s: "Will you draw the weight," sez 'e, "or will you draw the beer?"


s: An' we didn't keep 'im waitin' very long.


s: Then we trotted gentle, not to break the bloomin' glass,


s: Though the Arabites 'ad all their ranges marked;


s: But we dursn't 'ardly gallop, for the most was bottled Bass,


s: An' we'd dreamed of it since we was disembarked:


s: So we fired economic with the shells we 'ad in 'and,


s: But the beggars under cover 'ad the impidence to stand,


s: An' we couldn't keep 'em waitin' very long.


s: So we finished 'arf the liquor (an' the Captain took champagne),


s: An' the Arabites was shootin' all the while;


s: An' we left our wounded 'appy with the empties on the plain,


s: An' we used the bloomin' guns for pro-jec-tile!


s: We limbered up an' galloped -- there were nothin' else to do --


s: An' the Battery came a-boundin' like a boundin' kangaroo,


s: But they didn't watch us comin' very long.


s: We was goin' most extended -- we was drivin' very fine,


s: An' the Arabites were loosin' 'igh an' wide,


s: Till the Captain took the glassy with a rattlin' right incline,


s: An' we dropped upon their 'eads the other side.


s: Then we give 'em quarter -- such as 'adn't up and cut,


s: An' the Captain stood a limberful of fizzy -- somethin' Brutt,


s: But we didn't leave it fizzing very long.


s: We might ha' been court-martialled, but it all come out all right


s: There was every round expended, there was every gunner tight,


s: An' the Captain waved a corkscrew in 'is 'and.


s: The 'eathen in 'is blindness bows down to wood an' stone;


s: 'E don't obey no orders unless they is 'is own;


s: 'E keeps 'is side-arms awful:  'e leaves 'em all about,


s: An' then comes up the regiment an' pokes the 'eathen out.


s: All along o' dirtiness, all along o' mess,


s: All along o' doin' things rather-more-or-less,


s: All along of abby-nay, kul, an' hazar-ho, *


s: Mind you keep your rifle an' yourself jus' so!


s: _* abby-nay:  Not now.  kul:  To-morrow.  hazar-ho:


s: The young recruit is 'aughty -- 'e draf's from Gawd knows where;


s: They bid 'im show 'is stockin's an' lay 'is mattress square;


s: 'E calls it bloomin' nonsense -- 'e doesn't know no more --


s: An' then up comes 'is Company an' kicks 'im round the floor!


s: The young recruit is 'ammered -- 'e takes it very 'ard;


s: 'E 'angs 'is 'ead an' mutters -- 'e sulks about the yard;


s: 'E talks o' "cruel tyrants" 'e'll swing for by-an'-by,


s: An' the others 'ears an' mocks 'im, an' the boy goes orf to cry.


s: The young recruit is silly -- 'e thinks o' suicide;


s: 'E's lost 'is gutter-devil; 'e 'asn't got 'is pride;


s: But day by day they kicks 'im, which 'elps 'im on a bit,


s: Till 'e finds 'isself one mornin' with a full an' proper kit.


s: Gettin' clear o' dirtiness, gettin' done with mess,


s: Gettin' shut o' doin' things rather-more-or-less;


s: Not so fond of abby-nay, kul, nor hazar-ho,


s: Learns to keep 'is rifle an' 'isself jus' so!


s: The young recruit is 'appy -- 'e throws a chest to suit;


s: You see 'im grow mustaches; you 'ear 'im slap 'is boot;


s: 'E learns to drop the "bloodies" from every word 'e slings,


s: The cruel-tyrant-sergeants they watch 'im 'arf a year;


s: They watch 'im with 'is comrades, they watch 'im with 'is beer;


s: They watch 'im with the women at the regimental dance,


s: And the cruel-tyrant-sergeants send 'is name along for "Lance".


s: An' now 'e's 'arf o' nothin', an' all a private yet,


s: 'Is room they up an' rags 'im to see what they will get;


s: They rags 'im low an' cunnin', each dirty trick they can,


s: But 'e learns to sweat 'is temper an' 'e learns to sweat 'is man.


s: An', last, a Colour-Sergeant, as such to be obeyed,


s: 'E schools 'is men at cricket, 'e tells 'em on parade;


s: They sees 'em quick an' 'andy, uncommon set an' smart,


s: An' so 'e talks to orficers which 'ave the Core at 'eart.


s: 'E learns to do 'is watchin' without it showin' plain;


s: 'E learns to save a dummy, an' shove 'im straight again;


s: 'E learns to check a ranker that's buyin' leave to shirk;


s: An' when it comes to marchin' he'll see their socks are right,


s: An' when it comes to action 'e shows 'em 'ow to sight;


s: 'E knows their ways of thinkin' and just what's in their mind;


s: 'E knows when they are takin' on an' when they've fell be'ind.


s: 'E knows each talkin' corpril that leads a squad astray;


s: 'E feels 'is innards 'eavin', 'is bowels givin' way;


s: 'E sees the blue-white faces all tryin' 'ard to grin,


s: An' 'e stands an' waits an' suffers till it's time to cap 'em in.


s: An' now the hugly bullets come peckin' through the dust,


s: An' no one wants to face 'em, but every beggar must;


s: So, like a man in irons which isn't glad to go,


s: They moves 'em off by companies uncommon stiff an' slow.


s: Of all 'is five years' schoolin' they don't remember much


s: Excep' the not retreatin', the step an' keepin' touch.


s: It looks like teachin' wasted when they duck an' spread an' 'op,


s: But if 'e 'adn't learned 'em they'd be all about the shop!


s: An' now it's "'Oo goes backward?" an' now it's "'Oo comes on?"


s: And now it's "Get the doolies," an' now the captain's gone;


s: An' now it's bloody murder, but all the while they 'ear


s: 'Is voice, the same as barrick drill, a-shepherdin' the rear.


s: 'E's just as sick as they are, 'is 'eart is like to split,


s: The 'eathen in 'is blindness bows down to wood an' stone;


s: 'E don't obey no orders unless they is 'is own;


s: The 'eathen in 'is blindness must end where 'e began,


s: But the backbone of the Army is the non-commissioned man!


s: Keep away from dirtiness -- keep away from mess.


s: Don't get into doin' things rather-more-or-less!


s: Let's ha' done with abby-nay, kul, an' hazar-ho;


s: Mind you keep your rifle an' yourself jus' so!


s: For the wine was old and the night is cold,


s: So it was "Rounds!  What Rounds?" at two of a frosty night,


s: 'E'll need an affidavit pretty badly by-an'-by.


s: An' the corporal pulled an' the sergeant pushed,


s: Though it was "Rounds!  What Rounds?"  O corporal, 'old 'im up!


s: But we sluiced 'im down an' we washed 'im out,


s: When we saved 'im, smart as a bombardier,


s: An' it was "Pass!  All's well!"  'E's called me "Darlin' Jane"!


s: An' 'is eye was wild an' 'is 'air was wet,


s: But you ought to 'ave 'eard 'em markin' time


s: For it was "Right flank -- wheel!" for "'Alt, an' stand at ease!"


s: An' it was, "'Ere, sir, 'ere! before the Colonel sees!"


s: So he needed affidavits pretty badly by-an'-by.


s: There was just nine 'undred rank an' file


s: There was me 'e'd kissed in the sentry-box,


s: But I took my oath, which were Bible truth,


s: But there comes a night when the best gets tight,


s: We'll 'elp 'im for 'is mother, an' 'e'll 'elp us by-an'-by!


s: Nice while it lasted, an' now it is over --


s: Tear out your 'eart an' good-bye to your lover!


s: What's the use o' grievin', when the mother that bore you


s: (Mary, pity women!) knew it all before you?


s: When a man is tired there is naught will bind 'im;


s: All 'e solemn promised 'e will shove be'ind 'im.


s: What's the good o' prayin' for The Wrath to strike 'im


s: (Mary, pity women!), when the rest are like 'im?


s: All the more you give 'em the less are they for givin' --


s: Love lies dead, an' you cannot kiss 'im livin'.


s: Down the road 'e led you there is no returnin'


s: (Mary, pity women!), but you're late in learnin'!


s: What's the good o' pleadin', when the mother that bore you


s: Sleep on 'is promises an' wake to your sorrow


s: (Mary, pity women!), for we sail to-morrow!


s: They must 'ave gone with all the rest --


s: When you get to know a fellow, know his joys


s: When you've come to understand him and the


s: When you've learned the fight he's making and


s: Then you find that he is different than you


s: You find his faults are trivial and there's not so


s: In the brother that you jeered at when you only


s: You are quick to see the blemish in the distant


s: You can point to all his errors and may sneer


s: And your prejudices fatten and your hates


s: As you talk about the failures of the man you


s: But when drawn a little closer, and your hands


s: You find the traits you hated really don't


s: When you get to know a fellow, know his every


s: You begin to find the texture of the splendid


s: You begin to understand him, and you cease to


s: For with understanding always prejudices disappear.


s: You begin to find his virtues and his faults you


s: For you seldom hate a fellow when you know


s: When next you start in sneering and your


s: Know more of him you censure than his business


s: For it's likely that acquaintance would your


s: And you'd really come to like him if you


s: When you get to know a fellow and you understand


s: Then his faults won't really matter, for you'll


s: A smudge on his nose and a smear on his cheek


s: And knees that might not have been washed in a week;


s: A bump on his forehead, a scar on his lip,


s: A rough little, tough little rascal, but sweet,


s: Is he that each evening I'm eager to meet.


s: A face that's as black as a visage can get;


s: A suit that at noon was a garment of white,


s: Now one that his mother declares is a fright:


s: A fun-loving, sun-loving rascal, and fine,


s: Is he that comes placing his black fist in mine.


s: A crop of brown hair that is tousled and tossed;


s: A waist from which two of the buttons are lost;


s: A smile that shines out through the dirt and the grime,


s: And eyes that are flashing delight all the time:


s: All these are the joys that I'm eager to meet


s: And look for the moment I get to my street.


s: Does the grouch get richer quicker than the


s: Can the grumbler labor better than the cheerful


s: Is the mean and churlish neighbor any cleverer


s: Who shouts a glad "good morning," and then


s: Just stop and think about it.  Have you ever


s: A mean man who succeeded, just because he


s: When you find a grouch with honors and with


s: You can bet he didn't win them just because


s: Oh, you'll not be any poorer if you smile along


s: And your lot will not be harder for the kindly


s: Don't imagine you are wasting time for others


s: You can rise to wealth and glory and still pause


s: I'd like to be a boy again, a care-free prince of


s: I'd like to tread the hills and dales the way I


s: I'd like the tattered shirt again, the knickers


s: The ugly, dusty feet again that long ago I


s: I'd like to play first base again, and Sliver's


s: I'd like to climb, the way I did, a friendly


s: For, knowing what I do to-day, could I but


s: I'd get full measure of the joy that boyhood


s: I'd like to be a lad again, a youngster, wild and


s: I'd like to sleep and eat again the way I used


s: I'd like to race and run again, and drain from


s: And start another round of joy the moment


s: But care and strife have come to me, and often


s: And sleep is not the thing it was and food


s: And I have sighed, and known that I must


s: And I have stood at envy's point and heard


s: I've learned that joys are fleeting things; that


s: That gain and loss are partners here, and so


s: That only boys from day to day can drain and


s: But boys cannot appreciate their priceless joy


s: And then, they too will sit, as I, and backward


s: And share my longing, vain, to be a care-free boy again.


s: Never a sigh for the cares that she bore for me


s: Never a thought of the joys that flew by;


s: Her one regret that she couldn't do more for me,


s: Thoughtless and selfish, her Master was I.


s: Oh, the long nights that she came at my call to me!


s: Oh, the soft touch of her hands on my brow!


s: Oh, the long years that she gave up her all to me!


s: Slave to her baby!  Yes, that was the way of her,


s: Counting her greatest of services small;


s: Words cannot tell what this old heart would say of her,


s: Mother--the sweetest and fairest of all.


s: I am selfish in my wishin' every sort o' joy for


s: I am selfish when I tell you that I'm wishin'


s: Bending o'er you every minute, and a pocketful


s: An' as much of love an' gladness as a human


s: Coz I know beyond all question that if such a


s: As you cornerin' life's riches you would share


s: I am selfish in my wishin' every sorrow from


s: With no trouble thoughts to fret you at the


s: An' it's selfishness that bids me wish you


s: An' all the joys you long for, an' on top o'


s: Coz I know, old tried an' faithful, that if such


s: Before we take an auto ride Pa says to Ma:


s: Now just remember I don't need suggestions


s: If you will just sit still back there and hold


s: I'll take you where you want to go and get


s: Remember that my hearing's good and also I'm


s: And I can drive this car without suggestions


s: Ma promises that she'll keep still, then off we


s: But soon she notices ahead a peddler and his


s: "You'd better toot your horn," says she, "to let


s: He might turn out!" and Pa replies: "Just


s: And then he adds: "Some day, some guy will


s: By putting horns on tonneau seats for women-folks


s: A little farther on Ma cries: "He signaled for


s: And Pa says: "Did he?" in a tone that's hot


s: "Oh, there's a boy on roller skates!" cries Ma.


s: I'm sure he doesn't see our car." And Pa says:


s: I think I don't need glasses yet, but really it


s: That I am blind and cannot see what's right


s: If Pa should speed the car a bit some rigs to


s: Ma whispers: "Do be careful now.  You're


s: And all the time she's pointing out the dangers


s: Last night when we got safely home, Pa sighed


s: I'm sure we've all enjoyed the drive you gave


s: He little knew the sorrow that was in his vacant


s: He never guessed they'd miss him, or he'd


s: He couldn't see his mother or the lump that


s: Or the tears that started falling as she read


s: And he couldn't see his father, sitting sorrowful


s: Or he never would have written that he thought


s: He little knew the gladness that his presence


s: And the joy it would have given, or he never


s: He didn't know how hungry had the little


s: Once again to see her baby and to claim him


s: He didn't guess the meaning of his visit


s: He couldn't see the fading of the cheeks that


s: And the silver in the tresses; and he didn't


s: How the years are passing swiftly, and next


s: There would be no home to visit and no mother


s: He didn't think about it--I'll not say he didn't


s: He was heedless and forgetful or he'd surely


s: Are you going home for Christmas? Have you


s: Going home to kiss the mother and to show


s: Going home to greet the father in a way to


s: If you're not I hope there'll never come a time


s: Just sit down and write a letter--it will make


s: With a tune of perfect gladness--if you'll tell


s: We've ceased to strive for things to own;


s: Where through the leaves the sunbeams steal


s: There stilled is money's tempting voice;


s: It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t' make it


s: A heap o' sun an' shadder, an' ye sometimes


s: Afore ye really 'preciate the things ye lef'


s: An' hunger fer 'em somehow, with 'em allus


s: It don't make any differunce how rich ye get


s: How much yer chairs an' tables cost, how great


s: It ain't home t' ye, though it be the palace of a


s: Until somehow yer soul is sort o' wrapped round


s: Home ain't a place that gold can buy or get up


s: Afore it's home there's got t' be a heap o' livin'


s: Within the walls there's got t' be some babies


s: Right there ye've got t' bring 'em up t' women


s: And gradjerly as time goes on, ye find ye


s: With anything they ever used--they've grown


s: The old high chairs, the playthings, too, the


s: Ye've got t' weep t' make it home, ye've got t'


s: An' watch beside a loved one's bed, an' know


s: An' in the stillness o' the night t' see Death's


s: An' close the eyes o' her that smiled, an' leave


s: Fer these are scenes that grip the heart, an'


s: Ye find the home is dearer than it was, an'


s: An' tuggin' at ye always are the pleasant


s: O' her that was an' is no more--ye can't escape


s: Ye've got t' sing an' dance fer years, ye've got


s: An' learn t' love the things ye have by usin' 'em


s: Even the roses 'round the porch must blossom


s: Afore they 'come a part o' ye, suggestin'


s: Who used t' love 'em long ago, an' trained 'em


s: The way they do, so's they would get the early


s: Ye've got t' love each brick an' stone from


s: It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t' make it


s: I'd like to be the sort of friend that you have


s: I'd like to be the help that you've been always


s: I'd like to mean as much to you each minute


s: As you have meant, old friend of mine, to me


s: I'd like to do the big things and the splendid


s: To brush the gray from out your skies and


s: I'd like to say the kindly things that I so oft


s: And feel that I could rouse your soul the way


s: I'd like to give you back the joy that you have


s: Yet that were wishing you a need I hope will


s: I'd like to make you feel as rich as I, who


s: Undaunted in the darkest hours with you to


s: I'm wishing at this Christmas time that I could


s: A portion of the gladness that you've strewn


s: And could I have one wish this year, this only


s: None knows the day that friends must part


s: I do not say new friends are not considerate and


s: Or that their smiles ain't genuine, but still I'm


s: That when a feller's heart is crushed and achin'


s: And teardrops come a-splashin' down his cheeks


s: Becoz his grief an' loneliness are more than


s: Somehow it's only old friends, then, that really


s: The friends who've stuck through thick an'


s: Your faults an' virtues, an' have seen the


s: When they come to you gentle-like an' take


s: "Cheer up! we're with you still," it counts, for


s: The new friends may be fond of you for what


s: They've only known you rich, perhaps, an' only


s: You can't tell what's attracted them; your


s: Perhaps they smile on you because you're doin'


s: But old friends who have seen you fail, an' also


s: Who've loved you either up or down, stuck


s: Who knew you as a budding youth, an' watched


s: Through weal an' woe, still friends of yours


s: When trouble comes an' things go wrong, I


s: They are the friends you'll turn to, for you


s: The new friends may be richer, an' more stylish,


s: Your heart is achin' an' you think your sun


s: It's not the riches of new friends you want, it's


s: It's not the airs of grandeur then, it's just the


s: The old hand that has helped before, stretched


s: The old words ringin' in your ears, so sweet an',


s: The tenderness of folks who know just what


s: These are the things on which, somehow, your


s: When grief is poundin' at your breast--the


s: An' to the old ones tried an' true, you turn for


s: We was speakin' of folks, jes' common folks,


s: But their throats grip tight, if they catch a sight


s: An' the winding lane that they used to tread


s: Or the pasture gate where they used to wait,


s: Now folks is folks on their different ways,


s: With their different griefs an' pleasures,


s: But the home they knew, when their years were few,


s: When they stand an' sigh, with a tear-dimmed eye,


s: Be they simple or wise, the old home ties


s: But whatever their lot, they keep one spot


s: That one an' all, be they great or small,


s: For the joys they knew, when their years were few,


s: Little Master Mischievous, that's the name for you;


s: There's no better title that describes the things you do:


s: Into something all the while where you shouldn't be,


s: Prying into matters that are not for you to see;


s: Little Master Mischievous, order's overthrown


s: If your mother leaves you for a minute all alone.


s: Little Master Mischievous, opening every door,


s: Spilling books and papers round about the parlor floor,


s: Scratching all the tables and marring all the chairs,


s: Climbing where you shouldn't climb and tumbling down the stairs.


s: How'd you get the ink well?  We can never guess.


s: Now the rug is ruined; so's your little dress.


s: Little Master Mischievous, in the cookie jar,


s: Who has ever told you where the cookies are?


s: Now your sticky fingers smear the curtains white;


s: You have finger-printed everything in sight.


s: There's no use in scolding; when you smile that way


s: You can rob of terror every word we say.


s: Little Master Mischievous, that's the name for you;


s: There's no better title that describes the things you do:


s: Prying into corners, peering into nooks,


s: Tugging table covers, tearing costly books.


s: Little Master Mischievous, have your roguish way;


s: Time, I know, will stop you, soon enough some day.


s: There's a lot of joy in the smiling world,


s: And laughter and songs and dances, too, whenever


s: Full many an hour is a shining one, when


s: But the golden threads in the warp of life are


s: Oh, the fun is froth and it blows away, and


s: And the pleasures come and the pleasures go,


s: But treasured ever you keep the pain that causes


s: For the sweetest hours are the ones that bring


s: The lump in your throat and the little sigh when


s: The very first time to the big red school--how


s: The fever days and the long black nights you


s: And the joy you felt when she smiled once


s: The glad hours live in a feeble way, but the sad


s: His first long trousers caused a pang and you


s: And the big still house when the boy and girl,


s: To college went; will you e'er forget that first


s: It seems as you look back over things, that all


s: Is somehow blent in a wondrous way with a


s: The golden threads in the warp of life are the


s: To show how well he has played the game;


s: But glad in his heart that his own rejoice


s: Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,


s: For the sake of those who at home await.


s: And bearing it all for the love of them.


s: To smooth the way for his children small,


s: I'm not the man to say that failure's sweet,


s: Nor tell a chap to laugh when things go wrong;


s: An' no one likes to lose before a throng;


s: When you have done the very best you could;


s: But if you're down, get up an' buckle in--


s: I've seen some chaps who never knew their power


s: Until somebody knocked 'em to the floor;


s: I've known men who discovered in an hour


s: I've seen 'em rise from failure to the top


s: Success is not the teacher, wise an' true,


s: That gruff old failure is, remember that;


s: She's much too apt to make a fool of you,


s: Which isn't true of blows that knock you flat.


s: Hard knocks are painful things an' hard to bear,


s: An' most of us would dodge 'em if we could;


s: There's something mighty broadening in care--


s: It's coming time for planting in that little patch of ground,


s: Where the lad and I made merry as he followed me around;


s: Now the sun is getting higher, and the skies above are blue,


s: And I'm hungry for the garden, and I wish the war was through.


s: The spring is coming back again, the birds begin to mate;


s: The skies are full of kindness, but the world is full of hate.


s: And it's I that should be bending now in peace above the soil


s: With laughing eyes and little hands about to bless the toil.


s: Last year I brought the bulbs to bloom and saw the roses bud;


s: This year I'm ankle deep in mire, and most of it is blood.


s: Last year the mother in the door was glad as she could be;


s: To-day her heart is full of pain, and mine is hurting me.


s: Oh, who will tend the roses now and who will sow the seeds?


s: And who will do the heavy work the little garden needs?


s: And who will tell the lad of mine the things he wants to know,


s: And take his hand and lead him round the paths we used to go?


s: My Pa he eats his breakfast in a funny sort of way:


s: We hardly ever see him at the first meal of the day.


s: Ma puts his food before him and he settles in his place


s: An' then he props the paper up and we can't see his face;


s: We hear him blow his coffee and we hear him chew his toast,


s: But it's for the morning paper that he seems to care the most.


s: Ma says that little children mighty grateful ought to be


s: To the folks that fixed the evening as the proper time for tea.


s: She says if meals were only served to people once a day,


s: An' that was in the morning just before Pa goes away,


s: We'd never know how father looked when he was in his place,


s: Coz he'd always have the morning paper stuck before his face.


s: He drinks his coffee steamin' hot, an' passes Ma his cup


s: To have it filled a second time, an' never once looks up.


s: He never has a word to say, but just sits there an' reads,


s: An' when she sees his hand stuck out Ma gives him what he needs.


s: She guesses what it is he wants, coz it's no use to ask:


s: Pa's got to read his paper an' sometimes that's quite a task.


s: One morning we had breakfast an' his features we could see,


s: But his face was long an' solemn an' he didn't speak to me,


s: An' we couldn't get him laughin' an' we couldn't make him smile,


s: An' he said the toast was soggy an' the coffee simply vile.


s: _Can't_ is the worst word that's written or spoken;


s: Doing more harm here than slander and lies;


s: It springs from the lips of the thoughtless each morning


s: And robs us of courage we need through the day:


s: It rings in our ears like a timely-sent warning


s: And laughs when we falter and fall by the way.


s: _Can't_ is the father of feeble endeavor,


s: The parent of terror and half-hearted work;


s: It weakens the efforts of artisans clever,


s: And makes of the toiler an indolent shirk.


s: It poisons the soul of the man with a vision,


s: It greets honest toiling with open derision


s: And mocks at the hopes and the dreams of a man.


s: _Can't_ is a word none should speak without blushing;


s: To utter it should be a symbol of shame;


s: Ambition and courage it daily is crushing;


s: It blights a man's purpose and shortens his aim.


s: Despise it with all of your hatred of error;


s: Refuse it the lodgment it seeks in your brain;


s: And all that you dream of you some day shall gain.


s: _Can't_ is the word that is foe to ambition,


s: Its prey is forever the man with a mission


s: And bows but to courage and patience and skill.


s: Hate it, with hatred that's deep and undying,


s: For once it is welcomed 'twill break any man;


s: Whatever the goal you are seeking, keep trying


s: And answer this demon by saying: "I _can_."


s: There must be great rejoicin' on the Golden


s: An' the big an' little angels must be feelin'


s: Could we look beyond the curtain now I fancy


s: Old Aunt Mary waitin', smilin', for the coming


s: An' Little Orphant Annie an' the whole excited


s: Dancin' up an' down an' shoutin': "Mr. Riley's


s: There's a heap o' real sadness in this good old


s: There are lumpy throats this morning now that


s: There's a voice now stilled forever that in


s: An' whispered words of courage with a faith that


s: There is much of joy and laughter that we


s: But the angels must be happy now that Riley's


s: The world was gettin' dreary, there was too


s: In this vale o' mortal strivin', so God sent Jim


s: An' He said: "Go there an' cheer 'em in your


s: With your songs of tender sweetness, but don't


s: Coz you're needed up in Heaven.  I am lendin'


s: Just to help 'em with your music, but I'll want


s: An' Riley came, an' mortals heard the music of


s: An' they caught his songs o' beauty an' they


s: An' they leaned on him in sorrow, an' they


s: An' they walked with him the pathways that


s: But the heavenly angels missed him, missed his


s: Of makin' people happy, an' they wanted Riley


s: There must be great rejoicin' on the streets of


s: An' all the angel children must be troopin'


s: Singin' heavenly songs of welcome an' preparin'


s: The world is robed in sadness an' is draped in


s: But joy must reign in Heaven now that Riley's


s: Are you fond of your wife and your children fair?


s: Do you crave pleasures for them to share?


s: Does your heart rejoice when your own are glad?


s: Well, it's that way, too, in this life, my lad,


s: Do you want the best for your own to know?


s: Do you stoop to kiss them before you go?


s: Does your heart run cold with a silent dread?


s: Well, it's that way, too, where all mortals tread--


s: Does it hurt when they want what you cannot buy?


s: Would you wail aloud if your babe should die


s: For the lack of care you could not supply?


s: Well, it's that way, too, as he travels by,


s: Cheek that is tanned to the wind of the north.


s: Body that jests at the bite of the cold,


s: Limbs that are eager and strong to go forth


s: Into the wilds and the ways of the bold;


s: Red blood that pulses and throbs in the veins,


s: Ears that love silences better than noise;


s: Strength of the forest and health of the plains;


s: These the rewards that the hunter enjoys.


s: Manhood is born of a kinship with trees.


s: Whence shall come brave hearts and stout


s: Woods have made way for our cities of ease?


s: 'Tis for the brave days of old that they yearn:


s: These are the splendors the hunter invokes.


s: It's September, and the orchards are afire with


s: And the nights with dew are heavy, and the


s: Now the garden's at its gayest with the salvia


s: And the good old-fashioned asters laughing


s: Once again in shoes and stockings are the children's


s: And the dog now does his snoozing on the


s: It's September, and the cornstalks are as high


s: And the red cheeks of the apples everywhere


s: Now the supper's scarcely over ere the darkness


s: And the moon looms big and yellow at the


s: Oh, it's good to see the children, when their


s: Duck beneath the patchwork covers when they


s: It's September, and a calmness and a sweetness


s: Over everything that's living, just as though it


s: Of Old Winter, trudging slowly, with his pack


s: In the distance over yonder, and it somehow


s: Every tiny little blossom wants to look its very


s: When the frost shall bite its petals and it droops


s: It's September! It's the fullness and the ripeness


s: All the work of earth is finished, or the final


s: But there is no doleful wailing; every living


s: For the end that is approaching wears the


s: And I pray that I may proudly hold my head


s: When I come to my September in the golden


s: Do you grapple the task that comes your way


s: Do you start to toil with a sense of dread


s: You can do as much as you think you can,


s: If you're afraid of yourself, young man,


s: For failure comes from the inside first,


s: And you can win, though you face the worst,


s: It's all in the start that you make, young man:


s: You must feel that you're going to do it.


s: What is the thought that is in your mind?


s: It isn't a thing to be stored in the chest


s: Where you gather your keepsakes and treasure your best;


s: It isn't a joy to be sipped now and then


s: And promptly put back in a dark place again.


s: Life is a gift that the humblest may boast of


s: And one that the humblest may well make the most of.


s: Get out and live it each hour of the day,


s: Don't keep it in niches and corners and grooves,


s: You'll find that in service its beauty improves.


s: And both their little prayers have said,


s: The frog that croaks, the lark that sings,


s: But just last night they stumped me, when


s: It's the dull road that leads to the gay road;


s: The work road that leads to the play road;


s: It's the hard work and merciless grinding


s: It's the hard road of trying and learning,


s: When an apple tree is ready for the world to


s: There isn't any structure in the land that's


s: There's nothing man has builded with the


s: That can touch the simple grandeur of the


s: That has ever caught the redness of a single apple's blush.


s: When an apple tree's in blossom it is glorious


s: But that's just a hint, at springtime, of the


s: That is just a fairy promise from the Great


s: Of the wonders and the splendors that are


s: The distant edge of summer; just a forecast


s: When the apple tree is ready for the world


s: Architects of splendid vision long have labored


s: And have raised their dreams in marble and


s: Long the spires of costly churches have looked


s: Rich in promise and in the beauty, they have


s: But I'm sure there's nothing finer for the eye


s: Than an apple tree that's ready for the world


s: There's the promise of the apples, red and


s: Like the medals worn by mortals as rewards


s: And the big arms stretched wide open, with a


s: In a way that sets you thinking it's intended


s: There is nothing with a beauty so entrancing,


s: As an apple tree that's ready for the world to


s: Take home a smile; forget the petty cares,


s: The dull, grim grind of all the day's affairs;


s: The day is done, come be yourself awhile:


s: To-night, to those who wait, take home a smile.


s: Take home a smile; don't scatter grief and gloom


s: Where laughter and light hearts should always


s: What though you've traveled many a dusty mile,


s: Footsore and weary, still take home a smile.


s: Take home a smile--it is not much to do,


s: But much it means to them who wait for you;


s: You can be brave for such a little while;


s: The day of doubt is done--take home a smile.


s: But it's something deep in the soul of man


s: That is working always to serve some plan.


s: In the work of life or the game of sport;


s: At some future time when he's apt to fall;


s: If he hasn't it now, he will have it not


s: When the strain is great and the pace is hot.


s: Must always have courage within his soul.


s: That flashes and passes away from sight;


s: It's a slow, unwavering, ingrained trait


s: With the patience to work and the strength to wait.


s: It's part of a man when his skies are blue,


s: It's part of him when he has work to do.


s: It's part of his hours, his days and his years,


s: Back of his smiles and behind his tears.


s: It's the breath of life and a strong man's creed.


s: Who has the grateful mention of a brother


s: We can be famous for our works of kindness--


s: Fame is not born alone of strength or skill;


s: It sometimes comes from deafness and from


s: To petty words and faults, and loving still.


s: We can be rich in gentle smiles and sunny:


s: The richest men sometimes have little money,


s: And Croesus oft's the poorest man in town.


s: I've sipped a rich man's sparkling wine,


s: I'd like to leave but daffodills to mark my little


s: To leave but tulips red and white behind me as


s: I'd like to pass away from earth and feel I'd


s: But roses and forget-me-nots for all who come


s: I'd like to sow the barren spots with all the


s: To leave a path where those who come should


s: And when at last I'm called upon to join the


s: I'd like to feel along my way I'd left no sign


s: And yet the cares are many and the hours of


s: There is not time enough on earth for all I'd


s: But, having lived and having toiled, I'd like the


s: Some little touch of beauty that my soul had


s: She thought the selfsame thing at three,


s: I do not think all failure's undeserved,


s: And all success is merely someone's luck;


s: Some men are down because they were unnerved,


s: And some are up because they kept their pluck.


s: Some men are down because they chose to shirk;


s: Some men are high because they did their work.


s: I do not think that all the poor are good,


s: The beggar might have conquered if he would,


s: And that he begs, the world is not to blame.


s: Misfortune is not all that comes to mar;


s: Most men, themselves, have shaped the things


s: The skies are blue and the sun is out and the


s: And the old charm's back in the apple tree


s: And the same low voice that the old don't hear,


s: Is calling them to the fields and streams and


s: And if youth be wild desire for play and care


s: Beneath the skin that Time has tanned I'm a


s: Far richer than king with his crown of gold and


s: Is the sunburned boy with his stone-bruised feet


s: For the king can hear but the cry of hate or the


s: And lost to him are the voices sweet that called


s: Far better than ruler, with pomp and power


s: The urchin gay in his tattered clothes that is


s: Oh, once I heard all the calls that come to the


s: And a certain spot on the river bank told me of


s: And certain fields and certain trees were loyal


s: And I knew the birds, and I owned a dog, and


s: Oh, never from tongues of men have dropped


s: As the things that live in the great outdoors


s: And I'm sorry for him who cannot hear what


s: Who is deaf to the call of a running stream


s: The boy that shins up the faithful elm or


s: Is more richly blessed with the joys of life than


s: For youth is the golden time of life, and this


s: Beats fast to the march of its old-time joys,


s: Foxes can talk if you know how to listen,


s: Owls have big eyes that sparkle an' glisten,


s: Bears can turn flip-flaps an' climb ellum trees,


s: An' steal all the honey away from the bees,


s: An' they never mind winter becoz they don't


s: Girls is a-scared of a snake, but boys ain't,


s: They holler an' run; an' sometimes they faint,


s: But boys would be 'shamed to be frightened


s: When all that the snake wants to do is to play;


s: You've got to believe every word that I say,


s: Wolves ain't so bad if you treat 'em all right,


s: They're as fond of a game as they are of a fight,


s: An' all of the animals found in the wood


s: Ain't always ferocious.  Most times they are


s: The trouble is mostly they're misunderstood,


s: You can think what you like, but I stick to it


s: An' I'll keep right on sayin', again an' again,


s: Maybe foxes don't talk to such people as you,


s: An' bears never show you the tricks they can do,


s: But I know that the stories I'm tellin' are true,


s: And chant their hymns of splendid death,


s: The blood-red coat, the rattling throat,


s: And glorious deeds of strength and brain.


s: The call for help that rings through space


s: Thrills me far more than fields of gore,


s: There's a heap of pent-up goodness in the yellow


s: And I sort o' like to linger round a berry patch


s: Oh, the Lord has set our table with a stock o'


s: An' there's just enough o' bitter in the blend


s: But I run the whole list over, an' it seems


s: Find the keenest sort o' pleasure in a chunk


s: There are pies that start the water circulatin' in


s: There are pies that wear the flavor of the warm


s: Some with oriental spices spur the drowsy appetite


s: An' just fill a fellow's being with a thrill o'


s: But for downright solid goodness that comes


s: There is nothing quite the equal of a chunk o'


s: I'm admittin' tastes are diff'runt, I'm not settin'


s: As the judge an' final critic of the good things


s: I'm sort o' payin' tribute to a simple joy on


s: Sort o' feebly testifyin' to its lasting charm an'


s: An' I'll hold to this conclusion till it comes my


s: That there's no dessert that's finer than a chunk


s: If never a sorrow came to us, and never a care


s: If every hope were realized, and every dream


s: If only joy were found on earth, and no one


s: And never a friend proved false to us, and never


s: And never a burden bore us down, soul-sick and


s: We'd yearn for tests to prove our worth and


s: The green is in the meadow and the blue is in


s: And all of Nature's artists have their colors


s: With a few days bright with sunshine and a


s: They will start to splash their colors quite


s: There's an artist waiting ready at each bleak


s: To paint the flashing tulip or the meek forget-me-not.


s: May is lurking in the distance and her lap is


s: And the choicest of her blossoms very shortly


s: There is not a lane so dreary or a field so dark


s: But that soon will be resplendent with its little


s: There's an artist keen and eager to make beautiful


s: And remove with colors gorgeous every trace of


s: Oh, the world is now in mourning; round about


s: The ruins and the symbols of the winter that


s: But the bleak and barren picture very shortly


s: For the halls of life are ready for their velvet


s: And the painters now are waiting with their


s: This dullness with a beauty that no mortal hand


s: The green is in the meadow and the blue is in


s: The chill of death is passing, life will shortly


s: We shall revel soon in colors only Nature's


s: And the humblest plant that's sleeping unto


s: For there's not a leaf forgotten, not a twig


s: And the tiniest of pansies shall the royal purple


s: And though I've passed from boyhood's term,


s: Than the joy and the thrill of the game.


s: I've told about the times that Ma can't find


s: And how we have to hustle round for it to help


s: But there's another care we know that often


s: I guess it happens easily a dozen times a day.


s: It starts when first the postman through the


s: And Ma says: "Goodness gracious me!  Wherever


s: We hunt 'em on the mantelpiece an' by the


s: Until Ma says: "Now, children, stop, an' give


s: Just when it was I used 'em last an' just


s: Yes, now I know--the dining room.  I'm sure


s: We even look behind the clock, we busy boys


s: Until somebody runs across Ma's missing pair of


s: We've found 'em in the Bible, an' we've found


s: We've found 'em in the sugar bowl, an' once


s: Before we came across 'em in the padding of


s: An' many a time we've found 'em in the topknot


s: It's a search that ruins order an' the home


s: For there's no place where you may not find


s: But we're mighty glad, I tell you, that the


s: An' we hope to hunt those glasses till our time


s: It's a little bit of service that is joyous in its


s: It's a task that calls us daily an' we hope it


s: Rich or poor, the saddest mortals of all the


s: Are the ones who have no mother dear to lose


s: You'll find in the boys they call Pat's.


s: You'll have friends instead of neighbors


s: Thankful for the glory of the old Red, White


s: For the spirit of America that still is staunch


s: For the laughter of our children and the sunlight


s: And the joy of radiant mothers and their evening


s: And thankful that our harvests wear no taint


s: But were sown and reaped by toilers who were


s: Thankful for the riches that are ours to claim


s: The joy of honest labor and the boon of happy


s: For each little family circle where there is no


s: Save where God has sent the sorrow for the


s: And thankful for the loyal souls and brave


s: Who builded that contentment should be with


s: Thankful for the plenty that our peaceful land


s: For the rising sun that beckons every man to


s: For the goal that lies before him and the promise


s: That his hand shall reap the harvest, undisturbed


s: For the flaming torch of justice, symbolizing


s: Here none may rob the toiler of the prize he


s: To-day our thanks we're giving for the riches


s: For the red fruits of the orchards and the


s: For our homes with laughter ringing and our


s: For our land of peace and plenty and our land


s: And we're thankful for the glory of the old


s: For the spirit of our fathers and a manhood


s: Ma has a dandy little book that's full of narrow


s: An' when she wants to pay a bill a page from


s: She just writes in the dollars and the cents and


s: An' that's as good as money, though it doesn't


s: She promptly goes an' gets 'em, an' she writes


s: I don't just understand it, but I know she


s: Pa says to her at supper:  "Well!  You're


s: Ma's not a business woman, she is much too


s: To squabble over pennies or to play a selfish


s: An' when someone asks for money, she's not


s: Of a little piece of paper an' the cost of pen


s: She just tells him very sweetly if he'll only


s: An' be seated in the parlor, she will write a


s: She can write one out for twenty just as easily


s: An' forgets that Pa may grumble:  "Well,


s: Pa says it looks as though he'll have to start in


s: To gather in the money for the checks that


s: He says that every morning when he's summoned


s: He's afraid the bank is calling to make mother's


s: He tells his friends if ever anything our fortune


s: They can trace it to the moment mother started


s: He's got so that he trembles when he sees her


s: An' he mutters:  "Do be careful!  You'll be


s: There's nothing that builds up a toil-weary soul


s: Back on the banks of the old fishing hole


s: There's nothing so good for a man as to flee


s: Full length in the shade of a whispering tree


s: Out there where the strife and the greed are forgot


s: A man can get rid of each taint and each spot


s: He can be what he wanted to be when a boy,


s: And revel once more in the depths of a joy


s: The things that he hates never follow him there--


s: The rivalries petty, the struggling unfair--


s: In purity's realm he can rest and be clean,


s: And as peaceful his soul may become as the scene


s: It is good for the world that men hunger to go


s: And weary of sham and of pomp and of show


s: For this life would be dreary and sordid and base


s: Seek refreshment and calm in God's wide, open space


s: Some poisoned quip that I thought clever;


s: Where cheeks turn brown and eyes are bright,


s: With youngsters' sun-kissed, tousled hair:


s: And your phonographic record that Caruso's


s: But there isn't any music that such wondrous


s: Like the concert when the kiddies and their


s: When the supper time is over, then the mother


s: Some simple little ditty, and our concert's under


s: And I'm happier and richer than a millionaire


s: When I listen to the kiddies and their mother


s: There's a sweetness most appealing in the trilling


s: It is innocence that's pouring from their little


s: And I gaze at them enraptured, for my joy's


s: Every evening when the kiddies and their mother


s: Pa's not so very big or brave; he can't lift


s: His hands are soft like little girls'; most anyone


s: Ma weighs a whole lot more than Pa.  When


s: Out in the river all day long, but Pa gets frozen


s: But when the thunder starts to roll, an' lightnin'


s: I'm sure we'll all of us be killed.  I only wish


s: Pa's cheeks are thin an' kinder pale; he couldn't


s: He couldn't stand the hike we had the day the


s: He has to hire a man to dig the garden, coz his


s: An' he'd be crippled for a week, if he should


s: But when a thunder storm comes up, Ma sits an'


s: An' every time the thunder rolls, she says:  "I


s: I don't know just what Pa could do if he were


s: But every time the skies grow black I notice Ma


s: An' when she's called us children in, an' locked


s: She jumps at every lightnin' flash an' trembles


s: An' when the baby starts to cry, she wrings her


s: It's terrible!  It's terrible!  I only wish your


s: Must pay for it with hours of strife and care,


s: Must win by toil the evening's sweet release,


s: The rest that may be portioned for his share;


s: A man must win contentment for his soul,


s: The peace he seeks is not a near-by goal;


s: The shirker never knows a tranquil breast;


s: Peace but rewards the man who does his best.


s: I'd like to be the sort of man the flag could boast about;


s: I'd like to be the sort of man it cannot live without;


s: I'd like to be the sort of man the flag now typifies,


s: The kind of man we really want the flag to symbolize;


s: I'd like to be the sort of man the flag's supposed to mean,


s: The man that all in fancy see wherever it is seen,


s: You don't begrudge the labor when the roses


s: You don't recall the dreary days that won you


s: You don't begrudge the trials grim when joy


s: You don't recall the dreary days when all your


s: The things that make a soldier great and send


s: To face the flaming cannon's mouth nor ever


s: Are lilacs by a little porch, the row of tulips


s: The peonies and pansies, too, the old petunia bed,


s: The grass plot where his children play, the roses


s: 'Tis these that make a soldier great.  He's fighting


s: 'Tis not the pomp and pride of kings that make


s: 'Tis not allegiance to the flag that over him may


s: For soldiers never fight so well on land or on


s: As when behind the cause they see the little


s: Endanger but that humble street whereon his


s: You make a soldier of the man who never bore


s: What is it through the battle smoke the valiant


s: The little garden far away, the budding apple


s: The little patch of ground back there, the children


s: Perhaps a tiny mound behind the simple church


s: The golden thread of courage isn't linked to


s: But to the spot, where'er it be--the humblest spot


s: And now the lilacs bud again and all is lovely


s: And homesick soldiers far away know spring


s: The tulips come to bloom again, the grass


s: And every man can see the spot where all his


s: He sees his children smile at him, he hears the


s: And only death can stop him now--he's fighting


s: An' it's a nuisance through and through.


s: It's tough when you are homesick in a strange


s: And yearning for the good folks and the joys


s: When you're miles away from friendship, is a


s: But it's tougher, let me tell you, and a stiffer


s: To see them through the window, and to know


s: Oh, I never knew the meaning of that red sign


s: Never really understood it, never thought of it


s: But I'll never see another since they've tacked


s: But I'll think about the father that is barred


s: And I'll think about the mother who is prisoner


s: So her little son or daughter shall not miss a


s: And I'll share a fellow feeling with the saddest


s: The dad beside the gateway of the home he


s: Oh, we laugh and joke together and the mother


s: Brave and sunny in her prison, and she thinks


s: And I do my bravest smiling and I feign a


s: But it's only empty laughter, and there's nothing


s: When you're talking through the window of the


s: Four big round eyes that dance with glee,


s: Of speaking ere you've downed your food,


s: He was going to be all that a mortal should be


s: No one should be kinder or braver than he


s: A friend who was troubled and weary he knew,


s: Who'd be glad of a lift and who needed it, too;


s: On him he would call and see what he could do


s: Each morning he stacked up the letters he'd


s: And thought of the folks he would fill with


s: It was too bad, indeed, he was busy to-day,


s: More time he would have to give others, he'd


s: The greatest of workers this man would have


s: The world would have known him, had he ever


s: But the fact is he died and he faded from view,


s: And all that he left here when living was


s: Was a mountain of things he intended to do


s: He spent what he made, or he gave it away,


s: Tried to save money, and would for a day,


s: Got a hundred or so for a nest egg, an' then


s: Some fellow that needed it more than he did,


s: Who was down on his luck, with a sick wife or kid,


s: Came along an' he wasted no time till he went


s: An' drew out the coin that for saving was meant.


s: They say he died poor, and I guess that is so:


s: He worked all the time and good money he made,


s: Was known as an excellent man at his trade.


s: But he saw too much, heard too much, felt too much here


s: To save anything by the end of the year,


s: An' the shabbiest wreck the Lord ever let live


s: Could get money from him if he had it to give.


s: I've seen him slip dimes to the bums on the street


s: Who told him they hungered for something to eat,


s: An' though I remarked they were going for drink


s: He'd say:  "Mebbe so.  But I'd just hate to think


s: That fellow was hungry an' I'd passed him by;


s: I'd rather be fooled twenty times by a lie


s: Than wonder if one of 'em I wouldn't feed


s: Had told me the truth an' was really in need."


s: Never stinted his family out of a thing:


s: They had everything that his money could bring;


s: Said he'd rather be broke and just know they were glad,


s: Than rich, with them pining an' wishing they had


s: Some of the pleasures his money would buy;


s: Said he never could look a bank book in the eye


s: If he knew it had grown on the pleasures and joys


s: That he'd robbed from his wife and his girls


s: Yet many a rich man on earth is mourned less.


s: All who had known him came back to his side


s: To honor his name on the day that he died.


s: Didn't leave much in the bank, it is true,


s: But did leave a fortune in people who knew


s: The big heart of him, an' I'm willing to swear


s: That to-day he is one of the richest up there.


s: "When you have learned that you must hold


s: Heard something "woofing" down that way,


s: An' they was scared an' stood stock still


s: An' said "Woof! Woof!" which meant "Look


s: They stroked his nose when they got brave,


s: They said they did.  Said Jim: "That's funny.


s: The sumac's flaming scarlet on the edges o' the


s: An' the pear trees are invitin' everyone t' come


s: Now the gorgeous tints of autumn are appearin'


s: Till it seems that you can almost see the Master


s: There's a solemn sort o' stillness that's pervadin'


s: Save the farewell songs to summer that the


s: An' you quite forget the city where disgruntled


s: Off yonder with the Pelletiers, when spies are


s: The Holsteins are a-posin' in a clearin' near a


s: Very dignified an' stately, just as though they


s: That they're lending to life's pictures just the


s: An' they're preachin' more refinement than a lot


s: The orchard's fairly groanin' with the gifts o'


s: Just as though they meant to shame us who


s: Oh, there's somethin' most inspirin' to a soul in


s: Off yonder with the Pelletiers when spies are


s: The frisky little Shetlands now are growin'


s: An' acquirin' silken mufflers of their own to


s: An' a Russian wolf-hound puppy left its mother


s: An' a tinge o' sorrow touched us as we saw it


s: For the sight was full o' meanin', an' we knew,


s: 'Twas a symbol of the partin's that the years are


s: Oh, a feller must be better--to his faith he can't


s: Off yonder with the Pelletiers when spies are ripe


s: The year is almost over, now at dusk the valleys


s: With the misty mantle chillin', that is hangin'


s: An' each mornin' sees the maples just a little


s: Than they were the night we left 'em, an' the


s: An' a feller can't help feelin', an' I don't care


s: That the mind that works such wonders has a


s: Oh, I know that I'll remember till life's last few


s: The lessons out at Pelletiers when spies were ripe


s: Me threw those building blocks downstairs,


s: Coz when you're playin' train you've got


s: Gentle hands that never weary toiling in love's


s: Eyes that seem forever cheery when our eyes


s: Tender, patient, brave, devoted, this is always


s: Could her worth in gold be quoted as you think


s: There shall never be another quite so tender,


s: As the patient little mother; nowhere on this


s: Her affection duplicated; none so proud if you


s: Could her worth be overstated?  Not by any


s: Death stood near the hour she bore us, agony


s: Yet she bravely faced it for us, smiling in her


s: Down the years how oft we've tried her, often


s: Yet with love alone to guide her she was never


s: Vain are all our tributes to her if in words


s: We must live the praises due her; there's no


s: Gentle mother that we love her.  Would you say,


s: All the patient service of her, you've been


s: Doesn't keep all his praise for the brother


s: I might not ever scale the mountain heights


s: Where all the great men stand in glory now;


s: I may not ever gain the world's delights


s: Are fighting for, nor do a thing to boast of;


s: The little that I have I'll make the most of.


s: And I shall know each humble plant and vine


s: As rich men know their orchid blossoms rare.


s: For in its walls I'll keep a hoard of love.


s: To grasp at shadows of more splendid things,


s: I'll make the most of what is mine to-day,


s: Just lead them round the rooms and halls


s: That have been bought and gathered there.


s: It's guessing time at our house; every evening


s: We start guessing what old Santa's going to


s: Everyone of us holds secrets that the others try


s: And that eyes and lips are plainly having trouble


s: And a little lip that quivered just a bit the other


s: Was a sad and startling warning that I mustn't


s: "Guess what you will get for Christmas!" is the


s: And I answer: "Give the letter with which the


s: Oh, the eyes that dance around me and the joyous


s: Keep me nightly guessing wildly:  "Is it something


s: I implore them all to tell me in a frantic sort


s: And pretend that I am puzzled, just to keep them


s: Oh, the wise and knowing glances that across the


s: And the winks exchanged with mother, that they


s: Oh, the whispered confidences that are poured


s: And the laughter gay that follows when I try


s: Oh, the shouts of glad derision when I bet that


s: And the merry answering chorus:  "No, it's


s: It's guessing time at our house, and the fun is


s: And I wish somehow this contest of delight


s: For the love that's in their faces and their


s: Is their dad's most precious present when the


s: And soon as it is over, when the tree is bare


s: I shall start in looking forward to the time to


s: When I was young and frivolous and never


s: When I was always doing wrong, or just upon


s: When I was just a lad of seven and eight and


s: It seemed to me that every day I got in trouble


s: And strangers used to shake their heads and say


s: But father always stuck to me--it seems he


s: I used to have to go to him 'most every night


s: The dreadful things that I had done to worry


s: I know I didn't mean to be a turmoil round the


s: And with the womenfolks about forever in disgrace;


s: To do the way they said I should, I tried the


s: But though they scolded me a lot--my father


s: He never seemed to think it queer that I should


s: Or fight with other boys at times, or pelt a cat


s: An' when I'd break a window pane, it used to


s: But though the neighbors said I was, he never


s: He never whipped me, as they used to say to me


s: That boys can't always do what's right--it


s: Now there's that little chap of mine, just full of


s: Comes up to me with solemn face to tell the


s: It's natural for any boy to be a roguish elf,


s: He hasn't time to stop and think and figure for


s: And though the womenfolks insist that I should


s: They've never been a boy themselves, and they


s: Some day I've got to go up there, and make a


s: And tell the Father of us all where I have fallen


s: And there will be a lot of wrong I never meant


s: A lot of smudges on my sheet that He will have


s: And little chance for heavenly bliss, up there,


s: Unless the Father smiles and says: "My boy,


s: Our thoughts have turned from dens and domes;


s: For months and months we've sat and dreamed


s: This fad has swept throughout the land--


s: It's an easy world to live in if you choose to


s: You never need to suffer, save the griefs that


s: If you'll stay upon the level and will do the


s: You will never lack the friendship of a kindly


s: Life's an easy road to travel if you'll only walk


s: When the clouds begin to gather and your hopes


s: If you've only toiled in honor you won't have


s: But if you've bartered friendship and the faith


s: For a temporary winning; if you've cheated in


s: If with promises you've broken, you have chilled


s: It is vain to look for friendship for it will not


s: Oh, the world is full of kindness, thronged with


s: Of some service to their neighbors and they'll


s: When we're needing their assistance if we've


s: But they'll spurn us in our trouble if we've


s: It's an easy world to live in; all you really need


s: Is the decent thing and proper and then friends


s: But let dishonor trail you and some stormy day


s: To your heart's supremest sorrow that you've


s: Though sweet the charms he knows the best,


s: You ought to be fine for the sake of the folks


s: If others have faith in you doubly you're bound


s: It's not only on you that dishonor descends:


s: You can't hurt yourself without hurting your friends.


s: You ought to be true for the sake of the folks


s: You never should stoop to a deed that your friends


s: If you're false to yourself, be the blemish but small,


s: You have injured your friends; you've been false to them all.


s: For friendship, my boy, is a bond between men


s: It believes in the best of the ones that it loves,


s: And the stern rule it lays down for me and for you


s: Is to be what our friends think we are, through and through.


s: For you'll find that back of the pomp and power


s: They'll tell you then that their aim is not


s: That not in the worldly things they've got


s: They'll say the joys that they treasure most


s: And an honest name for their own to boast


s: I've seen their eyes grow bright and glow


s: And back of the gold and back of the fame


s: In most men's breasts you'll find the flame


s: He'll stick, I'll bet, in less than five


s: Though now he sleeps in hallowed ground,


s: Death does not end our friendships true;


s: I believe in the world and its bigness and splendor:


s: That most of the hearts beating round us are tender;


s: That days are but footsteps and years are but miles


s: That lead us to beauty and singing and smiles:


s: That roses that blossom and toilers that plod


s: Are filled with the glorious spirit of God.


s: I believe in the purpose of everything living:


s: That taking is but the forerunner of giving;


s: That strangers are friends that we some day may meet;


s: And not all the bitter can equal the sweet;


s: That creeds are but colors, and no man has said


s: That God loves the yellow rose more than the red.


s: I believe in the path that to-day I am treading,


s: That I shall come safe through the dangers I'm dreading;


s: That even the scoffer shall turn from his ways


s: And some day be won back to trust and to praise;


s: That the leaf on the tree and the thing we call Man


s: I believe that all things that are living and breathing


s: Some richness of beauty to earth are bequeathing;


s: That all that goes out of this world leaves behind


s: Some duty accomplished for mortals to find;


s: That the humblest of creatures our praise is deserving,


s: For it, with the wisest, the Master is serving.


s: The things that haven't been done before,


s: And his heart was bold and his faith was strong


s: And he paid no heed to the jeering throng


s: There are deeds they hunger alone to do;


s: Are you one of the flock that follows, or


s: Are you one of the timid souls that quail


s: If I had hatred in my heart toward my fellow


s: If I were pressed to do him ill, to conjure up a


s: To wound him sorely and to rob his days of all


s: I'd wish his wife would go away and take their


s: I'd waste no time on curses vague, nor try to


s: Nor seek to shatter any plan that he might


s: A crueler revenge than that for him I would


s: I'd wish his wife and little one might leave him


s: I'd wish him all the loneliness that comes with


s: Who fill his life with laughter and contentment


s: I'd wish him empty rooms at night and mocking


s: That neither wife nor little boy will greet him


s: If I despised my fellow man, I'd make my


s: By wishing him a week or two of living all


s: I'd let him know the torture that is mine to


s: For Buddy and his mother now are miles and


s: Most folks, as I've noticed, in pleasure an' strife,


s: Are always expecting too much out of life.


s: The best o' the sunshine, the fairest o' flowers,


s: The finest o' features, the strongest o' powers;


s: They whine an' they whimper an' curse an' condemn,


s: Coz life isn't always being' partial to them.


s: Notwithstandin' the pain an' the sufferin' they see,


s: They cling to the notion that they should go free:


s: But should always be happy an' never perplexed,


s: An' never discouraged or beaten or vexed.


s: When life treats 'em roughly an' jolts 'em with care,


s: It's a curious notion folks hold in their pride,


s: That their souls should never be tested or tried;


s: An' stand by the biers of their loved ones an' weep,


s: But life from such sorrows their bosoms must keep.


s: Oh, they mustn't know what it means to be sad,


s: Or they'll wail that the treatment they're gettin'


s: Now life as I view it means pleasure an' pain,


s: An' laughter an' weepin' an' sunshine an' rain,


s: Must face it an' bear it the best that they can


s: Believin' great Wisdom is workin' the plan.


s: An' no one should ever complain it's unfair


s: Because at the moment he's tastin' despair.


s: Has wrought great havoc with men's souls,


s: Because men thought and whispered: "Hard."


s: Be grateful for the kindly friends that walk


s: Be grateful for the skies of blue that smile


s: Be grateful for the health you own, the work


s: Be grateful for the growing trees, the roses


s: The tenderness of kindly hearts that shared your


s: Be grateful for the morning dew, the grass


s: The soft caresses of your babes and all their


s: Acquire the grateful habit, learn to see how blest


s: How much there is to gladden life, how little


s: And what if rain shall fall to-day and you with


s: Be grateful that you can recall the joys that


s: Back through his years from age to youth


s: Played with the strength he could employ,


s: Some are eager to be famous, some are striving


s: Some are toiling to be leaders of their nation


s: And in every man's ambition, if we only understood,


s: There is much that's fine and splendid; every


s: So I cling unto the notion that contented I


s: If the men upon life's pathway find a needed


s: I rather like to putter 'round the walks and


s: To spray at night the roses that are burned and


s: To eat a frugal dinner, but always to have a


s: For the unexpected stranger that my simple


s: I don't care to be a traveler, I would rather be


s: Sitting calmly by the roadside helping weary


s: I'd like to be a neighbor in the good old-fashioned way,


s: Finding much to do for others, but not over


s: I like to read the papers, but I do not yearn


s: What the journal of the morning has been


s: In the silences and shadows I would live my


s: I guess I wasn't fashioned for the brilliant


s: Wasn't gifted much with talent or designed for


s: But was just sent here to putter with life's little


s: And keep a simple corner where the stirring


s: And if folks should chance to linger, worn and


s: To do some needed service and to cheer them


s: When God first viewed the rose He'd made


s: "My rose shall deck the bride," one said


s: "Well done, well done!" the Master spake;


s: "Henceforth the rose shall bloom on earth:


s: Bent nails, old washers, pipes and rings,


s: He searched the junk box through and through


s: When the hair about the temples starts to show


s: And a fellow realizes that he's wandering far


s: From the pleasures of his boyhood and his


s: Will know the joy of laughter as he did in days


s: Oh, it's then he starts to thinking of a stubby


s: With a face as brown as berries and a soul


s: When a gray-haired dreamer wanders down the


s: And forgets the living present for the time of


s: He takes off his shoes and stockings, and he


s: And he's free from all restrictions, save the rules


s: He may be in richest garments, but bareheaded


s: He forgets his proud successes and the riches


s: Oh, there's not a man alive but that would give


s: The stubby little fellow that in dreamland he


s: And the splendors that surround him and the


s: Only seem to rise to taunt him with the boyhood


s: Then the richest man that's living yearns to be


s: That cheered them so, would quickly fade:


s: He little knew the sorrow that was in his


s: It takes a heap o' livin' in a house to make


s: I've told about the times that Ma can't find


s: Most folks, as I've noticed, in pleasure an'


s: Thankful for the glory of the old Red, White


s: There must be great rejoicin' on the Golden


s: There's nothing that builds up a toil-weary


s: When the hair about the temples starts to


s: This file contains translations of the following works:


s: Hesiod), and fragments of various works attributed to Hesiod.


s: Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Rampton, NR. Cambridge. Sept. 9th, 1914.


s: In its third period, therefore, epic poetry shows two divergent


s: of service in daily life--agriculture, astronomy, augury, and the


s: was transferred to Delos. These developments certainly need no


s: "When in the shady Locrian grove Hesiod lay dead, the Nymphs


s: washed his body with water from their own springs, and


s: heaped high his grave; and thereon the goat-herds sprinkled


s: offerings of milk mingled with yellow-honey: such was the


s: utterance of the nine Muses that he breathed forth, that old


s: man who had tasted of their pure springs."


s: and injustice, the poet passes on to contrast the blessing which


s: Righteousness brings to a nation, and the punishment which Heaven


s: The following analysis (after Marckscheffel)  will show the


s: principle of its composition. From Prometheus and Pronoia sprang


s: This tendency to introduce romantic episodes led to an important


s: development. Several poems are ascribed to Hesiod, such as the


s: "Epithalamium of Peleus and Thetis", the "Descent of Theseus into


s: Quintillian's  judgment on Hesiod that 'he rarely rises to great


s: Hesiod's charm lies in his child-like and sincere naivete, in his


s: The pre-Trojan poems of the Cycle may be noticed first. The


s: 'After-Born' against Thebes, and the sack of the city.


s: Six epics with the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" made up the Trojan


s: The earliest of the post-Homeric epics of Troy are apparently the


s: The "Cyprian Lays", ascribed to Stasinus of Cyprus  (but also to


s: The end of the Cycle marks also the end of the Heroic Age.


s: element was introduced at Eleusis at about that period. Further,


s: The Hymn is hard to date. Hermes' lyre has seven strings and the


s: a masterly manner a divine being as the unwilling victim of an


s: irresistible force. It tells how all creatures, and even the gods


s: spontaneous love of wild natural scenes.


s: To Homer were popularly ascribed certain burlesque poems in which


s: Suidas is confusing the two Artemisias, but he may be right in


s: A    Vienna, Rainer Papyri L.P. 21-9 (4th cent.).


s: B    Geneva, Naville Papyri Pap. 94 (6th cent.).


s: D    Florence, Laur. xxxi 39 (12th cent.).


s: E    Messina, Univ. Lib. Preexistens 11 (12th-13th cent.).


s: H    Florence, Laur. xxxi 37 (14th cent.).


s: I    Florence, Laur. xxxii 16 (13th cent.).


s: K    Florence, Laur. xxxii 2 (14th cent.).


s: M    Florence, Bibl. Riccardiana 71 (15th cent.).


s: These MSS. are divided by Rzach into the following families,


s: N    Manchester, Rylands GK. Papyri No. 54 (1st cent. B.C.--1st


s: O    Oxyrhynchus Papyri 873 (3rd cent.).


s: B    London, British Museam clix (4th cent.).


s: R    Vienna, Rainer Papyri L.P. 21-9 (4th cent.).


s: D    Florence, Laur. xxxii 16 (13th cent.).


s: I    Florence, Laur. xxxi 32 (15th cent.).


s: These MSS. are divided into two families:


s: P    Oxyrhynchus Papyri 689 (2nd cent.).


s: E    Florence, Laur. xxxii 16 (13th cent.).


s: H    Florence, Laur. xxxi 32 (15th cent.).


s: I    London, British Museaum Harleianus (14th cent.).


s: To these must be added two MSS. of mixed family:


s: Demetrius Chalcondyles, Milan (?) 1493 (?) ("editio princeps",


s: containing, however, only the "Works and Days").


s: Aldus Manutius (Aldine edition), Venice, 1495 (complete works).


s: Trincavelli, Venice, 1537 (with scholia).


s: Of modern editions, the following may be noticed:--


s: On the Hesiodic poems generally the ordinary Histories of Greek


s: The mediaeval MSS.  are thus enumerated by Dr. T.W. Allen:--


s: G    Rome, Vatican, Regina 91 (16th cent.).


s: M    Leyden (the Moscow MS.) 33 H (14th cent.).


s: S    Rome, Vatican, Vaticani graec. 1880.


s: Demetrius Chalcondyles, Florence, 1488 (with the "Epigrams" and


s: the "Battle of the Frogs and Mice" in the "ed. pr." of


s: More modern editions or critical works of value are:


s: Martin (Variarum Lectionum libb. iv), Paris, 1605.


s: Ilgen, Halle, 1796 (with "Epigrams" and the "Battle of the Frogs


s: Matthiae, Leipzig, 1806 (with the "Battle of the Frogs and


s: Franke, Leipzig, 1828 (with "Epigrams" and the "Battle of the


s: Dindorff (Didot edition of Homer), Paris, 1837-56.


s: On Hesiod, the Hesiodic poems and the problems which these offer


s: see Rzach's most important article "Hesiodos" in Pauly-Wissowa,


s: Attend thou with eye and ear, and make judgements straight with


s: righteousness. And I, Perses, would tell of true things.


s: (ll. 212-224) But you, Perses, listen to right and do not foster


s: (ll. 238-247) But for those who practise violence and cruel deeds


s: (ll. 383-404) When the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, are rising ,


s: (ll. 448-457) Mark, when you hear the voice of the crane  who


s: (ll. 479-492) But if you plough the good ground at the solstice ,


s: remedy--when the cuckoo first calls  in the leaves of the oak and


s: (ll. 564-570) When Zeus has finished sixty wintry days after the


s: solstice, then the star Arcturus  leaves the holy stream of


s: (ll. 571-581) But when the House-carrier  climbs up the plants


s: (ll. 582-596) But when the artichoke flowers , and the chirping


s: (ll. 609-617) But when Orion and Sirius are come into mid-heaven,


s: (ll. 663-677) Fifty days after the solstice , when the season


s: (ll. 769-768)  For these are days which come from Zeus the


s: (ll. 782-789) The sixth of the mid-month is very unfavourable for


s: (ll. 790-791) On the eighth of the month geld the boar and


s: loud-bellowing bull, but hard-working mules on the twelfth.


s: Phaesyle and Coronis and rich-crowned Cleeia and lovely Phaco and


s: Fragment #3--Pseudo-Eratosthenes Catast. frag. 1:  The Great


s: Bear.]--Hesiod says she (Callisto) was the daughter of Lycaon and


s: Comm. Supplem. on Aratus, p. 547 M. 8: Of Bootes, also called the


s: promontory by Peloris, and founded the close of Poseidon which is


s: Fragment #2--Clement, Stromateis i. 16. 75: Celmis, again, and


s: quick-glancing  Aphrodite, and Hebe with the crown of gold, and


s: of things that are and that shall be and that were aforetime with


s: (ll. 116-138) Verily at the first Chaos came to be, but next


s: wide-bosomed Earth, the ever-sure foundations of all  the


s: (ll. 147-163) And again, three other sons were born of Earth and


s: (ll. 295-305) And in a hollow cave she bare another monster,


s: (ll. 333-336) And Ceto was joined in love to Phorcys and bare her


s: (ll. 334-345) And Tethys bare to Ocean eddying rivers, Nilus, and


s: (ll. 346-370) Also she brought forth a holy company of daughters


s: (ll. 378-382) And Eos bare to Astraeus the strong-hearted winds,


s: (ll. 404-452) Again, Phoebe came to the desired embrace of Coeus.


s: (ll. 924-929) But Zeus himself gave birth from his own head to


s: bright-eyed Tritogeneia , the awful, the strife-stirring, the


s: (ll. 929a-929t)  But Hera was very angry and quarrelled with her


s: (ll. 950-955) And mighty Heracles, the valiant son of neat-ankled


s: Fragment #2--Ioannes Lydus , de Mens. i. 13: They came to call


s: But he knew not at all the intent of Zeus who holds the aegis. So


s: Fragment #11--Stephanus of Byzantium , s.v.: '(Heracles) slew the


s: Fragment #18-- Strabo, viii. p. 370: And Apollodorus says that


s: Apollodorus, ii. 2.1.4: Acrisius was king of Argos and Proetus of


s: Probus  on Vergil, Eclogue vi. 48: These (the daughters of


s: Suidas, s.v.:  'Because of their hideous wantonness they lost


s: snatch her away and gave her a gift, the golden necklace, the toy


s: Europa, carried her off and crossed the sea to Crete where he had


s: Fragment #21--Apollodorus , iii. 14.4.1: But Hesiod says that he


s: Aelian , Var. Hist. xii. 36: But Hesiod says they were nine boys


s: Fragment #26-- Argument: Pindar, Ol. xiv: Cephisus is a river in


s: Fragment #27--Scholiast on Homer, Il. vii. 9: For the father of


s: Fragment #28--Stephanus of Byzantium: Onchestus: a grove . It is


s: Fragment #33--(Unknown): 'Famous Meliboea bare Phellus the good


s: Hesiod says he had two sons, Thynus and Mariandynus.


s: Ephorus  in Strabo, vii. 302: Hesiod, in the so-called Journey


s: for Poseidon. Then they came to the land of the lord the son of


s: Fragment #43--Philodemus , On Piety, 10: Nor let anyone mock at


s: Hesiod who mentions.... or even the Troglodytes and the Pygmies.


s: Fragment #46--Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iii. 311:


s: And their names are Thelxiope or Thelxinoe, Molpe and Aglaophonus


s: Fragment #51--Apollodorus, i. 8.4.1: When Althea was dead, Oeneus


s: Fragment #63--Pausanias , ii. 26. 7: This oracle most clearly


s: (l. 42)...(desiring) to be the husband of rich-haired Helen.


s: (ll. 63-66) But from Euboea Elephenor, leader of men, the son of


s: Chalcodon, prince of the bold Abantes, sought her to wife. And he


s: (l. 75) And at the prompting of Zeus the all-wise came.


s: (ll. 31-43) From stately trees the fair leaves fell in abundance


s: earth, and that fits gibbering about a small unformed den. And it


s: ((LACUNA--Traces of 37 following lines.))


s: Fragment #75--Hesychius : The athletic contest in memory of


s: Athenaeus , xiii. 557 A: But Hesiod says that Theseus wedded both


s: Fragment #85--Choeroboscus , i. 123, 22H: 'And she bare a son


s: Concerning Asclepius Hesiod says: 'And the father of men and gods


s: for him, and he became bondman to a mortal.


s: upon its border is built a city, Dodona ; and Zeus loved it and


s: (ll. 1-10) 'And (Eriphyle) bare in the palace Alcmaon ,


s: up Ganymede for Zeus because he vied with the immortals in


s: beauty........rich-tressed Diomede; and she bare Hyacinthus, the


s: (ll. 237-270) And beyond these there were men fighting in warlike


s: (ll. 402-412) As two lions  on either side of a slain deer spring


s: the bronze; and the gift of the god saved his foe. But the son of


s: Fragment #2--Zenobius , ii. 19: Hesiod used the proverb in the


s: Fragment #4--Athenaeus, ii. p. 49b: Hesiod in the "Marriage of


s: Fragment #2--Tzetzes on Lycophron, 682: But now he is speaking of


s: Fragment #3--Scholiast on Homer, Odyssey, x. 494: They say that


s: Fragment #6--Scholiast on Homer, Il. xxiv. 24: 'Slayer of Argus'.


s: Fragment #1--Diogenes Laertius, viii. 1. 26:  'So Urania bare


s: pitiless smoke of black pitch and of cedar.'


s: honour, the good report of mortals also followeth him.'


s: seventh day again the bright light of the sun....'


s: (ll. 1-9) For some say, at Dracanum; and some, on windy Icarus;


s: and some, in Naxos, O Heaven-born, Insewn ; and others by the


s: (ll. 10-12) '...and men will lay up for her  many offerings in


s: (ll. 17-21) Be favourable, O Insewn, Inspirer of frenzied women!


s: (ll. 118-144) Thus they said. And she, that queen among goddesses


s: because of her sorrow, and greeted no one by word or by sign, but


s: the Woodcutter, and I know an excellent safeguard against woeful


s: (ll. 250-255) Thus she spoke, mourning. And the bright goddess,


s: (ll. 256-274) 'Witless are you mortals and dull to foresee your


s: (ll. 292-300) All night long they sought to appease the glorious


s: strangers; for truly your own soil is not rich.'


s: from Triops, or with Ereutheus, or with Leucippus and the wife of


s: true-hearted wife. See now, apart from me he has given birth to


s: (ll. 440-451) Then, like a star at noonday, the lord, far-working


s: (ll. 545-546) And so, farewell, son of Zeus and Leto; but I will


s: wove sandals with wicker-work by the sand of the sea, wonderful


s: close-packed and chewing lotus and began to seek the art of fire.


s: He chose a stout laurel branch and trimmed it with the knife....


s: ((LACUNA))  ....held firmly in his hand: and the hot smoke rose


s: (ll. 115-137) And while the strength of glorious Hephaestus was


s: (ll. 190-200) 'Old man, weeder  of grassy Onchestus, I am come


s: (ll. 304-306) When Apollo had so said, Cyllenian Hermes sprang up


s: (ll. 313-326) So Hermes the shepherd and Leto's glorious son kept


s: familiarities, for it abhors toilsome drudgery; but whoso in


s: horse-feeding plain: so shall the cows covered by the bulls calve


s: (ll. 579-580) And so, farewell, Son of Zeus and Maia; but I will


s: (ll. 75-88)  But she herself came to the neat-built shelters, and


s: (ll. 155-167) So speaking, he caught her by the hand. And


s: laughter-loving Aphrodite, with face turned away and lovely eyes


s: downcast, crept to the well-spread couch which was already laid


s: (ll. 191-201) Then Aphrodite the daughter of Zeus answered him:


s: (ll. 4-6) Hail, goddess, queen of well-built Salamis and sea-girt


s: (l. 5) Hail, goddess, and give us good fortune with happiness!


s: (l. 3) Hail, goddess! Keep this city safe, and govern my song.


s: (ll. 1-8) I will sing of Heracles, the son of Zeus and much the


s: (l. 9) Hail, lord, son of Zeus! Give me success and prosperity.


s: (ll. 1-4) Sing, clear-voiced Muse, of Castor and Polydeuces, the


s: Tyndaridae, who sprang from Olympian Zeus. Beneath the heights of


s: (l. 5) Hail, children of Tyndareus, riders upon swift horses!


s: (l. 5) And so hail to you, lord! I seek your favour with my song.


s: (ll. 7-10)  And you, slayer of Argus, Son of Zeus and Maia,


s: (ll. 1-16)  And now, O Muse Calliope, daughter of Zeus, begin to


s: (ll. 17-20) Hail, white-armed goddess, bright Selene, mild,


s: the corn-bins be full and the mass of dough always overflow the


s: story is the author of the "War of the Titans".


s: Fragment #2--Athenaeus, xi. 465 E: 'Then the heaven-born hero,


s: Fragment #5--Pindar, Ol. vi. 15:  'But when the seven dead had


s: Fragment #7--Pausanias, ix. 18.6: Near the spring is the tomb of


s: They relate that the creature was sent by the gods to punish the


s: Fragment #1--Proclus, Chrestomathia, i: This  is continued by the


s: is fairest. The three are led by Hermes at the command of Zeus to


s: by seizing his son Telemachus for punishment at the suggestion of


s: Next they sail as far as Tenedos: and while they are feasting,


s: Fragment #4--Volumina Herculan, II. viii. 105: The author of the


s: Fragment #6--Athenaeus, xv. 682 D, F: The author of the "Cypria",


s: of Tantalus; and soon the glorious hero with his dread eyes saw


s: Fragment #15-- Contest of Homer and Hesiod: 'So they feasted all


s: of Arctinus of Miletus. Their contents are as follows. The Amazon


s: A battle takes place in which Antilochus is slain by Memnon and


s: To this another replied by Athena's contrivance:


s: Fragment #9--Homer, Odyssey iv. 247 and Scholiast: 'He disguised


s: Fragment #10-- Plutarch, Moralia, p. 153 F: And Homer put forward


s: 'But when horses with rattling hoofs wreck chariots, striving for


s: Fragment #12--Pausanias, x. 25. 5: Meges is represented  wounded


s: Pausanias, x. 27. 1: Of them , Lescheos says that Eion was killed


s: sea-faring ships, a prize surpassing those of all the Danaans.'


s: Fragment #4--Eustathius, 1796. 45: The Colophonian author of the


s: Fragment #6--Pausanias, x. 28. 7: The poetry of Homer and the


s: Fragment #1--Pseudo-Herodotus, Life of Homer: While living with


s: Fragment #2--Atilius Fortunatianus, p. 286, Keil: 'There came to


s: Fragment #5--Zenobius, v. 68: 'The fox knows many a wile; but the


s: 'Liars and cheats, skilled in deeds irremediable, accomplished


s: Bread-nibbler--he was my stout-hearted father--and my mother was


s: (ll. 93-98) 'Ah, Puff-jaw, you shall not go unpunished for this


s: herald drew near bearing a wand in his paws, Pot-visitor the son


s: (ll. 160-167) By this speech he persuaded them to arm themselves.


s: (ll. 224-251) But Reedy took to flight when he saw Ham-nibbler,


s: (ll. 260-271) Now there was one among the Mice, Slice-snatcher,


s: who excelled the rest, dear son of Gnawer the son of blameless


s: (ll. 272-276) 'Dear, dear, how fearful a deed do my eyes behold!


s: (ll. 285-293) So said Hera: and the Son of Cronos cast a lurid


s: As to his parents also, there is on all hands great disagreement.


s: Now some say that he was earlier than Hesiod, others that he was


s: It is said that when Homer had recited these verses, they were so


s: Then Homer, wishing to escape from the impasse by an apt answer,


s: HOMER: 'To filch their dinner from pirates on the beach.'


s: HOMER: 'Heracles unslung his curved bow from his shoulders.'


s: HESIOD: 'This man is the son of a brave father and a weakling--'


s: HOMER: 'Mother; for war is too stern for any woman.'


s: HESIOD: 'But for you, your father and lady mother lay in love--'


s: HOMER: 'When they begot you by the aid of golden Aphrodite.'


s: HESIOD: 'But when she had been made subject in love, Artemis, who


s: HOMER: 'Slew Callisto with a shot of her silver bow.'


s: HESIOD: 'So they feasted all day long, taking nothing--'


s: HOMER: 'Born Sarpedon, that bold and godlike man.'


s: HOMER: 'Having our hilted swords and long-helved spears.'


s: HESIOD: 'Then the young heroes with their hands from the sea--'


s: HOMER: 'Gladly and swiftly hauled out their fleet ship.'


s: HESIOD: 'Then they came to Colchis and king Aeetes--'


s: HESIOD: 'Now when they had poured libations and deeply drunk, the


s: HOMER: 'They were minded to traverse on well-built ships.'


s: HOMER: 'At no time in the sea: and he opened his mouth said:'


s: HOMER: 'Distressed; but may you all reach home again unscathed.'


s: When Homer had met him fairly on every point Hesiod said:


s: Homer answered in a mathematical problem, thus:


s: This is found to be an incredible number; for as there were fifty


s: HOMER: 'That he may be always at peace with himself continually.'


s: HESIOD: 'Can you tell me in briefest space what is best of all?'


s: HOMER: 'A sound mind in a manly body, as I believe.'


s: HESIOD: 'Of what effect are righteousness and courage?'


s: HOMER: 'To advance the common good by private pains.'


s: HESIOD: 'What is the mark of wisdom among men?'


s: HESIOD: 'In what kind of matter is it right to trust in men?'


s: HOMER: 'Where danger itself follows the action close.'


s: HESIOD: 'What do men mean by happiness?'


s: HOMER: 'Death after a life of least pain and greatest pleasure.'


s: Here, again, the Hellenes applauded Homer admiringly, so far did


s: verses . From Delphi, as we are told, he went to Athens and was


s: 'Children are a man's crown, and towers of a city, horses are the


s: 'Sirs, hunters of deep-sea prey, have we caught anything?'


s: "Chiliades", in accentual verse of nearly 13,000 lines.]


s: punishment Apollo was forced to serve Admetus as herdsman. (Cp.


s: Demeter, who had changed herself into a mare to escape Poseidon.]


s: Artemisia, the wife of Mausolus, who died 350 B.C.]


s: John McCrae, physician, soldier, and poet, died in France a


s: Lieutenant-Colonel with the Canadian forces.


s: O guns, fall silent till the dead men hear


s: Above their heads the legions pressing on:


s: (These fought their fight in time of bitter fear,


s: And died not knowing how the day had gone.)


s: O flashing muzzles, pause, and let them see


s: The coming dawn that streaks the sky afar;


s: To them, and Caesar, that we still make war.


s: Tell them, O guns, that we have heard their call,


s: That we have sworn, and will not turn aside,


s: That we will onward till we win or fall,


s: That we will keep the faith for which they died.


s: Bid them be patient, and some day, anon,


s: They shall feel earth enwrapt in silence deep;


s: Shall greet, in wonderment, the quiet dawn,


s: And in content may turn them to their sleep.


s: He wrought in poverty, the dull grey days,


s: But with the night his little lamp-lit room


s: Was bright with battle flame, or through a haze


s: Of smoke that stung his eyes he heard the boom


s: Of Bluecher's guns; he shared Almeida's scars,


s: And from the close-packed deck, about to die,


s: Looked up and saw the "Birkenhead"'s tall spars


s: Weave wavering lines across the Southern sky:


s: Or in the stifling 'tween decks, row on row,


s: Charged with the fiercest in Busaco's strife,


s: Brave dreams are his -- the flick'ring lamp burns low --


s: He goes to stand full face to face with life.


s: His for the flags and the gallant sights


s: His for the medals and his for the fights,


s: Shouldn't I know? --  I was there to see:


s: With a briar there and a rose by his breast --


s: And the bird that builds in the tree near by,


s: Not we the conquered!  Not to us the blame


s: Of them that flee, of them that basely yield;


s: Of them that vanquish in a stricken field.


s: We lay and heard the bullets swish and sing


s: Like scythes amid the over-ripened wheat,


s: Some yielded, No, not we!  Not we, we swear


s: By these our wounds; this trench upon the hill


s: Where all the shell-strewn earth is seamed and bare,


s: Was ours to keep; and lo! we have it still.


s: We might have yielded, even we, but death


s: Came for our helper; like a sudden flood


s: The crashing darkness fell; our painful breath


s: We drew with gasps amid the choking blood.


s: The roar fell faint and farther off, and soon


s: Like crickets in the long, hot afternoon


s: Among the wheat fields of the olden years.


s: Shot through by sudden streaks of jagged pain!


s: Not we the conquered!  Not to us the shame,


s: Who hold our earthen ramparts, nor shall cease


s: In that fierce moment to our honoured peace.


s: _Here all the day she swings from tide to tide,


s: Here all night long she tugs a rusted chain,


s: A masterless hulk that was a ship of pride,


s: It was Nelson in the 'Captain', Cape St. Vincent far alee,


s: With the 'Vanguard' leading s'uth'ard in the haze --


s: Little Jervis and the Spaniards and the fight that was to be,


s: Twenty-seven Spanish battleships, great bullies of the sea,


s: And the 'Captain' there to find her day of days.


s: Right into them the 'Vanguard' leads, but with a sudden tack


s: The Spaniards double swiftly on their trail;


s: Now Jervis overshoots his mark, like some too eager pack,


s: He will not overtake them, haste he e'er so greatly back,


s: But Nelson and the 'Captain' will not fail.


s: Like a tigress on her quarry leaps the 'Captain' from her place,


s: To lie across the fleeing squadron's way:


s: Heavy odds and heavy onslaught, gun to gun and face to face,


s: Win the ship a name of glory, win the men a death of grace,


s: For a little hold the Spanish fleet in play.


s: Ended now the "Captain"'s battle, stricken sore she falls aside


s: Holding still her foemen, beaten to the knee:


s: _Lo! here her progeny of steel and steam,


s: A funnelled monster at her mooring swings:


s: Still, in our hearts, we see her pennant stream,


s: And "Well done, 'Captain'," like a trumpet rings._


s: Ye have sung me your songs, ye have chanted your rimes


s: Ye fondle me now, but to strike me betimes.


s: Once I saw as I lay, half-awash in the night


s: A hull in the gloom -- a quick hail -- and a light


s: And I lurched o'er to leeward and saved her for spite


s: I was sister to 'Terrible', seventy-four,


s: And ye sank her in fathoms a thousand or more


s: Ye taunt me and sing me her fate for a sign!


s: What harm can ye wreak more on me or on mine?


s: Ho braggart!  I care not for boasting of thine --


s: Some night to the lee of the land I shall steal,


s: No pilot but Death at the rudderless wheel,


s: To lie where the slow tide creeps hither and fro


s: And the shifting sand laps me around, for I know


s: That my gallant old crew are in Port long ago --


s: Of old, like Helen, guerdon of the strong --


s: Like Helen fair, like Helen light of word, --


s: Who winneth me must win me by the sword."


s: Grown old, like Helen, once the jealous prize


s: That strong men battled for in savage hate,


s: Can she look forth with unregretful eyes,


s: Where sleep Montcalm and Wolfe beside her gate?


s: Beneath her window in the fragrant night


s: I half forget how truant years have flown


s: Since I looked up to see her chamber-light,


s: Or catch, perchance, her slender shadow thrown


s: Upon the casement; but the nodding leaves


s: And to and fro beneath the shadowy eaves,


s: Like restless birds, the breath of coming rain


s: Creeps, lilac-laden, up the village street


s: Were listening for the coming of her feet


s: That come no more; yet, lest I weep, the breeze


s: Sings some forgotten song of those old years


s: Until my heart grows far too glad for tears.


s: Amid my books I lived the hurrying years,


s: Alike to me were human smiles and tears,


s: I cared not whither Earth's great life-stream ran,


s: Till as I knelt before my mouldered shrine,


s: And I, who thought all earthly wisdom mine,


s: Were measured but in inches, to the quest


s: That I should tread, with men their human ways."


s: God took the teacher, ere the task was learned,


s: "Delicta juventutis et ignorantius ejus,


s: With locks of gold, and eyes that shamed the light;


s: I prayed that God might have her in His care


s: Earth's love was false; her voice, a siren's song;


s: (Sweet mother-earth was but a lying name)


s: The path she showed was but the path of wrong


s: "Cast her not out!" I cry.  God's kind words come --


s: "Her future is with Me, as was her past;


s: It shall be My good will to bring her home


s: Her dear heart stricken by my sland'rous breath,


s: Wherefore the Gods forbade that I should know


s: Men pass my grave, and say, "'Twere well to sleep,


s: Like such an one, amid the uncaring dead!"


s: How should they know the vigils that I keep,


s: Upon the grave, I count with lifeless breath,


s: Each night, each year, the flowers that bloom and die,


s: Deeming the leaves, that fall to dreamless death,


s: 'Twas just last year -- I heard two lovers pass


s: So near, I caught the tender words he said:


s: To-night the rain-drenched breezes sway the grass


s: That night full envious of his life was I,


s: That youth and love should stand at his behest;


s: To-night, I envy him, that he should lie


s: That brim with childish tears amid thy play,


s: Be comforted!  No grief of night can weigh


s: Against the joys that throng thy coming day.


s: There is no place in Slumberland for tears:


s: Life soon enough will bring its chilling fears


s: And sorrows that will dim the after years.


s: That life's storm crushed and left to lie below


s: That ceased so long ago its frantic beat!


s: The years that come and go with silent feet


s: Have naught to tell save this -- that rest is sweet.


s: And shut the door upon him and went out."_


s: Ev'n yet can read, nor feel the biting pain


s: That rent her soul!  Immortal not by art


s: Which makes a long past sorrow sting again


s: Like grief of yesterday:  but since it said


s: In simplest word the truth which all may see,


s: I saw two sowers in Life's field at morn,


s: To whom came one in angel guise and said,


s: Lo:  I am Ease.  Come ye and eat my bread!"


s: And with the Tempter went his slothful way,


s: With stealing shadows blurred the dusty day.


s: Ere harvest time, upon earth's peaceful breast


s: Each laid him down among the unreaping dead.


s: "Labour hath other recompense than rest,


s: Else were the toiler like the fool," I said;


s: "God meteth him not less, but rather more


s: Because he sowed and others reaped his store."


s: There stands a hostel by a travelled way;


s: Life is the road and Death the worthy host;


s: Each guest he greets, nor ever lacks to say,


s: "How have ye fared?"  They answer him, the most,


s: "This lodging place is other than we sought;


s: Came on apace, and found us ere we thought:


s: Yet will we lodge.  Thou hast abundant room."


s: Within sit haggard men that speak no word,


s: No fire gleams their cheerful welcome shed;


s: No voice of fellowship or strife is heard


s: "Naught can I offer ye," quoth Death, "but rest!"


s: And to his chamber leads each tired guest.


s: I saw a King, who spent his life to weave


s: Into a nation all his great heart thought,


s: The grand ideal that his manhood sought;


s: Death took the sceptre from his failing hand,


s: And all men said, "He gave his life to teach


s: Within his gates I saw, through all those years,


s: One at his humble toil with cheery face,


s: Whom (being dead) the children, half in tears,


s: Remembered oft, and missed him from his place.


s: If he be greater that his people blessed


s: Than he the children loved, God knoweth best.


s: I saw a city filled with lust and shame,


s: Where men, like wolves, slunk through the grim half-light;


s: And sudden, in the midst of it, there came


s: One who spoke boldly for the cause of Right.


s: And speaking, fell before that brutish race


s: Like some poor wren that shrieking eagles tear,


s: While brute Dishonour, with her bloodless face


s: Stood by and smote his lips that moved in prayer.


s: "Speak not of God!  In centuries that word


s: Hath not been uttered!  Our own king are we."


s: And God stretched forth his finger as He heard


s: And o'er it cast a thousand leagues of sea.


s: One spake amid the nations, "Let us cease


s: From darkening with strife the fair World's light,


s: We who are great in war be great in peace.


s: No longer let us plead the cause by might."


s: But from a million British graves took birth


s: A silent voice -- the million spake as one --


s: "If ye have righted all the wrongs of earth


s: Lay by the sword!  Its work and ours is done."


s: Amid earth's vagrant noises, he caught the note sublime:


s: To-day around him surges from the silences of Time


s: A flood of nobler music, like a river deep and broad,


s: Fit song for heroes gathered in the banquet-hall of God.


s: The earth grows white with harvest; all day long


s: The sickles gleam, until the darkness weaves


s: Her web of silence o'er the thankful song


s: Of reapers bringing home the golden sheaves.


s: The wave tops whiten on the sea fields drear,


s: And men go forth at haggard dawn to reap;


s: But ever 'mid the gleaners' song we hear


s: The half-hushed sobbing of the hearts that weep.


s: ". . . with two other priests; the same night he died,


s: and was buried by the shores of the lake that bears his name."