diff options
Diffstat (limited to '42034-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 42034-8.txt | 1905 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 1905 deletions
diff --git a/42034-8.txt b/42034-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ca3594c..0000000 --- a/42034-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1905 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Poems, by John William Draper - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Poems - -Author: John William Draper - -Release Date: February 6, 2013 [EBook #42034] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK POEMS *** - - - - -Produced by David E. Brown, Bryan Ness and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - - - - - - POEMS - - JOHN W. DRAPER - - - THE POET LORE COMPANY - BOSTON - - - Copyright, 1913, by John W. Draper - - All Rights Reserved - - THE GORHAM PRESS, BOSTON, U. S. A. - - - - -PREFACE - - -Most of the poems collected in this volume have already seen the light -of print in the _Colonnade_, the monthly publication of the Andiron Club -of New York University. The effort of the author has not been to write -verses especially adapted to the taste of the modern public, but rather -to create "a thing of beauty" from the theme that filled his mind at the -time. Often he has been led into somewhat bold innovations such as the -invention of the miniature ode, and the associating of an idea with a -rime-_motiv_ in the metrical short-stories. While he hopes that the new -forms will justify themselves, he realizes that after all, the poems -must stand or fall in proportion to the amount of pure artistic beauty -contained within them. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - FROM A GRECIAN MYTH 9 - - "CARPE DIEM" 10 - - THE SONG OF LORENZO 12 - - THE SONG OF WO HOU 14 - - THE AURORA 15 - - THE WILL O' THE WISP 16 - - WHEN ON THE SHORE GRATES MY BARGE'S KEEL 18 - - TO SHELLEY 20 - - THOMAS DE QUINCEY 21 - - THE VISION OF DANTE 22 - - THE SPIRIT OF SCHOPENHAUER 24 - - ARTHUR TO GUENEVER 26 - - THE DEATH OF THOMAS CHATTERTON 27 - - A SPRING SONG 28 - - AFTER THE NEO-PLATONISTS 29 - - WHAT WOULDST THOU BE? 30 - - THE PROPHECY OF DAVID 31 - - THE PROPHECY OF SAINT MARK 39 - - THE ÆOLIAN HARP 47 - - THE MAID THAT I WOOED 48 - - IN A MINOR CHORD 49 - - A GLASS OF ABSINTHE 51 - - THE PALACE OF PAIN 53 - - - - -POEMS - - - - -FROM A GRECIAN MYTH - - - A palace he built him in the west, - A palace of vermeil fringed with gold; - And fain would he lie him down to rest - In the palace he built him in the west - Which every heavenly hue had dressed - With halcyon harmonies untold: - That palace, the sun built in the west, - A palace of vermeil fringed with gold. - -_January 3, 1911._ - - - - -"CARPE DIEM" - - - Wake, love; Aurora's breath has tinged the sky, - Mounting in faintly flushing shafts on high - To tell the world that Phoebus is at hand; - And all the hours in a glittering band - Cluster around in sweeping, circling flight - Like angels bathing in celestial light. - See, now with one great shaft of molten gold, - No longer vaporous haze around him rolled, - The King of Day mounts the ethereal height, - Scattering the last dim streamers of the night. - Bow down, ye Persians, on your altared hills; - Worship the Sun-god who gives life, and fills - Your horn with plenteous blessings from on high. - Wake! Wake! before the dawning sunbeams die! - Fling incense on your temple's dying flame; - Sing chants and chorals in his mighty name, - For as a weary traveler from afar, - Or as a sailor on the harbor bar - After long absence spies his native town, - So, with benignant brilliance smiles he down; - Or, like a good king ruling o'er his land, - He sprinkles blessings with a bounteous hand. - And thou, O my beloved, wake! arise! - Has not the sun illumined night's dull skies? - Come, Phoebus' breath has tinged the summer morn. - Come, see the light shafts waver 'mong the corn. - Come, see the early lily's opening bloom. - Come, see the wavering light expel the gloom - From yon dark vale still sunk in misty night. - Oh, watch the circling skylark's heavenward flight, - As, wrapped in hazy waves of shimmering light, - In one grand Jubilate to the sun, - He floods the sky with song of day begun. - But golden morn is never truly fair - Unless with day, thou com'st to weave my hair - With perfumed flowers gathered in the dell - Where sylphs sing sweetly 'bout the bubbling well. - Oh, fill my cup of pleasure with new wine - Which sparkles only where thy soft eyes shine! - O my beloved, haste thee to arise - Before the light has scorched the noonday skies! - The fleeting hours haste the falling sun; - And soon the hour-glass of life is run. - -_August 5 & 6, 1911._ - - - - -THE SONG OF LORENZO - - - Over thy balcony leaning, - Thy languorous glance floats below - Whence arise thousand odours a-streaming, - Thine incense, O goddess of woe! - - A star from the infinite whirling, - Taking flight through the dimness of night, - In an ark through the ether is curling; - And touches thy hair with its light. - - O lady of sadness and sorrow, - Mine anguish, my hope, my despair, - Will the bright-dawning day of to-morrow - Find thee still in that balcony there? - - Near thy casement, an ancient vine groweth, - A ladder that leads thee below; - Were it not for that vine, ah, who knoweth - Thou wert not an _angel_ of woe? - - Come down from thy cloud-bosomed chamber; - Not yet has the moon lit the sky; - On the vine-trellis, carefully, clamber-- - (Is it thou or the wind that doth sigh?) - - Among the copse hedges then darting - Like a ghost at the dawn of the day; - Then, far in the distance departing, - In triumph, I'll bear thee away. - -_October 7, 1911._ - - - - -THE SONG OF WO HOU - -_From the Second Act of Kwang Hsu_ - - - List, O list to the song I sing - To the varying note of the sighing breeze - Blowing in cool, refreshing waves - From the endless realm of the seven seas: - - Waste not life in pursuit of war, - Holding the nations for one short day, - For the death of the king destroys the realm - Which vanishes like the great Mongol's sway. - - Nor hoard up silver in thy vaults, - For the silver once spent, the pleasure is passed, - Or before it is spent, we will mourn thy death: - In the world, neither conquest nor silver last. - - Seek, O seek but an hour's joy; - Pleasure and love though they may not endure - Will soothe life's sorrow and bitterness-- - The present alone of all time is sure! - - Live in the circle of mine arms; - Live in the light of the love in mine eye; - Live in the music of my song; - And, as the music of my song--die! - -_October 22, 1911._ - - - - -THE AURORA - - - Night in purple fringed with the faintest crimson - Conquered the slowly paling glow of sunset; - Softly the western light expired; and yet - Came there no stars forth-- - - O'er the tow'ring cliffs and the vales and waters, - O'er the whisp'ring woodland of swaying hemlocks, - O'er the streamlets trickling down on the crag-rocks, - Came there no moon forth. - - Rose in distance, a dim and fearful spectre; - Rose, accompanied by the forest's singing, - An omen of evil, certainty bringing - Of the divine wroth-- - - Far from northern forests descends some army; - Far in the heavens, their fires are reflected; - Waver the lights in an archway collected, - Sign of divine wroth-- - - Shines the arch in a flick'ring wavy brilliance; - Lighting earth from its quivering span of silver; - Shines the Aurora soft o'er lake and river, - Shines from the far north. - -_December 8, 1911._ - - - - -THE WILL O' THE WISP - - - Over the moorland, over the moor, - Sibilant sounds the rain-storm's sneer, - Sneeringly sounds, yet with a lure - Like the lure of the mermaids of the mere, - Calling the fishermen into their snare-- - Through watery veils, my dim eyes peer, - Where can a light or a path be, where? - Lost on the moor, the moorland drear-- - Lost, and the storm-lion's out of his lair, - Raging rampant with mighty roar; - And the glistening lightning flashes its glare; - And the torrents descend with a wind-driven pour. - Only the lightning to show by its fire - The tears of Heaven flooding Earth's floor; - And, above the sound of the storm-lion's ire, - Shriek the rain-sheets over the tor, - Shriek in a quavering, tuneless choir. - What's that in the distance shining afar? - See it flickering higher and higher, - Light in a broadening, lengthening bar-- - Who is abroad at this lonely hour? - Or is it a cottage high on the scar? - Or does it shine in My Lady's tower - To guide her Lord from lands afar? - Nearer and nearer, I haste--Oh, for power - To reach that light--Oh, to be sure, - My Lady would welcome me in her bower-- - I fall; I sink; it was the marsh's lure-- - -_December 26, 1911._ - - - - -WHEN ON THE SHORE GRATES MY BARGE'S KEEL - - - Weariness, weariness, unending weariness, cease-- - Break thou the heart thou canst not heal! - Bitterness, bitterness, undying bitterness, peace-- - On shore bring to rest my barge's keel, - On that shadowy shore, we seek at life's release; - For thy soul, belovèd, bears Death's seal. - Restlessness, restlessness, wandering restlessness haunts me; - Lacking thy smile, all life's brooklets congeal - Into one image emotional, fearful which daunts me-- - Life's frozen image without an ideal. - Ceaselessly, ceaselessly, ceaselessly, mocking, life taunts me; - Gone all my former purpose and zeal. - Thou wert the pattern that ordered my hopes, my existence; - All that life meant to me, thou didst reveal-- - And now thou art gone, all my nature is lacking subsistence-- - Oh, let this soul from the body steal! - Then to the spectres, Plutonian, silent, ethereal, - Will my sad spirit for thine appeal, - Wandering onward, and onward through realms immaterial - Till at thy feet shall it joyously kneel-- - Then must my weariness, weariness, weariness, cease; - Mended the heart, life could not heal-- - Bitterness, bitterness, ended all bitterness, peace-- - When on the shore grates my barge's keel. - -_January 25, 1911._ - - - - -TO SHELLEY - - - Shelley, thy spirit is set among the stars; - Exalted from the earth, thy soul sprang high - From these drab pavements to the star-lit sky; - In one grand ecstasy, frail mortal bars - Gave 'way; thy soul purged pure of earthly scars-- - No more to languish here with lingering sigh-- - Rose from the foaming gulf where thou didst lie, - Rose from the ragged sail and splintered spars, - Rose to Elysium's fairest bowers serene; - There thine Ideal is ever at thy side; - And soft Apollo's hand doth strike the strings; - And Philomel, behind a bowery screen, - Pours forth Anacreon's blessings on thy bride - Who to thine ear unceasing rapture sings. - -_July 29, 1911._ - - - - -THOMAS DE QUINCEY - - - Through life he strove to reach his longed-for goal, - Living secluded in a forest dell; - It was his wish to learn himself so well - As to command the secrets of the soul; - He studied, wrote, and fashioned out life's scroll - Until the spirit's instincts could he spell; - And then at last diapason swell, - Burst forth his writings, 'round the world to roll! - As organ music sighs through cloistered aisle, - As mighty calms upon the waters steal, - As raging, shrieking tempest-blasts assail; - So doth his magic word our minds beguile - Until, swept onward by each peal on peal, - Our souls are lured beyond this mortal veil. - -_February 4, 1912._ - - - - -THE VISION OF DANTE - - - Upon my breast there weighed ten thousand waves - Of black, unthinkable despair; I floated - In atmosphere of leaden density, - In atmosphere that burned with heat, yet glowed not-- - Then scintillating stars with vivid flashes, - Like sparks from steel struck in a mine's thick blackness, - Tortured my eyes with dazzling glare; and then - Arose a rumbling as of crashing tombs - When the dead waken. Gone my will, my power. - I could nor feel, nor move, nor cry. Creation - Seemed rending downward through eternal space. - The thundering ceased, there shot a wail of pain, - A wail more anguished than arose from Troy - When Hector fell. Fainter, it grew, receding - Through the spheres. The meteors flashed no more. - I floated upward on invisible wings; - The distance purpled in the glow of dawn; - Funereal clouds melted to shimmering gray; - And far away the notes of music sounded, - Echoing onward to Infinity-- - Music celestial of that choir of Heaven - Which sings unendingly about His throne. - Distant, it floated, yet how pure, and clearer - Than clear, rebounding Alpine notes. A present - Foretaste of the sublime beatitudes; - And o'er my visual sky moved forms of beings, - Dark forms in solemn, slow-ascending flight - Toward that rich, purple glow. The vision changed: - So pure the light that darkness sealed my eyelids! - So grand the symphony, I could not hear! - The whole cathedral-vault of Heaven rang - In awful majesty of perfect tone; - And 'past my mortal vision, in endless tide, - Flowing, and flowing upward toward the Light, - Angels innumerable, many-hued, - Winged on, majestic, to the music's time, - Winged on and sang a ceaseless Hallelujah-- - -_February 16, 1912._ - - - - -THE SPIRIT OF SCHOPENHAUER - - - Rush on, rush on, humanity, and fill - Your hours with toil-wrought pain. Rush on, rush on - Upon your prizeless race. Where is your gain - In luxury, or seas of swimming gold, - Or starry ether chained to conquerdom? - You do but add new wheels, new chains to man's - Machine to govern man. You build a tower - More high than Babel's, hoping for earthly heaven - Upon this structure formed of luxuries, - And squander here stored-up celestial bliss - Which your poor Wills would mortgage before gained. - Your little lives were never made for racks - And fettered strainings of this new-wrought world - That quivers your nerves with life-intensity. - Death marks your race upon his hour-glass; - And Madness moves upon your city streets. - Your fevered minds reel downward to the gulf - Where knowledge fails, and luxuries lose charm, - Where passion flickers out, and haste seems slow. - Rush on, rush on, destruction marks your goal. - Rush on, rush on, till Death has breathless felled - The last of all your human progeny; - And leaves him lying there alone--alone, - Like him who first had shape of man--unburied, - Lost in a race with no competitor, - And nothing as the goal--unburied, staring - At the passing clouds, his only winding-sheet. - And then the Great Intelligence--if such - There be--will see his moment's pastime o'er, - And turn his arts to other constellations, - Until in rolling æons e'en his mind - May lose the memory of Man which _was_-- - Rush on, rush on, humanity, and fill - Your hours with toil-wrought pain, rush on, rush on! - Death is your hope, your pilot, and your goal, - And Nothingness your only consolation-- - -_April 26, 1911._ - - - - -ARTHUR TO GUENEVER - - - O Guenever, O Guenever once mine, - God may assoil thy failing, but can I - Whose quivering soul is blasted, and whose sky - Is tempest-rent in agony?--Ah, thine, - Thine might have been the fire that should refine - My table round to silver chastity, - Lofty ensample to mine Hall. Oh, why - Should thy soft light no longer purely shine - For my parched soul to bathe in? Guenever, - My Guenever, yet thou wert only mortal-- - So too am I; and shall thy every tear - Of anguish well, and I not mark? O hear, - And help me, God, to open wide the portal - Of pardon in my heart for Guenever-- - -_April 10, 1912._ - - - - -THE DEATH OF THOMAS CHATTERTON - - - A gutted wick, still flutteringly aflame - Upon a roughened bench--bare walls, bare floor, - And glimmering gray of sunrise--yes, and more-- - Ah, brother, for I call thee by that name-- - Mine eyes tear-blinded to thy figure came, - Thy figure fallen like a flower when hoar - Frosts blight. Thy soul wont like the lark to soar - The light-flushed dawn, now takes a loftier aim. - Thy funeral chant, the slow-entoning wind; - Thy churchèd tomb, the pillared vault of morn; - Thy requiem, the birds: Thus art thou dead, - Pale, spectred want, thy tribute from thy kind; - But God, himself, thy dirges shall adorn - With sighing psalms of every wind that's sped. - -_May 8, 1912._ - - - - -A SPRING SONG - - - The air is vibrant with a sensuous charm; - The grasses nod, and drowse beneath the sun; - Dim, swelling tones upon the breezes run. - In soft security from dread alarm, - The doves are cooing; and the wind with warm - Caress, bears the arbutus' missive, one - Love-wrought line of scented rapture, none - Subtler to woo the honey-hunting swarm. - Let me sigh out my soul in ecstasy, - And breathe forth all the fragrance of my being - Upon the slowly-stirring summer air; - Let me no longer merely scent, hear, see; - But _one_ with Nature, in that Law agreeing-- - That God-willed Law that tincts the Beauty there-- - -_May 18, 1912._ - - - - -AFTER THE NEO-PLATONISTS - - - Night wove her web across the sun that died - In crimson colors; velvet-falling gloom - Hung curtain-wise, and, like some rich perfume, - Formed the soft essence of each wind that sighed. - Out of my casement through the dark, I spied - The moon afloat in tide of golden spume - Like some fair flower opening into bloom; - The earth lay dim; the Heavens starry-eyed; - And breezes softer than a maiden's breath - Hushed all the air. O night, how sweet thy charm! - Yet not thy moon, nor stars, nor wind, each one - Of these shall pass when we are changed by death-- - But rather sleep, thou death-in-life, more warm - Yet not so sweet as sweet oblivion. - -_September 18, 1912._ - - - - -WHAT WOULDST THOU BE? - - - What wouldst thou be? A cloud upon the air - Of summer skies afloat in sunlit charm, - And drinking azure bliss, all free from care, - And nestling near the sun's breast rich and warm? - What wouldst thou be? A comet, trailing eyes - Of thousand terrors through the throbbing night, - And filling earth with fear and vague surprise - To gaze upon thy bright, liquescent light? - What wouldst thou be? A sullen, stalwart cliff - Immovable upon a grassy plain, - Kissed by no clouds, and cold, and stark, and stiff, - Unmelted by the gentle tears of rain? - I ask nor to be gay, nor great nor strong-- - Make me a thought incarnate in some song. - -_May 24, 1912._ - - - - -THE PROPHECY OF DAVID - -A METRICAL SHORT-STORY - - -I - - "The prophecy is overthrown at last! - Thy hopes, my fury-tempered steel shall blast. - Mine, mine, thou art; David, thou shalt not rule. - This curse upon my seed is overpassed; - And he who made it was some dream-crazed fool - Whose soul was such poor stuff as could not mast - Futurity's wide ocean. David shall be - All fetter-bound, my captive prisoned fast!" - Before his tent, King Saul in triumph strode; - About Prince David circled his array. - E'er the new sun had sipped the dew, would he - Close on the fugitive.--"Brain-crazing thirst - Of jealousy that drives me on my way - Of torment, drain this cup; and satiate be. - Thy hope, O line of David, fadeth fast - Like pallid starlight into morning cast." - Saul triumphed to the stars; he gasped for air - As one might gasp upon a mountain's height. - Revenge and hate swept storm-like through the lair - Where lurked his soul shrinking before the blast; - "Mine, mine, by high-enthroned Jehovah's might!" - The words upon his lips were hot and fast.-- - Thine, thine, thou say'st? Him shalt thou never gain! - Thou dream'st a dream, O King; it is in vain. - Once fixed, the star of forecast cannot wane. - Thine, thine, thou say'st? It is in vain, in vain.-- - Was it the echo tortured into shape - Of his own words? Still stood the King aghast. - Did all this prisoning world leave no escape - From evil prophecy to his sworn vow? - He clapped his hands. (How the two sounds contrast!) - A servant came who cringed before his brow. - "Whence came that sighing voice? Let no one go - About my tent." The man was silent. "Now, - My Lord?" he quavered. "All has been quite still." - Saul's forehead frowned: "Return to rest--Or no, - Order my men to muster; 'tis my will - To seize the enemy at once, before - The light of morn. Soon shall I hold my foe; - And when he's bolted safe by gates thick-brassed, - Then may my fury gorge its dread repast." - Again he smiled. Footsteps approached in sore, - Short-tempered strides as one who comes from far. - Still paused the servant for Saul's nod to go-- - And Saul was smiling to the moon's curved bar. - "My Lord, my Lord, these tidings brook no pause!" - As if unwillingly, the King turned slow. - "Philistines plunder thy rich-garnered grain, - And flood thy fencèd towns with waves of fire! - The land is overswept with bloody rain; - Thy towered throne is tottering to the mire!" - Saul's fingers clenched until the blood was near; - He turned away; the moon was hid from sight. - Only upon Prince David's men one gleam - Pierced through the gloomy, cypress-shaded night. - "Lost, lost--so near, and yet in vain, in vain--" - His enemy who should displace his son, - Would still live on while he must go and fight - To save the realm--save, for this hated one? - He spoke; his voice was tense: "Awake my men; - We must be marching far." A lightening beam - Of anguish flashed and re-flashed through his brain; - And back there floated in his oral ken: - "Once fixed, the star of forecast cannot wane; - Thine, thine, thou say'st? Him shalt thou never gain!" - - -II - - Encamped Philistines lay upon the plain - While Israel held the barren hillock's rise. - Like palm trees in the waste, their gay tents shone; - And many camp-fires vied with sunset skies, - Yet fewer on the hills than blazed below - Down in the darkening valley where had grown - As many flickering lights as flakes of snow - That fall on wintry Lebanus. - Alone - Before his tent, strode Saul; his head was bowed - As bows a palm tree to the tempest blast. - Was this deep thought? Or was the spirit cowed - By some high-topping terror? Then at last - Tensely he spoke as to the blackening cloud - That hung above the sunset: "I, so strong, - Yet cannot banish thee, ill-omened shroud, - That round my writhing soul wraps as a pall - Of mute foreboding?--He and Philistine join - In lowering hate against me on the plain-- - God, God, my soul has sought Thy soul; wherein - But Thine Omnipotence can triumph lie? - Yet Thou art wordless.--Shall the King still call - Unto the Silent?" - The clouds were scudding fast - As if breathed through the Heavens by God's sigh. - There turned his eyes; then o'er the valley cast. - "Yet will I win," he cried. "Fate cannot last. - The days are all at odds; the powers conspire - To crush my mortal Will. Oh, I will cast, - And trample dim foreboding in the mire! - Let Fate come on; I'll meet him half the way; - And win----" Ceased in the air his words. - Sudden, - The sky grew dark; a frail gust stirred the fire, - Filling the air with monotone of woe: - "Thou dream'st a dream; it is in vain, in vain; - Him never shalt thou gain----" The sound was flown. - With features fury-tortured, hands clenched fast, - Up leaped he, straining arms stretched forth. - "My foe - I'll rend, rend, rend; hear me ye breeze's blast! - My royal root shall bloom; and David--lost. - Jehovah's evil Providence, I'll cast - Into a sea embalmed in endless frost!" - - -III - - A witch dwelt high upon stern Endor's cliff. - The place was dark: for night had drawn the veiling - Between the mountain peaks that stand still, stiff, - The frozen sentinels of Time; and sailing - Aloft upon the evening air, the smoke - Of hostile camp-fires blackened e'en the night. - Here dwelt this hag to horrid witchcraft given, - A withered, fangless thing whose mutterings spoke - Of all the secrets of Hell's shadow-light. - The wind was coldly wailing. Near her fire, - She crouched. Behind her, through a passage riven - By some swift thunderbolt of wrath divine, - Appeared a man in closely wrapped attire. - Like some lithe snake she turned and cringed - In fear and yet in anger: "By what sign, - And wherefore come you here?" her lips half snarled. - The man unwrapped his mantle deeply fringed; - He threw a purse before her. "For this cost, - Let thine unseen familiar call from rest - The one I name to thee"--She rose all gnarled; - And thus she spake: "Seek not to hide thy mien; - My spirit tells me that thou art--" Her lean - Hand grasped the splintered rock--"Thou art the King! - And whom wouldst thou, my Lord, seek in this fane - Of Chaldee calculations, law and ring?" - "Serve me but well to-night; and be thou wise-- - Charm as I bid; and gratitude shall last - All time from me to thee--fulfill this quest--" - He paused his speech and glanced to either side-- - "Summon me Samuel. Let his spirit rise - Upon the night in wreathèd, hazy guise." - The fire-embers faded red, and died; - King Saul sat staring into sable space; - The witch was mumbling by the fire-side - Whence curled up wisps of smoke. His heart beat fast. - Within the gray appeared a dim-lit face. - In silent terror gazed the King. At last, - Was audible a voice upon the wind: - "What would'st thou, Saul? What would'st thou learn from me?" - "Samuel, 'tis thou--" and then, as in a gust - The storm sweeps down upon the plain, words burst - In hot-lipped passion uncontrolled and fast-- - "Aid me; O, aid me; for I yearn, I thirst - To drink this David's blood. The frenzied lust - Of unfulfilled ambition desert-dry - Burns in my throat. Is my seed barren cast - On earth? Am I condemned to plod, a beast - For any burden? Spectre, tell me why - Should I be King of men, and yet the least - Who cannot even hold or give mine own?" - "The princely David shalt thou never gain; - Thou dream'st a dream, O King, it is in vain-- - Once fixed, the star of forecast cannot wane-- - The star of forecast cannot wane--wane--wane--" - The spectre's voice swept on upon the wind; - The spectre faded into argent gloom. - Down shot a nacreous moonbeam dim-outlined. - The King's eyes fell upon the armied plain. - There rose a shout again, and yet again-- - Below was movement, battling of armed men, - And shrieking clash of arms. How fiercely shines - That flaring light! His camp was sheathed in flame! - In flame that wrote upon his soul the lines: - "Once fixed the star of forecast cannot wane; - Thine all has been in vain, in vain, in vain--" - -_April and May, 1912._ - - - - -THE PROPHECY OF SAINT MARK - -A METRICAL SHORT-STORY - - - Pale night upon its swift, aërial loom - Wove the soft, vaporous substance of the gloom. - The story-sculptured Gothic porch lay dim - And silent in drab haze with which the spring - Covers its carpentry of summer bloom. - A maiden stood within the porch's pale. - "It is the night," she sighed, "Saint Marcus' night - When ghosts of all foredoomed to sickness wing - Into the church to pray; so runs the tale. - Those who make no return shall feel the grim, - Fell scythe of Death within the year. The light - Must flicker up each face as past they sail. - But Gascon, O my Gascon, shalt thou die? - Year after year, I wait--Thy strong-wrought mail - Surely is sword-proof--" And a hovering sigh - Passed through her lips more still than silence, frail. - The lowering mist grew darker. From the womb - Of day, young night was born. The paling light - Was flecked with haze-clouds flickering in the gloom; - And to and fro in stately pageantry, - Strange shadow-shapes like liquid-silver spume - Charmed into lightness, formed an imagery - Of things half-human. - Still the maiden pale - Waited and hung upon each shadowy trail - Of lingering vapors fainting to and fro. - They took the shape of flitting forms in mail - Or monkish cowl. A Merlin-magic spell - Seemed laid upon her. "And art _thou_ to go?" - She whispered as some well-known face amid - The rest swept by her through that portal fell. - And some, not marked for Death, returned again; - And some returned not. O'er the porch's rail, - Leant her light body as she scanned each form, - And tensely looked with terror anxious-eyed. - Why does she shrink with all-consuming pain, - And seek to gaze again? A blinding storm - Of anguish breaks upon her. "O what doom - Is this for thee and me? Why doest thou glide - Into this silent, terror-freighted tomb?" - Pale Gascon's figure fled along the tide-- - Some forms not marked for Death returned again; - But his returned not. Ever anguish-eyed, - She paused and waited--waited in the gloom. - At last the flying cloud flakes ceased to come; - And stilly night arose. "My God, to whom - May I turn now? My richest Self is rent!" - Down from the carven doorway stumbling slow, - The maiden passed, silent with languishment. - Forth from the darkness stepped a man. All dumb, - She gazed in careless stupor such as woe - Stamps on the soul. - "My Lady, may I dare--" - He paused, and gazed, bowed sweepingly and low, - Then spoke again. She stood there sad and fair, - Quivering like a heat-cloud in the air. - "Lady, a traveler asks the way to where - He may find rest and lodgement." One brief while, - She stayed herself in stupor; 'tis but meet, - A soul come slowly from behind the veil. - "Come--come," she said, upon her face a smile - Of sorrow blent with some strange joyance pale. - They passed along the quaintly cobbled street, - And then turned through a lane where high up-reared, - The gloomy oaks and hawthorne hedges greet - The eye on either hand. A cottage stood - With banks of sleepy flowers at its feet; - And all around, the giant, hoary wood - Frowned down its shadows on the garden's bloom, - Frowned down, a fateful harbinger of gloom. - Within the cottage, all was warmth and cheer. - There stayed the mother waiting the return - Of her sweet child. They entered. She did greet - Both with an all-inclusive smile, and clear, - Unchanging peace and kindliness that burn - Before a pure soul's shrine. "Whom have we here, - Marie?--Some houseless stranger gone astray?" - He doffed his feathered cap and bowed full low. - "After long twilight wanderings in despair - Of any hermitage for night, not far - From here, I prayed your daughter's guidance ere - The dark should leave me but a chance faint star - By which to fare." - Beside the oaken board, - They sat and ate the rustic dishes there, - While young Sir Guy poured forth a glittering hoard - Of warriored stories gathered far away: - How one brave knight pierced twenty paynim through; - And how another fled from the affray - To be enslaved by Sarazain corsair. - The maiden hungered for each word. How frail - Be warriors' lives! Upon the thought, she knew - A bitter memory of forecast's gloom. - Oh, she must fly. Oh, something must avail - To give her refuge from this festering sting. - She tried to turn her mind from sorrow's trail, - And gave her thoughts to the narrator's tale. - Now he was speaking of a lord who strove - To win his lady; but the Christian war - Called him to battle for his Faith. He clove - Damascus steel and clinking casques; but e'er - He could return--Sir Guy then ceased; for here - Arose a warning on the mother's brow. - She wished no bitter recollections. Fear - For Marie's plausance was her only care. - Soon all the cottage slept 'mid the garden's bloom; - And fatefully the forest frowned its gloom. - The summer blossomed, faded, and then died; - And still as if enchanted, stayed he there. - They took long walks o'er lonely hill and dale, - And went across the fields with flowers pied. - At times their voices rang upon the air; - But ever when they came upon that vale - Where, in its flowery charm, the cottage stood, - Their talk would fail within the vasty wood. - Thus bathed their souls in summer's sultry tide - Like flashing moths upon the wind that ride. - And hectic autumn came and brought its charm - Of leafy brilliance heralding its death. - Beside the evening blaze, full many a tale - He told of knights in chivalrous career; - But never raised the fluttering alarm - Of the maiden's mother by the faintest breath - Of the warrior lord and his loved one dear. - Then hoary, chilling winter shrouded pale, - Came, and passed by: thus wandered on, the year. - The spring was coldly wrapped in sullen haze; - Even the mounting sun seemed scarce as warm - As during winter. Slowly passed the days - Until the Eve of blest Saint Marcus came. - Among the misty-shadowed forest ways, - Sir Guy did bring the maiden arm in arm. - How oft the times that they had done the same-- - "I've lived a life, careless and debonair, - And know nor fettering bonds nor fear; - Yet would I leave it all without a care--" - She upward glanced and then glanced down as pale - As any flowing haze-wreath in the gloom. - "Oh, what is that?" she cried. The misty veil - Parted and showed a glimpse of rock-built wall. - "'Tis but the village kirk," he said. A pall - Of haze enwrapped them like the Will of Doom. - She stood and faced him, quivering as a sail - That blows uncertain in a varying wind. - "Marie, Marie," he faltered. Then a flare - Of passion burnt his soul out in his eyes. - Downward she glances seeming unaware; - But in her heart beneath the outward guise, - Warring emotions make her spirit quail. - Gascon's loved image into vision flies; - And yet her rising love, she cannot quell - For brave Sir Guy; and then, as when the flail - Lashes the chaff, dim mist before her flies - Into the church in Gascon's image pale. - The year is out. What then, should _he_ avail? - "Marie--" Sir Guy is breathing on the air; - She reads the rest within his flaming eyes. - "Yes--yes," she murmurs. - "O despair, despair! - I have no hope; you fell into the snare!" - His eyes dilated with mad light, he cries. - "I, I am Gascon whose memory you dare - To flout for any knight who stays a year - Within your sight! I am undone. My doom - Is set. These fateful forests be my bier! - Your lover is a wreath of shadowy air-- - Go, search him in the western tempest's lair! - For me, I hasten from this mortal gloom, - Sound mine own knell, and say mine own last doom!" - She shrinks away, with inward tumult pale. - His voice is still. She hears a something fall. - With anguish in her eyes, she turns. There, all - Stretched out upon the ground, he lies. A well - Of ruby richness pulses with his frail, - Departing breath. In Merlin-magic spell - Of agony, she stares into the gloom. - Pale figures, children of the mist-waves' womb - In through the church's doorway seem to sail; - Spectral, they vanish in their destined tomb. - She moves; she starts; she cries, as one to whom - Has come the horrid messenger of doom: - "Is that _my_ figure floating in the gloom? - Shall my life fail; is this its funeral knell?" - Pale night upon his swift, aërial loom, - Wove the soft, vaporous substance of her doom. - -_September and October, 1912._ - - - - -THE ÆOLIAN HARP - - - Into my wildly whispering heart, - His song the warm sirocco sings, - Whirring, whirring-- - And all the artifice of mine art - Comes on the wind by the wind to part, - Part from my whirring strings-- - - Sometimes I sing a wild, weird tale - That like a wandering phantom wings - Whirring, whirring-- - And sometimes only a lonely wail - Wells as an echo all wildly frail, - Frail as my whirring sings-- - - My notes are like the willow-wands - That lightly wave before, behind.-- - Whirring, whirring-- - Each whispering harp-string ever responds, - Slave of the breeze in his servile bonds, - Slave of the whirring wind-- - - Soft the sirocco sighs his tune, - And a waning, funeral chant it wings-- - Whirring, whirring-- - The song shall die as joys die--soon, - Whelming its melody into a swoon, - Swoon of the whirring strings-- - -_October 24 & 25, 1912._ - - - - -THE MAID THAT I WOOED - -AN ODE IN MINIATURE - - - I lie upon my couch by night, - And dream, and dream-- - Until the quavering shadow-light - Her portraiture doth seem-- - Until the breeze's moaning saith - In limpid-lapping stream, - The same denial she answereth. - - I lie upon my couch by night, - And yearn, and yearn-- - Until the flickering breeze's flight - Bring kisses that would burn-- - Until my soul could moan with pain-- - Oh, wherefore should she spurn - My love again, and yet again? - - I toss upon my couch by night; - I yearn; I yearn-- - Until I see the glimmering light - Upon the east return-- - Until with passion-pulsing breath, - I pray my lady stern: - "Oh, let me win thee, sweetest Death--" - -_December 27, 1912._ - - - - -IN A MINOR CHORD - -AN ODE IN MINIATURE - - - I gave my soul to dreams sense-glorified; - I bathed in bliss-exhaling balm. - I sailed through boundless ether Tyrian-dyed, - And breathed the luscious calm. - Tense were my heart-strings tuned; - And, madly quavering as I sighed, - Their music sadly waxed and wailed--then swooned, - And floated feebly down in ebbing tide. - - I gave my soul to battle. I defied - All the unlovable in life; - I could have bartered Heavenly bliss and died - Willingly in the strife! - To elevate mankind, - Mine inward power, I strove to guide; - I harnessed the puissance of the mind, - And toward that end all be magnified! - - I gave my soul to dreams sense-glorified - Till sated pleasure sank to pain. - I gave my soul to battle. I defied - The sordid; but in vain-- - Still, still, my spirit wept; - Its goal was hopeless, deified. - Oh, would this saddened soul had ever slept - Unborn; for slumber is a painless guide. - -_December 3, 1912._ - - - - -A GLASS OF ABSINTHE - -AN ODE IN MINIATURE - - - It lay within a glass of green, - A sinuous glass of subtle green. - It sparkled with a slimy sheen. - A languorous fascination gleamed - With glint of lapis lazuli; - And from its silken surface streamed - The scent of musk from Araby. - Ah--was that music only dreamed - That tinct the drowsy scene? - And was my fancy false, or seemed - The glass to lure me with its limpid green? - - My fingers fluttered to the stem, - To kiss the fluted, serpent stem, - As pious Persians kiss the hem, - Enwove with many a wanton trick, - Of Persia's deified Sofi. - I could not see; the light seemed thick - As perfume from the balsam-tree, - Or incense in a basalic - When sounds a requiem. - I drank the draught; my sense was sick; - My quivering fingers crushed the curling stem. - - I dropped the cup of crystal-green; - I scattered fragments emerald-green-- - False emeralds with a glassy sheen. - Upon the pavement, how they gleamed! - I flung the bits of serpent-stem - Upon the table beryl-seamed. - I swept them with my garment's hem-- - Some say I laughed--That night, I dreamed - Of Araby--a scene - Of sleepy charm whence fragrance streamed; - And in mirage, the desert blossomed green. - -_January 16, 1913._ - - - - -THE PALACE OF PAIN - -A CYCLE - - -I - - A soul was once incarnate in a man; - And this unseen, incarnate thing was mine; - And, as my body grew, the soul began - To sip more fondly of the scented wine - And sugared blisses life can give at call. - It languished amid luxuries divine - Showering richly like the leaves that fall - Upon the sensuous-silent autumn air. - Pale, fleeting Pleasure took my thoughtless all; - For love, unselfish, passion-fervid, rare, - Vibrated through the discords of dull time, - Blending them into harmony; for where - Life jangled harsh, a mother's care would chime - More blissful chords than can be told in rime. - - -II - - The gentle harmonies of love declined, - And swooned into a dull, funereal moan, - And faintly floated onward with the wind. - The symphony was gone; I stayed alone - In all-enshrouding, opiate sadness bound. - I did not scream; I did not weep nor groan. - My soul was locked in stupor whence it found - Only barred gates across dim vaults; and jangling, - Discordant chaos stung me like a wound. - I could not think; I could not hope; the wrangling - Of jarring sounds oppressed me till my brain - Was lost within a labyrinth, all-entangling-- - But this I learned although my powers did wane; - That Love through Death transmutes itself to pain. - - -III - - I sank my soul upon a sea of dreams; - I floated through aërial heights divine - Where saffron clouds a-glint with amber beams - Shimmering strangely, stretched in shining line. - I winged my way to Heaven's very dome, - And on Hell's portal read the horrid sign; - I danced upon the wavelet's crested foam, - And swept tempestuous on the stormy wind. - On earth like some vague terror, did I roam - While moaning misery pursued behind. - Whene'er I sang, my song had one refrain - With anxious care and artifice refined, - Until my soul's accompaniment would wane - And wax to one _motiv_: unending pain. - - -IV - - I broke my dungeon-sepulchre of dreams; - I climbed the winding stair to palace halls - Where all the air was soothed by incense-streams; - And every sight within those magic walls - Was bright with radiant, opalescent sheen - While lulling on the ear, light music falls - Of such a melody as ne'er has been - Unless by fays on fairy lyres played. - There Pleasure gowned in iridescent green, - Reclines upon her couch with gems inlaid, - And gently beckons with a sinuous arm-- - But all the sumptuous excesses fade; - The walls seem dim; the music has no charm, - For Pleasure's Palace is a place of harm. - - -V - - I plunged through rooms of deepest Tyrian dye; - I tore the veils from mysteries aside; - But grinning pleasure ever met mine eye. - In anguished ecstasy of bliss, I cried; - And through the halls, I heard the echo wane - Until the last, most distant answer sighed: - "The spirit of the world is pain, pain, pain--" - Then from the drowsy distance, there did well - A voice as of a witch before her fane, - Soft-muttering, some Heaven-blasting spell: - "The world is all in vain, the merest tool - Of accident, an anteroom to Hell, - A counterfeit but fairly glinting pool-- - Snatch all the joy thou canst, thou human fool!" - - -VI - - And then I searched within myself to find - The _how_ and _why_ of all I heard and saw. - I found but silent Nothing. Wearied, blind, - I strove to learn the omnipresent Law - On whose foundation all these chambers lean. - I found within the artifice no flaw; - And not the slightest secret could I glean. - I searched the winding, labyrinthine halls, - And scanned colossal colonnades between - Whose rows unending space is seen that palls - The straining sight, yet thither lures the eye - With fairy sheen. Through all the outer walls, - No doorway pierced to water, earth or sky: - Is there an answer to the _how_ and _why_? - - -VII - - And yet I am condemned to live, to be. - What horrid Fate decreed it? Life is blind, - And cannot see the Truth. Oh, but for me - To know, to solve this riddle of the mind! - And yet no whisper through the age's gloom - Has taught the latent answer that I pined; - And finally in a sombre-tinted room, - I sank in languor on the marble floor, - And faintly wondered at my destined doom. - Upon my weary spirit, came once more - A faint remembrance of a former time, - A faint remembrance, I had known before, - That clung about me like an ancient rime: - Death is to the soul but a change of clime. - - -VIII - - Then from the body tear this soul away! - Let me seek death; I'll force the hand of Fate! - I will not suffer more. The game I play - Is held against Creation, and the weight - Of all the ages hangs with Fate. Serene, - Stands Death in sable gossamer bedight, - And with maternal arms would intervene, - And seeks to press me silent to her breast. - Quick, let me free my soul from pain! The scene - Is fair--Oh, let this weariness be blest! - But hold--I still may keep this bitter strain - Of self-tormenting torment e'en in rest-- - Death summons up the things of life again; - And pain of life transmutes all death to pain. - - -IX - - Oh, but to float away upon the night, - To lose my soul upon her silent dark, - To feel myself a Nothing, a frail, light, - Aërial Emptiness, a fleeing spark - Of sunshine seeking on the endless void, - Some rest, some painless silence as its mark. - Like an oblivion-destined asteroid, - So would I that my soul should haste away - From all the ordinary, earthly, cloyed, - From all the tawdriness of living day; - But still I know I cannot cease to be, - Though I condemn my body back to clay-- - O thrice accursèd immortality - That dooms me life through all Eternity! - - -X - - O maddening horror in a smiling guise! - Alive or dead, I am a slave to life. - The later torment with the former vies - To wring my still-undying soul with strife. - I have a debt; the creditor is Time: - "My bond, my bond," he cries, and holds the knife - To wound yet never kill. But what my crime? - I fled those pleasure-haunted halls where vile, - Sweet-scented blisses soothed to pain. A clime - More active came within my ken. The dial - Of hours hurried round. The rich, new wine - Of busy life, I found. A steady file - Swept past of mortal things with souls like mine-- - Yet what the purpose of their streaming line? - - -XI - - With nervous yearning, haste they on their way: - A few direct and rule the work of all; - But most are bringing mortar, stone and clay-- - (And some there are that rise, and others fall; - And they are seen no more--we know not why.) - But all are working on the palace wall; - And some invent designs to please the eye; - And some would fain extend the rooms to win - New-fashioned blisses. A soft-moaning cry - Is vibrant in the air. High-pitched and thin, - It quavers dimly, then descends again, - And echoes aimless through the busy din: - Mankind would add to pleasure, but in vain-- - For Pleasure's Palace is a house of pain. - - -XII - - They strive; they strive, heap luxury on bliss, - And worship Pleasure as their goddess-queen. - Ah, take who will the subtle harlot's kiss! - Yes, seize thy moment's sweetness--then, I ween, - A pageantry of pain, such throbbing throes - As rive the soul, and cut the quick with keen, - Imprisoned edges till the life-blood flows. - Man little knows it; but two aims has he: - By present anguish, store up future woes, - By present anguish, pain posterity. - The quest for pleasure is a quest in vain; - Pleasure is Nothing in Eternity. - Men rather act than think, for thought is pain, - And action is the opiate of the brain. - - -XIII - - Shall I play Roman, face and fight these ills, - Pretend that I _can_ fight and still may win? - A child his dozen mimic soldiers drills, - And six with six, the battle they begin. - Some victors, and some vanquished; some he slays-- - But then the soldiers are mere toys of tin-- - And carelessly upon the ground, he lays - Vanquished and victors on one common plane; - And takes some other toy and laughs and plays-- - Yes, like that soldier, may I fight, and gain - Great victories. Oh, I may stare my Fate - Between the eyes, and drink whole draughts of pain; - With Stoic-strength, may struggle, and may hate; - But where's the payment that I vainly wait? - - -XIV - - I dare not ponder on humanity; - Myself, I dare not ponder, nor my goal. - Oh, would that I were lost upon that sea - Into whose silence, Lethe's currents roll. - Upon its bosom, would that I pressed mine, - Then might some kindly power transform this soul - Into forgetfulness. Or would some wine - Were brewed with musk or attar of the rose - And colored with a tint incarnadine, - And so compounded that a dreamless doze - Would come from one red, richly-scented draught. - Or would that some unmoving glacier froze - My soul within its crystal mine.--No craft - Can save me from this cup of pain unquaffed. - - -XV - - Oh, every soul is only pain embalmed; - And every torment is but bliss's sting. - Humanity lies gasping and becalmed - Upon a torrid ocean; and no wing - Of albatross is seen--nor e'er was seen-- - Our worldly hope is dead--yet rules as king. - Dust, ashes, ashes, dust, upon these lean - All of the upward struggle of mankind; - And pain, unending pain, is all they glean. - Goddess of pain, O mistress of the mind, - Art thou the Soul of life? Or hast thou palmed - Thyself on men once happy? Have we pined - Forever? Can our spirits e'er be calmed; - Or _is_ the spirit only pain embalmed? - - -XVI - - But what of art? Can art no solace hold, - No soothing spikenard, soporose drug or wine - To woo the wounded soul? Must men grow old - In agony? Or has some thought divine - Slipped down upon us, cool, compassionate? - But what of art? Can art's frail power refine - Our souls into that Oversoul, and mate - The each with All in one, sublime design? - Art is the vision of that Truth innate - In man. A soul, prismatic, crystalline, - May show each glow of being with each strife - At once reflected and becalmed, and twine - Then into some new, inward world all rife - With spirit blisses of a spirit life. - - -XVII - - Eternal art can triumph over pain; - And once we breathe the lotus-fragrance deep, - The world may scream with iron tongue in vain, - For all the argosy is soothed to sleep. - The ships may rot forever on the sand; - And far off Greece may wait and faintly weep. - More rare than spice from silken Samarkand, - More sorrow-sweet than young Francesca's tears, - More fair than yearning night upon the strand, - And more majestic than Anchises' years: - Beauty's the image, not the thing. 'Tis shod - With rainbow lightnings of the hopes and fears, - And knows each step humanity may plod. - Art is the Beauty of the face of God. - - -XVIII - - But still I live within this place of pain; - And still I seek for an eternal aim, - For, after death, mere Beauty is in vain. - What is there deeper flowing from this same - Unceasing spring? Quick, let me tear the veil! - There sat a statue on an ebon frame-- - A statue in that house of pain. So pale - The brow and still the nostrils, Death it seemed; - But in the face, I read that holy tale - That lay on the Madonna's face where gleamed - The Heavenly light from the young Christ's aureole. - Through all the halls of pain, the brilliance beamed; - And every discord out of chaos stole - To swell the throbbing organ's thunderous roll. - - -XIX - - Faith is the master-spirit of the mind. - All else is vanity, the preacher saith; - And worldly knowledge painful is and blind. - Oh, be thyself, and trust thyself. The breath - Of God is breathed on thee. Believe, and will; - And all that thou wouldst have in life, in death, - Is thine. I heard a rustling like a rill - Upon its leafy bed--just such a sound - As tincts the shadow of a song with skill - More intricate than arabesques, and bound - With tender, faintly-flowing melodies-- - But whence the choir sang, I never found. - Mayhap at last, myself may learn the ties - Wherewith are bound those lingering harmonies. - - -XX - - And when the soul has torn the fleshly veil, - And moves majestic to that monotone, - When echo-like upon the air I sail - Whither the wingèd skylark, Faith, has flown, - And borne me fainting upward; then my soul - May seek the God of art which silent, lone, - Broods on a crystal-argent sea, the goal - Of all humanity. Incarnate pain - Is calmed to everlasting peace. There roll - No waves upon the sea. Charmed has it lain - Through incommensurate time; charmed will it lie - Through all eternity; and there again - Upon my soul in silence wrapped, shall sigh, - Most beautiful--a mother's lullaby. - -_December, 1912._ - -_January, 1913._ - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Poems, by John William Draper - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK POEMS *** - -***** This file should be named 42034-8.txt or 42034-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/0/3/42034/ - -Produced by David E. Brown, Bryan Ness and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project -Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you -charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you -do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the -rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose -such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and -research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do -practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is -subject to the trademark license, especially commercial -redistribution. - - - -*** START: FULL LICENSE *** - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project -Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at - www.gutenberg.org/license. - - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy -all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. -If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the -terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or -entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement -and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" -or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the -collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an -individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are -located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from -copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative -works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg -are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project -Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by -freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of -this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with -the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by -keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project -Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in -a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check -the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement -before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or -creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project -Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning -the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United -States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate -access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently -whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, -copied or distributed: - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived -from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is -posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied -and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees -or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work -with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the -work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 -through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the -Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or -1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional -terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked -to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the -permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any -word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or -distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than -"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version -posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), -you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a -copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon -request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other -form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided -that - -- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is - owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he - has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the - Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments - must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you - prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax - returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and - sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the - address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to - the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." - -- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or - destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium - and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of - Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any - money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days - of receipt of the work. - -- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set -forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from -both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael -Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the -Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm -collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain -"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or -corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual -property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a -computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by -your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with -your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with -the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a -refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity -providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to -receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy -is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further -opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER -WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO -WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. -If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the -law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be -interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by -the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any -provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance -with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, -promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, -harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, -that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do -or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm -work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any -Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. - - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers -including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists -because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from -people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. -To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 -and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive -Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent -permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. -Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered -throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 -North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email -contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the -Foundation's web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To -SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any -particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. -To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm -concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared -with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project -Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. -unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |