hear


s: The blithesome wild birds' pleasing song,


s: And would you plant some tall elm trees,


s: Around your house, your bride to please;


s: Where fruit, and herbs, and flowers might grow?


s: Drop your suit, and she'll court you."--_Editor_.


s: Why sit you here, pining in languor and gloom?


s: Except you do something, you'll sink to the tomb;


s: Ah, where's the red roses that bloomed on your brow,


s: Where nothing but white ones are languishing now?


s: Go, learn of the red men, they certainly know,


s: They find healing plants, and will tell where they grow;


s: God gave them this knowledge; their skill is the best;


s: Make use of such means, they will surely be blest.


s: No poisonous minerals fill up his chest,


s: But herbs that will heal you when sick and distressed,


s: Designed by our Maker all pain to subdue,


s: Which tortures the frame where these antidotes grew.


s: O, shun the rude savage who roams through the wood,


s: With knowledge too scanty to choose wholesome food;


s: Thomsonians will help you, they'll heal your disease;


s: Emetics and numbers will soon give you ease.


s: The brave number one all disease can expel,


s: And make you exclaim, I am perfectly well;


s: All poisonous drugs in your system will die,


s: Each pain will take wings, and the calomel fly.


s: These hot-crops will kill you with pepper and steam,


s: Pork, mince pies and pancakes, hot puddings and cream;


s: They'll double your fever, dyspepsia and pain;


s: I beg you take warning; by thousands they've slain.


s: On boasting pretenders I'd now turn my back,


s: No longer I'd deal with that ignorant quack;


s: He cannot distinguish the heart from the brain,


s: King's evil or dropsy from pleurisy pain.


s: Apply to the man who is bred in our schools,


s: His drugs are examined by chemical rules;


s: His science trained eye your whole system will scan,


s: From him naught is hidden which preys upon man;


s: He'll find ev'ry pain, with its cause and effect,


s: Plain reason might teach you that he's most correct.


s: Oh, shun this deceiver, his motives are gain,


s: He oftener augments, than alleviates, pain;


s: His boasted attainments are nothing but show,


s: Put him with the rest, they'll just make a row.


s: He'll steal the warm crimson, that flows through your heart,


s: He'll haunt you with blisters and plasters that smart,


s: Torment you with setons, with leaches and cups,


s: His calomel poisons, the blood it corrupts.


s: Emetics reduce you, and tonics distress,


s: While morphine distracts you and seldom gives rest.


s: Now leave him, Oh, leave him! your life he'll not save;


s: Except you obey me, you'll sink to the grave.


s: Come, leave all the doctors; resort to the shops


s: Which peddle pills, balsams, elixirs and drops;


s: Altho' by base slander they're greatly abus'd.


s: I hate these vile patents; they often make worse;


s: Hear my good advice, let your mother be nurse;


s: Ten thousand rare medical plants grow around.


s: Their ne'er failing virtues old women have found.


s: There's catfoot and mugwort, archangel and balm,


s: Possessing great virtues, and never do harm;


s: While spleenwort, and whiteweed, and hyssop, and sage,


s: Have cured the consumption in every stage.


s: Take saffron and goldthread, white poplar and rue,


s: They've cured the dyspepsia wherever they grew;


s: Use clover and nightshade, and drink wintergreen,


s: They'll cure the worst cancer that ever was seen.


s: But I have no faith in these simple herb teas


s: They never can lessen or cure a disease;


s: And do not take pills, nasty powders and drops,


s: Till you are filled up like the medical shops.


s: Still, something is needful, of that I am sure,


s: But I've the most faith in the cold water cure;


s: 'Twill strengthen, invigorate, open the pores,


s: 'Tis curing sick people by dozens and scores.


s: Don't wrap yourself up in that cold dripping sheet,


s: I always take cold, only wetting my feet;


s: Yet there is an agent which I would apply,


s: The red forked lightning which darts through the sky.


s: Old Franklin has tamed it and brought it to earth,


s: And men are now learning how much it is worth;


s: 'Twill dart through the stomach, the heart, and the brain,


s: Each pore it will open and drive out the pain.


s: Come, quit all this fussing, take rich hearty food,


s: And soon, I assure you, your health will be good;


s: Leave your warm stifling beds, your soft cushioned chair,


s: Run ten miles a day in the cool healthful air.


s: If I went thus, moping and lounging about,


s: 'Twould bring on dyspepsia, consumption, or gout;


s: Now here is good counsel, why will you be shy,


s: You'd much better take it than lie down and die.


s: Lines on the death of R., P.B., C., S., and M.A. Wing


s: And the vail of the temple was rent in twain


s: Lines on the Miniature of a pair of twin boys


s: A representative body elected by the people of the state.


s: Of course, my son, just as much as men are.


s: To the New York Tribune, in whose generous columns many of these


s: ("I am opposed to woman suffrage, but I am not opposed to


s: woman."--_Anti-suffrage speech of Mr. Webb of North Carolina_.)


s: ("The women of this smart capital are beautiful. Their beauty is


s: You, who despise the so-called fairer sex,


s: You should not, if you wish, oppose and vex


s: And scold us in, and even out of season;


s: But don't regard it as your bounden duty


s: Say if you like that women have no sense,


s: No self-control, no power of concentration;


s: Our virtue but an absence of temptation;


s: These I can bear, but, oh, I own it rankles


s: To hear you maundering on about our ankles.


s: Tell those old stories, which have now and then


s: Been from the Record thoughtfully deleted,


s: Repeat the ones that cannot be repeated;


s: But in the midst of such enjoyments, smother


s: The impulse to extol your "sainted mother."


s: Tell me immediately, where have you been?"


s: "I've been to ask all my slaves so devoted


s: Why they against my enfranchisement voted."


s: "Angel and princess, that action was wrong.


s: Back to the kitchen, where angels belong."


s: I am old-fashioned, and I think it right


s: That man should know, by Nature's laws eternal,


s: The proper way to rule, to earn, to fight,


s: And exercise those functions called paternal;


s: At finding that he knows my job as well.


s: At least he's always ready to expound it,


s: The joys, the cares, the halos that surround it,


s: "How women feel"--he knows that best of all.


s: When he explains the world of art and science


s: While he instructs me how to be a woman.


s: She thinks that golf all interest lacks,


s: I'm in a hard position for a perfect gentleman,


s: I want to please the ladies, but I don't see how I can,


s: My present wife's a suffragist, and counts on my support,


s: But my mother is an anti, of a rather biting sort;


s: One grandmother is on the fence, the other much opposed,


s: And my sister lives in Oregon, and thinks the question's closed;


s: Each one is counting on my vote to represent her view.


s: Now what should you think proper for a gentleman to do?


s: They do not ask the law's excuse to shirk.


s: When summer scents are on the air distilled,


s: When golden fruits are ripening in the land,


s: And silvery tins are gaping to be filled.


s: Before the dawn come women, girls and boys,


s: Whose weekly hours (a hundred and nineteen)


s: Seem all too short for their industrious joys.


s: The Thompson-Bewley bills may fail to pass!


s: Wise and just man--for such I think you are--


s: Yet blind your eyes to one that lies so near?


s: Who fight their own fight with a bloody hand;


s: How hold their cause so wildly dear, and then


s: With your stern ardor and your scholar's word


s: Can you believe that women are not stirred


s: They could not get it through their heads


s: ("No brass bands. No speeches. Instead a still, silent, effective


s: ("I hate a woman who is not a mystery to herself, as well as to


s: If you want a receipt for that popular mystery


s: Take all the conspicuous ladies of history,


s: Mix them all up without doing them harm.


s: The beauty of Helen, the warmth of Cleopatra,


s: The dusky allure of the belles of Sumatra,


s: The fashion and finish of ladies from France.


s: The youth of Susanna, beloved by an elder,


s: The wit of a Chambers' incomparable minx,


s: The conjugal views of the patient Griselda,


s: The fire of Sappho, the calm of the Sphinx,


s: The eyes of La Vallière, the voice of Cordelia,


s: The musical gifts of the sainted Cecelia,


s: Madame de Staël and the matron Cornelia,


s: Take of these elements all that is fusible,


s: Melt 'em all down in a pipkin or crucible,


s: Set 'em to simmer and take off the scum,


s: Sylvia, my dear, I would be yours with pleasure,


s: Except your mother, who's much more at leisure


s: Eugenics, dancing, uplift, yes, or crime,


s: Or, if the suffrage doctrine fails to charm her,


s: There are the Antis--rather in her line--


s: _With apologies to James Whitcomb Riley_.


s: (The law compels a married woman to take the nationality of her


s: Lovely Antiques, breathing in every line


s: You should not languish in the public press


s: Where modern thought might reach and do you harm,


s: Missing the flavor of your old world charm;


s: You should be locked, where rust cannot corrode


s: In some old rosewood cabinet, dimmed by age,


s: With silver-lustre, tortoise shell and Spode;


s: And all would cry, who read your yellowing page:


s: "Yes, that's the sort of thing that men believed


s: Before the First Reform Bill was conceived!"


s: (_By the Children's Anti-School League_.)


s: It then names thirteen subjects as unfit for the attention of


s: women--three of them are crimes committed against women.


s: Sometimes We're Ivy, and Sometimes We're Oak


s: No, not when men need her services outside the home.


s: Will she never be told again that her place is the home?


s: As soon as men want their jobs back again.


s: "Woman's place is in my home."--Appius Claudius.


s: "I have never felt the need of the ballot."--Cleopatra.


s: "Magna Charta merely fashionable fad of ye Barons."--King John.


s: Woman's place is the home, but under a special privilege she is


s: sometimes allowed to send her wages as a substitute.


s: If you have beauty, charm, refinement, tact,


s: If you can prove that should I set you free,


s: You would not contemplate the smallest act


s: By the best standards of their womanhood--


s: If you can show a clearly thought-out scheme


s: Why, then, dear lady, at some time remote,


s: When men in Congress come to blows at something someone said,


s: I always notice that it shows their blood is quick and red;


s: But if two women disagree, with very little noise,


s: "My dear," he said, "observe this frightful bill,


s: Run up, I think you'll own, against my will.


s: "I do recall the day," said she, "and how


s: Me with your worldly goods you did endow."


s: "That," he replied, "is palpably absurd----"


s: "You mean you did not mean to keep your word?"


s: "O, yes," he answered, "in a general way."


s: "And that," said she, "is how I meant obey."


s: Auction bridge. What critic could object to that?


s: You could not find your home on your return.


s: It's Nature's laws, you know, you are defying.


s: So what's the use of all this fuss and trying?


s: Is being loving wives and patient mothers.


s: For {books belong to husbands and to brothers.


s: (_By an admirer of the late H.C. Bunner_.)


s: "I know what you're going to say," she said,


s: And she stood up, causing him some alarm;


s: "You're going to tell me I'll lose my charm,


s: And what is a woman when charm has fled?


s: And you're going to say that you greatly fear


s: Now aren't you honestly?" "Yes," he said.


s: "You're going to ask what I hope to gain


s: By seeking a stone when I might have bread;


s: You're going to say: 'Can a vote replace


s: Now, aren't you honestly?" "Yes," he said.


s: "I know what you're going to do," he said,


s: "You're going to talk to me all day long


s: Now, aren't you honestly?" "Ye-es," she said.


s: "I don't pretend I'm clever," he remarked, "or very wise,"


s: Women are a contradiction--honorable and underhand--


s: Constant as the star Polaris, yet as changeable as Fate,


s: Always flying what they long for, always seeking what they hate."


s: That you take it personally--women always do," said he.


s: "You will pardon me for saying every woman is the same,


s: Always greedy for approval, always sensitive to blame;


s: "No, I don't admit they haven't," said the patient lady then,


s: "Or they could not sit and listen to the nonsense talked by men."


s: It's guarding the girls who act rightly,


s: "Chivalry, Chivalry, where have you been?"


s: "I've been out seeking a beautiful queen."


s: "Chivalry, Chivalry, what did you find?"


s: "Commonplace women, not much to my mind."


s: (_With rather insincere apologies to Mr. Rudyard Kipling_.)


s: I went to ask my government if they would set me free,


s: They gave a pardoned crook a vote, but hadn't one for me;


s: The men about me laughed and frowned and said: "Go home, because


s: We really can't be bothered when we're busy making laws."


s: Oh, it's women this, and women that and women have no sense,


s: But it's pay your taxes promptly when it comes to the expense,


s: It comes to the expense, my dears, it comes to the expense,


s: It's pay your taxes promptly when it comes to the expense.


s: I went into a factory to earn my daily bread:


s: Men said: "The home is woman's sphere." "I have no home," I said.


s: For it's women this and women that, and home's the place for you,


s: There's outside work to do, my dears, there's outside work to do,


s: We are not really senseless, and we are not angels, too,


s: But very human beings, human just as much as you.


s: It's hard upon occasions to be forceful and sublime


s: When you're treated as incompetents three-quarters of the time.


s: But it's women this and women that, and woman's like a hen,


s: But it's do the country's work alone, when war takes off the men,


s: But woman is observant, and be sure that woman sees.


s: In the days that are gone when a statue was wanted


s: In park or museum where statues must be,


s: A chivalrous male would come forward undaunted


s: And say: "If you must have one, make it of me.


s: If you must make them, why make them of me."


s: But chivalry's dead, as I always expected


s: Since women would not let things stay as they were;


s: So now, I suppose, when a statue's erected


s: Men will say brutally: "Make it of her."


s: When they start making the statues of her.


s: It would take a brave man and a dull one


s: Her old love in tears and silence had been building her a palace


s: Ringed by moats and flanked with towers, he had set it on a hill


s: "Here," he said, "will come no whisper of the world's alarms and


s: As he spoke along the highway there came riding by a stranger,


s: For an instant on her features, he a fleeting glance bestowed,


s: Just hear me out. You'll find you're wrong.


s: My husband's wise and well--the creature!


s: "Universal suffrage prolongs in the United States the effect of


s: "I have listened to some very honest and eloquent orators whose


s: A MODERN PROMETHEUS: A Novel of Italy. With a frontispiece


s: Don't Give Me the Wine!..........(From the Georgian of Prince


s: Faded the Footstep of Spring from Our Garden......... Fofanow


s: His steed the raging stream must breast!


s: _The accent in singing falls sharply on the second half--Kazák_.


s: I love thee dagger mine, thou sure defence--


s: A brooding Georgian whetted thee for war,


s: Forged for revenge thou wert by Khirgez bold.


s: Gave thee to me in morning's twilight shade;


s: Instead of blood, I saw thee first be-dewed


s: With sorrow's tear-pearls flowing o'er thy blade.


s: Two dusky eyes so true and pure of soul,


s: Mute in the throe of love's mysterious pain--


s: Like thine own steel within the fire's glow,


s: Flashed forth to me--then faded dull again.


s: For a soul-pledge thou wert by love appointed,


s: In my life's night to guide me to my end;


s: Stedfast and true my heart shall be forever,


s: Like thee, like thee, my steely hearted friend!


s: For wine will reveal all I hid in my breast,


s: All the bitter hot tears that were mine,


s: My thirst, without hope, for a future so blest--


s: I am drunk of my love,--don't give me the wine!


s: You promise me roses now, if I will drink


s: But one drop of the wine;--if you please


s: Give only one breath from the rose of your lips!


s: And death's cup I will drain to the lees.


s: All passions are raging at once in my blood,


s: You seem for my suffering only to wish--


s: _Delibash is the Turkish synonym for Hotspur_.


s: Through the Steppes, see there he glances!


s: _The valley of the Don is the home of the Russian Cossack_.


s: The Caucas lies before my feet! I stand where


s: Glaciers gleam, beside a precipice rock-ribbed;


s: An eagle that has soared from off some distant cliff,


s: Lawless as I, sweeps through the radiant air!


s: Here I see streams at their sources up-welling,


s: The grim avalanches unrolling and swelling!


s: The soft cloudy convoys are stretched forth below,


s: Tattered by thronging mad torrents descending;


s: Beneath them the naked rocks downward are bending,


s: Still deeper, the wild shrubs and sparse herbage grow;


s: But yonder the forests stand verdant in flora


s: And birds are a'twitter in choiring chorus.


s: Yonder, cliff-nested-are dwellings of mortals,


s: There pasture the lambs in sweet blossoming meadows--


s: There couch the herds in the cool deepening shadows--


s: There roar the Aragua's blue sparkling waters,


s: And lurketh the bandit safe hid in lone caverns,


s: Where Terek, wild sporting, is cutting the azure!


s: It leaps and it howls like some ravening beast


s: At first sight of feeding, through grating of iron--


s: It roars on the shore with a furious purring,


s: It licks on the pebbles with eagerest greed.


s: Vain struggle and rancor and hatred, alas!


s: 'Tis enchained and subdued by the unheeding mass.


s: Look! What crouches on the ground there?


s: The charm and sweetness of his magic verse


s: Will mock the envious years for centuries!


s: Since youth, on hearing them, for glory burns,


s: The wordless sorrow comfort in them sees,


s: And careless joy to wistful musing turns.


s: But the years rolled along--and life's tempests


s: I forgot that sweet voice full of music--


s: The days stretched unchanged in their flight,


s: I loved thee; and perchance until this moment


s: Within my breast is smouldering still the fire!


s: Yet I would spare thy pain the least renewal,


s: Nothing shall rouse again the old desire!


s: I loved thee with a silent desperation--


s: Now timid, now with jealousy brought low,


s: I loved devoutly,--with such deep devotion--


s: Hark--it sounds like grim wolves howling,


s: Creeping through the rustling straw thatch,


s: Than Southern Winter scarce more bland--


s: From shivering mist ascends the morning,


s: The traveller's pony scents him, snorting--


s: To drive the kine,--his noon-day horn recalls.


s: The pine chips,--friend of Winter night.


s: Or let him through the far Steppes gallop,


s: His stamping hoofs in vain seek foothold,


s: No more for me such pleasures thrilling,


s: All that exults,--brings but despondence


s: Perchance there haunts us in remembrance,


s: Beyond compare the monument I have erected,


s: And to this spirit column well-worn the people's path,--


s: Its head defiant will out-soar that famous pillar


s: I shall not vanish wholly,--No! but young forever


s: My spirit will live on, within my lyre will ring,


s: And men within this world shall hold me in remembrance


s: My glory shall in future fly through distant Russia,


s: Each race in its own tongue shall name me far and wide,


s: The Slav, the Finn, the Kalmyk, all shall know me--


s: Among my people I shall be long loved and cherished,


s: Because their noblest instincts I have e'er inflamed,


s: In evil hours I lit their hearts with fires of freedom,


s: O Muse, pursue the calling of thy Gods forever!


s: Strive not for the garland, nor look upon the pain--


s: Unmoved support the voice of scorn or of laudation,


s: _The Alexander column, standing before the Winter Palace at St.


s: There rises from bleakest of storm crags


s: Through the mist of the night her gold fires


s: With passioned and thrilling embracement,


s: With sighing and trembling and transport--


s: In their bridal night's wild distraction,


s: For when from the peaks of the mountains


s: A youth's form her currents are bearing,


s: Her voice has the sound of faint weeping,


s: Through the half-closed eyelids glancing


s: Farewell, salute, bent knee and hand-kiss,


s: By eyes and ears of paid, false sergeants--


s: Clouds--ye eternal wanderers in hunting grounds of air,


s: High o'er the verdant Steppes, wide through the blue of heaven--


s: Coursing fraternal,--say, must ye exiled as I


s: From the beloved North to the far South be driven?


s: O tell me, were ye outlawed thus by Fate's behest?


s: Drives ye forth open hate, or secret grudge flee ye?


s: Follows ye unappeased an evil-doer's curse?


s: Are ye pursued by poisonous words of calumny?


s: Ah no! Only from the unfruitful earth ye fly;


s: Free are your sufferings, your blessedness is free,


s: Ye know not wretchedness that holds us here in chains,


s: Know not the joy of home or exile's misery!


s: With love of my own race I cling unto my country,


s: Whatever dubious reason may protesting cry;


s: The shame alone of all her blood bought glory,


s: Her haughty self-assurance, conscious pride,


s: And the ancestral faith's traditions dark,


s: The endless snowy Steppes so silent brooding,


s: In the pine forests Autumn winds pursuing--


s: The flood's high water on all sides in May.


s: By peasant cart I fain would haste in nightly darkness,


s: Through the lone wilderness and village desolate,


s: How hospitable shines the sole beam sparkling


s: To me from each poor hut! Filled with content so great,


s: The smell of stubble burnt, delights. Piled high


s: The wagons silent standing take their nightly rest,


s: On distant hills the silver birches I descry,


s: Framed gold by fertile fields the sacred picture blest.


s: Then with a joy unshared save by the vagrant,


s: I see the threshing floor well filled and fragrant,


s: The sloping straw-thatched cottage roofs again,


s: The window panels carved, of varied stain.


s: Nightly could I, till morning grey arrested,


s: Gaze on the dancing, stamping, whistling crowd,


s: Watching the villager,--young, happy, festive--


s: And hearing drunken peasants glad carouse!


s: Snow white, thy glorious brow has veiled,


s: Turn, I implore, the storm's hot hatred,


s: The deadly thunderous lightning's course--


s: Along thy rock-ridged clefts lone track!


s: Soft singing at midnight through heaven's high blue


s: The moon and the stars and the clouds in a throng


s: He sang of the bliss of those gardens and coasts


s: Their songs glad extolling Almighty's grace


s: In his arms he was bearing a young soul below,


s: The strains of his singing within her soul beat--


s: Long languished her soul in its earthly abode,


s: For ne'er were those holy, pure strains of her birth,


s: Faithful before thee, Mother of God, now kneeling,


s: Not for my soul's health nor battles waged, beseeching,


s: Nor yet with thanks or penitence o'erwhelming me!


s: Not for myself,--my heart with guilt o'erflowing--


s: Who in my home land e'er a stranger has remained,


s: No, a sinless child upon thy mercy throwing,


s: That thou protect her innocence unstained!


s: Worthy the highest bliss, with happiness O bless her!


s: Grant her a friend to stand unchanging at her side,


s: A youth of sunshine and an old age tranquil,


s: A spirit where together peace and hope abide.


s: Then, when strikes the hour her way from earth for wending,


s: Let her heart break at dawning or at dead of night--


s: From out thy highest heaven, thy fairest angel sending


s: The fairest of all souls sustain in heavenward flight!


s: When winds pipe high, load roar the billows


s: Not heaven's grace,--thy smiles, restore,


s: Yet passioned glances thou dost silence--


s: The soul believes, the tears break forth--


s: Have the grim gales 'neath starry heavens


s: And was a trembling prayer soft whispered,


s: And dost thou bear his tear's hot brand?


s: Thou stand'st as heaven's defence divine,


s: O why dare I send you nevermore greeting--


s: Stars, who are shining as clear as my joy?


s: The heavens and the stars are--heaven and stars ever,


s: Ye in your freedom, ye stars ever radiant,


s: Cold hears thy soul the praise or cursing of posterity.


s: Quit of the human race, thou man of destiny!


s: They only could o'erthrow, who thee did elevate--


s: Forever thus remains thy greatness great!


s: Why did he leave his home life tranquil,


s: Since earliest years of youth, than he--


s: Ah, of his laurel wreath you robbed him,


s: And now the cruel thorns have pierced him


s: Through senseless fools' contempt aggrieved,


s: Press to the Tsar's throne with your driveling


s: Well may you sneer at truth and justice,


s: Since your dark blood could ne'er atone for


s: Nine howling wolves come hungering for food.


s: While prayers of terror freeze upon his lips!


s: Yet bearable alone through thee, my being--


s: All thou art not is idle, stale and dying,


s: Colourless, withered, dead,--save where thou art!


s: If I no more through false suspicion trouble


s: Thy happiness,--nor more my blood inflames my veins,


s: It is not turned to ice 'neath snowy cover,


s: But free from jealousy, to thee thy lover


s: Always with soul of ardour true remains.


s: So in their rapid fury mountain torrents


s: That hurl them off their moss-grown altars steep,


s: Seeking the flood with tossing, foaming riot--


s: Here in the vale are bound in the old currents,


s: To stream in future calm and clear and deep!


s: In hours of ebbing tide, oh trust not to the Sea!


s: It will come back to shore with redness of the morrow;


s: O don't believe in me when in the trance of sorrow


s: The waves will roll again in dazzling ecstasy,


s: From far away, with joy, to the belovéd shore;


s: And I with breast aflame, beneath thy charm once more,


s: Shall haste to bring my liberty to thee!


s: White Swans, ye harbingers of Spring, a greeting fond from me!


s: Rejoicing thrills within the breast of Mother Earth anew--


s: And my heart blissful throbbing, ghostly tears of rapture weep.


s: O Spring I feel thy coming! And behold Thee, Poesy!


s: When shadows pale are sinking in hues the twilight weaves,


s: Upon the golden grain fields of gleaming wheaten sheaves--


s: Upon the emerald pastures and blue of forests deep,


s: When the soft mists of silver o'er the sea doth creep;


s: Then to my hut o'er thatched with golden straw,--o'er grown


s: By frail acacia green and leafy oaks, I turn.


s: And there with greeting holy, in radiant starry crown--


s: Her scented locks with deepest of purple poppies bound,


s: And with one dusky gauze enveiled her snowy breast--


s: The Goddess comes to me with sweet desire of rest.


s: A faint and roseate fire about my brow she sheds,


s: Soft mystery of azure above my eyelids spreads,


s: Bends low upon my breast her regal star-crowned tresses


s: And on my mouth and eyes, the kiss of slumber presses!


s: She lives--soon she will waken; straightway


s: And through the wood the black-bird pipes


s: Throughout the world man's heart proclaims


s: "O mountains of my native country! O valleys of my home!


s: "That cannot be, you fairest maid, that you with us be taken!


s: "My rustling dress I will unlace,--my ornaments forsaking,


s: Barefooted up the stairway steep will mute and cautious follow!


s: Ah, but too gladly would I gaze again on earthly living!


s: I fain my mother would console, sad for her daughter grieving--


s: would my brothers twain behold, who for their sister sorrow!"


s: The land lies parched in sun,--to heaven the air is still,


s: Hushed now upon the harp the golden strings' lost thrill;


s: Aeolian harps our native singers are,--and numb


s: Must be their heart, their dying life blood cease to flow,


s: Their breath be suffocated in this sultry glow!


s: O if a Genius on tempest-pinions winging,


s: Stormed through our native land,--Spirit with freedom rife!


s: How jubilant would our Aeolian harps be ringing


s: To greet the Godly power that promises new life!


s: Born of the passion of the soul, bewailing


s: Hearing the terrors of the war, sore troubled,


s: Nor friend, nor wife I give my utmost pity,