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| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-06 16:15:28 -0800 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..df557fa --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #53385 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53385) diff --git a/old/53385-0.txt b/old/53385-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4671333..0000000 --- a/old/53385-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2287 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's For Your Sweet Sake, by James E. (James Ephraim) McGirt - -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/license - - -Title: For Your Sweet Sake - Poems - -Author: James E. (James Ephraim) McGirt - -Release Date: October 27, 2016 [EBook #53385] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOR YOUR SWEET SAKE *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif, MFR and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - [Illustration: JAMES E. MCGIRT.] - - - - - For Your Sweet Sake - - POEMS - - By - JAMES E. McGIRT - - Philadelphia: - THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO. - - Copyright 1906, by - JAMES E. McGIRT. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - Page. - -Born Like the Pines 1 - -A Mystery 2 - -The Spirit of the Oak 3 - -“Home Sick” 4 - -Des Fo’ Day 6 - -My Soul’s at Rest 7 - -Inspiration 9 - -The Century’s Prayer 11 - -Anna, Won’t You Marry Me? 12 - -Spring 14 - -A Warrior’s Judgment 15 - -Uncle Is’rel 17 - -If Loving Were Wooing 20 - -Winter 21 - -The Siege of Manila 22 - -Signs o’ Rain 26 - -No Use in Signs 28 - -Lullaby, Go To Sleep 30 - -God, Bless Our Country 32 - -True Love 33 - -Weep Not 35 - -Memory of W. W. Brown 36 - -When De Sun Shines Hot 38 - -Experience 40 - -Success 41 - -Defeated 42 - -I Shall Succeed 43 - -The Rosy Dawn 44 - -A Song of Love 45 - -Thanksgiving Prayer 47 - -Love 49 - -Right Will Win 50 - -Victoria, the Queen 51 - -Life and Love 52 - -A Slothful Youth 53 - -A Quest 54 - -Signs of Death 55 - -A Sailor’s Departure 57 - -A Test of Love 59 - -A Balm for Weary Minds 71 - -Tell Me, Deep Ocean 73 - -Should I Spy Love 74 - -If Love Could See 75 - -Temptation 76 - -Appreciations 78 - - - - - BORN LIKE THE PINES. - - - Born like the pines to sing, - The harp and song in m’ breast, - Though far and near, - There’s none to hear, - I’ll sing as th’ winds request. - - To tell the trend of m’ lay, - Is not for th’ harp or me; - I’m only to know, - From the winds that blow, - What th’ theme of m’ song shall be. - - Born like the pines to sing, - The harp and th’ song in m’ breast, - As th’ winds sweep by, - I’ll laugh or cry, - In th’ winds I cannot rest. - - - - - A MYSTERY. - - - I do not know the ocean’s song, - Or what the brooklets say; - At eve I sit and listen long, - I cannot learn their lay. - But as I linger by the sea, - And that sweet song comes unto me, - It seems, my love, it sings of thee. - - I do not know why poppies grow, - Amid the wheat and rye, - The lillies bloom as white as snow, - I cannot tell you why. - But all the flowers of the spring, - The bees that hum, the birds that sing, - A thought of you they seem to bring. - - I cannot tell why silvery Mars, - Moves through the heav’ns at night; - I cannot tell you why the stars, - Adorn the vault with light. - But what sublimity I see, - Upon the mount, the hill, the lea, - It brings, my love, a thought of thee. - - I do not know what in your eyes, - That caused my heart to glow, - And why my spirit longs and cries, - I vow, I do not know. - But when you first came in my sight, - My slumbering soul awoke in light, - And since the day I’ve known no night. - - - - - THE SPIRIT OF THE OAK. - - - The spirit of the oak am I, - With head uplifted to the sky, - Though hail and storm beat in my face, - Through weal or woe I hold my place, - With head uplifted to the sky, - The spirit of the oak am I. - - Birds I have sheltered many a year, - They hear the storm, desert in fear, - The strenuous eagle strives to stay, - But, ah! at last his heart gives way, - He stretches forth his feathered form, - And sails to heaven above the storm. - - Devoid of every earthly friend, - I stand undaunted till the end, - With head uplifted to the sky-- - The spirit of the oak am I. - - And when the raging storm is o’er, - My feathered friends return once more, - And find me standing calm and free; - They chirp aloud and sing with glee, - With outstretched arm I bid them rest, - I hold no malice in my breast, - But welcome every passer-by-- - The spirit of the oak am I. - - - - -“HOME SICK.” - - - Sittin’ by de windo’, - Gazin’ at de snow, - Up here in de Norf land, - No friends dat I know. - - Lord, if I was dare! - Peaceful, happy Georgia, - Tired of de rip an’ tare, - Sick ob ways o’ city. - - No one hear to talk to, - ’Bout de joy I’s seen, - Speak ob possum huntin’-- - Don’ no what yo’ mean. - - Banjo lyin’ idle, - Not allow’d to play, - People in de nex’ room, - Too much noise, da’ say. - - Write hum’ fo’ a ticket? - Dat ’ould be no use, - Sent me one las’ summer, - Sole’ it like a goose. - - Way too long fo’ walkin’, - Snow a fallin’, too, - Lord a mercy on me, - Wh’t am I to do? - - Com’ hear little banjo, - Lie close to my ear, - I’ll jus’ pic’ yo’ easy, - So dem fools can’ hear. - - What! you say der postman, - Letter he’r fo’ me, - No, I jus’ can’ b’leve it, - Han’ me; let me see. - - Yes dis is her writin’, - Ticket too hav’ com’, - Com’ on little banjo, - Com’, I’m goin’ hom’. - - - - - DES FO’ DAY. - - - When fo’ yeahs yo’ve been er tryin’ - ’N’ de thing fo’ wh’t yer tries, - Ez yo’ reach yer han’ ter t’ke it, - Des mov’s off bufore yer eyes, - ’N’ yer thro’ er side yer shovel, - Like yer ain’t goin’ wohk no mo’, - ’N’ yer wonder whur’s ole Gabr’l, - What’s de re’son he don’t blo’; - Den yer wan’ ter wohk de harder, - Fo’ ise allus he’rd um say, - De darkes’ hour, - Des fo’ day. - - Co’rse its hard ter keep on runnin’, - When de stake keeps movin’ ’way, - ’N’ ter hav’ er mind fo’ wohkin, - When yer think der ain’t no pay, - But puhaps when clouds er blackes’, - ’N’ der worl’ seems at its wu’s, - Dat it all com’s on er pu’pus, - Maby it fo’ warnin’ us, - Den yer wan’ ter wohk de harder, - Fo’ ize allus he’rd um say, - De darkes’ hour, - Des fo’ day. - - - - - MY SOUL’S AT REST. - - - J’s ’bout d’hk I com’ hom’ ploddin’, - Tired and ro’sted from de sun. - Tho’ I wo’k f’om mo’nin’ early, - Seems m’ tas’ ez never don’; - Th’n its wh’n I sit er scowlin’, - Dinah smoothes m’ brow ’n’ sa’, - Ephr’m yo’s bro’t nothin’ wit’ you’, - Chil’ you’ can’t t’ke nothin’ wa’; - An’ she re’ch’s me m’ banjo, - An’ I lay it cross my bres’, - Fo’ my trouble’s all forgotten - An’ my soul’s at res’. - - Soon de spring com’ on a smilin’ - I ’gin frettin’ ’bout de grain, - Fo’ my little gard’n parchin’ - An’ my crop ez needin’ rain; - Th’n its wh’n I sit a scowlin’, - Dinah smoothes m’ brow ’n’ say’, - Ephr’m you’s bro’t nothin’ wit’ you’, - Chile, yo’ can’t t’ke not’in wa’; - An’ she re’ch’s me m’ banjo, - An’ I lay it cross m’ breast, - Fo’ my trouble’s all forgotten, - An’ my soul’s at rest. - - Som’ des days ’t’ll all be over, - I will la me down an’ sleep, - Dinah, honey, don’t yo’ worry, - Tell de people not to weep. - Th’n its w’en I lay a sleepin’, - Smooth my bro’ as ol’ an’ sa’, - Ephr’m, honey, I will meet yo’, - ’Round de throne o’ God som’ da’; - T’ke my banjo f’om de ceilin’, - La’ it sofly ’cross my bres’, - Fo’ my troubles will be over, - An’ my soul at rest. - - - - - INSPIRATION. - - - Of’en w’en de race I’m runnin’, - Chil’ my feet gits blistered so’ - Dat I hav’ a notion fallin’ - ’Pears I jus’ can’ run no mo’; - Th’n I ’gin to think o’ Lizah, - Wit’ a smil’ upon her face - Stan’in’ at de gate er waitin’, - Jus’ to see me win de race, - An’ I start out wit’ new courage, - Fo’ to win de race or die. - Well I feel jus’ like a feather, - Man, I fairly fly. - - Der are times w’en courage leav’ me, - An’ I thro’ my burden down, - Somethin’ sa’s ders no use tryin’, - Seems I jus’ don’ wan’ no crown; - Th’n I ’gin to think o’ Lizah, - An’ I wondah wh’t she’d say, - Ef she’d come along an’ fin’ me, - In de gutter by de way. - An’ I gather up my burden, - An’ I start wit’ all my might, - Fo’ my limbs at once grow stronger, - An’ my load gits light. - - Clouds may gath’r dark ez midnight, - Matters not de cos’ o’ Fate, - All I wan’ to kno’ ez Lizah, - Waitin’ fo’ me at de gate; - Tho’ns and thistles lose dey terro’, - Hill an’ mountains melt er way; - Tho’ de worl’ seem dark an’ drary, - At de tho’t ’twill turn to day. - Fo’ w’en I think o’ Anner Lizah, - All de worl’ gits clear an’ bright. - An’ my limbs dey grow much stronger, - An’ my load gits light. - - - - - THE CENTURY’S PRAYER. - - - Lord God of Hosts incline thine ear, - To this Thy humble servant’s prayer; - May war and strife and discord cease, - This Century, Lord God, give us peace. - The thoughts of strife, the curse of war, - Henceforth, dear Lord, may we abhor, - One blessing more, our store increase, - This is our prayer, Lord, give us peace. - - May those who rule us, rule with love, - As Thou dost rule the Courts above; - May man to man as brothers feel, - Lay down their arms and quit the field; - Change from our brows the angry looks, - Turn swords and spears to pruning hooks, - One blessing more our store increase, - This is our prayer, Lord, give us peace. - - May flags of war fore’er be furled, - The milk-white flag wave o’er the world; - Let not a slave be heard to cry, - “The lion and lamb together lie;” - May nations meet in one accord, - Around one peaceful festive board. - One blessing more our store increase, - This is our prayer, Lord, give us peace. - - - - -ANNA, WON’T YOU MARRY ME? - - - Anna, child, the spring has come, - Listen to the robins, dear; - The honeysuckles are in bloom, - The fragrance fills the air. - A dove is cooing soft and low, - Telling how he loves his mate; - For you the flowers seem to grow, - For you they seem to bloom and wait. - Two by two the sparrows build, - High up in the orchard tree-- - Anna, Anna, Anna, won’t you marry me? - - Anna, O! ho! ho! - The aching of my heart; - It seems, my love, I’m bound to go, - If we have to live apart. - My heart says Anna all the time, - Love, I’ll die for thee-- - Anna, Anna, Anna, won’t you marry me? - - ’Member, love, the vow you made, - When out in the orchard, dear; - The stars can witness what you said, - The moon was sailing clear. - You promised, love, that you’d be mine, - Promised in the early spring. - And now the bees are ’round the vine, - Everywhere the song-birds sing, - In every flower I see your name, - Everywhere it seems to say, - Anna, Anna, this is our wedding day. - - Anna, O! ho! ho! - The aching of my heart; - It seems, my love, I’m bound to go, - If we have to live apart; - My heart says Anna all the time-- - Anna, Anna, Anna, won’t you marry me? - - - - - SPRING. - - - I rise up in de mornin’ - Early in de spring, - And hear de bees a hummin’ - An’ hear de robbins sing; - Th’re com’ o’er me a feelin’ - So queer I know not why. - I jus’ sit down an’ listen, - It seem I ’most could cry; - The win’ has lost its biting, - Aroun’ de vine de bees, - The air is full o’ fragrance, - From blossom of the trees. - I stroll out in de garden, - An’ take a look about, - I see de ground’ a crackin’, - The seed has ’gun to sprout. - Beneath de vine a blossom, - All dried and curled it lies, - A striped little melon, - Is hangin’ ’fore my eyes. - Its den I ’gin a hummin’ - And join de birds and sing, - My heart is full o’ rapture, - And grandeur of the spring. - - - - - A WARRIOR’S JUDGMENT. - - - A warrior stood before his Master, - Bruised and bleeding from the fight, - Not for power, neither honor, - But in battling for the right. - - Torn and tattered was his body, - Gashed and wounded was his face, - Stood he waiting for the Master - To assign his resting place. - - The Master gazed on him in pity, - Saw the form which He had made, - Once like His, now so distorted; - Gazed into his face and said: - - “Tell me, son, is this the body - That I gave you for awhile-- - Given you so pure and holy, - You return it so defiled?” - - “Master,” said the trembling soldier, - “In yonder world where I have been, - Daily I’ve encountered battle - With the daring monster, Sin. - - “Each step I fought my journey through; - He strove to keep me from the goal; - Though he scored me yet I conquered; - Master, he’s not scarred the soul.” - - The Master saw the soul still shining, - Thought of His own hand and side, - Beckoned to the brightest heaven - That the gate be opened wide. - - Then the Master cried, “Immortal!” - The soul came flashing from his breast, - Pointing to the fairest heaven, - “Enter thou in peaceful rest!” - - - - - UNCLE IS’REL. - - - De peopl’ call me a conger, - Jus’ caus’ I do som’ tricks, - An’ caus’ I got dis lucky black cat bone, - Can gather roots to make tea wit’, - Not ’les’ dey talk ’o th’t, - Dey’s scared o’ me an’ say I tote load stone. - - Don’ car’ wh’t I do noble, - No matter how I work, - Dey say de load stone don’ it jus’ de same. - Like wh’n I took Lucindy, - ’Way from de ’fessor Jones, - Dey up an’ said I got hur wit’ some skeame. - - Let somethin’ happen to de neighbors, - Let one o’ th’m git sick, - Fo’ it old Is’rel got to bear de blame, - Jes caus’ I got th’s goofer, - An’ a rabbit foot or two; - Th’y say I do mos’ ever’thing th’y dream. - - Som’tim’ th’y talk so scand’lo’s, - It gits me all up-sot, - Wh’n worrin’ over wh’t th’y say, - I wan’ ’o t’ke my goofer, - As’ ever’thing I got, - An’ let de people see me thro’ ’m ’way. - - I gath’r th’m together, - An’ put ’m in a pile, - I ’gin to think about de needy day, - I think wh’t they’d do fo’ me; - An’ git mad wit’ myself, - Fo’ worrin’ over wh’t de people say. - - Fo’ wh’n I ’gin a thinkin’, - ’Bout wh’t migh’ com’ o’ me, - Can’ help the tears from comin’ in my eye, - One tim’ de world’ was ’gains’ me, - An’ frien’s had turn’ their backs, - My rabbit foot an’ goofer stood righ’ by. - - Yo’ call me wh’t yo’ wan’ to, - An’ jus’ don’ bother me, - I’m goin’ ’o keep the things th’t bro’t me thro’; - Yo’ talk o’ mother’s teachin’, - But wh’t they don’ fo’ me, - Is much as any mother’d ever do. - - I use’ to mark de path, - Th’t run ’fore master’s door, - An’ ever mornin’ he would hav’ to cross - The load stone in my pocket, - I don’ jus’ lik’ I pleas’; - Mos’ every body tho’t I was de boss. - - Wh’n master’d cross de mark, - Yo’ see him ’menc’ to smile, - To git wit’ me it always made him proud; - I made de women lo’ me, - An’ long as I was th’re, - Nobody ever hurt one o’ de crowd. - - Wh’n I go out a courtin’, - I goofer up my hands, - An’ put a rabbit down in my sho’, - No man on earth can beat me, - A winnin’ o’ de love; - Fo’ wh’n I meet de girls th’s way I do. - - Make out I’m glad to see th’m, - An’ grab’m by de han’, - Be rubbin’ load stone on ’em all de tim’; - No use in tryin’ to s’un me, - I’m goin’ to win your love, - Fo’ ef I want you, I can make yo’ min’. - - - - - IF LOVING WERE WOOING. - - - If wishing were getting, - Ah! wouldn’t it be fine? - If loving were wooing, - Alice, thou would’st be mine; - Neither wealth nor honor, - Nor gem from the sea, - Can cause such a yearning - As I have for thee. - - What need of a ruby - When your cheeks I see? - Those gems ’neath your lashes - Are diamonds to me; - Your forehead’s a sapphire, - Beaming ’neath a curl; - Your lips seem a rosebud, - Hiding two rows of pearl. - - - - - WINTER. - - - Oh! the winter’s coming, - Leaves are getting brown, - Hickory nuts and acorns - Falling to the ground. - - Pumpkins getting yellow, - Persimmons getting ripe, - Opossum ’gin to fatten - And quails begin to pipe. - - Bird dog in the broom sage, - Hunter’s got his gun, - Erastus with old Traylor-- - Opossum’d better run. - - Turkeys in the corn-crib, - Chickens got their sway; - Let’m be, they’re fattening, - For Thanksgiving Day. - - - - - THE SIEGE OF MANILA. - - - Just a few miles from Manila Bay, - Near the close of a summer’s day, - When the sun was flooding with gold the west, - Our fleet was ordered to stop and rest, - After the regular meal was served, - And the code of evening was observed, - Each retired to his usual place, - And gazed into the dome of space. - With awe they watched the steady blaze, - As down on us they seemed to gaze. - I never shall forget the night, - The silvery stars were shining bright, - A full-orbed moon hung in the west, - As if to see the great contest. - The wind was of a peaceful gale. - It was a pleasant night to sail. - The ocean waves were rolling ’long, - A pealing forth a mournful song, - But soon from the sea a mist arose, - That caused the starry book to close. - When sable night had reigned her last, - The rosy morn was coming fast. - Within the glimmer of the day, - We sailed to take Manila Bay. - Soon the fort revealed in sight, - From out the windows gleamed a light. - And then when we saw the deadly gun, - A glistening in the rising sun, - It seemed that fire came in our blood. - Like tigers by our guns we stood, - It seemed our souls would burst with ire, - While waiting the command to fire. - In perfect silence, not a breath, - An instant could have brought us death. - The mist that from the ocean rose, - Had hid us from our Spanish foes. - And when the enemy sent no sound, - A whisper ’mong us passed around. - “Fortune’s with us,” our Captain cried, - “We’ve entered in and are not spied.” - By the fort we ’gan to start, - A distance though we sailed a port. - One by one our ships stole by, - As wolves before a shepherd’s eye. - All of our fleet had safely passed, - Except McCullough, which fortune blessed, - Within its furnace cured a rick, - And sparks went flying from its stack. - The sparks that from the ship did fly, - Met all at once the fort men’s eye. - Through glasses they began to peep, - Their glasses raised the cause to greet. - To their surprise they spied our fleet. - A cry of terror, a dash, a run, - The shells came blazing from each gun, - Before an instant hardly passed, - Around us shells were falling fast. - Their mines in vain they did explode, - But we were safe in our abode. - Our captain gave command to fire, - Which seemed to be our soul’s desire. - Before the words he could repeat, - The shells went blazing from our fleet, - Our hearts were burned with hatred ire, - We filled the air with shell and fire. - While the battle was raging high, - And glowing shells were falling nigh, - Dewey back through memory gazed, - Saw the Maine, became enraged. - And with his dazzling sword in hand, - He whirled it high and gave command, - With fury blazing from his eye, - With thundering voice was heard to cry, - “Remember the Maine! Speed! Haste! - Be careful, boys, no shells to waste.” - Remembered we our blood did run, - And sent shells flying from our gun. - Our boats, like burning Vesuvius seemed, - From out our guns shells poured and streamed. - Directed by an immortal eye, - For not a strayward shell did fly. - But each of the shells from the guns that went, - Performed the mission on which ’twas sent. - Our captain took his glass in hand, - And o’er the battle quickly scanned. - “Stop the guns,” he quickly cried, - “Fortune now is on our side; - The Spanish fleet is in a blaze, - And sinking fast before my gaze.” - When this command to us was given, - Three hearty cheers went up to heaven, - And when the sun sent down her sheen, - Not a Spanish boat was to be seen. - The valiant fleet of tyrant Spain, - Beneath the mighty deep was slain. - - - - - SIGNS O’ RAIN. - - - Whin yoah corns an’ bunions achin’, - An’ yoah body’s full o’ pain, - Yo’ can res’ right shure an’ sertin’, - Dat we’s goin’ ’o hav’ som’ rain. - - Cours’ de achin’ is not plesen’ - Tho’ I wish it I mus’ fea’, - But not ’caus’ I lov’ de hurtin’, - But I kno’ I’ll get som’ rest. - - In de winter I go huntin’, - Wh’n de groun’ is white wi’h snow, - In de summer I go fishin’, - Wh’n de groun’s too wet to plow. - - Do yo’ hear de dogs a barkin’, - Lik’ da’s struck a raccoon trail, - Sho’ sine o’ fallin’ weather, - Chile, I’s neber seen it fail. - - Run out, Jacob, look back Southward, - An’ see if ther’s a cloud in sight, - Goshie, wh’t a clap o’ thunder, - Clouds ’re hangin’ black as night. - - Jacob heard de rain a fallin’, - Pitter patter on de roof, - Fold his arms and looked at Hannah, - Now yo’ see I’s tol’ de truth. - - Daddy in de chimney corner, - Jake, I hear you wishin’ rain, - Yes sur, dad, de garden parchin’ - Don’t yo’ think ’twill help de grain? - - - - - NO USE IN SIGNS. - - - Der’s no use bein’ scared o’ cungers, - An’ lettin’ black cats turn you back, - You jus’ go on about your business, - And let de cungers hav’ your track. - - Fo’ Friday aint no wus’ dan Monday, - As far as luck to you’s concerned, - You han’ may itch don’t spit into it, - You won’t git nothin’ but what you earn. - - Your nose may itch, no one is coming, - Your foot may itch, you’ll go nowhere, - An’ you can let de worms crall o’er you, - An’ den no new dress get to wear. - - ’N’ caus’ you have a little learnin’, - You need not try to figure rich, - Jus’ go and get a spaid or shovel, - And go runnin’ to de ditch. - - And when you feel a little happy, - Don’t think of all de grief you’ve had. - An’ ’caus your eyes is trimblin’ little, - Dat ain’t no sign you goin’ git mad. - - An’ if de toe next to de big one, - Is kinder long--you ain’t go’in rule, - Because my hair grows on my forehead, - You need not take me for a fool. - - I’m going to sing soon in de mornin’, - De hawks may catch me before night, - But if da do you need not worry, - Jus’ say: “I bet they had to fight.” - - - - - LULLABY, GO TO SLEEP. - - - I’ll ne’er forget the day, - When I was young and gay, - A rolling ’round the floor in Tennessee; - From th’ cotton field so white, - My ma would come at night, - And fondly hold me in her arms and say: - - Go to sleep, baby mine, - Little birdie in your nest; - Humming bees have left the vine, - Go to sleep and take your rest. - - In winter cold and chill, - At night, when all was still, - I’d wake to find her standing over me, - A smile upon her face, - A creepin ’round the place, - She’d tuck the cover over me, and sing: - - Go to sleep, baby mine, - Little birdie in your nest; - Humming bees have left the vine, - Go to sleep and take your rest. - - So many years have passed, - Since we assembled last, - That dear old soul has gone away to dwell. - If this whole world was mine, - The wealth I would decline, - If I could only hear my mother sing: - - Go to sleep, baby mine, - Little birdie in your nest; - Humming bees have left the vine, - Go to sleep and take your rest. - - - - - GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY. - - - God bless our home, land of the free, - And those who rule, who e’er they be; - Protect the flag, and let it wave - Over all free men, not the slave. - May we, dear Lord, sustain its name; - Forbid that it shall trail in shame; - To those who from oppression flee - May this, our land, a refuge be. - - May we sustain all we profess; - Forbid that we should man oppress; - May we accept fraternal love - And live as we must live above. - - - - - TRUE LOVE. - - - How true, dear, my love is; - Too great to compare, - Truer than the stars, - That shoot from their sphere; - Think how the sun sets - And withdraws its light; - Think how I love thee - Alone in the night. - Think of its rising, - How it varies in time; - Oh! there is no varying - In this heart of mine. - True as a rock, then-- - How could I this say - When softest of waters - Can wear stone away? - Even time must change - To eternity. - Oh! there is no changing - In my love for thee. - True as eternity! - No, it’s not begun; - All must start even - When a race is to run. - When old eternity - Becomes mossy and gray, - Then, dear, I’ll love thee - The same as to-day. - Fear not that pale death - Will drift us apart; - Ah! death cannot sever - The love in my heart. - When we reach heaven - We shall find our own; - I’m told we will know there - As we are known. - - - - - WEEP NOT. - - - Weep not, friend, o’er your condition, - He who tries can find a way; - Labor, and to God petition, - Strive, and you will rise some day. - - Let your steps be sure and steady, - Push ahead and never stop; - Though the field seems filled already, - There is room still at the top. - - If you wish to climb life’s ladder, - Start to climb it from the ground; - If great your strength it makes it sadder - To have to climb it round by round. - - - - - MEMORY OF W. W. BROWN. - - - Dear father Brown, the great, the good, - The noble leader of our race; - With task complete his spirit fled, - To heaven, its final resting place, - And there in peace it shall remain, - Securely wrapped from care and pain; - His body ’neath sweet roses sleeps, - An angel o’er him vigil keeps. - - Weeping for one so dearly loved, - Too soon it seems we had to part; - To see him hid beneath the clay, - Sharp sorrow fills the aching heart, - It seems I see him on the stand, - Fain I could hear him give command; - And with his outstretched, loving arm, - Imploring people to reform. - - Think of the great work he has done, - Behold the great reformer’s hand; - Ten thousand marching to and fro, - To seek, to help, to lend a hand, - Thy life has not been spent in vain, - Thy deeds are monuments of fame; - Thy name from earth will ne’er depart, - ’Tis graved with kindness on the heart. - - No more to meet us here on earth, - The noble impulse thou hast given; - Will urge us on the mighty course, - Until we, too, are called to heaven. - Beneath the clods is it the last, - Oh, no, the memory of the past; - As Bethlehem star the wise men led, - His light will lead us though he is dead. - - - - - WHEN DE SUN SHINES HOT. - - - No, dere ain’t no use er workin’ in de blazin’ summertime, - Whin de fruit hab filled de orchard, an’ de burries bend de vine; - Der’s enuf ter keep us libin’ in de little gyarden spot, - An’ der aint no use’n workin’ w’en de sun shines hot. - - Fur I’ze read it in de Bible ’bout de lilies how dey grow, - It was put in der er purpus dat de workin’ men mout know, - Dat dis diggin’ an er grabben, wusn’t men’t in our lot, - An’ der ain’t no use’n workin’ we’n de sun shines hot. - - Does yer heer de streams er callin’ az it cralls erlong de rill; - Does yer se de vines er wavin’, biddin’ me ter kum an’ fill? - Whar’s m’ hook and line--say, Hannah, give me all de bait yer got, - Fur der ain’t no use’n workin’ w’en de sun shines hot. - - Des ’bout dark I kum hum, strollin’ wid a binch er lubly trout; - Hannah she c’mmence er grinnin’ little Rastus ’gin to shout; - Soon de hoecake is er bakin’, fish er fryin’, table sot. - No, der ain’t no use’n workin’ w’en de sun shines hot. - - - - - EXPERIENCE. - - - They told me that the path I took was hard, - That many a time my weary feet would bleed; - They said at last I’d find my way was barred; - I would not heed. - - They bade me stop and go the other way; - This path, they said, Fate thorns and thistles strew; - But I was young, Ambition led the way; - I thought I knew. - - But when my bleeding feet came to the end, - And I was bound and scourged by cruel Fate; - Alas, I cried, pray let me start again; - It was too late. - - - - - SUCCESS. - - - Success is a light upon the farther shore, - That shines in dazzling splendor to the eye, - The waters leap, the surging billows roar, - And he who seeks the prize must leap and try. - - A mighty host stand trembling on the brink, - With anxious eyes they yearn to reach the goal. - I see them leap, and, ah! I see them sink-- - As gazing on dread horror fills my soul! - - Yet to despair I can but droop and die, - ’Tis better far to try the lashing deep. - I much prefer beneath the surge to lie, - Than death to find me on this bank asleep. - - - - - DEFEATED. - - - Vain and defeated each effort of life, - Feeble and hoary, sick of the strife, - But yet in my bosom a spirit says, “rise,” - A voice calling onward out of the skies. - - Though wounded in battle, bleeding I lay, - I hear the voice calling, and strive to obey. - And make my last effort the battle to gain; - Ah! death is upon me, I struggle in vain. - - - - - I SHALL SUCCEED. - - - I shall succeed, although Fate rules to-day, - And heaps up thorns and thistles in my way. - I bear the yoke and tread them with a smile, - For I am sure it is but for awhile. - - Each day that dawns I strive to break the chain, - Although to-day it seems so massive strong; - Although it seems my labors are in vain, - I’ll strive and wait, it matters not how long. - - For like the drip that falls upon the millstone, - So soft it strikes at first it seems but play; - But drip on drip a tiny dent will come-- - We turn at length and find it washed away. - - Thus will I beat Fate’s chains, though strokes be feeble, - To hasty men it all may seem but play. - The hand of man though soft as drops is able, - To wear at length the hardest stone away. - - - - - THE ROSY DAWN. - - - From out the rosy dawn the sun comes forth; - See, love, what robes of splendor dawns the sea! - So is my soul hallowed with joy and love, - Gleaming from thee. - - For, when at morn I stroll along the path, - There I behold thy beauty from afar; - And, like the rosy dawn, it fills my soul; - I stand in awe. - - Look, love, the rosy scene is in the West! - And soon this world shall be in solemn night. - So will my soul if thou shouldst, like the sun, - Withdraw your light. - - - - - A SONG OF LOVE. - - - A song I sing a blessing so divine, - Which all can feel yet no one can define; - It comes like hallowed glory from above, - We feel the joy and call the blessing love. - - Just as we know when zephyr’s in the rye, - We cannot see, still how we mark their way; - Just so it is when love meets you and me-- - We bend and sway. - - For who can hide the love that’s in his breast? - He only feels, though known by all the rest; - For when love comes the gall is changed to sweet, - It brought the valiant Hector to its feet. - - Just as love brought the heroes kneeling down, - She leads the world quite gently with her sway, - No need of lash--just simply smile or frown-- - We will obey. - - Yes, love can lead her victim just at will; - Greater the pain greater he loves her still; - Through thorns and thistles ’till his feet are sore, - She bids him stop; he cries to follow more. - - Just as a bird must know the limb’s secure - Before she comes to build on it her nest, - So love will nestle when she finds us true, - Deep in our breast. - - Just as we bruise a pear to make it sweet, - So love will bruise her victim with her feet; - It shoves the baby eagle from its nest; - Before it falls her wings go ’neath its breast. - - - - - THANKSGIVING PRAYER. - - - Lord God, I turn on this Thanksgiving Day, - To view the path o’er which I’ve made my way, - Although a path of thorns my eye may greet, - Although I feel the sting still in my feet; - Although the harvest fail my barn to fill, - With grateful heart I bow and thank Thee still. - - For I am sure what e’er has been my lot, - How meek, how poor is more than I deserve. - Unto Thy will I bow and murmur not. - - I’ll not condemn His justice--whom I serve. - I’ll not complain and call Thee, Father, stern. - Because Thy sacred plans I’ve failed to learn; - The cause of all this grief I cannot tell, - And yet, like Job of old, I’ll not rebel. - - Lord God, I turn on this Thanksgiving Day, - To view the path o’er which I made my way. - Although a path of thorns my eye may greet, - Although I feel the sting still in my feet, - Although the harvest fail my barn to fill, - With grateful heart I bow and thank Thee still. - - - - - LOVE. - - - So oft I’ve read what poets sang of love, - To feel their joy far years in vain I sought; - At last love came, a cooing little dove; - The joy it brought! - - And since the day when I first sipped the wine, - I’ve felt a song I would all men could hear, - Though vainly I have sought for word and rhyme - To make it clear. - - To teach this song love only has the power; - To mortal man the door is sealed, though near. - Some day the door will open, you’ll discover - Love’s song and hear. - - - - - RIGHT WILL WIN. - - - Think not, my friend, if right be crushed to-day, - That violent wrong will ever hold the day; - A noble cause aside the kings may toast, - If it be right, Oh! no, ’tis never lost. - Know ye, the stone the builders first refused, - Was left alone, but at the top was used. - God stopped and called the leper from the cross; - He can not use the haughty and the proud; - From out the stagnant pool He makes to grow - The fragrant water lilies, white as snow. - - - - - VICTORIA THE QUEEN. - - - Oh, victorious Queen, it’s through thy loyal grace - I bring this wreath--a token from my race; - True, thou art gone, no more on earth to meet; - I come to spread these lilies at thy feet. - Of all the wreaths brought from the floral shrine, - This wreath alone portrays the life of thine. - These many years thou wert before our sight, - So calm and kind, so pure, serenely bright, - Like glowing sunlight, seated on thy throne, - Giving us rays, withholding them from none. - One soul, one God, has been thy sacred theme; - The high, the low--their cries were heard the same. - Rest on, grand soul, in perfect peace above, - For thou wert love, and love must rest with love; - Even though we weep, though sorrow fills our breast, - We do not wish to call thee from thy rest, - A star, though quenched, thy light is shining still; - Thy voice, though hushed, thy subjects know thy will. - - - - - LIFE AND LOVE. - - - Life is a boundless sea, on which men float; - Succeed we may to ride the waves of Fate, - Yet still within our paths there surely lies, - The chasm death, the voidless ultimate. - - Love is a sacred shrine, to which men kneel, - Succeed we may the blessing to attain, - Yet rest assured the hallowed joy it brings, - E’en though sublime, somehow is tinged with pain. - - - - - A SLOTHFUL YOUTH. - - - Beside the road in youth I sat in slumber, - The passers hailed and told me it was day; - “But, ah!” said I, “my days are great in number.” - And soundly slept, regardless of their say. - - Now, here I sit; the night has come upon me; - I fain would go, but darkness hides my way. - I’d turn to God that He would look upon me; - I’ve now forgot the prayer I used to pray. - - Yet, while I sit and vainly wait, the morning, - I yearn to tell, but ah! it is too late. - That he who sleeps at day and fails the warning, - Shall wake at night, the dreadful ultimate. - - - - - A QUEST. - - - Tell me, my soul, tell me, I pine to know, - Some future day, known as the harvest time! - Am I to reap from all the grain I sow, - My ill-wrought deed am I to claim as mine? - - If I should hurl my javelin in the dark, - And spread out thorns and thistles ’long the way, - Will it return and find me as its mark? - Am I to tread the thorns some future day? - - O Lord, I pray that Thou wouldst guide my hand; - Let not an evil seed by me be sown, - Or cause to sprout within a brother’s land - What I should hate to see within my own. - - - - - SIGNS OF DEATH. - - - When you hear at night de cows a lowin’, - An’ dogs a howlin’ out der mournful soun’, - I tell you now you better get you ready, - Dey’s goin’ to plant som’body in de groun’. - - You need not b’leave in signs, not less you wan’ to, - But some of des morn’ you’ll wake up in su’prize, - An’ if dem dogs com’ howlin’ where I’m sleepin’, - I tell you now dis darkey’s goin’ ’o rize. - - If der’s any doubts o’ being ready, - Down on my knees a prayer I’ll make, - You can laugh an’ say dat darkey’s skeery, - I’m like a rabbit can’ trus’ no mistake. - - It may not be fo’ me de dog’s a howlin’, - But when de howl my path I’m goin’ ’o sweep - An’ I ain’t goin’ to bed no mo dat evenin’, - Fo’ death will never com’ an’ fin’ me sleep. - - Der’re lots o’ learned people talkin’, bully, - An’ saying der’s nothing in de signs; - But if da com’ a roun’ me with der learnin’ - I’m jus’ er goin’ ’o tell ’em dey’re lyin’. - - I’se got no time to listen to der learnin’, - Fo’ dey is jus’ a tryin’ to show off smart, - Der ain’t nobody, don’t care how dey’s learned, - Dat’s got de signs all wiped out o’ der heart. - - Fo’ learnin’ never takes from man his habits, - It only smears dem over wid a stain, - An’ caus’ you’re learned, you is not an angel, - Dem same old trates er lurkin’ still within. - - I kno’ I’m learned as high as anybody, - Yit whin a chicken coop I’m passin’ by, - Der com’ to me again dem same old feelin’s - I’m going ’o hav’ dat chicken ’cep he fly. - - - - - A SAILOR’S DEPARTURE. - - - My dearest child, I have no wealth to give you, - No ring of gold to you can I impart; - Going, yet why should going grieve you? - You have my heart. - - In calm, in storm, no matter how the weather, - My one great thought shall ever be of thee; - Tell me, I pray thee, tell me whether - You’ll think of me? - - Without your love I wish my burden lighter; - With head bowed low I plod life’s weary way, - But with your love each day is brighter, - To toil is play. - - The ship has come, I must no longer tarry; - The lamp of love for you will ever burn; - Farewell, pray let your soul be merry, - Soon I’ll return. - - When I return, what e’er may be my treasure-- - That happy day I pray God that we meet-- - My life, my all, I’ll cast with pleasure - Down at your feet. - - He said “Good-bye”--the tears were swiftly falling-- - The ship moved off, she left alone to dwell; - The signal as they sounded pealing - Their last farewell. - - - - - A TEST OF LOVE. - - - The land of Avia, lovely is the scene, - Clothed every evening in a silvery sheen; - The rippling brook and birds make music clear, - Wild flowers bloom in plenty all the year, - And mistletoe’s the largest tree that’s found, - It’s roots embedded firmly in the ground. - In vales of mistle, ’long the Aztec shore, - Stand board-roofed huts, numbering but a score; - The largest one is Haggar’s--well in years; - No happier man in all the place appears. - His daughter, Alice, simple, pure and good, - And loved by all in that fair neighborhood. - Of all the youths that came to woo her love - No voice but Ed’s could cause her heart to move. - Ed Lassiters, son of a magistrate, - Was loved by all, and no one could he hate; - In peace and love he served the village long, - And no one e’er complained he’d done them wrong; - And Ed, his son, a steady, sober youth, - Was famed throughout the village for his truth. - Alice loved Ed; when children it was seen - That Ed loved her and held her as his queen. - Together they were always seen at play. - What e’er she willed it pleased Ed to obey; - “My doll, a house,” was all she had to speak, - For sticks and bark at once Ed went to seek; - To bake mud cakes more water she’ demand; - Ed quickly brought and placed it at her hand. - In all their play they were not seen to pout; - Always in love there was no falling out. - Each day to school they hand in hand would go, - Her books and slate Ed carried to and fro; - Each Sunday morn the chapel bell would chime, - And Ed with Alice marched away on time; - To church at night Alice alone he’d bring, - And from one book both in the choir would sing. - The childish love that bound them when at play - To greater love soon yielded up its sway. - Were children once, but ah, no children now; - Ed was a farmer, master of the plow; - Alice, a maid, how skilful at the loom, - And all affairs pertaining to the home; - Once close they lived, but now three miles apart; - But miles cannot divide true heart from heart. - The village lads loved well the maiden dear, - But knew their love and would not interfere; - So hand in hand through life they always went, - So lovingly, so happy, so content. - But, ah, if he had known the pain to come, - He would have had her safely in his home. - To Avia came a family seeking health; - A noble family; great, too, was their wealth; - A man and wife, a son, the darling joy; - John his name, and handsome was the boy. - He saw the maid, and love came at the sight; - To win her love he sought with all his might. - Soon she loved John and soon he loved the maid, - So swift is love when gold can give it aid. - And since that day the youth came from the north - Ed’s cloak of love had keenly felt a moth. - E’er on his face there dwelt a heavy frown; - Each day he passed his head was hanging down. - And all the village wondered as he passed - What made the change, what made him so downcast. - Each Sunday morn he strolled alone to church; - We sympathized--we knew it grieved him much; - As when the ivy from the oak we tear. - It seemeth lonely, ah! it seemeth bare. - So ’twas with Ed when they were seen apart, - He seemed e’er sad, so withered was his heart. - He loved her still, and each time he would call - He plead in vain that she would love him all. - Each night Ed called each night both lovers met; - They’d try in vain each other to outset. - When on her face Ed read her heart’s desire - He’d ask his hat, reluctantly retire. - Poor Ed, from youth could see her any time, - Now once a week his visits were confined. - Each youth desired the maid to be his bride; - She loved them both, and how could she decide. - Three months had passed--the choice she had not made; - With bashful face she sought her mother’s aid. - She hinted out the burden of her heart; - Her loving mother knew the other part. - “Oh, Ed and John,” she said, with trembling voice, - “I love them both and cannot make a choice; - Three months in vain the choice I’ve tried to make; - It’s left with you mother, which one to take.” - The mother thought awhile and slowly said: - “I cannot choose the man for you to wed, - For much is in the saying of the bard: - ’Make your own bed and keep it if it’s hard;’ - So make your choice; if he’s not what he seems - On no one else can you well place the blame. - Since I’m your ma, advice ’tis mine to give: - With whom you choose through life pray try to live, - For they who wed and quit without a cause - Have broken o’er our Holy Father’s laws. - Unless you can for him lay down your life - Never, my child, consent to be his wife, - For married life is greater than a dream, - And all have found it greater than it seemed. - To know the one whose love is pure and best, - I think it right to bring him to a test. - How can you judge from the word the greater love? - Does rain tell all that it has seen above? - What steed an empty wagon cannot pull? - Ah, place him to a wagon that is full. - The many words! but, ah, the simple few, - Can have a great effect if spoken true. - The sweetest words make not the greatest youth, - Ah, he is great who sayest but the truth. - The world to-day is so enrapt with sin, - That it is right with women and with men, - Before they be exalted in our sight, - We must have great assurance they are right. - So Ed and John seem good, I love them well; - The one for you to choose I cannot tell. - The way to find the one to suit you best, - Put life at stake and give them both a test, - For he who takes a maiden for his wife - Should count it joy to give for her his life.” - She knew that neither Ed nor John could swim; - To try the deep would be a test for them. - She thought how each of them enjoyed to row. - She said: “Some day, while rowing, drop your oar, - And tell him bring the oar you’ll be his bride; - First let the oar ’neath the boat be tied; - Engage them now, go quick and tie the oar.” - One came at three, the other came at four. - I feign to tell them what the mother said; - So great the plot when by a woman made. - She set the time, and John and Ed complied; - The evening came and John was by her side. - With John she goes, as though she loved him best, - Out in the boat that she his love might test. - From youth she knew the art to dive and swim; - ’Twas all a secret, ’t was not known to him. - They reached the deep where angry billows roar; - She for a purpose dropped her only oar. - Out from the boat the oar the waves did toss; - The maid screamed out in anguish, “We are lost!” - The oar was fairly whirling by a wave; - The frightened maid knelt praying God to save. - The coward youth sat trembling pale as death; - His face had changed, it seemed he had no breath. - The maid knelt still, pretending loud to weep. - But through her fingers at the youth she’d peep. - She saw the youth still fainting in dismay; - She would have laughed, but thought she would betray. - She raised her head, the oar again she spied; - Beneath the boat the oar with cord was tied. - She really cried, for lo! her face was red, - “John, bring the oar, I’ll be your wife,” she said. - But John sat still, for he could not obey; - “I cannot swim,” was all she heard him say. - She bade him think, she bade him count the cost; - “Without the oar won’t both our lives be lost? - If you sit here is death not sure?” she said. - John knew it was, and cowardly dropped his head. - With trembling voice she cried, imploring still: - “Go, bring the oar; if you won’t, John, I will. - What will you do?” She paused to give him time. - He would not go; she leaped into the brine; - She sank and rose, and loudly came a sound: - “Pray come and help! quick! love, for soon I drown!” - John saw his love the third time disappear; - She cried in vain, for John refused to steer. - Again she rose and quickly seized the oar, - Towards the boat the oar she swiftly bore. - Soon in the boat, dripping, she took her seat, - As John sat cowardly gazing at her feet; - Then to the shore she quickly made her way; - She reached the shore, to him was heard to say: - “The oar wasn’t lost; by this thread it was tied; - My life to you I’m thinking to confide.” - And this she said: “I did it just to prove - Whether or not you’re worthy of my love.” - She told him all, and said: “John can’t you see - That you are false and do not care for me.” - And John stood crying, begging not to tell; - She vowed she’d not, and said to him farewell. - He went his way and she sat on the beach-- - I’ll tell you why before the end is reached-- - ’Twas nearly four, and Ed, her other beau, - Had promised then to meet her for a row. - The hour had come, the village clock was heard; - Ah! Ed was there; he always kept his word. - Up from the beach she rose, her friend to greet; - She had not heard the tramping of his feet. - Soon in the boat they both sat face to face; - She took the oar as though out for a race; - Then with the oar she gave the sea a sweep, - And soon the boat was sailing on the deep; - “Here comes a ship; look, Ed, I see the top.” - He turned his head, the oar she did let drop. - “Dear Ed,” she cried, “pray take me to my home; - I dropped the oar and death is sure our doom.” - He gazed at her and saw her faint away. - “Don’t cry, my dear,” she softly heard him say; - He raised her head, consoling words he speaks, - Brushed back her hair and kissed her rosy cheeks; - Pretended she unconscious of a kiss; - Yet still her soul was thrilled with holy bliss. - He raised her gently in a fond embrace, - And gently wipes her tear-stained, blushing face, - The tears upon her rosy cheek repose - Appeared like sparkling dewdrops on a rose. - As men in hurrying pressed for want of time, - Can find a moment still to sip the wine, - So hurried Ed, for fear the oar he’d miss, - Yet still found time, yea, thrice, her lips to kiss; - Just as a man is moved by sparkling drinks - Performs an act before of danger thinks. - The kiss affected Ed as strongest wine; - He could not swim, yet did not fear the brine; - He did not stop for once to count the cost, - Nor thought he once that either would be lost. - He said, unless his queen should reach the shore, - Out of his arm he would have made an oar; - Then from the boat he leaped, and could not swim; - An angry wave came quick and covered him. - Strangled he rose, though struggling for his life, - He cried aloud: “O, God, pray, save my wife!” - He did not drown, for she well knew the art, - And leaped and bore him speechless to her heart. - Hold of the cord the oar she quickly drew; - Yet, brought the oar she said he never knew; - He really thought he saved his lover’s life. - He woke and cried aloud: “You are my wife.” - For when he sank he was a senseless elf; - To-day he thinks he brought the oar himself. - And when she saw how artless was his love - The love within her heart was felt to move; - Where there is love much love it doth inspire, - Thus blazed her love and set his soul on fire. - It seemed as love her heart would ’sunder rent, - Unless by hasty means could give it vent; - For when love’s heart is free from doubt and fear - It sayeth much that love would feign to hear. - Thus went the time until the glowing west - Was telling that the sun had gone to rest. - They reached the shore, though he was soaking wet, - Before they left, the wedding day was set. - Three weeks passed on, the blessed eve drew near, - The wedding bells were chiming loud and clear. - That night they vowed to love and serve through life; - There never lived a happier man and wife. - In Mistle still to-day there can be seen - A thatch-roofed house, twined round with ivy green; - Upon the lawn a boy and girl at play-- - This is the home where Ed and Alice stay. - - - - - A BALM FOR WEARY MINDS. - - - What a balm for the mind’s the joyous spring, - What fragrant nectar its breezes bring; - How the babbling brook and the birds we hear, - Lull the heart from worry, the soul from fear; - What magnet power its measures hold - To keep the soul from growing old! - What joy upon the turf to lie - And watch the fleeting butterfly, - To hear the bee as it buzzes by; - The humming bees as they go and come, - Sipping honey from the bloom. - Wake, fainting heart, around thee look, - Stroll through the woods, sit by the brook, - And hear it clatter, laugh and sing, - A flood of hope to you ’twill bring. - Look, see the orchard a mass of snow, - Sending the fragrance by the winds that blow; - Drink deep of its joys, on its fragrance fill, - That thy soul may stand cold winter’s chill. - Look at the daisies, see them bend, - Giving their fragrance to each wind; - The lilies in their lovely array - Think of the words the sowers say: - Toil not, spin not, yet how they grow, - So fragrant and spotless and whiter than snow. - List to the thrush up in the trees, - The song of the cuckoo, the hum of the bees; - The tame and wild flowers, drink deep their sweet scent, - Surely thy sad heart will then be content. - On springtime’s fair bosom rest thy aching head, - Who cannot feel springtime surely is dead. - - - - - TELL ME, DEEP OCEAN. - - - Tell me, deep ocean, why not be still, - Why not this surging cease, - Why shouldst thou sing this mournful sound, - And why not hold thy peace? - - Is it a tale of love you sing, - Tell me, oh mighty deep; - What some poor sailor bade thee bring, - Just as he sank to sleep? - - If so, I yearn to know thy song, - Pray, make it known, oh wave; - I had a lover, brave and strong, - Who met a sailor’s grave. - - I yearn to know his parting words, - Were they not told to thee? - If so, I pray thee make them known, - Pray tell, were they of me? - - - - - SHOULD I SPY LOVE. - - - If I should chance to spy love far at sea, - With outstretched arm beckoning unto me; - Though I bereft complete of spar and sail, - ’Twould not prevail. - - - - - IF LOVE COULD SEE. - - - If love could see each other’s heart, - And read the truth which they impart; - Much doubt and fears it would relieve, - No love would e’er have ought to grieve. - - - - - TEMPTATION. - - - Since I got ’ligion - Tryin’ to do what’s right - Devil, jus’ to temp’ me, - Keeps ol’ sin in sight. - - Farmers plant th’ir melons - Jam up ’gin the fence; - Leave the hen-coops open - Like they got no sense. - - Man who own the orch’rd - Don mov’ off to town; - Peaches an’ the apples - Rot’nin’ on the groun.’ - - In a trap th’s mornin’ - By the ’simmon tree, - Saw a grea’ big ’possum, - Fat as he cou’d be. - - Wou’d ’ve got th’t ’possum - Eph--he’d never kno’, - Th’t his trap co’t him, - Got a ’ligion tho’. - - People got no bus’ness - Fo’ to temp’ a man; - ’Fusin’ water-melons - More th’n I can stan’. - - If theys out th’re waitin’ - T’night whin I com’ ’long, - They shan’t teach no oth’r - Christ’an to go ’rong. - - Sally bake a hoe cake; - Get the kittle hot. - Goin’ bring back a chicken - If I don’t git shot. - - * * * * * - -I find in Mr. McGirt’s verses a meaning and accent which belong only to -the true poet. - -(Mrs.) REBECCA HARDING DAVIS. - - * * * * * - -Mr. McGirt’s poetry is spontaneous, natural and true. - -(Mrs.) MARGARET E. SANGSTER. - - * * * * * - -My Dear Mr. McGirt: Your verses indicate talent. I see no reason why you -should not have a great deal of success. - -Sincerely Yours, -(Mrs.) ELLA WHEELER WILCOX. - - * * * * * - -Mr. James E. McGirt: - -Dear Sir:--You show in these verses a talent for putting thoughts into -literary form ... very rare. I have found the sentiment of the poems -always pure and orthodox--often sweet and touching; there is a -simplicity about them which wins the reader’s attention.... - -I remain sincerely yours, -JULIAN HAWTHORNE. - - * * * * * - -You show a great deal of talent in your poems. I find them very -interesting and sweet. - -THOMAS NELSON PAGE. - - * * * * * - -Mr. James E. McGirt, Philadelphia, - -My Dear Sir:--I have given some spare hours to the reading of your -poems, which you were kind enough to furnish me in volume and -manuscript. It is gratifying to me to find one of your race aim -to advance or excel in literary efforts. I was specially pleased with -the merits of your poems, which should certainly command a large circle -of readers, not only among your own people, but among all lovers of -genuine poetic effort. - -Yours truly, -(Col.) A. K. McCLURE. - -[Illustration] - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of For Your Sweet Sake, by -James E. 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(James Ephraim) McGirt - -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/license - - -Title: For Your Sweet Sake - Poems - -Author: James E. (James Ephraim) McGirt - -Release Date: October 27, 2016 [EBook #53385] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOR YOUR SWEET SAKE *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif, MFR and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="349" height="500" alt="" title="" /> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/frontispiece_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="307" height="500" alt="[Image -not available: Photo of James E. McGirt.]" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">James E. McGirt.</span> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_title.jpg" alt="For Your Sweet Sake" title="" /> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/ill_002.jpg" alt="" title="" /> -</div> - -<h1>For Your Sweet Sake</h1> - -<p class="cb"><big><big>POEMS</big></big><br /><br /><br /> -By -JAMES E. McGIRT<br /><br /><br /> -Philadelphia:<br /> -THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.<br /><br /><br /> -Copyright 1906, by<br /> -JAMES E. McGIRT. -</p> - -<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td> </td><td class="rt">Page.</td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#BORN_LIKE_THE_PINES">Born Like the Pines</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_1">1</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#A_MYSTERY">A Mystery</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_2">2</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#THE_SPIRIT_OF_THE_OAK">The Spirit of the Oak</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_3">3</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#HOME_SICK">“Home Sick”</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_4">4</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#DES_FO_DAY">Des Fo’ Day</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_6">6</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#MY_SOULS_AT_REST">My Soul’s at Rest</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_7">7</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#INSPIRATION">Inspiration</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_9">9</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#THE_CENTURYS_PRAYER">The Century’s Prayer</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_11">11</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#ANNA_WONT_YOU_MARRY_ME">Anna, Won’t You Marry Me?</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_12">12</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#SPRING">Spring</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_14">14</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#A_WARRIORS_JUDGMENT">A Warrior’s Judgment</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_15">15</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#UNCLE_ISREL">Uncle Is’rel</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_17">17</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#IF_LOVING_WERE_WOOING">If Loving Were Wooing</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_20">20</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#WINTER">Winter</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_21">21</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#THE_SIEGE_OF_MANILA">The Siege of Manila</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_22">22</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#SIGNS_O_RAIN">Signs o’ Rain</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_26">26</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#NO_USE_IN_SIGNS">No Use in Signs</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_28">28</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#LULLABY_GO_TO_SLEEP">Lullaby, Go To Sleep</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_30">30</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#GOD_BLESS_OUR_COUNTRY">God, Bless Our Country</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_32">32</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#TRUE_LOVE">True Love</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_33">33</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#WEEP_NOT">Weep Not</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_35">35</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#MEMORY_OF_W_W_BROWN">Memory of W. W. Brown</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_36">36</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#WHEN_DE_SUN_SHINES_HOT">When De Sun Shines Hot</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_38">38</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#EXPERIENCE">Experience</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_40">40</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#SUCCESS">Success</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_41">41</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#DEFEATED">Defeated</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_42">42</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#I_SHALL_SUCCEED">I Shall Succeed</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_43">43</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#THE_ROSY_DAWN">The Rosy Dawn</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_44">44</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#A_SONG_OF_LOVE">A Song of Love</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_45">45</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#THANKSGIVING_PRAYER">Thanksgiving Prayer</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_47">47</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#LOVE">Love</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_49">49</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#RIGHT_WILL_WIN">Right Will Win</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_50">50</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#VICTORIA_THE_QUEEN">Victoria, the Queen</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_51">51</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#LIFE_AND_LOVE">Life and Love</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_52">52</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#A_SLOTHFUL_YOUTH">A Slothful Youth</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_53">53</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#A_QUEST">A Quest</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_54">54</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#SIGNS_OF_DEATH">Signs of Death</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_55">55</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#A_SAILORS_DEPARTURE">A Sailor’s Departure</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_57">57</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#A_TEST_OF_LOVE">A Test of Love</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_59">59</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#A_BALM_FOR_WEARY_MINDS">A Balm for Weary Minds</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_71">71</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#TELL_ME_DEEP_OCEAN">Tell Me, Deep Ocean</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_73">73</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#SHOULD_I_SPY_LOVE">Should I Spy Love</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_74">74</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#IF_LOVE_COULD_SEE">If Love Could See</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_75">75</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#TEMPTATION">Temptation</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_76">76</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#page_78">Appreciations</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_78">78</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_1" id="page_1"></a>{1}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="BORN_LIKE_THE_PINES" id="BORN_LIKE_THE_PINES"></a>BORN LIKE THE PINES.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Born like the pines to sing,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The harp and song in m’ breast,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Though far and near,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There’s none to hear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I’ll sing as th’ winds request.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">To tell the trend of m’ lay,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Is not for th’ harp or me;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I’m only to know,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From the winds that blow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What th’ theme of m’ song shall be.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Born like the pines to sing,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The harp and th’ song in m’ breast,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As th’ winds sweep by,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I’ll laugh or cry,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In th’ winds I cannot rest.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_2" id="page_2"></a>{2}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="A_MYSTERY" id="A_MYSTERY"></a>A MYSTERY.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I do not know the ocean’s song,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Or what the brooklets say;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At eve I sit and listen long,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">I cannot learn their lay.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But as I linger by the sea,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And that sweet song comes unto me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It seems, my love, it sings of thee.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I do not know why poppies grow,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Amid the wheat and rye,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The lillies bloom as white as snow,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">I cannot tell you why.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But all the flowers of the spring,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The bees that hum, the birds that sing,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A thought of you they seem to bring.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I cannot tell why silvery Mars,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Moves through the heav’ns at night;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I cannot tell you why the stars,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Adorn the vault with light.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But what sublimity I see,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Upon the mount, the hill, the lea,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It brings, my love, a thought of thee.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I do not know what in your eyes,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">That caused my heart to glow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And why my spirit longs and cries,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">I vow, I do not know.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But when you first came in my sight,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">My slumbering soul awoke in light,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And since the day I’ve known no night.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_3" id="page_3"></a>{3}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="THE_SPIRIT_OF_THE_OAK" id="THE_SPIRIT_OF_THE_OAK"></a>THE SPIRIT OF THE OAK.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The spirit of the oak am I,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With head uplifted to the sky,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Though hail and storm beat in my face,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Through weal or woe I hold my place,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With head uplifted to the sky,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The spirit of the oak am I.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Birds I have sheltered many a year,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They hear the storm, desert in fear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The strenuous eagle strives to stay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But, ah! at last his heart gives way,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He stretches forth his feathered form,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And sails to heaven above the storm.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Devoid of every earthly friend,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I stand undaunted till the end,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With head uplifted to the sky—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The spirit of the oak am I.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And when the raging storm is o’er,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My feathered friends return once more,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And find me standing calm and free;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They chirp aloud and sing with glee,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With outstretched arm I bid them rest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I hold no malice in my breast,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But welcome every passer-by—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The spirit of the oak am I.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_4" id="page_4"></a>{4}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="HOME_SICK" id="HOME_SICK"></a>“HOME SICK.”</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Sittin’ by de windo’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Gazin’ at de snow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Up here in de Norf land,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No friends dat I know.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Lord, if I was dare!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Peaceful, happy Georgia,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tired of de rip an’ tare,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sick ob ways o’ city.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No one hear to talk to,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’Bout de joy I’s seen,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Speak ob possum huntin’—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Don’ no what yo’ mean.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Banjo lyin’ idle,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not allow’d to play,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">People in de nex’ room,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Too much noise, da’ say.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Write hum’ fo’ a ticket?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dat ’ould be no use,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sent me one las’ summer,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sole’ it like a goose.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Way too long fo’ walkin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Snow a fallin’, too,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lord a mercy on me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wh’t am I to do?<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_5" id="page_5"></a>{5}</span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Com’ hear little banjo,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lie close to my ear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I’ll jus’ pic’ yo’ easy,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So dem fools can’ hear.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What! you say der postman,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Letter he’r fo’ me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No, I jus’ can’ b’leve it,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Han’ me; let me see.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yes dis is her writin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ticket too hav’ com’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Com’ on little banjo,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Com’, I’m goin’ hom’.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_6" id="page_6"></a>{6}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="DES_FO_DAY" id="DES_FO_DAY"></a>DES FO’ DAY.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">When fo’ yeahs yo’ve been er tryin’<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’N’ de thing fo’ wh’t yer tries,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ez yo’ reach yer han’ ter t’ke it,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Des mov’s off bufore yer eyes,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’N’ yer thro’ er side yer shovel,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like yer ain’t goin’ wohk no mo’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’N’ yer wonder whur’s ole Gabr’l,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What’s de re’son he don’t blo’;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Den yer wan’ ter wohk de harder,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fo’ ise allus he’rd um say,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">De darkes’ hour,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Des fo’ day.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Co’rse its hard ter keep on runnin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When de stake keeps movin’ ’way,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’N’ ter hav’ er mind fo’ wohkin,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When yer think der ain’t no pay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But puhaps when clouds er blackes’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’N’ der worl’ seems at its wu’s,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dat it all com’s on er pu’pus,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Maby it fo’ warnin’ us,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Den yer wan’ ter wohk de harder,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fo’ ize allus he’rd um say,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">De darkes’ hour,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Des fo’ day.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_7" id="page_7"></a>{7}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="MY_SOULS_AT_REST" id="MY_SOULS_AT_REST"></a>MY SOUL’S AT REST.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">J’s ’bout d’hk I com’ hom’ ploddin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tired and ro’sted from de sun.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tho’ I wo’k f’om mo’nin’ early,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Seems m’ tas’ ez never don’;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Th’n its wh’n I sit er scowlin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dinah smoothes m’ brow ’n’ sa’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ephr’m yo’s bro’t nothin’ wit’ you’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Chil’ you’ can’t t’ke nothin’ wa’;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ she re’ch’s me m’ banjo,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ I lay it cross my bres’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fo’ my trouble’s all forgotten<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ my soul’s at res’.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Soon de spring com’ on a smilin’<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I ’gin frettin’ ’bout de grain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fo’ my little gard’n parchin’<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ my crop ez needin’ rain;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Th’n its wh’n I sit a scowlin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dinah smoothes m’ brow ’n’ say’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ephr’m you’s bro’t nothin’ wit’ you’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Chile, yo’ can’t t’ke not’in wa’;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ she re’ch’s me m’ banjo,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ I lay it cross m’ breast,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fo’ my trouble’s all forgotten,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ my soul’s at rest.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Som’ des days ’t’ll all be over,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I will la me down an’ sleep,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dinah, honey, don’t yo’ worry,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_8" id="page_8"></a>{8}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tell de people not to weep.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Th’n its w’en I lay a sleepin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Smooth my bro’ as ol’ an’ sa’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ephr’m, honey, I will meet yo’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’Round de throne o’ God som’ da’;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">T’ke my banjo f’om de ceilin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">La’ it sofly ’cross my bres’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fo’ my troubles will be over,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ my soul at rest.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_9" id="page_9"></a>{9}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="INSPIRATION" id="INSPIRATION"></a>INSPIRATION.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Of’en w’en de race I’m runnin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Chil’ my feet gits blistered so’<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dat I hav’ a notion fallin’<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’Pears I jus’ can’ run no mo’;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Th’n I ’gin to think o’ Lizah,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wit’ a smil’ upon her face<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Stan’in’ at de gate er waitin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Jus’ to see me win de race,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ I start out wit’ new courage,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fo’ to win de race or die.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Well I feel jus’ like a feather,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Man, I fairly fly.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Der are times w’en courage leav’ me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ I thro’ my burden down,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Somethin’ sa’s ders no use tryin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Seems I jus’ don’ wan’ no crown;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Th’n I ’gin to think o’ Lizah,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ I wondah wh’t she’d say,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ef she’d come along an’ fin’ me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In de gutter by de way.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ I gather up my burden,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ I start wit’ all my might,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fo’ my limbs at once grow stronger,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ my load gits light.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Clouds may gath’r dark ez midnight,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Matters not de cos’ o’ Fate,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All I wan’ to kno’ ez Lizah,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_10" id="page_10"></a>{10}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Waitin’ fo’ me at de gate;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tho’ns and thistles lose dey terro’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hill an’ mountains melt er way;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tho’ de worl’ seem dark an’ drary,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At de tho’t ’twill turn to day.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fo’ w’en I think o’ Anner Lizah,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All de worl’ gits clear an’ bright.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ my limbs dey grow much stronger,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ my load gits light.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_11" id="page_11"></a>{11}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="THE_CENTURYS_PRAYER" id="THE_CENTURYS_PRAYER"></a>THE CENTURY’S PRAYER.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Lord God of Hosts incline thine ear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To this Thy humble servant’s prayer;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">May war and strife and discord cease,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This Century, Lord God, give us peace.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The thoughts of strife, the curse of war,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Henceforth, dear Lord, may we abhor,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One blessing more, our store increase,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This is our prayer, Lord, give us peace.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">May those who rule us, rule with love,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As Thou dost rule the Courts above;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">May man to man as brothers feel,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lay down their arms and quit the field;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Change from our brows the angry looks,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Turn swords and spears to pruning hooks,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One blessing more our store increase,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This is our prayer, Lord, give us peace.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">May flags of war fore’er be furled,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The milk-white flag wave o’er the world;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Let not a slave be heard to cry,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“The lion and lamb together lie;”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">May nations meet in one accord,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Around one peaceful festive board.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One blessing more our store increase,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This is our prayer, Lord, give us peace.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_12" id="page_12"></a>{12}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="ANNA_WONT_YOU_MARRY_ME" id="ANNA_WONT_YOU_MARRY_ME"></a>ANNA, WON’T YOU MARRY ME?</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Anna, child, the spring has come,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Listen to the robins, dear;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The honeysuckles are in bloom,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The fragrance fills the air.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A dove is cooing soft and low,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Telling how he loves his mate;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For you the flowers seem to grow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For you they seem to bloom and wait.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Two by two the sparrows build,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">High up in the orchard tree—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Anna, Anna, Anna, won’t you marry me?<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Anna, O! ho! ho!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The aching of my heart;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It seems, my love, I’m bound to go,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If we have to live apart.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My heart says Anna all the time,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Love, I’ll die for thee—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Anna, Anna, Anna, won’t you marry me?<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">’Member, love, the vow you made,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When out in the orchard, dear;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The stars can witness what you said,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The moon was sailing clear.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You promised, love, that you’d be mine,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Promised in the early spring.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And now the bees are ’round the vine,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Everywhere the song-birds sing,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_13" id="page_13"></a>{13}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">In every flower I see your name,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Everywhere it seems to say,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Anna, Anna, this is our wedding day.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Anna, O! ho! ho!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The aching of my heart;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It seems, my love, I’m bound to go,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If we have to live apart;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My heart says Anna all the time—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Anna, Anna, Anna, won’t you marry me?<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_14" id="page_14"></a>{14}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="SPRING" id="SPRING"></a>SPRING.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I rise up in de mornin’<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Early in de spring,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And hear de bees a hummin’<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ hear de robbins sing;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Th’re com’ o’er me a feelin’<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So queer I know not why.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I jus’ sit down an’ listen,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It seem I ’most could cry;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The win’ has lost its biting,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Aroun’ de vine de bees,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The air is full o’ fragrance,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From blossom of the trees.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I stroll out in de garden,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ take a look about,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I see de ground’ a crackin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The seed has ’gun to sprout.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Beneath de vine a blossom,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All dried and curled it lies,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A striped little melon,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Is hangin’ ’fore my eyes.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Its den I ’gin a hummin’<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And join de birds and sing,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My heart is full o’ rapture,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And grandeur of the spring.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_15" id="page_15"></a>{15}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="A_WARRIORS_JUDGMENT" id="A_WARRIORS_JUDGMENT"></a>A WARRIOR’S JUDGMENT.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">A warrior stood before his Master,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Bruised and bleeding from the fight,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not for power, neither honor,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">But in battling for the right.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Torn and tattered was his body,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Gashed and wounded was his face,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Stood he waiting for the Master<br /></span> -<span class="i2">To assign his resting place.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The Master gazed on him in pity,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Saw the form which He had made,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Once like His, now so distorted;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Gazed into his face and said:<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Tell me, son, is this the body<br /></span> -<span class="i2">That I gave you for awhile—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Given you so pure and holy,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">You return it so defiled?”<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Master,” said the trembling soldier,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">“In yonder world where I have been,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Daily I’ve encountered battle<br /></span> -<span class="i2">With the daring monster, Sin.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_16" id="page_16"></a>{16}</span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Each step I fought my journey through;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">He strove to keep me from the goal;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Though he scored me yet I conquered;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Master, he’s not scarred the soul.”<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The Master saw the soul still shining,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Thought of His own hand and side,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Beckoned to the brightest heaven<br /></span> -<span class="i2">That the gate be opened wide.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then the Master cried, “Immortal!”<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The soul came flashing from his breast,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Pointing to the fairest heaven,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">“Enter thou in peaceful rest!”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_17" id="page_17"></a>{17}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="UNCLE_ISREL" id="UNCLE_ISREL"></a>UNCLE IS’REL.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">De peopl’ call me a conger,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Jus’ caus’ I do som’ tricks,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ caus’ I got dis lucky black cat bone,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Can gather roots to make tea wit’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not ’les’ dey talk ’o th’t,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dey’s scared o’ me an’ say I tote load stone.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Don’ car’ wh’t I do noble,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No matter how I work,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dey say de load stone don’ it jus’ de same.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like wh’n I took Lucindy,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’Way from de ’fessor Jones,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dey up an’ said I got hur wit’ some skeame.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Let somethin’ happen to de neighbors,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Let one o’ th’m git sick,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fo’ it old Is’rel got to bear de blame,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Jes caus’ I got th’s goofer,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ a rabbit foot or two;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Th’y say I do mos’ ever’thing th’y dream.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Som’tim’ th’y talk so scand’lo’s,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It gits me all up-sot,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wh’n worrin’ over wh’t th’y say,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I wan’ ’o t’ke my goofer,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As’ ever’thing I got,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ let de people see me thro’ ’m ’way.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_18" id="page_18"></a>{18}</span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I gath’r th’m together,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ put ’m in a pile,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I ’gin to think about de needy day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I think wh’t they’d do fo’ me;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ git mad wit’ myself,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fo’ worrin’ over wh’t de people say.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Fo’ wh’n I ’gin a thinkin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’Bout wh’t migh’ com’ o’ me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Can’ help the tears from comin’ in my eye,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One tim’ de world’ was ’gains’ me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ frien’s had turn’ their backs,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My rabbit foot an’ goofer stood righ’ by.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yo’ call me wh’t yo’ wan’ to,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ jus’ don’ bother me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I’m goin’ ’o keep the things th’t bro’t me thro’;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yo’ talk o’ mother’s teachin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But wh’t they don’ fo’ me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Is much as any mother’d ever do.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I use’ to mark de path,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Th’t run ’fore master’s door,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ ever mornin’ he would hav’ to cross<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The load stone in my pocket,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I don’ jus’ lik’ I pleas’;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Mos’ every body tho’t I was de boss.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_19" id="page_19"></a>{19}</span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Wh’n master’d cross de mark,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yo’ see him ’menc’ to smile,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To git wit’ me it always made him proud;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I made de women lo’ me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ long as I was th’re,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nobody ever hurt one o’ de crowd.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Wh’n I go out a courtin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I goofer up my hands,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ put a rabbit down in my sho’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No man on earth can beat me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A winnin’ o’ de love;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fo’ wh’n I meet de girls th’s way I do.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Make out I’m glad to see th’m,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ grab’m by de han’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Be rubbin’ load stone on ’em all de tim’;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No use in tryin’ to s’un me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I’m goin’ to win your love,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fo’ ef I want you, I can make yo’ min’.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_20" id="page_20"></a>{20}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="IF_LOVING_WERE_WOOING" id="IF_LOVING_WERE_WOOING"></a>IF LOVING WERE WOOING.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">If wishing were getting,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Ah! wouldn’t it be fine?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If loving were wooing,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Alice, thou would’st be mine;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Neither wealth nor honor,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Nor gem from the sea,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Can cause such a yearning<br /></span> -<span class="i2">As I have for thee.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What need of a ruby<br /></span> -<span class="i2">When your cheeks I see?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Those gems ’neath your lashes<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Are diamonds to me;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Your forehead’s a sapphire,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Beaming ’neath a curl;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Your lips seem a rosebud,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Hiding two rows of pearl.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_21" id="page_21"></a>{21}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="WINTER" id="WINTER"></a>WINTER.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Oh! the winter’s coming,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Leaves are getting brown,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hickory nuts and acorns<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Falling to the ground.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Pumpkins getting yellow,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Persimmons getting ripe,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Opossum ’gin to fatten<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And quails begin to pipe.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Bird dog in the broom sage,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Hunter’s got his gun,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Erastus with old Traylor—<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Opossum’d better run.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Turkeys in the corn-crib,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Chickens got their sway;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Let’m be, they’re fattening,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">For Thanksgiving Day.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_22" id="page_22"></a>{22}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="THE_SIEGE_OF_MANILA" id="THE_SIEGE_OF_MANILA"></a>THE SIEGE OF MANILA.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Just a few miles from Manila Bay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Near the close of a summer’s day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When the sun was flooding with gold the west,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Our fleet was ordered to stop and rest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">After the regular meal was served,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the code of evening was observed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Each retired to his usual place,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And gazed into the dome of space.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With awe they watched the steady blaze,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As down on us they seemed to gaze.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I never shall forget the night,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The silvery stars were shining bright,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A full-orbed moon hung in the west,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As if to see the great contest.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The wind was of a peaceful gale.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It was a pleasant night to sail.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The ocean waves were rolling ’long,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A pealing forth a mournful song,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But soon from the sea a mist arose,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That caused the starry book to close.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When sable night had reigned her last,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The rosy morn was coming fast.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Within the glimmer of the day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We sailed to take Manila Bay.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Soon the fort revealed in sight,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From out the windows gleamed a light.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And then when we saw the deadly gun,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A glistening in the rising sun,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_23" id="page_23"></a>{23}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">It seemed that fire came in our blood.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like tigers by our guns we stood,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It seemed our souls would burst with ire,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While waiting the command to fire.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In perfect silence, not a breath,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An instant could have brought us death.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The mist that from the ocean rose,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Had hid us from our Spanish foes.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And when the enemy sent no sound,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A whisper ’mong us passed around.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“Fortune’s with us,” our Captain cried,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“We’ve entered in and are not spied.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By the fort we ’gan to start,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A distance though we sailed a port.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One by one our ships stole by,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As wolves before a shepherd’s eye.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All of our fleet had safely passed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Except McCullough, which fortune blessed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Within its furnace cured a rick,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And sparks went flying from its stack.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The sparks that from the ship did fly,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Met all at once the fort men’s eye.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Through glasses they began to peep,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their glasses raised the cause to greet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To their surprise they spied our fleet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A cry of terror, a dash, a run,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The shells came blazing from each gun,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Before an instant hardly passed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Around us shells were falling fast.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their mines in vain they did explode,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But we were safe in our abode.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Our captain gave command to fire,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_24" id="page_24"></a>{24}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which seemed to be our soul’s desire.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Before the words he could repeat,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The shells went blazing from our fleet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Our hearts were burned with hatred ire,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We filled the air with shell and fire.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While the battle was raging high,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And glowing shells were falling nigh,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dewey back through memory gazed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Saw the Maine, became enraged.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And with his dazzling sword in hand,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He whirled it high and gave command,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With fury blazing from his eye,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With thundering voice was heard to cry,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“Remember the Maine! Speed! Haste!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Be careful, boys, no shells to waste.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Remembered we our blood did run,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And sent shells flying from our gun.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Our boats, like burning Vesuvius seemed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From out our guns shells poured and streamed.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Directed by an immortal eye,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For not a strayward shell did fly.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But each of the shells from the guns that went,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Performed the mission on which ’twas sent.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Our captain took his glass in hand,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And o’er the battle quickly scanned.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“Stop the guns,” he quickly cried,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“Fortune now is on our side;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Spanish fleet is in a blaze,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And sinking fast before my gaze.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When this command to us was given,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_25" id="page_25"></a>{25}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Three hearty cheers went up to heaven,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And when the sun sent down her sheen,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not a Spanish boat was to be seen.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The valiant fleet of tyrant Spain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Beneath the mighty deep was slain.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_26" id="page_26"></a>{26}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="SIGNS_O_RAIN" id="SIGNS_O_RAIN"></a>SIGNS O’ RAIN.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Whin yoah corns an’ bunions achin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ yoah body’s full o’ pain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yo’ can res’ right shure an’ sertin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dat we’s goin’ ’o hav’ som’ rain.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Cours’ de achin’ is not plesen’<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tho’ I wish it I mus’ fea’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But not ’caus’ I lov’ de hurtin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But I kno’ I’ll get som’ rest.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">In de winter I go huntin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wh’n de groun’ is white wi’h snow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In de summer I go fishin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wh’n de groun’s too wet to plow.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Do yo’ hear de dogs a barkin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lik’ da’s struck a raccoon trail,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sho’ sine o’ fallin’ weather,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Chile, I’s neber seen it fail.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Run out, Jacob, look back Southward,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ see if ther’s a cloud in sight,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Goshie, wh’t a clap o’ thunder,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Clouds ’re hangin’ black as night.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_27" id="page_27"></a>{27}</span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Jacob heard de rain a fallin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Pitter patter on de roof,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fold his arms and looked at Hannah,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now yo’ see I’s tol’ de truth.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Daddy in de chimney corner,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Jake, I hear you wishin’ rain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yes sur, dad, de garden parchin’<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Don’t yo’ think ’twill help de grain?<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_28" id="page_28"></a>{28}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="NO_USE_IN_SIGNS" id="NO_USE_IN_SIGNS"></a>NO USE IN SIGNS.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Der’s no use bein’ scared o’ cungers,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ lettin’ black cats turn you back,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You jus’ go on about your business,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And let de cungers hav’ your track.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Fo’ Friday aint no wus’ dan Monday,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As far as luck to you’s concerned,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You han’ may itch don’t spit into it,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You won’t git nothin’ but what you earn.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Your nose may itch, no one is coming,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Your foot may itch, you’ll go nowhere,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ you can let de worms crall o’er you,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ den no new dress get to wear.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">’N’ caus’ you have a little learnin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You need not try to figure rich,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Jus’ go and get a spaid or shovel,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And go runnin’ to de ditch.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And when you feel a little happy,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Don’t think of all de grief you’ve had.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ ’caus your eyes is trimblin’ little,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dat ain’t no sign you goin’ git mad.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_29" id="page_29"></a>{29}</span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">An’ if de toe next to de big one,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Is kinder long—you ain’t go’in rule,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Because my hair grows on my forehead,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You need not take me for a fool.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I’m going to sing soon in de mornin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">De hawks may catch me before night,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But if da do you need not worry,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Jus’ say: “I bet they had to fight.”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_30" id="page_30"></a>{30}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="LULLABY_GO_TO_SLEEP" id="LULLABY_GO_TO_SLEEP"></a>LULLABY, GO TO SLEEP.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I’ll ne’er forget the day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When I was young and gay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A rolling ’round the floor in Tennessee;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From th’ cotton field so white,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My ma would come at night,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And fondly hold me in her arms and say:<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Go to sleep, baby mine,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Little birdie in your nest;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Humming bees have left the vine,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Go to sleep and take your rest.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">In winter cold and chill,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At night, when all was still,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I’d wake to find her standing over me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A smile upon her face,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A creepin ’round the place,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She’d tuck the cover over me, and sing:<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Go to sleep, baby mine,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Little birdie in your nest;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Humming bees have left the vine,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Go to sleep and take your rest.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_31" id="page_31"></a>{31}</span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So many years have passed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Since we assembled last,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That dear old soul has gone away to dwell.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If this whole world was mine,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The wealth I would decline,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If I could only hear my mother sing:<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Go to sleep, baby mine,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Little birdie in your nest;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Humming bees have left the vine,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Go to sleep and take your rest.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_32" id="page_32"></a>{32}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="GOD_BLESS_OUR_COUNTRY" id="GOD_BLESS_OUR_COUNTRY"></a>GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">God bless our home, land of the free,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And those who rule, who e’er they be;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Protect the flag, and let it wave<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Over all free men, not the slave.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">May we, dear Lord, sustain its name;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Forbid that it shall trail in shame;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To those who from oppression flee<br /></span> -<span class="i0">May this, our land, a refuge be.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">May we sustain all we profess;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Forbid that we should man oppress;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">May we accept fraternal love<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And live as we must live above.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_33" id="page_33"></a>{33}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="TRUE_LOVE" id="TRUE_LOVE"></a>TRUE LOVE.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">How true, dear, my love is;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Too great to compare,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Truer than the stars,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">That shoot from their sphere;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Think how the sun sets<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And withdraws its light;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Think how I love thee<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Alone in the night.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Think of its rising,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">How it varies in time;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Oh! there is no varying<br /></span> -<span class="i2">In this heart of mine.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">True as a rock, then—<br /></span> -<span class="i2">How could I this say<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When softest of waters<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Can wear stone away?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Even time must change<br /></span> -<span class="i2">To eternity.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Oh! there is no changing<br /></span> -<span class="i2">In my love for thee.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">True as eternity!<br /></span> -<span class="i2">No, it’s not begun;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All must start even<br /></span> -<span class="i2">When a race is to run.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When old eternity<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Becomes mossy and gray,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then, dear, I’ll love thee<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The same as to-day.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_34" id="page_34"></a>{34}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fear not that pale death<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Will drift us apart;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ah! death cannot sever<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The love in my heart.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When we reach heaven<br /></span> -<span class="i2">We shall find our own;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I’m told we will know there<br /></span> -<span class="i2">As we are known.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_35" id="page_35"></a>{35}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="WEEP_NOT" id="WEEP_NOT"></a>WEEP NOT.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Weep not, friend, o’er your condition,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">He who tries can find a way;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Labor, and to God petition,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Strive, and you will rise some day.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Let your steps be sure and steady,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Push ahead and never stop;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Though the field seems filled already,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">There is room still at the top.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">If you wish to climb life’s ladder,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Start to climb it from the ground;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If great your strength it makes it sadder<br /></span> -<span class="i2">To have to climb it round by round.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_36" id="page_36"></a>{36}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="MEMORY_OF_W_W_BROWN" id="MEMORY_OF_W_W_BROWN"></a>MEMORY OF W. W. BROWN.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Dear father Brown, the great, the good,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The noble leader of our race;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With task complete his spirit fled,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To heaven, its final resting place,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And there in peace it shall remain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Securely wrapped from care and pain;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His body ’neath sweet roses sleeps,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An angel o’er him vigil keeps.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Weeping for one so dearly loved,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Too soon it seems we had to part;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To see him hid beneath the clay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sharp sorrow fills the aching heart,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It seems I see him on the stand,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fain I could hear him give command;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And with his outstretched, loving arm,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Imploring people to reform.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Think of the great work he has done,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Behold the great reformer’s hand;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ten thousand marching to and fro,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To seek, to help, to lend a hand,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thy life has not been spent in vain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thy deeds are monuments of fame;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thy name from earth will ne’er depart,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’Tis graved with kindness on the heart.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No more to meet us here on earth,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The noble impulse thou hast given;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_37" id="page_37"></a>{37}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Will urge us on the mighty course,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Until we, too, are called to heaven.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Beneath the clods is it the last,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Oh, no, the memory of the past;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As Bethlehem star the wise men led,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His light will lead us though he is dead.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_38" id="page_38"></a>{38}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="WHEN_DE_SUN_SHINES_HOT" id="WHEN_DE_SUN_SHINES_HOT"></a>WHEN DE SUN SHINES HOT.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No, dere ain’t no use er workin’ in de blazin’ summertime,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whin de fruit hab filled de orchard, an’ de burries bend de vine;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Der’s enuf ter keep us libin’ in de little gyarden spot,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ der aint no use’n workin’ w’en de sun shines hot.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Fur I’ze read it in de Bible ’bout de lilies how dey grow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It was put in der er purpus dat de workin’ men mout know,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dat dis diggin’ an er grabben, wusn’t men’t in our lot,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ der ain’t no use’n workin’ we’n de sun shines hot.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Does yer heer de streams er callin’ az it cralls erlong de rill;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Does yer se de vines er wavin’, biddin’ me ter kum an’ fill?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whar’s m’ hook and line—say, Hannah, give me all de bait yer got,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fur der ain’t no use’n workin’ w’en de sun shines hot.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_39" id="page_39"></a>{39}</span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Des ’bout dark I kum hum, strollin’ wid a binch er lubly trout;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hannah she c’mmence er grinnin’ little Rastus ’gin to shout;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Soon de hoecake is er bakin’, fish er fryin’, table sot.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No, der ain’t no use’n workin’ w’en de sun shines hot.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_40" id="page_40"></a>{40}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="EXPERIENCE" id="EXPERIENCE"></a>EXPERIENCE.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">They told me that the path I took was hard,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">That many a time my weary feet would bleed;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They said at last I’d find my way was barred;<br /></span> -<span class="i5">I would not heed.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">They bade me stop and go the other way;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">This path, they said, Fate thorns and thistles strew;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But I was young, Ambition led the way;<br /></span> -<span class="i5">I thought I knew.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">But when my bleeding feet came to the end,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And I was bound and scourged by cruel Fate;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Alas, I cried, pray let me start again;<br /></span> -<span class="i5">It was too late.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_41" id="page_41"></a>{41}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="SUCCESS" id="SUCCESS"></a>SUCCESS.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Success is a light upon the farther shore,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">That shines in dazzling splendor to the eye,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The waters leap, the surging billows roar,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And he who seeks the prize must leap and try.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">A mighty host stand trembling on the brink,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">With anxious eyes they yearn to reach the goal.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I see them leap, and, ah! I see them sink—<br /></span> -<span class="i2">As gazing on dread horror fills my soul!<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yet to despair I can but droop and die,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">’Tis better far to try the lashing deep.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I much prefer beneath the surge to lie,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Than death to find me on this bank asleep.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_42" id="page_42"></a>{42}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="DEFEATED" id="DEFEATED"></a>DEFEATED.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i2">Vain and defeated each effort of life,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Feeble and hoary, sick of the strife,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">But yet in my bosom a spirit says, “rise,”<br /></span> -<span class="i2">A voice calling onward out of the skies.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i2">Though wounded in battle, bleeding I lay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I hear the voice calling, and strive to obey.<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And make my last effort the battle to gain;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Ah! death is upon me, I struggle in vain.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_43" id="page_43"></a>{43}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="I_SHALL_SUCCEED" id="I_SHALL_SUCCEED"></a>I SHALL SUCCEED.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I shall succeed, although Fate rules to-day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And heaps up thorns and thistles in my way.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I bear the yoke and tread them with a smile,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For I am sure it is but for awhile.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Each day that dawns I strive to break the chain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Although to-day it seems so massive strong;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Although it seems my labors are in vain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I’ll strive and wait, it matters not how long.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">For like the drip that falls upon the millstone,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So soft it strikes at first it seems but play;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But drip on drip a tiny dent will come—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We turn at length and find it washed away.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Thus will I beat Fate’s chains, though strokes be feeble,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To hasty men it all may seem but play.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The hand of man though soft as drops is able,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To wear at length the hardest stone away.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_44" id="page_44"></a>{44}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="THE_ROSY_DAWN" id="THE_ROSY_DAWN"></a>THE ROSY DAWN.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">From out the rosy dawn the sun comes forth;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">See, love, what robes of splendor dawns the sea!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So is my soul hallowed with joy and love,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Gleaming from thee.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">For, when at morn I stroll along the path,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There I behold thy beauty from afar;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And, like the rosy dawn, it fills my soul;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I stand in awe.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Look, love, the rosy scene is in the West!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And soon this world shall be in solemn night.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So will my soul if thou shouldst, like the sun,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Withdraw your light.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_45" id="page_45"></a>{45}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="A_SONG_OF_LOVE" id="A_SONG_OF_LOVE"></a>A SONG OF LOVE.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">A song I sing a blessing so divine,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which all can feel yet no one can define;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It comes like hallowed glory from above,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We feel the joy and call the blessing love.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Just as we know when zephyr’s in the rye,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">We cannot see, still how we mark their way;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Just so it is when love meets you and me—<br /></span> -<span class="i6">We bend and sway.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">For who can hide the love that’s in his breast?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He only feels, though known by all the rest;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For when love comes the gall is changed to sweet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It brought the valiant Hector to its feet.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Just as love brought the heroes kneeling down,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">She leads the world quite gently with her sway,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No need of lash—just simply smile or frown—<br /></span> -<span class="i6">We will obey.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_46" id="page_46"></a>{46}</span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yes, love can lead her victim just at will;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Greater the pain greater he loves her still;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Through thorns and thistles ’till his feet are sore,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She bids him stop; he cries to follow more.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Just as a bird must know the limb’s secure<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Before she comes to build on it her nest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So love will nestle when she finds us true,<br /></span> -<span class="i6">Deep in our breast.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Just as we bruise a pear to make it sweet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So love will bruise her victim with her feet;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It shoves the baby eagle from its nest;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Before it falls her wings go ’neath its breast.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_47" id="page_47"></a>{47}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="THANKSGIVING_PRAYER" id="THANKSGIVING_PRAYER"></a>THANKSGIVING PRAYER.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Lord God, I turn on this Thanksgiving Day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To view the path o’er which I’ve made my way,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Although a path of thorns my eye may greet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Although I feel the sting still in my feet;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Although the harvest fail my barn to fill,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With grateful heart I bow and thank Thee still.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">For I am sure what e’er has been my lot,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How meek, how poor is more than I deserve.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Unto Thy will I bow and murmur not.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I’ll not condemn His justice—whom I serve.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I’ll not complain and call Thee, Father, stern.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Because Thy sacred plans I’ve failed to learn;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The cause of all this grief I cannot tell,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And yet, like Job of old, I’ll not rebel.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Lord God, I turn on this Thanksgiving Day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To view the path o’er which I made my way.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_48" id="page_48"></a>{48}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Although a path of thorns my eye may greet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Although I feel the sting still in my feet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Although the harvest fail my barn to fill,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With grateful heart I bow and thank Thee still.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_49" id="page_49"></a>{49}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="LOVE" id="LOVE"></a>LOVE.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So oft I’ve read what poets sang of love,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">To feel their joy far years in vain I sought;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At last love came, a cooing little dove;<br /></span> -<span class="i5">The joy it brought!<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And since the day when I first sipped the wine,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">I’ve felt a song I would all men could hear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Though vainly I have sought for word and rhyme<br /></span> -<span class="i6">To make it clear.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">To teach this song love only has the power;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">To mortal man the door is sealed, though near.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Some day the door will open, you’ll discover<br /></span> -<span class="i6">Love’s song and hear.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_50" id="page_50"></a>{50}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="RIGHT_WILL_WIN" id="RIGHT_WILL_WIN"></a>RIGHT WILL WIN.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Think not, my friend, if right be crushed to-day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That violent wrong will ever hold the day;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A noble cause aside the kings may toast,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If it be right, Oh! no, ’tis never lost.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Know ye, the stone the builders first refused,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was left alone, but at the top was used.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">God stopped and called the leper from the cross;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He can not use the haughty and the proud;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From out the stagnant pool He makes to grow<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The fragrant water lilies, white as snow.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_51" id="page_51"></a>{51}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="VICTORIA_THE_QUEEN" id="VICTORIA_THE_QUEEN"></a>VICTORIA THE QUEEN.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Oh, victorious Queen, it’s through thy loyal grace<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I bring this wreath—a token from my race;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">True, thou art gone, no more on earth to meet;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I come to spread these lilies at thy feet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of all the wreaths brought from the floral shrine,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This wreath alone portrays the life of thine.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">These many years thou wert before our sight,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So calm and kind, so pure, serenely bright,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like glowing sunlight, seated on thy throne,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Giving us rays, withholding them from none.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One soul, one God, has been thy sacred theme;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The high, the low—their cries were heard the same.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Rest on, grand soul, in perfect peace above,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For thou wert love, and love must rest with love;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Even though we weep, though sorrow fills our breast,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We do not wish to call thee from thy rest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A star, though quenched, thy light is shining still;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thy voice, though hushed, thy subjects know thy will.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_52" id="page_52"></a>{52}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="LIFE_AND_LOVE" id="LIFE_AND_LOVE"></a>LIFE AND LOVE.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Life is a boundless sea, on which men float;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Succeed we may to ride the waves of Fate,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet still within our paths there surely lies,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The chasm death, the voidless ultimate.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Love is a sacred shrine, to which men kneel,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Succeed we may the blessing to attain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet rest assured the hallowed joy it brings,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">E’en though sublime, somehow is tinged with pain.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_53" id="page_53"></a>{53}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="A_SLOTHFUL_YOUTH" id="A_SLOTHFUL_YOUTH"></a>A SLOTHFUL YOUTH.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Beside the road in youth I sat in slumber,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The passers hailed and told me it was day;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“But, ah!” said I, “my days are great in number.”<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And soundly slept, regardless of their say.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Now, here I sit; the night has come upon me;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">I fain would go, but darkness hides my way.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I’d turn to God that He would look upon me;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">I’ve now forgot the prayer I used to pray.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Yet, while I sit and vainly wait, the morning,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">I yearn to tell, but ah! it is too late.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That he who sleeps at day and fails the warning,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Shall wake at night, the dreadful ultimate.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_54" id="page_54"></a>{54}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="A_QUEST" id="A_QUEST"></a>A QUEST.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Tell me, my soul, tell me, I pine to know,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Some future day, known as the harvest time!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Am I to reap from all the grain I sow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My ill-wrought deed am I to claim as mine?<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">If I should hurl my javelin in the dark,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And spread out thorns and thistles ’long the way,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Will it return and find me as its mark?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Am I to tread the thorns some future day?<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">O Lord, I pray that Thou wouldst guide my hand;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Let not an evil seed by me be sown,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or cause to sprout within a brother’s land<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What I should hate to see within my own.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_55" id="page_55"></a>{55}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="SIGNS_OF_DEATH" id="SIGNS_OF_DEATH"></a>SIGNS OF DEATH.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">When you hear at night de cows a lowin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ dogs a howlin’ out der mournful soun’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I tell you now you better get you ready,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dey’s goin’ to plant som’body in de groun’.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You need not b’leave in signs, not less you wan’ to,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But some of des morn’ you’ll wake up in su’prize,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ if dem dogs com’ howlin’ where I’m sleepin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I tell you now dis darkey’s goin’ ’o rize.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">If der’s any doubts o’ being ready,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Down on my knees a prayer I’ll make,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You can laugh an’ say dat darkey’s skeery,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I’m like a rabbit can’ trus’ no mistake.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">It may not be fo’ me de dog’s a howlin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But when de howl my path I’m goin’ ’o sweep<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ I ain’t goin’ to bed no mo dat evenin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fo’ death will never com’ an’ fin’ me sleep.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Der’re lots o’ learned people talkin’, bully,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ saying der’s nothing in de signs;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But if da com’ a roun’ me with der learnin’<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I’m jus’ er goin’ ’o tell ’em dey’re lyin’.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_56" id="page_56"></a>{56}</span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I’se got no time to listen to der learnin’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fo’ dey is jus’ a tryin’ to show off smart,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Der ain’t nobody, don’t care how dey’s learned,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dat’s got de signs all wiped out o’ der heart.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Fo’ learnin’ never takes from man his habits,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It only smears dem over wid a stain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An’ caus’ you’re learned, you is not an angel,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dem same old trates er lurkin’ still within.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I kno’ I’m learned as high as anybody,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yit whin a chicken coop I’m passin’ by,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Der com’ to me again dem same old feelin’s<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I’m going ’o hav’ dat chicken ’cep he fly.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_57" id="page_57"></a>{57}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="A_SAILORS_DEPARTURE" id="A_SAILORS_DEPARTURE"></a>A SAILOR’S DEPARTURE.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">My dearest child, I have no wealth to give you,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">No ring of gold to you can I impart;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Going, yet why should going grieve you?<br /></span> -<span class="i6">You have my heart.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">In calm, in storm, no matter how the weather,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">My one great thought shall ever be of thee;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tell me, I pray thee, tell me whether<br /></span> -<span class="i6">You’ll think of me?<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Without your love I wish my burden lighter;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">With head bowed low I plod life’s weary way,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But with your love each day is brighter,<br /></span> -<span class="i6">To toil is play.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The ship has come, I must no longer tarry;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The lamp of love for you will ever burn;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Farewell, pray let your soul be merry,<br /></span> -<span class="i6">Soon I’ll return.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_58" id="page_58"></a>{58}</span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">When I return, what e’er may be my treasure—<br /></span> -<span class="i2">That happy day I pray God that we meet—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My life, my all, I’ll cast with pleasure<br /></span> -<span class="i6">Down at your feet.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">He said “Good-bye”—the tears were swiftly falling—<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The ship moved off, she left alone to dwell;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The signal as they sounded pealing<br /></span> -<span class="i6">Their last farewell.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_59" id="page_59"></a>{59}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="A_TEST_OF_LOVE" id="A_TEST_OF_LOVE"></a>A TEST OF LOVE.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The land of Avia, lovely is the scene,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Clothed every evening in a silvery sheen;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The rippling brook and birds make music clear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wild flowers bloom in plenty all the year,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And mistletoe’s the largest tree that’s found,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It’s roots embedded firmly in the ground.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In vales of mistle, ’long the Aztec shore,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Stand board-roofed huts, numbering but a score;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The largest one is Haggar’s—well in years;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No happier man in all the place appears.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His daughter, Alice, simple, pure and good,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And loved by all in that fair neighborhood.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of all the youths that came to woo her love<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No voice but Ed’s could cause her heart to move.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ed Lassiters, son of a magistrate,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was loved by all, and no one could he hate;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In peace and love he served the village long,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And no one e’er complained he’d done them wrong;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And Ed, his son, a steady, sober youth,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was famed throughout the village for his truth.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Alice loved Ed; when children it was seen<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That Ed loved her and held her as his queen.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_60" id="page_60"></a>{60}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Together they were always seen at play.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What e’er she willed it pleased Ed to obey;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“My doll, a house,” was all she had to speak,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For sticks and bark at once Ed went to seek;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To bake mud cakes more water she’ demand;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ed quickly brought and placed it at her hand.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In all their play they were not seen to pout;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Always in love there was no falling out.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Each day to school they hand in hand would go,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her books and slate Ed carried to and fro;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Each Sunday morn the chapel bell would chime,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And Ed with Alice marched away on time;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To church at night Alice alone he’d bring,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And from one book both in the choir would sing.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The childish love that bound them when at play<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To greater love soon yielded up its sway.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Were children once, but ah, no children now;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ed was a farmer, master of the plow;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Alice, a maid, how skilful at the loom,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And all affairs pertaining to the home;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Once close they lived, but now three miles apart;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But miles cannot divide true heart from heart.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_61" id="page_61"></a>{61}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">The village lads loved well the maiden dear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But knew their love and would not interfere;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So hand in hand through life they always went,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So lovingly, so happy, so content.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But, ah, if he had known the pain to come,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He would have had her safely in his home.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To Avia came a family seeking health;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A noble family; great, too, was their wealth;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A man and wife, a son, the darling joy;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">John his name, and handsome was the boy.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He saw the maid, and love came at the sight;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To win her love he sought with all his might.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Soon she loved John and soon he loved the maid,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So swift is love when gold can give it aid.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And since that day the youth came from the north<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ed’s cloak of love had keenly felt a moth.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">E’er on his face there dwelt a heavy frown;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Each day he passed his head was hanging down.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And all the village wondered as he passed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What made the change, what made him so downcast.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Each Sunday morn he strolled alone to church;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_62" id="page_62"></a>{62}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">We sympathized—we knew it grieved him much;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As when the ivy from the oak we tear.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It seemeth lonely, ah! it seemeth bare.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So ’twas with Ed when they were seen apart,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He seemed e’er sad, so withered was his heart.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He loved her still, and each time he would call<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He plead in vain that she would love him all.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Each night Ed called each night both lovers met;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They’d try in vain each other to outset.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When on her face Ed read her heart’s desire<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He’d ask his hat, reluctantly retire.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Poor Ed, from youth could see her any time,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now once a week his visits were confined.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Each youth desired the maid to be his bride;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She loved them both, and how could she decide.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Three months had passed—the choice she had not made;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With bashful face she sought her mother’s aid.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She hinted out the burden of her heart;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her loving mother knew the other part.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“Oh, Ed and John,” she said, with trembling voice,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_63" id="page_63"></a>{63}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">“I love them both and cannot make a choice;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Three months in vain the choice I’ve tried to make;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It’s left with you mother, which one to take.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The mother thought awhile and slowly said:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“I cannot choose the man for you to wed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For much is in the saying of the bard:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’Make your own bed and keep it if it’s hard;’<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So make your choice; if he’s not what he seems<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On no one else can you well place the blame.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Since I’m your ma, advice ’tis mine to give:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With whom you choose through life pray try to live,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For they who wed and quit without a cause<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Have broken o’er our Holy Father’s laws.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Unless you can for him lay down your life<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Never, my child, consent to be his wife,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For married life is greater than a dream,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And all have found it greater than it seemed.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To know the one whose love is pure and best,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I think it right to bring him to a test.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How can you judge from the word the greater love?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Does rain tell all that it has seen above?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What steed an empty wagon cannot pull?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ah, place him to a wagon that is full.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The many words! but, ah, the simple few,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_64" id="page_64"></a>{64}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Can have a great effect if spoken true.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The sweetest words make not the greatest youth,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ah, he is great who sayest but the truth.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The world to-day is so enrapt with sin,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That it is right with women and with men,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Before they be exalted in our sight,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We must have great assurance they are right.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So Ed and John seem good, I love them well;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The one for you to choose I cannot tell.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The way to find the one to suit you best,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Put life at stake and give them both a test,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For he who takes a maiden for his wife<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Should count it joy to give for her his life.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She knew that neither Ed nor John could swim;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To try the deep would be a test for them.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She thought how each of them enjoyed to row.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She said: “Some day, while rowing, drop your oar,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And tell him bring the oar you’ll be his bride;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">First let the oar ’neath the boat be tied;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Engage them now, go quick and tie the oar.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One came at three, the other came at four.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I feign to tell them what the mother said;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So great the plot when by a woman made.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_65" id="page_65"></a>{65}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">She set the time, and John and Ed complied;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The evening came and John was by her side.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With John she goes, as though she loved him best,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Out in the boat that she his love might test.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From youth she knew the art to dive and swim;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’Twas all a secret, ’t was not known to him.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They reached the deep where angry billows roar;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She for a purpose dropped her only oar.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Out from the boat the oar the waves did toss;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The maid screamed out in anguish, “We are lost!”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The oar was fairly whirling by a wave;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The frightened maid knelt praying God to save.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The coward youth sat trembling pale as death;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His face had changed, it seemed he had no breath.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The maid knelt still, pretending loud to weep.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But through her fingers at the youth she’d peep.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She saw the youth still fainting in dismay;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She would have laughed, but thought she would betray.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She raised her head, the oar again she spied;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_66" id="page_66"></a>{66}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Beneath the boat the oar with cord was tied.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She really cried, for lo! her face was red,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“John, bring the oar, I’ll be your wife,” she said.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But John sat still, for he could not obey;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“I cannot swim,” was all she heard him say.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She bade him think, she bade him count the cost;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“Without the oar won’t both our lives be lost?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If you sit here is death not sure?” she said.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">John knew it was, and cowardly dropped his head.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With trembling voice she cried, imploring still:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“Go, bring the oar; if you won’t, John, I will.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What will you do?” She paused to give him time.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He would not go; she leaped into the brine;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She sank and rose, and loudly came a sound:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“Pray come and help! quick! love, for soon I drown!”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">John saw his love the third time disappear;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She cried in vain, for John refused to steer.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Again she rose and quickly seized the oar,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Towards the boat the oar she swiftly bore.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Soon in the boat, dripping, she took her seat,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As John sat cowardly gazing at her feet;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_67" id="page_67"></a>{67}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then to the shore she quickly made her way;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She reached the shore, to him was heard to say:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“The oar wasn’t lost; by this thread it was tied;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My life to you I’m thinking to confide.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And this she said: “I did it just to prove<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whether or not you’re worthy of my love.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She told him all, and said: “John can’t you see<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That you are false and do not care for me.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And John stood crying, begging not to tell;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She vowed she’d not, and said to him farewell.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He went his way and she sat on the beach—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I’ll tell you why before the end is reached—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’Twas nearly four, and Ed, her other beau,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Had promised then to meet her for a row.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The hour had come, the village clock was heard;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ah! Ed was there; he always kept his word.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Up from the beach she rose, her friend to greet;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She had not heard the tramping of his feet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Soon in the boat they both sat face to face;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She took the oar as though out for a race;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then with the oar she gave the sea a sweep,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And soon the boat was sailing on the deep;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“Here comes a ship; look, Ed, I see the top.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He turned his head, the oar she did let drop.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_68" id="page_68"></a>{68}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">“Dear Ed,” she cried, “pray take me to my home;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I dropped the oar and death is sure our doom.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He gazed at her and saw her faint away.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“Don’t cry, my dear,” she softly heard him say;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He raised her head, consoling words he speaks,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Brushed back her hair and kissed her rosy cheeks;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Pretended she unconscious of a kiss;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet still her soul was thrilled with holy bliss.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He raised her gently in a fond embrace,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And gently wipes her tear-stained, blushing face,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The tears upon her rosy cheek repose<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Appeared like sparkling dewdrops on a rose.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As men in hurrying pressed for want of time,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Can find a moment still to sip the wine,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So hurried Ed, for fear the oar he’d miss,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet still found time, yea, thrice, her lips to kiss;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Just as a man is moved by sparkling drinks<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Performs an act before of danger thinks.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The kiss affected Ed as strongest wine;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He could not swim, yet did not fear the brine;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He did not stop for once to count the cost,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_69" id="page_69"></a>{69}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nor thought he once that either would be lost.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He said, unless his queen should reach the shore,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Out of his arm he would have made an oar;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then from the boat he leaped, and could not swim;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An angry wave came quick and covered him.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Strangled he rose, though struggling for his life,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He cried aloud: “O, God, pray, save my wife!”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He did not drown, for she well knew the art,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And leaped and bore him speechless to her heart.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hold of the cord the oar she quickly drew;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet, brought the oar she said he never knew;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He really thought he saved his lover’s life.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He woke and cried aloud: “You are my wife.”<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For when he sank he was a senseless elf;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To-day he thinks he brought the oar himself.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And when she saw how artless was his love<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The love within her heart was felt to move;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where there is love much love it doth inspire,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thus blazed her love and set his soul on fire.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_70" id="page_70"></a>{70}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">It seemed as love her heart would ’sunder rent,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Unless by hasty means could give it vent;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For when love’s heart is free from doubt and fear<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It sayeth much that love would feign to hear.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thus went the time until the glowing west<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was telling that the sun had gone to rest.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They reached the shore, though he was soaking wet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Before they left, the wedding day was set.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Three weeks passed on, the blessed eve drew near,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The wedding bells were chiming loud and clear.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That night they vowed to love and serve through life;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There never lived a happier man and wife.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In Mistle still to-day there can be seen<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A thatch-roofed house, twined round with ivy green;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Upon the lawn a boy and girl at play—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This is the home where Ed and Alice stay.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_71" id="page_71"></a>{71}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="A_BALM_FOR_WEARY_MINDS" id="A_BALM_FOR_WEARY_MINDS"></a>A BALM FOR WEARY MINDS.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What a balm for the mind’s the joyous spring,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What fragrant nectar its breezes bring;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How the babbling brook and the birds we hear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lull the heart from worry, the soul from fear;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What magnet power its measures hold<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To keep the soul from growing old!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What joy upon the turf to lie<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And watch the fleeting butterfly,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To hear the bee as it buzzes by;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The humming bees as they go and come,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sipping honey from the bloom.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wake, fainting heart, around thee look,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Stroll through the woods, sit by the brook,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And hear it clatter, laugh and sing,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A flood of hope to you ’twill bring.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Look, see the orchard a mass of snow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sending the fragrance by the winds that blow;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Drink deep of its joys, on its fragrance fill,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That thy soul may stand cold winter’s chill.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Look at the daisies, see them bend,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Giving their fragrance to each wind;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The lilies in their lovely array<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Think of the words the sowers say:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Toil not, spin not, yet how they grow,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_72" id="page_72"></a>{72}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">So fragrant and spotless and whiter than snow.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">List to the thrush up in the trees,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The song of the cuckoo, the hum of the bees;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The tame and wild flowers, drink deep their sweet scent,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Surely thy sad heart will then be content.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On springtime’s fair bosom rest thy aching head,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who cannot feel springtime surely is dead.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_73" id="page_73"></a>{73}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="TELL_ME_DEEP_OCEAN" id="TELL_ME_DEEP_OCEAN"></a>TELL ME, DEEP OCEAN.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Tell me, deep ocean, why not be still,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Why not this surging cease,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Why shouldst thou sing this mournful sound,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And why not hold thy peace?<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Is it a tale of love you sing,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Tell me, oh mighty deep;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What some poor sailor bade thee bring,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Just as he sank to sleep?<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">If so, I yearn to know thy song,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Pray, make it known, oh wave;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I had a lover, brave and strong,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Who met a sailor’s grave.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I yearn to know his parting words,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Were they not told to thee?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If so, I pray thee make them known,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Pray tell, were they of me?<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_74" id="page_74"></a>{74}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="SHOULD_I_SPY_LOVE" id="SHOULD_I_SPY_LOVE"></a>SHOULD I SPY LOVE.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">If I should chance to spy love far at sea,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">With outstretched arm beckoning unto me;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Though I bereft complete of spar and sail,<br /></span> -<span class="i5">’Twould not prevail.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_75" id="page_75"></a>{75}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="IF_LOVE_COULD_SEE" id="IF_LOVE_COULD_SEE"></a>IF LOVE COULD SEE.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">If love could see each other’s heart,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And read the truth which they impart;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Much doubt and fears it would relieve,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">No love would e’er have ought to grieve.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_76" id="page_76"></a>{76}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="TEMPTATION" id="TEMPTATION"></a>TEMPTATION.</h2> - -<p class="clin">———</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Since I got ’ligion<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Tryin’ to do what’s right<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Devil, jus’ to temp’ me,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Keeps ol’ sin in sight.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Farmers plant th’ir melons<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Jam up ’gin the fence;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Leave the hen-coops open<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Like they got no sense.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Man who own the orch’rd<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Don mov’ off to town;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Peaches an’ the apples<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Rot’nin’ on the groun.’<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">In a trap th’s mornin’<br /></span> -<span class="i2">By the ’simmon tree,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Saw a grea’ big ’possum,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Fat as he cou’d be.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Wou’d ’ve got th’t ’possum<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Eph—he’d never kno’,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Th’t his trap co’t him,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Got a ’ligion tho’.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_77" id="page_77"></a>{77}</span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">People got no bus’ness<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Fo’ to temp’ a man;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’Fusin’ water-melons<br /></span> -<span class="i2">More th’n I can stan’.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">If theys out th’re waitin’<br /></span> -<span class="i2">T’night whin I com’ ’long,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They shan’t teach no oth’r<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Christ’an to go ’rong.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Sally bake a hoe cake;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Get the kittle hot.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Goin’ bring back a chicken<br /></span> -<span class="i2">If I don’t git shot.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_78" id="page_78"></a>{78}</span></p> - -<hr style="width: 45%;" /> - -<p>I find in Mr. McGirt’s verses a meaning and accent which belong only to -the true poet.</p> - -<p>(Mrs.) REBECCA HARDING DAVIS.</p> - -<hr style="width: 45%;" /> - -<p>Mr. McGirt’s poetry is spontaneous, natural and true.</p> - -<p>(Mrs.) MARGARET E. SANGSTER.</p> - -<hr style="width: 45%;" /> - -<p>My Dear Mr. McGirt: Your verses indicate talent. I see no reason why you -should not have a great deal of success.</p> - -<p class="r"> -Sincerely Yours,<br /> -(Mrs.) ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.<br /> -</p> - -<hr style="width: 45%;" /> - -<p>Mr. James E. McGirt:</p> - -<p>Dear Sir:—You show in these verses a talent for putting thoughts into -literary form ... very rare. I have found the sentiment of the poems -always pure and orthodox—often sweet and touching; there is a -simplicity about them which wins the reader’s attention....</p> - -<p class="r"> -I remain sincerely yours,<br /> -JULIAN HAWTHORNE.<br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_79" id="page_79"></a>{79}</span></p> - -<hr style="width: 45%;" /> - -<p>You show a great deal of talent in your poems. I find them very -interesting and sweet.</p> - -<p class="r"> -THOMAS NELSON PAGE.<br /> -</p> - -<hr style="width: 45%;" /> - -<p>Mr. James E. McGirt, Philadelphia,</p> - -<p>My Dear Sir:—I have given some spare hours to the reading of your -poems, which you were kind enough to furnish me in volume and -manuscript. It is always gratifying to me to find one of your race aim -to advance or excel in literary efforts. I was specially pleased with -the merits of your poems, which should certainly command a large circle -of readers, not only among your own people, but among all lovers of -genuine poetic effort.</p> - -<p class="r"> -Yours truly,<br /> -(Col.) A. K. McCLURE.<br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_80" id="page_80"></a>{80}</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/ill_003.jpg" width="298" height="500" alt="" title="" /> -</div> - -<hr class="full" /> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of For Your Sweet Sake, by -James E. 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