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PHILOSOPHY IN VERSE
by
JUDGE J. L. BRADY
TIMES-MIRROR PRESS
Los Angeles
1923
Copyright, 1923
by
Joseph L. Brady
Los Angeles
INTRODUCTORY
I wrote verses at an early age and have been
allowed to do so at intervals since, by favor of
the Muses, without apparent objection.
My life has been a busy one in the practice
of my profession—the law—and often when ex-
hausted by overwork I have found relief and rest
in writing.
This volume contains selections from a number
of poems, written under various moods and cir-
cumstances, and is submitted to the judgment and
criticism of its readers; should interest be taken,
pleasure found, or benefit derived from any of its
lines then some good has been accomplished and a
measure of success attained.
J.L.B.
Los Angeles, California,
February 14, 1923.
INDEX
The Old Canoe
The Wild Plum Patch ....
The First Home
The Lilac
My Dog Captain
The Pioneer
First School of Pioneers ....
Memories of Youth
The Town of Boyhood Days
A Phase of Common Sense
The Big Rock
A Romance of Mille Lacs Lake
Thoughts Impress
Character in the Face
Attributes of Mind
Instinct
Intuition
Conceptions as to Sense . . . .
Elements of Sense
Failure and Success
Tact and Success
Talent Versus Tact
Genius Lives
Genius
Today
Happiness
Compensation
Contrariness
Something for Nothing . . . .
A Type of Broker
A Fool and His Money Very Soon Part
Brains vs. Money
Law
Law Laconics
Stray Laconics
The Old First Style Gramaphone
Source of Music
California by the Sunset Sea
The Tenderfoot and Umbrella
The Calf on the Lawn 10
Luck and Work 1®^
Pluck 108
Courage
In the First Morning m
First Man H2
Primitive Man H4
Mythology 124
Distribution of Comparative Myths 127
At Great Bear Lake 133
Hades 142
An Epic of Hades 149
Somnus 154
Cacus 158
Charon 160
Erebus 162
Orpheus and Eurydice 165
The Sibyl 177
Calliope 180
The Fates 182
Clio 184
Euterpe 186
Momus 189
Amphion 196
Envoi 200
An Epic of Two Worlds 204
Hope 214
Attributes of Hope 216
Song of Hope 219
Hope and Woman 222
On Hearing the Song of a Mockingbird 228
Love 230
Song of the Soul 231
Life 232
Common Schools are Shrines 233
A Long Vacation 234
PHILOSOPHY IN VERSE
The Old Canoe
THE OLD CANOE
Where the banks are full and the shore is steep,
And the June flood waters look dark and deep;
Where the rugged elm in its stately pride
Casts reflective shadows o'er the tide;
Where the reeds and rushes are long and lank,
And the weeds grow thick on the winding bank;
In the Elk River stream the whole day
through,
There lies at its moorings an old canoe.
The back flow waters in the cove are still,
But the light winds play with the boat at will;
And lazily in and out again
It floats the length of the rusty chain,
Like the weary march of the hands of time
That meet and part at the noon-bell chime;
And the shore is kissed at each turn anew,
By the dripping bow of the old canoe.
Oh many a time, in boyish glee,
Have I loosened the boat from the old elm tree,
And paddled around the old swimming hole,
Sounding its depths with a tamarack pole,
And laughed as I leaned o'er the rocking side
And looked below in the shadowy tide,
To see that the boats and the faces, too,
Were mirrored back from the old canoe.
But now as I lean o'er its crumbling side,
And look below in the sluggish tide,
The face I see is graver grown,
And the laugh I hear has a soberer tone;
— 9_
The hands that lent to the rude boat wings
Have grown familiar with sterner things;
And my snow-flecked hair (once of darker
hue),
Is shrouded by age, like the old canoe.
Like the whippoorwill's plaint in the near-by dell,
The worn out paddles their story tell;
They're crossed on the railing, one o'er one,
Like folded hands when life's work is done;
While busily back and forth between
The spider stretches his silvery screen;
And the solemn owl, with his dull "too
whoo,
Settles down on the side of the old canoe.
The stern, half sunk in the murky wave,
Rots slowly away in its living grave;
And green moss creeps o'er its dull decay,
Hiding its mouldering dust away;
As a cherished grave is decked with flowers,
Or as ivy mantles o'er ruined towers,
So flag and willow, the summer through,
Wave over the form of the old canoe.
A stone cast in water—the waves extend
Like the motion of time, unseen at the end.
Our knowledge is present, our future un-
known—
Do we pass to a realm, or sink like the
stone ?
That question unanswered by thoughtless or sages,
— 10 —
But instinct and faith the religion of ages.
Nature opens her pages to all, though few
May read sermons in stones—and the old
canoe.
Memory brings back the days of my youth
With high ideals as beautiful as truth.
Then hope was young, and the heart was
strong,
And I lived in the future all the day long;
But man, like the boat, yields to nature's rust,
"Ashes to ashes, and dust unto dust.
Our mission fulfilled,* we vanish like dew,
Life's history done—like the old canoe.
— 11 —
THE WILD PLUM PATCH
Elk river through Big Meadows flowed,
And a mile below, from where it crossed the road,
Was an old log house with its wooden latch,
And on the slope to the stream was the wild
plum patch.
And when the time was right to gather the plums,
The word was passed—there was a meeting of
chums;
The boys would fish and prairie chickens
shoot,
The girls would cook and fill their aprons
with fruit.
In childish glee they homeward brought
Their well filled baskets, in triumph sought;
And though burdens heavy and pathway
long,
Their hearts were light and merry their
song.
Happy scenes and events of the long ago
Reflect,—like the waning sunset's afterglow;
Memory lives and glows in the sunshine of
the past,
But wanes and fades when there were
shadows cast.
— 12 —
THE FIRST HOME
It is the desire of every one,
To view again his birthplace ere life's done;
For to the home first known sentiment clings,
And childhood's pleasure sweetest memory
brings.
A child is impressed by first scenes and events,
They whisper home love in the first gleam of
sense;
And around that first home centers affection,
Hope, contentment and fond recollection.
The carrier pigeon taken o'er the sea
In darkened cage, and then set free,
By some undefined instinct unknown,
Flies straight as an arrow back to its home.
The serpent in hole, or lion in lair,
And all creatures of earth, sea or in air,
Will seek their own home place when danger
is near,
For self preservation is sensitive fear.
Abraham was called and went forth into the wild,
And Moses wandered forth—God's faithful child;
Yet back their memories turned to land of birth,
To them most sacred, cherished spot on earth.
— 13 —
And when Joshua crossed the Jordan and the
promised land found,
Though flowing with milk and honey, and abun-
dance around;
Yet they longed for the land of their fathers
and birth,
Which to them was the most sacred spot on
the earth.
The wanderer in distant lands may roam,
Yet yearns to return to first hearth and home;
Where he first saw light to him seems divine,
His birthplace his haven, and that spot his
shrine.
14 —
THE LILAC
Three score years ago, or more,
A lilac was planted near the farm house door;
And the fragrance was sweet from its purple
flowers
As it grew and flourished in sun and showers.
And there, close beside, were set with care
Flowers, fruit trees, and shrubs most rare;
Plums, apples, cherries and berries fine,
Balsam fir, cedar and northern pine.
The grounds were enclosed by a thick set hedge,
Where songsters selected their young to fledge;
There the night hawk and weird voiced whip-
poorwill
Chanted their songs in the gloaming still.
The robins, linnets, larks and others came,
And made this their home, and became quite tame;
While the cadence of their joyous song
Afforded delight the whole day long.
But the robins chose for their home nest
This one lilac bush—it suited them best.
There year after year with returning spring,
They claim their nests, and to nestlings sing.
They hatched in the same old nests, and repairs
Were made of clay, twigs and horse hairs.
They had built secluded from dread attack,
And their fort of safety was this lilac.
— 15 —
But changed conditions and ruthless time
Are like tolling bells from a distant chime;
The passing of scenes which most we cherish,
Is the knell of destiny as they perish.
Memories of the past are mental shadows,
The things loved and lost the heart most hallows.
Where once life and song made a busy place,
'Tis now deserted; ruin has left its trace.
Now sadly changed is this once happy scene,
To reflective memory seems almost a dream.
The place is desolate, save one bush alone,
You hear there a chirrup—'tis the robin's home.
The flowers, shrubs, trees, vines and hedge are
gone,
All the buildings, too; there's left not one.
Save the robin's song, grim silence reigns,
And save this lilac bush, no plant remains.
But the lilac bush lives and blooms alone,
The sole survivor of its infant home;
Its companions destroyed, removed, or dead,
But the lilac blossoms still their fragrance shed.
O Lilac, the emblem of Love and Truth
Which age not, but keep the bright glow of youth,
May age ne'er fade thee, nor thy fragrance fail,
Till time is ended, and new worlds prevail.
— 16 —
MY DOG CAPTAIN
I often think of the shepherd dog,
That was my companion when a boy;
And when at eve I'd homeward jog,
He'd greet my coming with great joy.
And when I neared his guarded gate,
He was first to welcome and caress;
He looked for me and his patient wait
Was relieved, and affection he'd express.
He was kind, yet brave and honest, too,
A more clever dog could not be found;
He was true to every trust he knew,
And beloved by all the neighbors round.
Yet he had the instincts of the wild;
At sight of chipmunk, bird or cat,
In mirthful sport just like a child,
He would drop all else and follow that.
And when the sun was setting low,
And shadows grew in waning light,
He knew that it was time to go
And bring home the cows ere it was night.
He attended closely every chore,
And alert and eager to assist;
He knew each cow on the milking floor,
And if any her proper stall had missed.
— 17 —
And when at last the day was done
And labor welcomed sweet repose,
He would to the kitchen window run,
And against the pane he'd press his nose.
And when I'd gladly let him in,
He'd softly mumble grateful thanks;
Curl up his lips and plainly grin,
Sneeze, show his teeth, and do other pranks.
And as he mastered each new trick,
With glee he'd catch his tail and twirl;
He could balance on his nose a stick,
Or roll a ball in playful whirl.
He'd give his paw, and play dead sheep,
Stand on hind legs and walk some yards;
Close his eyes and pretend to sleep,
Or spell his name with letter cards.
At last his sight and strength grew less,
We knew his end was drawing near;
He would wag his tail, though in distress,
And try to greet with the same old cheer.
We laid him near his picket gate,
His sentry guard for many a year,
Where he oft proclaimed the traveler late,
Or warned intruders who came near.
There he saw light—both first and last,
His place of birth, his place of rest;
My dog "Captain is gone—a loyal life passed,
Of all dogs I know he was the best.
— 18 —
THE PIONEER
The pioneer made his camp in woods near spring,
He was a trapper far beyond the frontiere;
Fur and buffalo hides the Indians bring,
And there's trading done with the voyageur.
Treacherous savages and fierce wild beasts sur-
round,
His only companion a faithful dog;
Distress and danger ever closely abound;
His first betterment, a larger boat, a dug-out
log.
In course of time other adventurers came,
And the nucleus of a settlement founded;
Each one established a squatter's claim,
And the welcome ring of an anvil sounded.
They were sturdy men who hardships bore,
And many privations were endured;
Fortitude and vision are fitted to select and ex-
plore,
And homes were made out of the wilds subdued.
Where the trails crossed there a trading post,
There the Indian made his birch bark canoe;
Then a school house, that civilizer most,
And a church, a shop and a settlement grew.
By brain and brawn a frontier is born,
The blazer of trails writes history's page;
The music of the monthly mail cart horn
Gives way to screech of the locomotive's rage.
— 19 —
A surveyor appears upon the scene,
A compass and chain he'll unstrap;
The plat shows lots, blocks and streets between,
And a new town is placed upon the map.
The town-site grows to a city great,
Where once were naught but Indians, river and
trees;
And now stands the Capitol of the State,
Where pow-wows were held circled by teepees.
The pioneer settler founded a commonwealth,
Its motto: "L'Etoile du Nord,"—"Star of the
North"—
Famed far and wide for its pure air and health,
And its ten thousand lakes, rich soil and wealth.
— 20 —
FIRST SCHOOL OF PIONEERS
Near the winding banks of a meadow stream,
Where murmuring waters gently flow,
On the edge of the frontier's extreme,
Was the pioneer school of the long ago.
The rude school house was made of logs,
And blocks and slabs were used for floor;
The roof of shakes held down by clogs,
And woven elm bark made the door.
The seats were planks hewed flat on top,
None had backs, but boards in front,
Fashioned at the woodman's forest shop;
But for a plane he did not hunt.
A.n old style box stove warmed the room,
When blasts of blizzards frigid grew;
Two small windows lessened the gloom,
And through the roof was a stove pipe flue.
And when spring and summer's sun and rain,
Unfolded cell life from dormant rest,
And heat too great indoors to remain,
There's school under trees and songster's nest.
There were no charts or maps at all,
And though books were few-—yet studied well;
One small blackboard adorned the wall—
There's lump chalk, but no teacher's bell.
— 21 —
A barrel top served for a desk,
The staves in front had been removed;
It would now indeed be deemed grotesque,
But its usefulness was improved.
A barrel used also for a chair,
The front upper part cut half way down;
The seat was made from skin of a bear,
Trimmed with red oak leaves of richest brown.
There were no slates, but in their place
Birch bark was used for writing tabs;
Homemade ink served for copy trace,
And weasel skins for blotter pads.
And there the master taught his school,
Made cube root blocks and goose quill pens;
Proved the integral unit rule
And ciphered decimals by tens.
And there essential rudiments were taught
From A B C to the Old Rule of Three;
And there was trained the development of thought
That to future advancement was the key.
It matters not where one first saw light,
Or first was led in paths of knowledge;
Those who in a log school house recite,
May soon be teachers in a college.
— 22 —
MEMORIES OF YOUTH
Remember the days of old. Deut. 33 :7.
In the quiet of the gloaming,
In the wane of life's afternoon,
Mental visions 're freely roaming,
Midst scenes of boyhood's time of June.
Reflective memories in thoughts,
More swift than light or flash of sun,
Went forth,—returned—and pictures brought,
More real than artists could have done.
The scenes are clear, events seem near,
Though softened by years of time;
Then hopeful zeal and gladsome cheer
Impressed each weal with joyous chime.
Man is blessed with gracious treasure,
When he forgets past woes or loss,
And remembers only pleasure,
And not the days he bore the cross.
A stream of today may gently flow,
And be turbulent tomorrow;
Storm floods may come when none could know,
Which typifies joy or sorrow.
A nearby view of high mountain sides,
Shows rough rugged crags and canyons deep,
Which viewed from afar the distance hides,
And all seems smooth and no place steep.
— 23 —
"I remember the days of old,
And pleasure keen their memory brings;
Some of them disappointments told,
But all of those have taken wings.
And should I go back there once more,
I would so many places see;
Memory would unlock its door,
And scenes of the past come back to me.
The old farm of my boyhood days,
The meadows rich in pea vine hay;
The waving grain the zephyr sways,
The seed time, and the harvest gay.
The neigh of colt, and moo of kine,
The shepherd dog that watched the herd;
The old bell wether, first in line,
The chuck alarm of fowl disturbed.
The honk of wild geese at their feast,
The chatter-quack of wild ducks, too;
The whippoorwill whose plaint ne'er ceas'd,
The lark that greets each morn anew.
The piercing croak of whooping crane,
The loon that dives from flash of gun;
The cry, 'tis said, that portends rain,
The robin's chirp at rise of sun.
I'd like to see a muskrat house,
And watch its construction in the fall;
And hear the drumming boom of grouse,
That welcomes spring by tooting call.
— 24 —
The copse on height of burr oak ridge,
The tangled wood known as "Deer Mound";
The narrow creek and rustic bridge,
The wild plum patch,—there antlers found.
The same brook flows from out the lake,
The wild rice on the borders grow;
The muskeg swamp and alder brake,
The old beaver dam the boys well know.
The floor of the bridge was made of rails,
Rough and uneven, known as "corduroy";
And there came together Indian trails,
Where was found flint arrowheads, and a clay
toy.
And south of the bridge, near the west bank,
Were springs which were intensely cold;
Around their brinks grew mosses, flags and ferns
rank,
And there were ruins of an Indian village old.
And the river, that clear crystal stream,
Its rippling waters with music flow;
It seems so real,—and more than a dream,—
I can hear its murmurs sweet and low.
It flows over rifts and pebble stones,
Which serve as keys in responsive chords;
Its purling notes of liquid tones,
Are music sweet as song affords.
— 25 —
Three score of mile stones mark the years,
Since distance of time passed those scenes;
Each record impressed fond reveries,
And are memories' moving picture screens.
THE TOWN OF BOYHOOD DAYS
I'd like to go back home once more,
Could I see the town as in boyhood days
And search along Lake George's shore,
For agate stones of varied rays.
And see where stood Tenvoorde's store,
And Edelbrock across the street;
The "Central too, that inn of yore
Which Silsby keeps and where traders meet.
And hear Lowry talking to a crowd,
Or Shepley and Wood in hot debate;
And there's Wilson, who laid out St. Cloud,
And J. E. West, and H. C. Wait.
And I would like again to stand
Where Mrs. Swisshelm dared the mob;
In conscious right and valor grand
She vanquished those who'd freedom rob.
And there's H. G. Mitchell's store,
Where was discussed the Dred Scott case,
To all the North a rankling sore;
It caused a war that freed a race.
And the Red River train of carts,
Loaded with furs and buffalo hides,
They stood before the frontier marts,
A rendezvous for western guides.
— 27 —
Those carts were wholly made of wood,
No screw or bolt held any part;
Each ox or pony's harness rude
Was bound with thongs—a work of art.
Hames they used and open collars,
And made a trail in single file;
Their loads of pelts worth many dollars,
Their squeaking axles heard a mile.
And I would like again to go
Towards Lower Town, and there I'd find
Where the ravine stream used to flow,
And find the spot I have in mind.
The steep clay banks, Doc Hunter's dam,
The shingle mill with wheel of knives;
The tall pine trees so large and grand,
The log jam where we risked our lives.
The ferry boat by Fowler run,
The Stearns House built on height of bank;
The Brott-Stearns' saw mill, the first one
To furnish timber, boards and plank.
And 'neath the foot of the steep hill,
And near where the steamboats landed,
Was Miller's store hard by the mill
Where Martin Wooley shot left-handed.
Then I'd go down to the sulphur spring,
And to the brook in Hyke's front yard;
And there again in memory bring
My playmates, held in fond regard.
— 28 —
And I would like once more to hear
John Fothergill's old violin;
His melodies brought such good cheer,
That all were glad when he'd begin.
He lived across the river some miles east,
In a red oak grove south of the road.
He'd often hold a hunter's feast,
And music rang through his abode.
It seems to me that I can hear
Some of those inspiring airs,
Like voices from some far off sphere
Recalling days devoid of cares.
There's "Annie Laurie and "Aura Lee,
"The Avis Song, "There's Music in the Air";
That gem, "Then You'll Remember Me,
And "Home Sweet Home, beyond compare.
On the wigwam's site of the hostile Sioux,
Is now a State Teacher's College in favor great;
And from where the voyageur loaded his canoe,
A war Governor was chosen for the North
Star State.
Few now are left who were then of age,
They've passed beyond the last frontier;
Each filled his part upon life's stage,
And bettered the world by being here.
— 29 —
Nearly all are gone, but in memory fond
That pioneer band stills lives in fame;
I trust that in the Great Beyond
We'll meet, old friendships to reclaim.
— 30 —
A PHASE OF COMMON SENSE
Two well to do farmers of the Middle West
Sat by the roadside spring for evening rest.
They had been boon companions all their lives,
And made mud dams when boys, and traded
knives;
Now growing old, each on adjacent farms,
Were blessed with good health, and strength of
arms.
They had been friends always, were ever just,
Promptly paid their way—asked not for trust.
One was named Smith, the other one Brown;
Their farms productive, and not far from town;
They prospered by their own persistence,
Ever along the line of least resistance.
Their tasks, though constant, brought no regret;
They were free from most cares, and out of debt.
They enjoyed their work, and not a trace
Of worry wrinkled either genial face.
Brown had three grown sons, John, Tom, and
Fred,
The first two idlers who dime novels read,
And thought themselves too smart to study
or work,
Their greatest concern was how best to shirk.
They were well informed in prize fight rules,
But not in the Rule of Three taught in schools.
Yet they were bright, and their intelligence
Would warrant expectancy of common sense.
— 31 —
Now Fred, like his father, was thoughtful,
reserved,
Was backward, good natured, not easily swerved;
He couldn't show off in company, in halls, or
out doors,
Was awkward in dance, and very clumsy on
floors.
But none could a better or straighter furrow
plow,
None could mow more hay, or pitch more into
the mow.
His rule, the decalogue—with no pretense,—
Yet some said he was slow and lacked common
sense.
One afternoon, by the side of the road
They rested, and watched clouds that forbode.
They talked of rain, crops and politics,
Good roads, new school house, taxes and like
topics.
Smith was impulsive and lacking in tact;
Brown was a philosopher, matter of fact.
Smith spoke right out with no thought of
offense;
Brown was discreet and had much common
sense.
From the ball grounds nearby they heard cheers
and noise,
And Smith thought this a good time to discuss
the boys.
Had he been mindful of guarded expression,
— 32 —
He would have been spared regrets and
depression.
Some folks talk first, then are filled with sorrow
Because they did not wait until the morrow.
Criticism, when tempered with prudence
And discretion, are features of common sense.
Smith cleared his throat, pulled at his goatee,
Chewed a fresh straw, swat at a bold bee,
Examined the pegs that hurt inside his shoes,
Looked at his feet and surveyed a bruise.
"I want to say something about the bunch;
They're square and fair, but Fred seems like a
dunce;
Jack and Tom are bright, and inspire confi-
dence,
But Fred—well, he hasn't good common sense.
"You better give him the lot near the big rock,
And let him raise chickens and such like stock.
It's no use to send him away to school;
He's not clever—in fact, is nearly a fool.
He may be all right to hoe weeds and thistle,
But you know a pig's tail won't make a whistle.
To give him book learning is waste immense;
You see, it takes sense to make common sense.
Brown, having heard Smith's views expressed,
Felt sore confused and much distressed.
Not being prepared with a quick reply,
He stroked his whiskers, and rubbed his eye;
He scratched some hay seeds out of his hair,
— 33 —
And swat at a wasp that had settled there;
Took a drink of water, his thirst was intense,
And said, "Yes, it takes sense to make common
sense.
"I'm not, it is true, an expert in talk,
And what you say surely makes me balk.
I'll show what I mean in a simple way;
You see, it takes dry grass to make dry hay.
You're like the well meaning, but thoughtless
guy
Who smashed his friend's face to kill a fly.
I know that your intentions are good, hence
You will listen to reason and common sense.
"Some are long in giving advice that's wise,
But short when it comes to securing a prize.
He who has a vacuum under his brim,
Is apt to think Solomon knew less than him.
'All fools are wise in their own conceit';
But they themselves are easily beat.
Consistent propriety and tactful silence
Are requirements of common sense.
"Fred don't mix in the swim, this I concede;
But he has good principles, you may well believe.
He calls me Chum, and loves his mother,
And he's considerate of each brother.
He does more work in a day for me
Than both of the others can do in three.
He can fix a clock, or build a fence;
Don't tell me he hasn't good common sense.
— 34 —
"While they were making a feathered arrow,
He went to work and fixed a harrow;
He made a hog trough out of his head,
While Jack and Tom slept late in bed.
They know about jockeys and horse race tracks;
He knows about calves, colts and building stacks.
I'll send all to school, and show no preference,
And then we'll know more about common sense.
"Yes, they all shall go to school, sure pop,
And the best is certain to come out on the top.
Fred may yet be the smartest man in town,
And be styled with honor: 'Mr. Frederick
Brown.'
He's like his Dad, a chip of the old block,
And when he hunts, don't wear a red frock.
Why, sir, he'll earn pounds while others earn
pence;
I know my boy has good common sense.
"Be not too sure of your own conclusion,
For time may prove to you self delusion;
And as there's but little wisdom to spare,
It should not be wasted, this I declare.
I've noticed that when judgment is weak,
Prejudice is strong and first to speak;
But when there's fairness and benevolence
Justice governs, and that's good common sense.
"Men are simply boys overgrown,
Sometimes born traits are not first shown.
It took some time to make this earth,
And as 'tis now, it was not at birth.
— 35 —
Experience and observation make a man,
And both are essentials in great nature's plan.
Boys learn first and men in sequence;
I credit all men with common sense.
"When eggs are placed in the nest under a hen,
Chickens can't surely be counted then;
Seed when planted properly in the ground,
Is no surety of a harvest found.
Staunch ships sail out for a distant shore,
And sometimes are never, never heard of more.
Only death and taxes are sure of occurrence;
These the fines for living, and that's common
sense.
"A bear makes his mark crossing a brook,
And the tracks made show the course he took;
Man, too, makes tracks that can't be changed,
And follows the plan he himself arranged.
Judgment passed on a future guess
Is sheer nonsense—this you should confess.
Time will mark Fred's trail; hold in suspense
Your censure; this is only common sense.
The boys were sent to school and college,
And gained from books much useful knowledge;
Returned with credit, their sheep skins earned,
They found much yet was to be learned.
Opportunity knocks and offers a chance
To all who by duty and labor would advance.
Conditions are improved by diligence
And excellence attained by common sense.
— 36 —
John learned to pound the drum, and fiddle,
And part his hair precisely in the middle.
Tom aimed to trot a little faster,
And hung out a sign: "Fancy Dancing
Master.
Fred worked with Dad, and churned for mother,
Studied law, and made loans to each brother.
Inflect now the verbs in the future tense,
And predict who will win by common sense.
Fred was admitted to practice law,
An honest man without stain or flaw.
He soon gained knowledge of that science,
And his office was crowded with many clients.
He honored his calling, and gave strict attention;
The rule of right action was his contention.
He proved quite worthy of confidence,
And applied the maxim: "Law is Common
Sense.
And now appears in this drama of life,
The heavy-villain-character and strife.
There are but few scenes that on the stage
appear
That are not acted in life, in hope or fear.
"The mills of God grind slowly, is oft told;
And that they 'grind fine' is a story old.
But no stones can crush truth or innocence;
This is the law of God, and it's common sense.
— 37 —
In searching records, this bad actor found
A break in the title of Smith's farm ground.
By trickery he procured a fraudulent deed,
Then by mesne profit title suit did proceed.
A coward schemes to invoke aid of law,
When he traps his victim through a legal flaw;
But deceit, or subtle false evidence,
Will never vanquish simple common sense.
Poor Smith in trouble and sore distress
Sought Brown, his woes to tell and fears express.
Of course he went to the young lawyer Fred
And not to John who by worthless fads was
led,
Nor to Tom, the fancy dancing master;
Fancy steps don't keep time in disaster.
He hurried to Fred for skilled defense,
And trusted all now to his common sense.
Burdens of the cross are often hastened
When error lurks, and man is chastened;
And this cross so heavy—such a crushing
weight—
Weakened Smith's strength, and brought ill-
ness great.
Delirious with fever, of law suits he raved,
But his health he recovered, and his life was
saved.
Jeopardy is the key to penitence,
And remorse wakens dormant common sense.
— 38 —
The trial exhibited arguments strong,
And the court room was packed all the day long.
The people were amazed at Fred's logic,
While the plaintiff, dumbfounded, got brain
colic.
Oh, False and Wrong, have ye, blind, forgot
That Truth is victor and Falsehood not?
Fred won by right; his skill and eloquence
Proved that law is justly common sense.
Smith sat on a box at the village store
Absorbed in thought, whittling near the door;
While his neighbors around, with wild acclaim,
Tried that law suit over again, and joy pro-
claim.
Said he, "Regret is the toll of ridicule,
And I should be kicked by a pesky mule.
My head should be whacked with violence
It's only a pumpkin without common sense.
"Friends, you have known me long and well,
And that I've tried hard, you all can tell.
In the years gone by I've worked and planned
To raise more corn, to buy more land,
To feed more hogs, to sell them then.
And this circle round was repeated, when
Same order on wheel, turns over. Hence,
That's the extent of my common sense.
— 39 —
"You heard Fred's plea at the trial in court,
'The plaintiff is stained with fraud and tort;
He comes into this court with unclean hands,
And is hog-tied with the devil's schemes and
bands.
The defendant is in possession of his terrene,
And for years it has been his manor demesne;
Nothing paid—only a verbal promise, a false
pretense,
He's lost out in law, equity and common sense.'
"Fred is the smartest man in the whole town;
We'll call him Hon. Blackstone Frederick
Brown.
He won my case grandly, though by a mere
neck,
And he's my salvation, you bet, by heck!
Oh, say, friends, let's run him for Congress'
place;
He has won his spurs; put him in the race.
We'll pull together and share the expense,
He's a winner, and full of common sense.
Fred's now in Congress, a statesman grand,
Honored, revered, his opinions command;
He's sound of heart, and is clear in brain;
And to be right and just he aims to attain.
He's modest by nature, remembers his youth,
And is faithful to friends, an exponent of truth.
This story is told, and its moral sequence
Is to show a phase of common sense.
— 40 —
The Big Rock
THE BIG ROCK
Behold, a stranger in a strange land I
There're none like its kind or genus near.
Compelled by force it could not withstand,
'Twas carried from the Arctic Circle here.
The composition of this big rock,
And the ingredients of its mass,
Prove it to be of the North Pole stock,
And of the first volcanic class.
Its sides are scratched, traced and grooved,
Done by terrific glacial pressure,
That shows through channels of stone it moved,
Which made the imprints on its texture.
And although this big rock of land mark fame
Comes as a voiceless messenger in silence,
Yet it tells from where, how and when it came,
And is an object lesson read by science.
Geology is Nature's history of fact,
And in cutting through banks, and at depths far
below ground,
We find specimens of animals, often intact,
And substances different in kind and class are
found.
Sometimes in such beds fragments of bones and
plants are enclosed,
Skeletons in soil-shell layers of strata, fold on
fold.
This is geology, the records of earth disclosed
Written on rocks, in clay and by fossil stories
told.
— 41 —
The claim advanced by astronomy equation
Holds that in groups of twenty-one thousand
years,
There's been a recurrence of glacial invasion,
Conquering warmth and growth when the ice
king appears.
The scholar or savant cannot at this time fully
explain
The formative reasons that caused glacial floe
ages;
But geology traces movements and results of their
reign,
And the havoc they wrought, and their striae-
book pages.
Eons and eons of ages, so long ago
There's no written history or tradition,
Lofty mountains formed at the pole of ice and
snow,
And their own weight forced them out of
position.
Continents of ice were massed and raised,
Thousands of square miles of drift slid down;
The certain law of gravitation was obeyed,
And life at the base crushed or forced to drown.
Increase in depth and extent made such weight,
That it gave rise to power and to motion;
With conquering force it overcame resistance
great,
As resistless as currents of the ocean.
— 42 —
Immense rocks weighing scores and scores of tons
Forced upward, tossed as a feather,
And the crashing roar was like battery guns,
When the lateral collisions came together.
Ice formed to a thickness of one thousand feet
Has pressure of fifty thousand pounds the
square foot;
When moving, 'tis an agent of destruction com-
plete,
And by scoring and scratching writes its own
book.
It freezes to fragments of stone in its bed,
And on banks it traces its records and data,
And before there was writing, or people who read,
Glaciers had written their legends in strata.
An obvious work of an avalanche invading foe,
As it presses onward and conquers resistance,
Is that it collects and transports in its floe,
And added weight accelerates in gravity assist-
ance.
A large part of both hemispheres was covered
with ice,
And the South Pole, like the Polar, made its
own raid;
The South Temperate Zone paid its own sacrifice
price,
But not to the extent that the North Temperate
paid.
— 43 —
'Tis strangely a fact of the last ice extension,
As shown by the course and marks in its wake,
That it came from north east by north direction,
While others came from north at an anterior
date,
And not so much from mountainous sources,
Though these were affected to quite an extent,
As invasion of plains and valleys courses,
Showing the desolation they underwent.
Stupendous avalanches a mile or more in height
Moved compactly down from the frozen North;
Their tremendous and overpowering might
With devastations crushed southward forth.
Climatic zones experienced a transposed change,
Some savants claim as to place—all agree as to
condition;
And where were verdant slopes, now ice-cap
range,
And where land before, now ice lobe transition.
The glacial ice mountain in its downward move
Wrenched from its firm native ledge this Arctic
rock;
And in dynamic power and by its forces prove
The grandeur of its awful terrific shock.
It grooved out canals and scraped mountain peaks,
Excavated lakes and changed course of rivers;
Its weight depressed and sunk plateaus, and its
feats
Of Titanic crushing power caused surface
tremor quivers.
— 44 —
The Mississippi was forced to change its course,
The resistless avalanche choked its mighty flow;
Through its ancient channel it could not coerce,
A glacial wall was raised by the invading floe.
The impounded volume of water was so immense,
It ploughed a new trough towards the sea,
And in terrific force was so intense,
That it swept before it rocks, clays and debris.
Records of glacials in geologic formations
Prove half of North America, and Europe were
buried in ice,
And drift layers, accurate as history of nations,
Show recurrence of ice ages, and their proofs
are precise.
Science reads ice tracing and marks in clay and on
stone,
And this igneous rock of basalt and lava
Was torn and transported from its far polar home
zone—
'Tis a pantomime actor in Nature's great
drama.
And on the summit of ridge, this monument
Was placed by caprice of an avalanche.
The colossal mass overwhelmed and rent
This rock and all things in the path of its
advance.
— 45 —
While glacial ice on the surface great havoc
wrought,
The Fire-king beneath also claimed his victory,
Tidal waves, volcanoes, and earthquakes destruc-
tion brought,
And all gave science the story of earth's
mystery.
Erosions may waste sides of the bluff,
And moraines mark drift of the glacier;
Detritus may wear from solids rough,
But this rock shows little of erosion.
And there it stands on the height of land,
Majestic, grand, this giant boulder;
Science may classify and understand,
Yet the Big Rock is a wonder to the beholder!
A ROMANCE OF MILLE LACS LAKE
In early morn when the veil of gray
Had lifted to the new born day,
And joyous song of meadow lark
GaVe welcome herald from field and park,
A party is off for Mille Lacs Lake,
A trip they long had planned to take;
And of all beauty spots in the North Star
State
None excel this in size or grandeur great.
They come from the city where great waters
flow
O'er the falls into the chasm below,
And turn huge turbines that grind the grain
To make staff of life for brawn and brain.
One of the party, a youth debonair,
Who wore long hair and a monoculaire,
Strapped knee breeches and cravat fleurs-de-lis,
Burnside whiskers and a long peaked goatee.
He lacked application of knowledge applied,
And to fanciful ideals was allied;
Ethereal loftiness he'd advance,
And was an open door to promised romance.
He was long in Sanskrit technique of verbs,
But short in the uses of roots and herbs;
He could talk of stars and canals in Mars,
And of color effects in grand bazaars.
— 47 —
In a short time they had taken his measure
In that he was a mirth provoking treasure;
For though not rudely vain, yet self conceit
Will often show phases not discreet.
As they rode on with laughter and song,
Enjoying the scenery along,
Indians were mentioned and tomahawk,
And 'twas regretted none their language could
talk.
The youth was interested and thus did speak:
"I know some Latin and a little Greek,
But not one word of the redman's tongue,
To sing their weird songs would indeed be
fun.
"I wish I knew a sentence, phrase, or word,
That I could tell them how my heart is stirred;
Then in airy flights of lofty romance
I could talk to them; wish I had a chance!
"If I could gain an audience with a Chief
And his Princess—a tete-a-tete, though brief—
He might invite me into his bungalow,
This would be so romantic, don't you know!
"I would tell him how I loved his race,
And was his friend, although a pale face;
That Indian braves should own all this land,
For all are warriors in the Mille Lacs band.
— 48 —
"And could they see me in a canoe,
They'd know long since I'd made my debut;
I can manage any water craft,
Whether frail birch or strongly bolted raft.
"And as for angling, I always know
The kind of fish that takes bait below;
Long before I can see them I can tell
Their species, class, name and size as well.
"The sensitive tremble of the line
Imparts its messages through vibrations fine;
And those attuned to exalted thought
Have a keener sense by refinement taught.
A wag who sat in the rear seat
Could not resist this tempting treat;
And with a smile that was well concealed,
Said in a voice that no mirth revealed:
"I know something of their dialect;
It's quasi-guttural with harsh effect;
The pure tones of Italy or of France
Cannot be traced in their wild romance.
"They're not rudely forward, but reserved,
And have a gesture language, it's observed;
'Multum in parvo' is their trait and style;
One can learn some words in a little while.
"If you would have them clearly understand
That they are brave, and should own all the land,
Say 'Buz-zuu-nich-ee,' whirl three times around,
Extend both hands and point to the ground.
— 49 —
"Mention Hole-in-the-day, or Clear-spot-in-the-
sky—
He's their dead Chief, yet held in favor high;
Put index finger in mouth, stroke your chin,
And say: 'Brave warrior, buc-a-taa, mahn'-o
men'.
"Short words and phrases can be learned with
ease,
And when used with gestures will them please;
Suppose you're hungry and want rice, you say:
'Mahn'-o-men' is fine when I'm buc-a-taa.'
"As for angling, the fish in Mille Lacs Lake
Are so large and gamy, a small boat would shake;
The muscallonge is a pike full grown;
And some weigh fifty pounds it is well known.
At last they come to the lake at Isle,
And refreshments had in picnic style;
In a boat they went to sail and troll
Except the youth who preferred to stroll.
He said he'd hunt ferns and flowers rare;
Really 'twas for a Chief, or Chiefess fair;
He hoped to find them in native dress,
And that his importance would them impress.
He crossed a bridge where rails were laid
Over a dam the beavers had made;
A birch bark canoe was in the brook;
A stag stopped and scented, his antlers shook.
— 50 —
An Indian mound and a wigwam old,
And the head of a dog—this a feast told;
And many bottles, all of them empty,
The labels thereon read "Spirits Fermenti.
He rested on moss that was dried on logs,
And enjoyed the music of the frogs;
He wondered if any lizards were there,
And vowed he'd rather meet a bear.
Now noise is heard like rustle of leaves,
An Indian comes, his shirt has no sleeves;
But he has a blanket and a gun; is glum
Auid surly, gaunt, munching onions and chew-
ing gum.
"Sir Day-in-the-hole, or Spot-clear-in-the-sky,
I'm seeking adventure and romance nigh;
I'd like to meet a Princess of your tribe
And Chieftain Prince, retinue and scribe.
"We are not of the same color or race,
But I'm your friend. You should own this
place;
You braves fought well with scalp-knife in
hand;
All are warriors in the Mille Lacs band.
"Oh, I forgot! I can say a word,
And perhaps a phrase that I have heard;
'Boozy-nickel,' I'll whirl three times around,
Extend both hands and point to the ground.
— 51 —
"Observe my forefinger in my mouth;
Why look at the sun and towards the south?
You seem scared; don't be afraid of me;
I want only rice and a bucket of tea.
"I'm mixed and tangled in my lesson,
But you know what I mean without question;
You know signs and gestures, I am told,
For that is the primitive language old.
"In the ethereal realms of space,
There's no distinctive language of race;
Voices of spheres in harmony blend,
And electron, cosmic, karma attend.
The Indian, tall, unwashed and lazy,
Looked surprised, wondering if he was crazy;
But his kindly voice appealed to him,
"He no madman, Caawan-nich-ee-shin.
"Sir Chippewa, I'd like to catch big fish;
I'm told some here would fill a large dish;
I once caught a trout that weighed five pounds;
Please show your best place and fishing
grounds.
The Indian looked him over again,
As he would a queer, rare specimen,
And wondered where he could have been raised,
That to hook a small fish would be so praised.
"March on; come with me to Isle Bay;
Fish he bite heap well, south wind today.
He led the way, the youth close behind
To where line, bait and canoe they find.
— 62 —
The birch was narrow bottomed, slender, frail,
Built for sheltered coves, not for waves or gale;
He stepped gaily in; "Ah, I know how.
Push to deep water; it's safe as a scow.
He threw out the line—there was a lurch;
"Ah, ha, said he, "I've a six pound perch;
As to this you may have full reliance,
Fishing with me is an exact science 1
The line tightened, the birch was pulled out;
A sudden jerk at the side—then a shout!
He fell in head first, and the next thing he
knew
He was fifteen feet under the canoe.
* * * *
When they started homeward none would laugh,
It was not good form to joke or chaff!
But there was distress by mirth suppressed,
And painful silence that choked and oppressed.
At length croaking frogs were heard near by.
The wag said: "Too bad those birds can't fly.
The bursts that followed scared friendly dogs,
As they laughed and roared at the noisy frogs.
The fish for dinner next day they plan;
The youth remarked: "Seems it might bite a
man;
This muscallonge is surely a bete noir;
I'll join you tomorrow; au revoir.
— 53 —
THOUGHTS IMPRESS
While motion of air or passage of time
As lightly impress as moonlight on snow;
Yet thoughts impress through some law innate
sublime,
And that they are influent we feel and know.
We cannot control life, light or the tide,
Govern motion of air or fetter a thought;
Yet thoughts imprint without direct control or
guide,
And impress on mind by influences wrought.
— 54 —
CHARACTER IN THE FACE
(Vultus est index animi.)
The face is the index of the mind,
And a mirror that reflects its kind;
Disposition is shown of dour or grace,
And character is read in the face.
— 55 —
ATTRIBUTES OF MIND
In Nature's scheme and complex plan,
Five physical senses were accorded man;
And then environed by material things
Each an object lesson, attention brings.
Intuition, or instinct, if a sixth sense,
Is not gained by reason or intelligence;
For reason marks the highest type
Of animated nature's creative life.
Capacity to reason and impulse of mind
Are the media of observation and result combined;
Objective mind turns to the world objective,
And physical senses are made attentive.
This is the outgrowth of man's needs,
That gives force to thoughts, and life to deeds;
It guides his struggles to attain
The skill of hand and rule of brain.
Independent of physical senses objective
Is the dual mind quality known as subjective;
It takes cognizance of its enviroment,
And is the storehouse of perfect memory's
retirement.
It perceives and acts by intuition,
And not by instinct, inward impulse volition;
'Tis the seat which the soul emotions disclose,
And strongest when objective senses repose.
— 56 —
Reason is the faculty of human mind
That raises man above inferior kind.
It is the highest function in animal life,
And the first truths adduced from premise right.
Conclusions formed by objective thought
Are analyzed, and by reason wrought;
Thus to man alone was given reign
To have dominion over earth's domain.
— 67 —
INSTINCT
Instinct is nature's impulse of action,
Independent of experience, or instruction,
Without apprehension or method intention,
And with a propensity to trust in deduction.
The first law of nature is self preservation,
Whether bodily or spiritual, the rule is the
same;
It is an inborn guide in all life creation,
Without reason or logic, but full reliance its
claim.
— 58 —
INTUITION
Intuition is distinct inspection of mind,
And direct cognition with seldom an error;
'Tis perception of consciousness, defined
By immediate reflection, as from a mirror.
'Tis primary truth learned by knowledge direct,
And not acquired by, but assumed in experience,
Without deduction or reason of mind reflect;
It clearly sees truth by instant expedience.
— 59 —
CONCEPTIONS AS TO SENSE
Reason is the power of apprehension
By first principles, or fundamental truths
educed.
It's intuitive faculty of comprehension,
And rational, by efficient inference deduced.
It guides the mind in development of ideas,
And is a just ground of conclusion by induction.
It searches truth and duty for practical ideals,
And is conceptive analytical deduction.
Objective things impressed by sensitive thrill
On objective mind, is like phototype sequence;
And then, when reproduced by objective will,
Come into action sub-conscious, or subjective
sense.
Subjective sense is absolute memory force,
While objective sense is perceptive thought in
mind,
And recollection implies an effort, of course;
Reason aids, and sense is the product of these
combined.
— 60 —
ELEMENTS OF SENSE
Sense is perception through intellect's aid,
By the bodily organs of life sensation;
It's impression of feeling, like electric wave,
Transmitted to brain by nerve vibration.
It is capacity of knowledge gained
Of the exterior world, within human interest;
The understanding of results obtained
By sound perception and by reason manifest.
Common sense is the faculty of principles first,
Possessed by those in normal condition;
Convictions received from nature in trust,
Truth of knowledge tested by moral cognition.
It's a logical, moral, perceptive faculty,
The sentiment felt and held analytical;
It's reason's result of mental capacity,
And conclusions adduced from sources critical.
Moral sense is natural, guiding impulsion,
Approval of the soul's affections and deeds,
The immediate excellence of moral induction,
And consequent happiness, irrespective of
creeds.
It is the inner conscious reflection,
Independent of external objects of sight;
'Tis desire and measure of perfect intention,
The essence of truth, law and principles right.
— 61 —
And it's the outer conviction by physical senses,
And the inner results of deductive decision,
Understanding of logical faculty sequences,
And knowledge of general conceptive revision.
Sense, in its generic application of thought,
Is acting of mind, and tracing objects known;
Either material things in its own mind wrought,
Or is by outer and inner mind analysis shown.
62 —
FAILURE AND SUCCESS
Failure, in a sense, is a relative term;
Where there's zeal and purpose it cannot exist;
This applies to all, whether man or a worm,
And those fail only who lack force to persist.
A spider weaves its web with labor and skill,
And by accident it is broken and torn;
But with energy and a resolute will
The break is repaired; it's time wasted to
mourn!
A bird builds its nest with patient detail,
And by some means or other it is destroyed;
It will chirrup and sing while it works to prevail,
And rebuilds its nest with a zest that's enjoyed.
If forced down and out by receding tide ebb,
There's a reverse flow that crests back to the
shore;
The law of recompense is not dormant or dead,
But awake and alive all dues to restore.
The dilemma that dire misfortune will bring,
May often be traced to what error impels;
The sequence of misjudgment is the law of the
thing,
And failure is the result of what it expels.
— 63 —
Failure follows misfortune—it's termed "bad
luck";
There's no bad luck about it—effect follows
cause;
The law of consequence governs "luck and
pluck;
If motion is stopped, there's cause for the
pause.
It is true, the future is simply a guess;
The lathe of circumstance may carve a career;
But trying and striving will end in success,
And failure's a stranger to those who perse-
vere.
Whenever nerve is lacking, dark fear attends;
Those who surrender hope forfeit ambition;
Opportunity and cowards are never friends;
Courage conquers nearly every condition.
Distrust of judgment lessens faith in prevailment,
And this the compensation of confidence lost;
Only the doubting have a losing ailment,
While the hopeful will win whatever the cost.
A mind without hope means a brain without eyes,
And when confidence weakens, light is obscure;
A soul without faith means reliance that dies,
And when courage is broken, failure is sure.
— 64 —
The only real failure is in bleak despair,
Which cuts off helpful support and creative
force;
Throwing up one's hands and yielding to care,
Weakens strife that's within which conquers
remorse.
Failure may be an episode in success,
And disappointment a blessing in disguise;
Defeat affects only those who acquiesce;
Doubt seldom reaches the goal or wins the
prize.
Quailers are failures from the stone heap to the
throne;
The fearless are winners in the strife for sue-
cess;
Quitters are the kickers, the grouchers who moan;
The whiners are the finders of fault and dis-
tress.
Failure, in a sense, is a negative term,
And affects only those who will it confess;
The swell of the soul is the spirit that's firm,
And when one does his best,—then that is
success!
— 66 —
TACT AND SUCCESS
Tact is a combination of good temper and wit,
And quickness of perception with ability, grit;
It knows when and how to instantly act and
attach,
When occasion requires prompt and prudent
dispatch.
It is never offensive, but a soothing balm
That allays suspicion, gives assurance from harm;
Always appreciated, has a plausible plan,
And consults the welfare of responsible man.
Without being dishonest, it apparently seeks
To better conditions, and the cause it entreats;
It manifests no selfishness in any degree,
But is generous and fair, even in repartee.
It's never antagonistic or loud in acclaim,
Never opposes just fame or lessens good name;
Never disputes, contends, or strokes hair the
wrong way,
Never irritates, provokes, or confuses fair play.
Doors are swung open which to others are barred;
Winners are favored, and not the discard;
Talent and genius will wait for a call;
Tact, with credentials, will introduce all.
Welcomed into private offices while others turned
down,
And instead of salutation they're met with a
frown;
— 66 —
And where wealth abounds, in exclusive circles
obscure,
Admittance is granted, although the applicant's
poor.
Tact secures a position when merit is turned away,
And when once secured is faithful—not led
astray;
Keeps its eye on the vane, and its ear on the
ground,
And takes advantage of opportunity whenever
found.
As manager and master it will ever excel,
Control business, people, and their purses as well;
Welcome joy in the morning, and in friendship
is true,
Put off sorrow until tomorrow, then bid it
adieu.
Like a balance wheel that in fine manner adjusts
The speed, regulates, and takes the jar out of dis-
trusts,
Oils all the bearings, sees there's no slip of a
c°g,
Keeps the shaft in true line that no movement
may clog.
Its ability may be by comparison small,
But 'twill win over when genius will stumble and
fall;
It's persistent, decisive, correct, all confess,
And this strong combination is: Tact and Sue-
cess.
— 67 —
TALENT VERSUS TACT
Talent is the power of desired attainment,
And the specific result of measured success;
The reward of all those who may seek prefer-
ment,
A responsible factor in primal conquest.
Tact is all this and always something more;
It uses the product that talent presents,
And leads to its purpose, opens Sesame door,
And enters therein to accomplishments.
Talent is skill and clever capacity,
Serious, sober, grave and respectable,
A masterful force of manifest energy
In thought, or as artisan practical.
Tact, while not a sixth sense, is the life of the five;
'Tis intuitive intellect in discernment;
At opportune time it wisely decides,
And guides circumstances to best fulfillment.
Talent is power, natural gift, wealth and weight,
An abiding honor to any profession;
It surmounts obstacles and attains highest state,
And by superiority invites progression.
Tact is skill that directs certain momentum,
As bullion converted into coin of the realm;
From every largess it earns a percentum,
But disclaims credit although master at the
helm.
— 68 —
Talent, whether of writer, or builder of towers,
Makes the world better by human endeavor;
It advances from normal to excellent powers,
And when rightly assigned brings betterments
ever.
Tact, without error, is equal to every condition,
And with fine marvelous grace adjusts every
phase;
Expedient, resourceful, it allays opposition,
And with favor bestows merit, credit, and
praise.
Talent, by faithful, earnest achievement,
Attains the purpose it sought for its goal
'Tis the desire of victory fulfillment,
Fraught with ambition and strengthened by
soul.
Tact turns acquirements to beneficient uses,
And transforms the humble goal into a throne;
It proves value results by practical usage,
And benefits derived are universally known.
Talent, when marked in human experience,
Is justly entitled that respect should be shown;
It breaks away from archaic adherence,
And ameliorates those who couldn't profit
alone.
Tact, holding aloft the truth and the light,
Shows the way to safe harbor and anchors
therein;
— 69 —
Obedience to right instead of to might,
An impression that's writ on the conscience
within.
Talent has always something worth hearing;
Time and tide will with interest attend;
It has always something worth heeding,
Its name, its fame and its worth to commend.
Tact is sure of abundance of hearers,
Shows ways and means, is a diplomat keen;
By conceptive perception it rules the great leaders;
'Tis rewarded by confidence and highest es-
teem.
Talent is honored with approbation,
And gives forth learning and logic profound;
It convinces and commands strict attention,
By reason and proofs conclusively sound.
Tact is obeyed as teacher and ruler,
Preferred for a leader, the choice of the best;
With delicate skill it brings victory surer;
'Tis true, nothing succeeds as well as success.
Talent demands just compensation
In that it equips and benefits man;
Power is measured by force application;
Success is the result of a favorable plan.
Tact is the quality of supreme utility
That turns into harmony a discordant note,
Provides recompense for merit ability,
And settles all interests by unanimous vote.
— 70 —
Talent endows artist, artisan, and author with
skill,
And produces the grand prize that's fashioned
complete;
The scholar writes effectively, and his wise words
thrill
With vibratory truth replete, which is never
effete.
Tact is never a laggard or sleeps at the switch,
But is always alert to,duty and action;
It turns to account every element which
To skilled labor or learning affords satis-
faction.
Talent is the genius that develops completeness,
Supported by knowledge, refined and matured;
It is the quintessence of intellect's clearness,
And the consummation of achievement justly
secured.
Tact secures emolument by gifted endeavor,
And is the charmed favorite in clever finesse,
Adopts means to end at all times, and whenever
Critics and cynics would oppose and depress.
Talent hopes, strives and toils for posterity,
The present appropriates, but seldom credit
repays;
Yet goes onward and upward and builds for
eternity;
The past gave it honor, but present triumph
delays.
— 71 —
Tact outwits the wise, without art or pretense,
And for practical purposes wins ten to one.
It is the union of wit, judgment and sense,
And combines talent of talents—and has won.
— 72 —
GENIUS LIVES
The name of Homer, though old and beggar
blind,
Lives today in the appreciate mind;
And while great kings of his time in darkness
are,
His genius shines like a fixed radiant star.
Shakespeare and Milton live in the truths they
taught,
So does ev'ry genius who betterment brought;
Power too often shadows history's page,
But genius is light of soul undimmed by age.
— 73 —
GENIUS
"Ingenio stat sine morte decus"—Propertius.
Genius is gifted qualities of mind,
Nature's endowment of a special kind;
Its aptitude's peculiar to each one,
And prophecies successes to be won.
'Tis undeveloped, latent, innate power,
As a closed bud enfolds a perfect flower;
It is intuitive and native force
And mental effort, that insures its course.
Perhaps success may seem that 'twas inspired
By some unrelated power acquired;
But reason would teach it's judgment clever,
For visions and efforts fail scarcely ever.
It is the light within that leads and glows;
It is fame's flash that soon to glory grows;
The spark of living force and courage strong
That hope supports—save when the cause is
wrong.
It frequently is like a fractious steed
Without the road instinct to guide or heed;
Spurred on by wild ambition ever tense,
And quite regardless of the consequence.
It may not always lead the sane or right,
But it is found sometimes where wrongs invite;
It is to many a soul a fatal gift
That brings distress and may to errors drift.
— 74 —
'Tis oft the mark of character most rare,
And the emphasis of quality fair;
It's born within the soul—nor can be taught;
True genius flames throughout poetic thought.
It's largely a matter of energy and sense
Properly focussed, concentrated and intense;
It's an attribute of natural aptitude,
And wins achievement by tireless fortitude.
Brains and industry will always and ever count,
Ambition is vitalized, as by a sparkling fount;
Success is assured by constant endeavor,
Fervor is enthused and encouraged by favor.
Rewards of noble genius are eternal
If conscience guides into a work supernal;
By all it is revered, in age or youth,
When 'tis allied with majesty of truth.
— 75 —
TODAY
In the mind of Providence there is no past
Nor future; the present is measureless vast.
The soul lives forever, and should this clay die
Its events only are in the divine eye.
Yesterday, a memory that lessens with time,
Tomorrow, an imagination sublime,
Today is eternity; no mind can conceive
Unknown immensity; but by faith may believe.
In today's chalice are all the joys
We ever experienced when a child with toys;
Roses of yesteryear are no more sweet
Than these we hold and lovingly greet.
— 76 —
HAPPINESS
Happiness depends upon character of thought
And freedom from unfortunate selfish traits.
The gracious giving of credit when merit is
brought,
All are elements of contentment which happi-
ness awaits.
If one could do what he desires,
And do it well in all respects;
If to help others he aspires,
He'll find what happiness elects.
Happiness is that conception
Which appreciates things seen or heard;
It's an attribute of perception;
It's harmony by nature stirred.
The solace that brings peace to heart and brain,
And love to worship at th' shrine of nature's
altars;
And in rills hear voices and thrills of lute refrain,
Are endowed with grace by christening waters.
When music is heard in songs of birds,
And in the zephyr's breeze, or whispering
waves,
The deathless soul responds without words,
And is blessed with hope and faith that saves.
— 77 —
The plaintive sigh of mountain pine,
The muffled note of ocean's surge;
The thunder-drum and crash sublime,
The whistling winds of winter's dirge;
The delight that's felt in conscience clear,
The fearless courage that conquers wrong;
The sympathy that dispels a tear,
The music rhythm in the soul through song;
The beauty of kindly noble thought,
The deed that lessens loss, grief or pain;
All are gifts by happiness brought,
Surpassing in wealth all earthly gain.
— 78 —
COMPENSATION
Compensation has more than one application;
Sometimes it's affirmation, but often negation.
A concession to wrong is negative right,
As dense darkness of night is absence of light.
Oh, what compensations there are in Nature!
It abhors a vacuum and things immature;
Trees that are fruitless are enriched with most
leaves,
And the man of most words not an idea
conceives.
The seed that is weak will never develop or
flourish;
Its germ life's unfit, and is destined to perish;
Evolution is had when the best only survive;
Even the working bees kill the drones in the
hive.
The howl of a wolf invites his kind to a feast;
His signal's peculiar, but understood by each
beast;
But if found that his cry is false or misleads,
His companions will kill him for his lies and
his deeds.
The roar of a lion in the jungle is heard,
And by impressive fear terror in the heart is
stirred;
But the bird in the copse that twitters and sings,
Fills the soul with rapture, and sweet solace
brings.
— 79 —
When the anguish of solemn sorrow appears
And crushed in bereavement—the relief is in
tears;
When ingratitude rewards love's obligation,
This is the lowest of all compensation.
All things are governed by their own con-
sequence;
Each pays its own debts by the law of recompense;
Every condition is ruled by regulation;
Compensation has more than one application.
— 80 —
CONTRARINESS
Some are real lonesome if they find themselves
happy;
They enjoy life fully when perverse and scrappy;
They think contrariness shows thoughts inde-
pendent,
And credit themselves with ideas transcendent.
No matter what statement by reason supported,
They will dispute, this by habit promoted;
Fairness in argument, presentations of fact,
Avail little when fallacy aims to distract.
No one knows it all, no matter how learned,
And those best informed are least concerned.
Loudness of voice, superabundance of words,
Gain nothing—except it be failure absurd!
By listening to what others have to advance,
And according opposition a respectful chance,
Is giving only that just consideration
That fairness demands in deliberation.
— 81 —
SOMETHING FOR NOTHING
It has been observed en passant on the way,
And in a sense a truism when people say:
That the rush act faker isn't wholly to blame,
When he offers his cards and you play his game.
The victim parts with his money for chance,
To get something for nothing is his romance;
He expects to get rich quick at a jump,
But his visions of profits end in a slump.
The things we get for nothing are apt
To cost more than if by cash they're wrapped.
He who chases an ignis fatuus flyer
Would buy a hole in the ground sold by a liar.
— 82 —
A TYPE OF BROKER
It is said by some who claim to know,
There's a type of broker who's not slow;
If he can't sell you anything, he'll trade
A second hand grave a ghost has made.
He'll exploit great bargains that do not exist,
And of course as worthless as last year's mist;
And take something there isn't from a man
Who hasn't got it,—and trade it is his plan
To another who doesn't want it, nor hot air,
For something he never had here nor there.
Resourceful in schemes, bombast is his trait,
But fish that don't bite escape from the bait.
— 83 —
A FOOL AND HIS MONEY VERY SOON
PART
There's an old, old story, as old as the Ark,
"That a fool and his money very soon part.
It reminds one of the spider and fly,
How the parlor was fine, but the trap didn't
spy.
There's a genus homo much like the spider,
Who is a subtle expert fiction rider;
Trickery's his business and office,
And that he succeeds shows he's no novice.
He's well equipped for business and work,
And is industrious, no prospect will shirk;
He's suave and polite, has talent and tact,
And is a star actor in the hot air act.
He has flashing diamonds and an auto that's fine,
And is a good mixer—will press you to dine;
He'll wine you and smoke you and entertain,
You can't break away, it's good form to
remain.
His offices furnished with mahogany fine,
And ornaments of brass of latest design;
The floor is covered with a Persian rug,
All's arranged for ease and comfort snug.
He acts mysterious and looks around,
For fear some one may hear the secret profound;
He cautions that if many knew of this chance,
They would crowd in with the force of an
avalanche.
— 84 —
And now you're told in confidence strict,
He's on the inside, has a tip, one can't contradict,
That he knows this chance will bring
abundance galore,
And he'll let you in on the ground floor.
He's resourceful in his plans and schemes,
Conspiracy is one of his means;
He'll pretend to sell patents, oil, or wheat,
But no matter what, it's most always a cheat.
A company's formed, shares being equal,
Each to pay same amount—but note the sequel;
He arranges out side,—'though your draft is
good,
His check is a blind,—'tis a fraud understood.
A meeting is called and the sellers are there,
They had nothing to sell,—of this not aware;
He's first to throw high his check on the table,
And with specious bombast pretends he's able.
When you turn your back his check is returned,
The bait caught the fish, the meeting adjourned;
His check is nil, never presented at bank,
But yours is cashed while the ink is still dank.
You're caught in the net of this rogue broker,
You play his game, while he holds the joker;
He'll sell stock with chromos of promise and
profit,
But when you wake up he has your deposit.
— 85 —
He has your cash, you have stock shares in
writing,
It's nicely engraved, and good for fire lighting;
There's enough to paper the ceiling and wall,
It's a gentle reminder how you got a fall.
And after a while there's a gleam of some sense,
You've had experience, but he has your pence;
Then you'll realize, it crowds into your knob,
This is his graft and he's onto his job.
And then you will wonder how it could be ever,
You were so stupid and he so clever;
He was so gracious and persuasive that
None would suspect the trap under his hat.
You're told you're buying in with a favored few,
The fact is you buy nothing, but he sells you;
On looking back the transaction seems funny,
But that is one way a fool parts with his money.
This closes my narrative here simply told,
The events are recent but the adage is old;
'Tis the old, old story, as old as the Ark,
"That a fool and his money very soon part.
— 86-
BRAINS vs. MONEY
An idea astray is wandering today;
If not now corralled, it may get away.
The picture in mind is Brains versus Money;
Money was sad; Brains, happy and sunny.
An inquisitive Elf appeared on the scene,
And looked at Brains, who was smiling serene;
Then turned to Money, who was sadly
distressed,
And asked why one was joyful, the other
depressed.
Money was prompt with explanation at hand:
"I once had some money, and thought myself
grand;
I met this Brains, who told of great gains;
If I furnished the money, he would furnish the
brains.
"And shortly a compact was made, an exchange;
What business to do, he would later arrange.
Time passed; no results; I rudely awoke,
And Brains had the whole thing, and I was
broke.
Then the Elf asked Brains, still laughing and
jolly:
"Who is to blame for this sequence of folly?
The answer was brief: "There were two in
this trade;
If I furnish the brains, then I should be paid.
— 87 —
True, when a man has more money than brains,
He'll meet many a one who to help him deigns;
A partnership's proposed and presently
formed,
But conditions are reversed, and soon
transformed.
— 88 —
LAW
Law, in its purity, is just common sense,
And a reflection of civic conscience intense ;
'Tis a rule of action by moral sense prescribed,
And to every phase of ethics may be applied.
The highest regard for the rights of man,
Is clearly set forth in the decalogue's plan;
The rule of the Writ is the law of mankind;
It's the strength of the weak that breaks
shackles that bind.
Justice and equality are the basis of law;
The law of nature or revelation knows no flaw;
When the ideals of law are the ideas of right,
Then equity crushes wrong, injustice and might.
The law is upheld and respected when
It guards and protects the rights of all men.
The question is not who, but what is the cause ?
On the answer depends respect for the laws.
A just law enforced without fraud, favor or fear,
Is a lesson in righteousness all will revere;
But if to favor decision influence is brought,
Pernicious perdition brings justice to naught.
_89 —
The Goddess of Justice holds the balance, though
blind,
No influence can swerve her judicial mind;
The scale notches mark quality of mercy not
strained,
And though seasoned with justice, yet the law is
sustained.
Law is not license, for no single person
Can empower himself with dictative coercion;
The Golden Rule and the laws from the Mount
Contain all the rules for man's human account.
— 90 —
LAW LACONICS
Though the Goddess of Justice may be blind,
Yet her scales are correct as solar time.
There're human virtues in every soul and mind;
Justice when tempered with mercy is sublime.
The law of compensation never sleeps,
No wrong outlaws until it is made right.
The law written on Mount Sinai endures and
keeps,
And longer it's used, more cherished its might.
The reason for law is to restrain and protect,
Its code should be conscience, this the Deity
rule;
The silent voice without error urges respect,
Its precepts are taught in the Master's school.
— 91 —
STRAY LACONICS
Love strengthens purpose of right endeavor,
Fear weakens courage that good intentions
favor;
Confidence is the basis of trust,
And friendship is reliance on principles just.
Wisdom is merely common sense per se
Adapted in an uncommon degree;
'Tis judicious thought in experience found,
And the result of reason and logic sound.
Frailties of the past are wisdom teachers,
Visions may be mirrors of the infinite soul;
Schools and science are advance moral preachers,
The straight and narrow path only, the way to
the goal.
Nature abhors fixity as much as a vacuum,
Hence need of energy as well as acumen;
Life is motion of force and vital vibration,
And wisdom is the knowledge of application.
Knowledge is power only when in action;
It is an adviser, but lacks innate force;
But these when co-active defy distraction,
And successful results are a matter of course.
Genius asleep gains no prestige by slumber,
And achievement won't credit talents withheld;
A unit that's active outstrips a slow number,
And faith is the aid by which hope is upheld.
— 92 —
Faith is an investment safe and practical;
Hope pays debts of promise in every
endeavor;
Despair is a vandal cruel and radical;
Regret is energy wasted forever.
He who battles for justice and sense,
And tears the husks off dogmas that's dense;
Will vitalize exposure of creeds,
And get at th' hidden truth he needs.
The world was never made better by tears;
It despises the bore with his tales of woe;
Life has no time for the sorrow of years;
Good cheer is a friend, despair is a foe.
— 93 —
THE OLD FIRST STYLE GRAMOPHONE
Find a pesky, brawling, howling cat,
And on his back, stretch him out flat;
Then securely fasten all his paws,
To control his efforts and his claws.
Then make a bow of bended wood,
With twine for strings drawn taut and good;
Fiddle across the surface lining
That rubs against a tree while climbing.
Now have near by that quadruped
Which has long ears and a large head;
The kind that's solemn all his days,
And voices opinions by his brays.
Continue fiddling on the cat—
The donkey'll bray, no doubt of that;
The blended sounds this will produce
Will chill a Chippewa's an-a-moose.*
Now you've what's required for a riot
To disturb the evening's peace and quiet,
When rippling water and chirp of bird
Is the soulful music that is heard.
In the meantime adjust a funnel
That'll convey sounds through a tube tunnel;
And connect it to wax for an impression,
And thus make disks of true expression.
*Chippewa word for dog.
— 94 —
Then put them in a box machine,
And wind the springs that are set between;
And now is heard that unearthly tone
Made by an old first style gramophone.
95 —
SOURCE OF MUSIC
We are often apt not to give due credit
To the real source that deserves merit;
We judge results as the effect of cause,
But overlook elementary laws.
Glorious music from instruments heard,
That in harmony thrill and hearts are stirred,
Dwelt first in the soul who fingered the keys,
Enchantments of music are the soul's jubilees.
Music is born in the one who plays,
It's a phase of life during all his days;
He gives it expression through skill and art,
But music itself is born in soul and heart.
It's heard and felt in the inmost conscious soul,
'Tis a primal pre-natal attribute of the whole;
We hear the celestial rhythm in correct tune and
time,
But feel discords in life when we are out of
chime.
All one's life is music when rightly played,
False notes are like errors in life wrongly made;
Mind, heart and soul when in harmony blended
Is the music of soul which is never ended.
The touch of skill to which strings and keys
respond
In such melody as though inspired beyond,
Is merely the task that responds to skill,
And is simply the servant of the will.
— 96 —
The music of Heaven is not in golden harps,
Or in perfect notes of flats and sharps,
But in the golden hearts of those redeemed
And spirits refreshed in the new life gleamed.
— 97 —
CALIFORNIA BY THE SUNSET SEA
California, by the sunset sea,
Land of flowers, fruit and fertile fields;
The southwest rejoices and welcomes thee,
And offers all its great largess yields.
The lute of meadow lark at dawn,
The mockingbird that sings at night,
The oriole's mellow song at morn,
And humming birds—all these invite.
Golden poppies carpet sunny slopes,
Purple lupines and carnations glow;
Climbing, twining jasmines make fairy ropes
That entwine live oaks where zephyrs blow
and laurels grow.
Rippling rills from clefts and canyons speak
Voices of melody soft and low;
From lofty heights and snow capped peak,
They chant songs of solace as they flow.
And groves are hanging thick with fruit,
And valleys stocked with ripening grains;
Each hill adorned in vine purple suit,
Its mountains rich in mineral veins.
Those frail in strength breathe ozone tonic,
And each inhalation heals the weak;
Health is restored, though ailments chronic,
And the bloom of youth is on each cheek.
— 98 —
Orange blossoms perfume the balmy breeze,
And dew kissed lemon buds distill;
No longer need the afflicted wheeze,
No longer the need of quinine pill.
The fragrant rose, though not food or breath,
Affects like wonderful elixir,
And health that far surpasses wealth
Gives delight to life, and hope is victor.
Here is found the Mecca pilgrims seek,
And but few escape its golden lure;
No Elysian fields of the ancient Greek,
Promised clime more genial, our ills to cure.
Of all those who come few will return,
The air reminds of th' fabled lotus tree;
Those who once partake. of its fruit forever
yearn
For California, by the sunset sea.
— 99 —
THE TENDERFOOT AND UMBRELLA
When fierce blizzards freeze, or summers broil,
In the lands east of the Rocky Mountains,
Many seek climate of less turmoil,
To find rest and health near Arcadian
fountains.
They come from the East and Middle West,
Where the Father of Waters majestic flows:
From Itasca Lake where wild fowls nest,
And Atlantic bays where cod fish grows;
To this Beulah land of corn and wine,
That borders on the Pacific Ocean,
Where rose and citrus bloom all the time,
Dispensing balm of Gilead lotion.
Here the golden poppy of the Golden State
Greets the goldenrod of the State North Star;
The Bear welcomes the Gopher,—tete.-a-tete,
And feasts him on oranges cerca el mar.
Among those from the East who traveled West
The object being worthy,—a summer
vacation—
Was a teacher who had read of this land the best,
And now comes for proof by demonstration.
Unlike the maidens of Biblical fame
Who were plus with lamps but minus oil,
Equipped for most anything she came
With packed trunks and grips—Oh!
repentant toil.
— 100 —
She was well prepared with furs and cloak,
For frost and snow she brought prunella;
For sleet and hail, there was a rubber coat
And a new ebony handled umbrella.
Her friend, though not a native daughter,
A resident here more than twenty years,
Said with gracious, kind good natured laughter,
"We know when a tenderfoot appears.
"Not alone by furs and garments heavy
To protect from cold that's unknown here;
And fans for sultry changes ready,
Useless in this climate without a peer.
"But by ways and phrases that call attention
To habits and speech beyond the range,
Their ways and idioms of expression,
Though quite correct, are accounted strange.
"The tenderfoot is noticed by three known signs:
He's prone to talk 'weather' to the other
fellow,
He speaks of 'luncheon' as 'dinner time,'
And in summer always carries an umbrella.
The teacher tourist enjoyed beyond measure
The well tempered jest, and joined in the mirth;
The sunshine and flowers gave her great pleasure,
And invited her favor and praise of their
worth.
— 101 —
When off guard she sometimes might say: "Dinner
luncheon,
And once: "This weather, the best ever, is
hard to beat";
And one day—'tis true, though you'd hardly
believe it—
She left her umbrella on a trolley car seat.
THE CALF ON THE LAWN
I'm goin' to hitch this 'ere young caf
Out here in my frunt lawn,
He'll stay right here and chaw the grass
'Till the hull blame thing is chawn;
He'll chaw that corner off today
Until he's et it bare;
Ter morrer I will move his stake
An' he'll chaw over there.
Looks bad yer say, a caf to see
Out in a man's frunt yard;
Blattin' at each red autobele
On this stilish boolevard;
But that thar caf
Shall eat this grass until I get him fat,
And if he feels like blattin'
Why, I reckon he will blat.
When I fust took my farm out here,
It wuz a country road;
Across the way was pasture land
Where wild dewberries growed;
My caf wus then hitched in my yard,
Not fer the town's inspection,
An no pomp enterprisin' dood
Cum'd round to make objection.
When the road growed to a city street,
My caf wuz in the yard;
And now the street swells with stile,
A city boolevard.
— 103 —
But I'll hitch this 'ere young caf
Out here on my frunt lawn;
He'll stay rite here an' chaw this grass
'Till the hull blame thing is chawn.
You say the way I carry on
Makes the hull city laf;
Well, let 'em laf, this 'ere's my lawn
And this 'ere is my caf.
And things have reeched the purtiest pass
The world has ever sawn,
Ef an old duff can't let his caf
Chaw grass on his own lawn.
Well, let 'em laf, this 'ere young caf
Shall stay here enyhow;
And if I hear 'em laf too loud
I'll trot out the old cow;
I'll hitch 'em both to this same stake
Rite here in my frunt lawn,
And let 'em stay an' chaw the grass
'Till the hull blame thing is chawn.
Some 're contented and get rich
By mindin' their own bizness,
While other critters have an itch
To prescribe for yer comin' financhial illness;
This caf ain't like th' one in story fable
So over wise, like some folks I know,
That it wouldn't leave th' stable, though
able,
And starved to death waitin' fer th' grass
to grow.
— 104 —
LUCK AND WORK
Luck and work, in a way, are allied twins,
Work has visions, digs to success and wins;
Luck is the sequence of events and chance,
Work is the result that largess enchance.
Once on a time, so the story goes,
Luck started out to encourage those
Who were worthy, and who would labor
And strive themselves to merit favor.
He stopped and rapped on a half open door,
But Laziness, stretched out on the floor,
Yawned and said: "Disturb not my rest;
Of all things known I like ease the best.
"My name is Luck, and I offer you
Favors, if you will work as you ought to do.
'Tis said: 'God helps him who helps himself,'
But Indolence means an empty shelf.
"No, Mister Luck, if I have to work
To be successful, I'd rather shirk.
Some by ambition may be driven;
Not I. 'The world owes me a livin.'
"Yes, the world owes me a livin,'
But to collect it my time is given;
Others work, paddle their own canoe and float,
But how they do it gets my goat.
— 105 —
Luck journeyed on, and by the wayside
Came to a shop where the smith inside
Was hard at work, and this was his song
As his anvil resounded with blows true and
strong:
"What a joy intense it is to work,
What a bane indeed basely to shirk;
I owe the world a debt for living,
And to make it better I've truly striven.
Luck picked a horse shoe from the debris,
And held it out that the smith might see.
"Ah, ha! You're Luck; that's your emblem
and sign;
I pray that you be a friend of mine!
"I've waited long for your coming here,
And welcome you with a heart full of cheer;
Now I must strike the iron while it's hot,
But for this I beg that you blame me not.
"I don't see how a blacksmith got ahead of me,
But it was just his luck, and it was to be;
It couldn't be lernin'; we went to the same
skule,
And I noed more nor him of them grammar
rool.
One man won happiness, wealth and fame,
The other one bore a worthless name;
He blamed his "luck, but he had forgot
Luck called on him first, but was welcomed not.
— 106 —
Too often is failure charged to luck,
Success is due to work and pluck;
Let ambition be guided by brains and truth,
These are maxims true in age or youth.
— 107 —
PLUCK
Should trouble come and make a chair of you,
And the weight strain your back and test your
nerve,
It's not so much why, as how you'll do;
Will you give up, or fight and never swerve ?
And should trouble seem gaining in the struggle,
And you are down and out, and things look
blue,
Have you the pluck to say: "It's a mere bubble;
Don't worry; soon this trouble I'll subdue.
Trouble is heavy, or trouble is light,
According to the credit it's given;
You're not licked if you put up a good fight,
For pluck is enduring and will not be driven.
Pluck and grit may be pressed to the last ditch,
And be weakened by conditions severe,
Yet a cause that's just will valor enrich;
Where courage is present, fear will disappear.
Pluck is the spirit that with fervor glows,
It's the silver lining in the dark cloud;
It gives vigor to hope when grief overflows,
And sees more joy in life than in a shroud.
And if you have striven the best you could,
And played well your part in the drama of life,
The record will show that you've made good,
And that's reward and glory in ev'ry strife.
— 108 —
Suppose you are encompassed by sorrow,
And surrounded by trouble and in dismay—
The sun of hope will rise on the morrow,
Faith is the bright star that will show the way.
In the trials of life if the cause is right
The heart is strengthened to do and dare;
There's nothing impels in darkness or light
Like the sense of right—it's beyond compare.
Ah! Pluck is the stuff that's more than enough
To make a chair of trouble, and reverse the
game;
It gives life to courage when things are tough,
And without being rough gets there just the
same!
The summons to go may be quick or slow,
And the curtain may drop while we're on the
stage;
And should the call come when the foot lights
are low,
Let the epitaph be: "Pluck won the wage.
COURAGE
Courage is mastery over fear
When duty calls and death seems near;
The greatest test is to challenge fate
When known but unseen dangers wait.
Courage is simply the valor of truth,
Not affected by age nor influenced by youth;
It is not bravado, nor a gallery bid,
But most often is by modesty hid.
Courage responds to the silent voice
Which guides unerring in making choice;
Should we heed that voice and follow that guide,
Right will conquer whatsoever betide.
IN THE FIRST MORNING
In the first morning when rocks were rended,
And hills and valleys by upheavels changed;
When tortured chaos vented—mountains bended,
And the earth quivered while its form changed;
Lakes and seas filtrated through gases dense,
And cooled the heated vapors into mist;
A sweeping deluge did the air condense,
And fire and water struggled, fought and hissed.
Volcanoes threw out molten rocks of liquid flame,
Earthquakes shook the earth like an aspen
leaf;
Clouds of electric waves like demons came
And with lightening bolts shattered ledge and
reef.
Enveloped with deadly carbonic acid gas
Intensely hot inside with quenchless fire;
Enclosed with thin crust of burnt rocks and mass,
Which consumed all substances in its pyre.
The earth was then a shapeless rocky globe,
Covered with a universal boiling sea,
And hot mists arose like a shrouded robe
Which moved round the sun, like earth bound
ghosts set free.
The only things then in the world were rocks
And desolate wastes of water, fire and air;
The internal struggles, the tremblor shocks
In the first morning, was sulphur furnace flare.
— ill —
FIRST MAN
When or how man first appeared on the earth
Is knowledge of which we are wholly dearth.
He was probably accorded proper place
When nature provided for the human race.
For ages he thought the earth flat like a board,
And that it floated in space where fierce monsters
roared;
Should he ever venture, or in hazard pierce,
He'd at once be devoured by great dragons
fierce.
A few who were enticed near the farthest edge
Were thrown over the deep precipitous ledge;
And the swish, sighs and moans of ocean
waves,
Were voices of victims from their watery
graves.
The earthquake's tremor and the lightning's
crash,
And thunder-drum were fiends in battle smash;
Tornadoes were the breath of angry ghouls
Who ruled the earth and air in vengeance
howls.
All things were terror,—expected evils came,
The wicket would burn in everlasting flame;
He was prone to worship some force un-
known,
And believed no wrong from a merciless
throne.
— 112 —
That he was the offspring of tadpoles or ape,
And from their influence could not escape;
Tradition and mystery gave them charm
And respite from dreadful fear and alarm.
And even in this age of enlightened thought
He is not free from what the caveman taught;
'Friday is unlucky,'—and the number 'thir-
teen,'—
And there's signs,—and luck,—and the
'double-pod bean.'
Man has not changed either in body or form,
And mental evolution is not brain storm;
It took thousands of years before he knew
That superstition clouds that which is true.
— 113 —
PRIMITIVE MAN
Naturalists, discovery, research and science prove,
That primitive man was a weak and helpless
mortal;
He moved in the midst of a wild and inclement
groove,
And surrounded by conditions savage and hos-
tile.
And though however much our pride may be af-
fected,
We must confess that in this period of existence;
He could have been but little distinguished or
detected
From lower animals, which furnished him
subsistence.
Care for his wants must have absorbed his whole
attention,
And all his efforts must have tended to one sole
aim;
And that was his existence, wrested by contention,
From beasts that lurked while he gathered
fruits and grain.
He had no weapons when chased into his cavern
hall,
Or no devices of defense when attack meant
defeat;
If he succeeded in killing an animal small,
He devoured it raw, and the event was a treat.
— 114 —
Against inclement weather he made shelter of
skins,
And his pillow a stone, his roof a wide-spread-
ing tree;
A cave, dark cavern, or holes bored in cliffs or
high hills,
A fort and a refuge when wild beasts forced
him to flee.
How long this condition existed no one can tell,
But man is an improvable being perceptive;
The creation that made him is a force to excel,
And indefinite progress is the law inceptive.
His supreme attribute is improvement from the
first,
And this gives pre-eminence over lower crea-
tures;
He has intellect and reason, and for knowledge
a thirst,
Which prevails over instinct and mere brutal
features.
Towards the commencement of the quaternary
epoch,
A great natural phenomenon took place on the
earth,
High ice mountains crushed down with destruc-
tive havoc,
And covered the land from the poles, their
places of birth.
— 115 —
The greater part of both hemispheres were cov-
ered with ice,
Making its way from the poles to the far south-
ern zone;
A few escaped to plateaus in some way or device,
And sought refuge from cold and destruction
and found a new home.
Such was one of the Glacial Periods of desolation,
Many generations of animals were destroyed,
And man was equally affected by this invasion
That buried nearly all he had gained or enjoyed.
But man was enabled to resist revolted nature,
Although in this period little progress was
made;
Intellectual development will never mature,
When strength is weakened and there's no en-
couraging aid.
At all events the human species did not perish,
The glacial period at last came to an end;
There were renewed endeavor, and new hopes to
cherish,
And in its fullness of measure Nature tried to
amend.
When the ice lobe retired into the more northern
zone,
And had become confined to the higher sum-
mits;
— 116 —
New generations of fierce animals, before un-
known,
Made their appearance into the pre-glacial
limits.
And this group which had newly appeared on the
scene,
Differed much from those that had perished or
disappeared;
They came from more southern latitudes and of
fiercer mien,
And were larger and numerous, and more
greatly feared.
Before these fierce bands man could dream of
nothing but flight,
And only with some lone animal he dare en-
gage;
And though the conflict was unequal against brute
might,
Yet prowess and reason prevail though attack
enrage.
The first important step in the path of advance-
ment,
And in the sense of discovery first to be classed,
Was acquisition of fire, which in man's enhance-
ment,
Surpassed all former advantages known in the
past.
This most likely came to man's knowledge by
accident,
By meeting with some substance that had been
set on fire;
— 117 —
This might be by lightning, or volcanic heat inci-
dent,
Or by friction of dry wood, by which sparks
will acquire.
Or like the savage tribes of the Naskapi Indians,
Who at the present time in the Canadian North-
west
Make use of a bow-drill; or the far south
Fuegians,
Who strike lire on pyrites with flint in a dry
tinder nest.
But whatever may have been the means to pro-
cure fire,
It was the most beneficent discovery made;
The gloom of long nights changed to glow and
cheer that inspire,
And was his first comfort and warmth in damp-
ness or shade.
Fire not only gave light to dark holes, cavern
and cave,
But climates most rigorous became habitable;
And the damp of his body, and the rough gar-
ments he made,
Were warmed and dried by radiant heat hos-
pitable.
In the presence of fire, ferocious man-eating
beasts
Were kept at a safe distance when bright flames
could be seen;
— 118 —
Wild animals fear fire and will abandon their
feasts,
For they sense it as master by an instinct that's
keen.
Buried in the midst of forests with huge beasts
infested,
And awakened from sleep by the crunch of
crushing jaws,
By fires kept lighted he was safe from being
molested,
And might rest in peace without dread of teeth
or sharp claws.
The beautiful flame of the fire gave vigor to
thought,
And quickened his sluggish mind to purpose
and action;
Industry was encouraged, and necessity taught
That invention and methods bring great satis-
faction.
Fire, in a sense, was the mother of higher refine-
ment,
And favored desire for home, and faith in
tribal ties;
Around the hearth centered the first Primitive
Government,
The Patriarch was ruler and the Chief of his
tribes.
— 119 —
It cooked his food and baked pottery vessels of
clay,
And it burned out the forest roots and great
trees fell down;
It fashioned tree trunks for boats that served
well in their day,
And in many ways, and of all blessings, this
was the crown.
Man felt need of more power against attack of
wild beast,
And to capture for food, also skins for his
raiment;
His mind once aroused and evolved in progress
never ceased,
And to make weapons was an incentive attain-
ment.
He found flints with sharp corners and cutting
edges,
And with aid of tougher stone he broke from
them pieces;
These he fashioned into hatchets, hammers and
sledges,
And this the greatest invention known to his
species.
He fixed these splinters into split sticks for a han-
die,
And firmly bound them in place with stalks,
tendons and thong;
— 120 —
No breastplate of Aaron, set with gems of rare
sardel,
Were ever as precious as these rude stone
weapons strong.
With these weapons he could strike his prey at a
distance,
And when he invented the bow and flint ar-
row head;
He was enabled to combat with greater resistance,
It increased advantage and lessened danger and
dread.
And this marks the stone age epoch of primitive
man,
When bones were split lengthwise for choice
morsels of marrow;
These his first inventions, encouraged he began to
plan,
And to develop an intellect though cramped
and narrow.
And here were the first marks of the crafts, man-
ufacture and art,
And had man not persevered there would be
no palace or painting;
The first man who shaped a flint head gave to
sculpture a start,
And the Minerva and Partheon are results of
his training.
— 121 —
Man had always a language of gesture or vocal,
And gestures were first and most comprehen-
sively used;
His vocals were gutturals, confined to things local,
And his gestures more general and widely dif-
fused.
The child of the barbarian, or the enlightened,
Use similar interjections in fear, pain, or joy;
They utter like sounds in distress, surprise or
when frightened,
Or when he talks to himself, or at play with a
toy.
Hunting was the first occupation of primitive man;
And next, beasts of the wild were domesticated
while young;
Then as a nomad shepherd his experience began,
And then tilling the soil, when his first fixed
home life begun.
But man was not content with his conflict with
nature,
Brutal passions were aroused against his fellow
men;
Skulls split with stone hatchets left signatures
that assure,
And are the records of facts found in caves,
cavern and den.
They knew of no laws written on tables of stone,
But law of conscience is prenatal inherent;
They had instinct and faith that after death
there's a home,
And these attributes lessened extremes vehe-
ment.
They knew not the God of Revelation,
But conceived ruling Deities in Nature;
Their worship was sincere adoration,
And in their child like myths found a Savior.
Such were the conditions and proofs that there-
with attend,
Humanity was not always the guide in his van;
Time and progress were destined to improve and
extend,
And this is the story, told by science, of primi-
tive man.
MYTHOLOGY
Mythology was the first religion,
A belief in myths of supernatural power;
Superstition ruled the mind and vision,
And deities conceived in rock and flower.
The myths of the ancients were creations,
And born of yearnings to fill a void;
Religion comforts by its relations
To instinct and faith by which hope is buoyed.
Their belief and folk lore of heroes and gods
Were instinct necessities of the soul,
And to this day many a human plods
Along a narrow path to seek the goal.
Shadows of events gave semblance of form
And tradition was born of legends and tales;
Ideals of character and romance conform,
And thoughts are inspired when imagination
prevails.
In grotesque shapes and shades they believed,
Mystery and awe were religious traits;
Forms were imagined through shadows conceived,
For nature worship creates invisible wraiths.
Different aspects of nature impressed,
Yet superstition satisfied fancies
That magic power ruled and possessed,
And Protean shapes to them were not fallacies.
— 124 —
They could see effects of apparent design,
But could not believe in negative chance;
They could see order through source divine,
But could not believe in tomorrow's advance.
Artistic creations favored ideals,
And stimulated spiritual thought;
The childhood of the race experienced ordeals,
But found peace in what mythology taught.
Science of opinions is a concept of mind,
And instinct and faith are roots of concepts;
Environment and time influence mankind,
And reason unfolds enlightened precepts.
Moral phases developed, and were revered;
This gave fervor to faith and zest to zeal,
And though their myths were abnormal and weird,
They personified divinities real.
The lessons taught were moral and useful,
Even as Aesop's fables adorn a tale;
'Twas the foundations of elements truthful,
And glimpse of light through a clouded veil.
Truth through mythology, like all truth, endures,
Its primitive philosophy ever lives;
That there is cause supreme all nature assures,
And this conclusion the last analysis gives.
The ancients developed poetry and art,
Mental visions grew out of natural objects;
Beauty in the soul does grandeur impart,
And exalts and ennobles that which it protects.
— 125 —
Were there no myths of ancient Greece or Rome,
There would be less poetry in the soul;
Imaginative thought would in less realms roam,
And less achievement score on learning's scroll.
Their humanizing influence enlarged
And broadened the path humanity trod,
And down through the ages the race was en-
charged
And enriched by trust and reliance in God.
— 126 —
DISTRIBUTION OF COMPARATIVE
MYTHS
The student of the early history of mankind,
Experiences difficulties in his subject;
So in Comparative Mythology, he'll find
Crudeness so marked a simple mind might
reject.
In those mythical tales he can sometimes trace
and show
That among several peoples in countries far
distant,
Coincidences are evident which those did not
know,
For they were not of common knowledge to
the other habitant.
And these coincidences are so quaint and complex,
And so minute in comparative analogy,
How they could have arisen would a student per-
plex,
If independent origin was tribal mythology.
It is claimed as proofs in historical connection,
That between tribes or nations among whom
they are found—;
That it's nothing more than results of like con-
ception,
And like working out of ideas that human
minds surround.
— 127 —
Like conditions produce a similar consequence,
The certain law of cause and effect will never
change;
But the belief in myths was a child-like confidence,
And supported by tales fanciful, simple and
strange.
The problem to classify the crowd of resem-
blances,
And to keep things which are merely similar
apart;
To draw conclusions from facts and not from
mere inferences,
Is the aim of those who would truth to science
impart.
That the religion in myths in both hemispheres
Is a growth from the same root, just simply
transplanted;
That it had a common source, seems well founded
and clear,
And became the Folk-lore in each new country
implanted.
Of the first appearance of man there's no knowl-
edge exact,
His origin a mystery and place of his birth;
Central Asia is supposed, and some claim it a fact,
That there his first experience and traces on
earth.
— 128 —
From there the race spread towards the equator
and poles,
Those the most hardy and venturesome press-
ing far north;
At this age of the earth there were no Behring
Strait floes,
And they crossed from Asia to America easily
forth.
For a long period after the earth's surface for-
mation,
Asia and America were connected by land;
It is but a short distance between either nation,
And primitive man crossed with his family and
band.
After eons of ages the earth's surface was
changed,
And continents separated by forces of nature;
In this instance a strait is where the bison then
ranged,
And a narrow sea flows through the divided
earth's fracture.
And now the history of mankind was repeated,
Except that towards the tropics must be the
only trend;
Progress was made, and each generation com-
pleted
At least some advancement, like those from
which they descend.
— 129 —
They took with them and cherished the same
myths and thought,
The old was ever new to minds trained in
mystery;
With slight changes they clung to the religion
they brought,
And had faith in their myths, traditions and
history.
The evidences of the past explain the present,
And facts of the present are needed to explain
the whole;
Theories 're what speculations are prone to in-
vent,
While facts grouped and connected will clear
proofs unroll.
Conclusions may be based on circumstantial
proofs,
And numerous evidences in proof might be
cited;
The mind conceives an animal by tracks of its
hoofs,
And that it passed is evident, although not
sighted.
Stories found in circulation among outlying races,
Which relate to the deluge, give the same ver-
sion and name;
The Hindoos of India, and other far eastern
places,
And some wild western tribes, believe precisely
the same.
To primitive man in the lower level of science
The earth is flat; above and below mankind
has a home;
It's surrounded by seas, upon which floats in re-
liance
The world bearing tortoise, whose breath is the
wind and the foam.
In Asia the Hindoos believe the earth is a flat
plane,
And that a tortoise upholds the world that rests
on its back;
Sometimes the snake Sesha on its head the world
will sustain,
Or an elephant,—both supported by the tor-
toise that's black.
Among the Zulus is found a similar story,
And it's a deity myth of American tribes;
In both hemispheres it's traditional history,
That the Earth Tortoise moves, and to this
an earthquake he ascribes.
That the earth is supported on the back of a tor-
toise,
And when it sinks under water causes a deluge;
That tidal waves are occasioned when something
annoys,
And is itself the earth floating on seas immense-
ly huge.
— 131 —
The lesser the intelligence, the greater supersti-
tion,
And these were the primitive conditions of the
human race;
Myths nurtured by tradition were impressed by
repetition,
And became their religion, which to this day
leaves a trace.
It's evident myths may be traced from a common
source,
And that change of location does not change
religion;
Their deities were revered as a matter of course,
And thus the distribution of myths in ev'ry
region.
— 132 —
AT GREAT BEAR LAKE
The Naskapi Indians
* * *
We read in story and romance of old,
That Knights left home comforts for adven-
ture,
And journeyed into strange lands, and we're told
A few earned fame, while others found their
sepulcher.
They went that conditions of mankind might be
improved,
Their knowledge to extend, and by discovery
learn;
Contending forces were baffled, conquered and
subdued,
And danger and death challenged at every turn.
These men, like Columbus, crossed an unknown
sea,
And found a continent where now millions
dwell;
Or like Hudson, who dared hardships none could
foresee,
And found great waters and bay now known so
well.
And in a relative sense, a scientist went forth
Into a wild unexplored land; and his ambition
Was to experience adventure in the far North,
And study native tribes in their normal condi-
tion.
— 133 —
His main purpose was to determine and trace
The origin of their religious belief;
But in this narrative verse, some traits of the race
Will be outlined as well, though necessarily
brief.
His commission was to investigate, and know
Phases of the most savage tribes of the wil-
derness.
He crossed lakes and rivers, and made portages
with bateau
Over muskegs of dangerous tenderness.
And day after day through swamps and bog that
slumps,
With gun, dogs, guide and canoe he onward
pressed
Through unknown regions of sloughs, forests and
stumps,
He wouldn't yield to privations or be repressed.
At times it seemed endurance had reached its
limit,
And to further contend, a hopeless trial;
But the hope of success never ceases a minute
When the goal is achievement, and peril the
rival.
No food except the hunter's luck,
No bed except dry moss and leaves;
No trail except by moose or buck,
No shelter except fallen trees.
— 134 —
No music save the rhythm of murmuring brook,
No song save gutturals of Indian guide,
No diversion save muscallonge to hook,
No mirth save grotesque dance of native bride.
No language understood—but one's own solilo-
quy,
No companionship—but the charm of nature
in solitude;
No cheer—but the impress of awe and sublimity,
No dependence—but self reliance and fortitude.
No place there for wavering indecision,
No place there for retreat or hesitation,
No place there for other than prompt precision,
No place there for slow deliberation.
At last he reached the northerly shore of Great
Bear Lake,
The haunts of savage beasts and still more sav-
age men;
The fierce barbarians might burn him at the stake,
And were feared more than any other denizen.
There is heard the Indian's warcry whoop or
death toot,
And the snuffing growl of the dreaded grizzly
bear;
The suspense and fear of savage ambush, or loot,
And the terror of wolves, and wild cats' yowl
and dare.
— 135 —
Scarcely a word of their language was at first
understood,
But gestures so perfect can well describe a
boulder;
Their assent a nod, if the subject appeals to them
good,
And their dissent or doubt shown by shrug of
the shoulder.
Theirs the natural language known to primitive
man,
As expressed by postures, motions, symbols,
and signs;
They communicate ideas by a conceptive plan,
Which are types of expression every race de-
fines.
Imagination and passion govern their traits,
While reason is held subordinate and in sub-
jection;
Isolation and environment influence tastes
And mould lives, thoughts, methods and lan-
guage selection.
In the infancy of society few words were used,
And like conditions are found in barbarian
tribes;
Ideas developed and grew when they new objects
pursued,
And then represented by sounds and ideograph
scribes.
— 136 —
And yet they're bold and picturesque in metaphor,
And abound in allusions to material things;
They draw from objects ideals loved by a war-
rior,
And are impressed by the weirdness a wild
life brings.
Their Great Spirit is heard in the wind and sigh
of the pines,
His peace denotes calm, and his wrath tempest
and storm;
They see him in the clouds, where his shadow
outlines,
And through th' veil of the twilight imagine
his form.
These Indian tribes are as harsh, cold and stern
As the bleak raw country in which they dwell;
To scalp a bound foe is of more concern
Than a wild rice crop, or any acorns that ever
fell.
The climate is not worthy of favorable mention,
There are only two seasons, and each is the
worst;
Choice of insects or blizzards is the forced selec-
tion,
And the one last experienced seems worse than
the first.
And while it may be true to some extent,
That climate and temperament are allied;
Yet in milder belts some show wild intent,
And that they would oppress can't be denied.
— 137 —
'Tis said in heroic song or story,
That "None but the brave deserve the fair";
Their saying much the same, but gory,
"The weakling should not the race impair.
They hold the weak were made for the strong to
kill,
And their braves are survivals of the best;
That groans are confessions of a weak will,
And torture to death is the proper test.
These savages revere the lack of fear,
And a captive is never mercy shown;
Should they detect a tear, then death is near,
Should the victim laugh, then there's more tor-
ture known.
It matters not—he will be by torture killed,
And his scalp adorn a Chieftain's buckskin belt;
His skin will be tanned by deft squaws, who're
skilled,
And a war dance closes the incident.
Their highest conception of numbers is five,
And counted by fingers and thumb of the hand;
Or they'll group five arrows, or five small sticks
drive,
And this the extent of numbers they understand.
They have a traditional conception of the flood,
That the earth-tortoise sank and a continent
went down,
— 138 —
And that great waters submerged where their
teepees stood,
And that nearly all on the earth plane had to
drown.
That it became very angry and shook the earth,
And made it quake and sink in an awful abyss;
That of canoes or rafts there were a hopeless
dearth,
And the great snake Sesha was seen and heard
to hiss.
That a few escaped to the highest mountain top,
That all kinds of animals and living things did
the same;
And after a while the waters began to drop,
And the Great Spirit labored again the earth
to reclaim.
That the Great Spirit rules the world-bearing
tortoise
And all things else of the earth, which is a
flat plane;
This is their belief, whether Slaves, Dog-Rib or
Iroquois,
And no doubt it's from Asia these myths they
obtain.
When a Chief is asked how long since the earth
was submerged,
He'll refer the question to the Medicine Man;
He's gravely silent, but when an answer is urged,
He'll get down on his knees and the fire closely
scan.
— 139 —
Then with a grunt of satisfaction, seeming wise,
He will hold a handful of ashes in his hand;
This is to show that every atom that therein lies,
Stands for an Autumn's hunt since the flood
drowned the land.
Their Medicine Man is their Ogema oracle,
They are too obtusely dull to think for them-
selves;
He does it for them, and while they get a small
article,
Yet they furnish the wigwam and delve food
for his shelves.
Their religion is practically what the ancients be-
lieved,
And its origin traceable to the Myths of Myth-
ology;
Superstition and sorcery are elements of creed,
And their deities have the same supernatural
analogy.
The ancient Romans and Greek had their god
Jupiter-Zeus,
Who rolled his drum in the thunder cloud,
and flashed fire to earth;
These Indians see their Great Spirit in the Nim-
bus-aureus,
And hear his drum, and see fire thrown from
place of its birth.
— 140 —
These ethnical conditions were found at Great
Bear Lake,
And north of the great Arctic Circle unex-
plored zone;
Ethnology was enlarged and enriched for sci-
ence's sake,
And origin of their religion by inference known.
HADES
Virgil places the entrance to the region Infernos
Near Vesuvius; the Greeks named it Aonios.
It's well adapted to excite ideas terrific,
For superstition ignores whatever is scientific.
The whole country is cleft with chasms immense,
From which arise flames of sulphur intense;
The ground is shaken with pent up vapors,
And mysterious sounds crash and fragors.
The lake Avernus fills the volcano crater,
From which issue sounds from the bowels of
nadir;
It's circular in shape, and half a mile wide,
And mephitic vapors arise from its tide.
It is very deep, and its turbulent waves
Float only the skiffs of the underworld shades;
There's no life in its waters, or on its bank,
Every bird that flew over perished and sank.
It's surrounded by banks higher than cliffs,
Enclosing poisonous air of deadly whiffs;
And covered by forests gloomy and dark,
Sacred to Hecate, at whom howling dogs bark.
Burning brimstone and steam of lime arise,
And obscure the sun and blacken the skies;
And the thrill of terror and of desperation
Is felt in every crevice of this creation.
— 142 —
Within the walls is fierce disturbance wild,
To which deafening thunder would be mild;
A roaring crater of volcanic abyss
Is less turbulent compared with this.
And there assembles dense clouds of flame
That outburst, centered and expanded again;
And returned, retreated, rolled and repeated—
'Twas bedlam chaos fed in cauldron repleted.
There terrific screams of distress are heard,
And anguish that is by torture stirred;
And moans and groans of awful torment
With horror chills, like a fire torrent.
The fearful agony of voices in despair,
The thrill of palsied terror, as from a lion's lair,
With dread uncertainty and suspense over all,
Caused the ancients to fall, and on their knees
to crawl.
And here is the entrance and the cave
Through which passed every vicious shade,
And sacrifices offered to appease
The inferno deities, and them please.
These were Proserpine, Hecate, and the Furies,
The inferior deities to Mercury-Hermes;
And in earth and woods there was roar and
quaking,
And howling dogs snarling, and hill tops shak-
ing.
— 143 —
And before the threshold of Hades there passed
A group of beings who were outcast,
Throngs of Grief, and avenging Care,
Pale Diseases that poisoned the air.
Melancholy, Age, Fear and Hunger,
That tempt to crime a very great number;
Toil, Poverty, Death and dread Duress,
Forms horrible to view in their distress.
The Furies spread their couches there,
And Discord with vipers in her hair
Tied up with a bloody fillet round;
And serpents hissed from out the ground.
And with eyes that flashed like brands of fire,
And teeth that gleamed with vengeful ire,
Their faces drawn in lines of fierce hatred
wrath,
And the foam of bitterness marked their path,
They swiftly passed through the cave or gate,
And left behind passion, flame and vengeance
hate;
Their heads are crowned with live serpent's
wreath,
Each holding mottoes of the Harpies in their
teeth.
Aello held the legend: "Jealousy and hate";
Ocypete: "Madness and malice aggravate";
And Celene: "Ingratitude and selfishness";
And all carried: "Vulture's hunger for excess.
— 144 —
And great monsters,—hideous dread alarms,
Such as Briareus with his hundred arms,
Hydras hissing, Chimaeras breathing fire,
And all turbulent anger, wrath and ire.
And on the opposite shore of the lake
Is the dog Cerberus, always awake;
He has three heads, his necks bristle with
snakes;
He barks with three throats while guard at the
gates.
And by the gates stood an iron tower,
Where Tisiphone, the avenging Fury-power
Ruled with a rod that's heated white,
And kept guard every moment day and night.
From within are heard groans and sounds of
scourge,
Creaking of iron, as if a rack did urge;
And clanking of chains, those sharp clashing
tones
That freeze the blood, and the marrow! in
bones.
Here Tisiphone applies her scorpion whip,
And to sister Furies throws one at each clip;
The torture in this chasm, molten, torrid,
Is more than dreadful and worse than horrid.
And when with clang the brazen gate unfolds,
Hydra, with fifty heads, each entrance holds;
And here's Tityus, whose form is so immense
It covers nine acres in circumference.
— 145 —
While two vultures prey upon his liver,
It grows though devoured, his flesh all a-quiver,
So that his punishment will have no end;
He was not Apollo's or Diana's friend.
And Ixion fastened to a wheel
Ever whirling—the sight makes one reel.
He was rude to Juno, and for this fault
Was doomed forever to this black vault.
He is lashed by serpents at each turn,
Held by brazen bands that embedded burn;
And every time a circuit whirl was made,
A thorn was twisted in him by a shade.
And there's Sisyphus, whose task was to roll
A stone up a hill-top, this the devil's toll;
And when the steep was well nigh gained,
The rock was repulsed by some force obtained
And headlong it plunged down to the plain;
Then again he toiled, but 'twas all in vain.
Though the sweat bathed all his weary limbs
Yet all's for naught—just one of Satan's whims
And so he strove in never ending strains,
But accomplished nothing for his pains.
The most bitter penalty for a soul
Is constant failure to reach the goal.
And there's Tantalus, who stood in a pool,
His chin level with water that's never cool;
He is parched with thirst, yet cannot drink,
For the waters recede lower, and sink.
— 146 —
When he bowed his hoary head to quaff,
The demons would ridicule, dance and laugh;
The waters flowed back, leaving dry parched
ground,
And return to torture with murmuring sound.
Tall trees with fruit bent over his head,
And lowered their branches with apples red;
While pears, pomegranates and luscious figs,
Would touch his lips, and tempt with laden
twigs.
And here in famishing desperation,
And burning throat, closing respiration,
With food and water he can almost touch
But never reach, he strives, yet cannot clutch.
And when with sudden grasp he tries
To reach the fruit, it from him flies.
The winds whirl the branches o'er his head,
And mock his efforts and his dread.
He cannot assuage his hot burning thirst,
Or his hunger, though he begs for a crust.
While the vision of Pelops was ever there,
And the dread dagger—"Oh, ye gods, my de-
spair!
And there the location of Pluto's throne,
And there he ruled, but not alone,
For Persephone, the goddess of Death,
Directs the Furies, and their poisonous breath.
— 147 —
Thus the ancients described the Infernos, their
Hades,
Yet their hope was to dwell in the realm of the
Pleiades.
Their vivid imaginative conception of Hell,
Is much like that which superstitious moderns
tell.
—148 —
AN EPIC OF HADES
Come, gentle Muses, lend a strain,
Let Echo join in the refrain;
On events below I now shall dwell,
When an undesirable arrived in Hell.
When Pluto heard that he had come,
All Hades with hosannas rung,
For well they knew he'd come to grief,
And be surprised ere made a chief.
And to receive him they did prepare,
All eager in the joy to share;
Not long indeed had they to wait,
For soon there's a signal at the gate.
"Come in, said Pluto, "quickly come;
You're welcome to your furor home.
And he came in and blamed the Fates
That passed him by the Pearly Gates.
"You demons all and rascals small,
This fellow was at my beck and call;
On earth he was my card right bower,
Now give him an extra sulphur shower.
Then Pluto took him by the hand,
And led him near the speaker's stand;
"Silence, cried he, "and strict attention
And order keep in this convention.
— 149 —
To the late arrival again he spoke:
"On earth you said hell is but a joke;
But intuition, when by conscience taught,
Fears warning, and wish was father to that
thought.
"First of all I would on you impress,
That the rules here you shall not transgress;
You're here to stay and can't get away,
Therefore if wise you will obey.
"The gates of Limbo inward swing,
There's no escape for those within.
'Tis said: 'The devil should have his due';
This must be true for I have you.
"The abode of Pluto is thronged with many a
guest
Here at his invitation and request;
And when they would effect escape,
They find Cerberus at the gate.
"You were the agent of my throne,
For in worthy deeds were never known;
And since on earth you did your best,
Henceforth you'll be our welcome guest.
"It has been said, with some dissensions,
That hell is paved with good intentions;
Even this you can't plead in abatement,
Your intentions bad and false in statement.
— 150 —
"And when in distress appeal is made,
And there's prompt response and friendly aid,
Then to seek bankrupt court, and nothing loath,
Is to steal a friend's money by insolvent oath.
"Acts like these, and confidence betrayed,
Weaken worthy help when request is made;
This example marks the lowest level;
I'm afraid you won't make a decent devil!
"That you are present you can't deny or demur,
Though oft absence claimed the law to deter;
That you're here in person you can't deny,
At last you can't plead that worn out alibi.
"This introduces the late arrival,
And we'll proceed with the usual trial;
Observe the rules of strict decorum,
For order is the law of every forum.
Now with his tail he gave five raps—
This was the signal for assembly taps;
Each to his feet now promptly rose,
And joined with Alecto in the ode she chose.
They circled round in wild delight,
Knowing they would have a joyous night,
Formed ring by joining hands in front,
But left space for court, as was their wont.
He struck three times with his serpent tail,
Raised cloven hoof, and placed on rail,
Then crossed his hands to opposite horns,
And stuck out nails to resemble thorns.
— 151 —
"This is the sign of the double cross,
That he gave to those who by him lost;
They made him loans, and he made them
groan;
He promised bread and he gave them stone.
He stood erect and paused a while,
Looked at the new comer with a smile,
Folded his arms in retrospection,
As though recalling events to recollection.
He seemed lost in thought, in a reverie,
And to forget that a trial was to be;
Acted as if with a problem perplexed,
And not able to solve it, somewhat vexed.
He soliloquized thus: "I will concede
That I'm at a loss how to proceed; I am, indeed!
As I remember and know, the records show
But few of his kind or genus below.
"The Romans might say: 'This is a case of sui
generis';
I'll go to Cimmeria and consult Nemesis;
He is so treacherous and habits so tough,
Perhaps they'll advise the deep Tartarus gulf.
"He is a deceiver, and such a schemer
And unbeliever, as well as intriguer,
That his line on others is fraught with distrust,
And measuured by his own tape that's unjust.
— 152 —
"I'm impressed 'tis best to closely guard my
throne;
If he gets possession, he'll claim it his own;
He raised hell on earth along a crooked line,
And now I'll eive him a hell of a time.
SOMNUS
Then Somnus, who was all this time awake,
Tapped on his shoulder: "Sir, on you we wait;
We're here to attend at your command,
And ready to proceed with the case at hand.
Pluto stroked his chin with his scaly tail,
Which made a noise like a coat of mail,
And awoke from out his musing dream,
And came to himself and back to his theme.
"You've observed I was in a sort of a daze,
T,here're so many things my thoughts to haze;
Yet Pluto is always awake on his feet,
And 'tis said: 'The devil is never asleep.'
"It's a statement for which no contradiction you
find,
That the devil's workshop is an idle mind;
He is there at his best, to mold and to make,
And to scheme and plan, which ends in heart
ache.
"Now it comes back; I was about to say,
Before I wandered and lost my way,
That it might be proper to explain
How a trial is conducted on this plane.
"The story is wrong and I'll correct the
impression,
That mortals believe all here is subjection;
While this may be true, in a relative sense,
It is also a fact that we hear evidence.
— 154 —
"No doubt there're some who think our ways have
flaws,
That we grant nothing, have no order or laws;
In this they're mistaken, for every rogue
Is tried by a code that's here in vogue.
"The accused may plead to the indictment,
Defense may be offered, or be reticent;
The fact of being in hell is against him,
But that's his affair, and the former court's
dictum.
"Rhadamanthus, AEacus, and Minos,
Are the judges in these Infernos;
There's no appeal from this court of terror,
Nor new trial motions on ground of error.
"This court first adjudged priority rights,
But soon there were clamors and property fights;
Here was the first case of that absurd rot
Of dividing up means with those who have not.
"When we anarchists were kicked out of Heaven,
There was a hot time 'mongst the leaders
eleven;
Every one wanted to be the chief boss,
But when the strife ended, the lawless had lost.
"And such always have lost and ever will lose;
'Tis the experience of those who the wrong
choose;
Had I sanctioned order and right rule of
action,
I'd not be in hell, or one of its faction.
—155 —
"There's nothing in being a moral rebel,
But all is lost in being a devil;
Position is weak unless supported by right,
And order and law is the strongest of might.
"I'd rather be in a desert alone,
Than in this multitude and sit on a throne;
Office is honorable when rightly allied,
But a disgrace when wrongly applied.
"And if any on earth wants my job,
He can have it; don't knock, turn the knob;
And if a critic should say, 'I'm too prolix,'
Take my place and be in a hell of a fix.
Pluto here gave three bass profundo groans,
Three judges appeared, and oh the groans!
He then crossed index finger over thumb—
This was the signal of trial begun.
Then turning to the trembling rascal,
Who meanwhile with fear and suspense did
wrestle:
"Advance to the center and face the court;
This your last trial and last resort.
"The main issue to be tried herein,
Is not the abstract qualities of sin;
The upper court passed on him as an infidel,
And promptly kicked him out of its citadel.
"Evidence and pleas are now in order,
I'll appoint Hecate for court recorder;
It's my office to open and close the case,
He may interpose defense at any place.
—156 —
"And now ye Judges, it is for you to decide,
Whether or not he may ever preside;
The test to be made by your scales and bevel
Is he qualified for Chief, or a decent devil?
"This closes the opening statement of the case,
Witnesses are not sworn — this the rule of the
place,
The first court passed judgment without bias,
But this trial court is not nisi prius.
— 157 —
CACUS
Cacus arose and addressed the chair:
"Mr. Speaker, don't let us waste too much hot air;
He's not worth the time, as shall be proved,
For he is a cipher with the rim removed.
"He was no rated robber of my class,
But a back door artist, a hand-me-out pass;
His schemes were coarse, his plans were raw,
And lacked finesse that avoids a flaw.
"Why, he stole chickens, not for their worth,
But to gratify a tendency to do dirt;
Really he was less than nothing, as a fact,
Yet in fraud and low tricks a crackerjack.
"He was never skilled enough at any time
To follow my exploit at Mount Aventine;
I stole Geryon's cattle while Hercules slept,
And were it not for a calf I'd have them yet.
"I dragged them backward by their tails,
And hid them safely in my caves;
And when he observed their tracks that day,
He found them leading from my cache away.
"He was misled by tracks made backward—
In fact they were inward, but appeared outward;
He never suspected, until a young cow
That had lost her calf commenced to moo and
low.
— 158 —
"The low of the cow was heard by her young;
It broke through the vine wall—then I was done;
So with all my cunning craft in this behalf,
My schemes and life were lost by blat of a
calf.
"The best laid plans of men and moles
Cannot be hidden in their holes;
Each thinks he's safe from Argus' eyes.
And finds too late a great surprise.
— 159 —
CHARON
Now Charon came, an old man gloomy and gray;
All was attention to hear what he had to say.
He was large of stature, feeble, ill and
distressed,
And his long white beard came below his
breast.
"Mr. Chieftain, there's a new complaint to
declare;
I've a charge against that chap over there;
He flimflammed his passage by bogus coin,
And paid nothing for boat the shades to join.
"He ran this way, but never looked back;
I traced him here by his toe-in track;
He gave me a piece of smooth round clay,
As large as a libra, but worthless as hay.
"When Hermes led him to the river bank,
He appeared a passenger worthy of rank;
I told the price of passage the river to cross;
He said obolus in mouth, and no chance of loss.
"When I had ferried him to opposite shore,
He jumped from the boat with the aid of an oar,
Shook hands with smiles, and pressed in my
hand
Something large and smooth—he was artful,
bland.
— 160 —
"On the river Styx I've been the ferryman
And its branch, the Cocytus, since time began;
Numbers journeyed over that water road,
And all paid, except this green eyed human
toad.
"I have boated over many a rascal and cheat,
And would rather trust a horse thief than a dead
beat;
But in all my experience in this work,
He has the least honor, and more tricks than a
Turk.
— 161 —
EREBUS
Charon is the son of Erebus and Nox,
And Pluto is the son of Saturn and Ops;
And now comes the son of Chaos and
Darkness,
Known as Erebus, and noted for harshness.
"I ask your indulgence and leave to present
A few additional facts, as my complement.
I know he borrowed money from his friends,
And that he never meant to pay or make
amends.
"This he did on his sacred fraternal oath,
And to perjure his vows was nothing loath;
And when pressed for payment or compen-
sation,
He promptly plead the statute of limitation.
"Let due credit be given, and it should be said
That none like him now'live—they're all dead;
A few stray black sheep are found in most
flocks,
Yet it's the fine wool that makes the best frocks.
"The portal, though guarded by caution within,
Can't always be free from the Philistine's sin;
The bad will get in by specious pretention,
And tarnish the cause of noble intention.
— 162 —
"It may be claimed that a wrongful deed
Should be excused by man's abnormal greed;
Such is the fallacy the horse thief taught,
Who wondered how the halter in his hands
had caught.
"If your idea of a decent devil
Is an 'it', which is lower than your level,
And want a prototype of poorest pattern,
Then you've found your idol without a lantern.
"Should I be asked to outline or define
Two important subjects and these combine,
I would mention agreement and promise,
Which fulfilled, pay in profit and solace.
"A promise affords reason to expect,
But if broken weakens one's 'self respect;
An agreement is concord of faith and trust,
But if broken weakens one's self in trust.
"If untrue to self, then false to another,
Then attempt to cover by falsehoods further;
Falsehood makes cowards who themselves
degrade;
It weakens courage, and of self is afraid.
"Those that 'keep the word of promise to our
ear,
And break it to our hope,' thereby kneel to fear.
The moral grandeur of strict integrity
Strengthens the soul and the hero in victory.
"Though more would be accomplished by being
straight,
He chose lines as crooked as the figure eight.
I think I've charged enough to show
He'll make a decent devil here below.
— 164 —
ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE
Orpheus is Apollo's famous son,
And like his mother, Calliope, favor won.
He plays the lyre with such skill and charm
That those who hear dismiss all fear of harm.
Hark, such music that every ear
Attention gives to the strains that cheer!
The melody, blended sweet and low,
Finds responsive chords with the shades below.
Not only mortals are in rapture stirred,
But wild beasts are softened by the music heard;
Birds change their course to listen on the hills,
And all are charmed by sweet lyric thrills.
Of such was the music heard outside,
That Orpheus rendered for his bride,
While she, the loving Eurydice fair
Joined him, as in Paradise, free from care.
Pluto listened, and was much disturbed;
Over his back his tail he curved;
Then brought it well forward between each
horn,
And got on all fours, like a unicorn.
Then laid his tail back like a rat,
And lay down with arms spread out flat;
Then forward crawled with neck at full stretch,
And looked like a monster lizard wretch.
— 165 —
He looked in the direction of the sound,
And with cloven hoofs he pawed the ground,
And grinned, that peculiar cunning grin
That's known to deceit when a rogue would
win.
Pluto is like a few on the earth sphere,
Who look for trouble when there's none near,
And see in coming events mischief sent,
And would rather borrow grief than be
content.
And his mind is so cramped and suspicious,
He'll not trust a friend, because none so vicious;
And when puzzled, and his motives would
disguise,
It is observed he is prone to soliloquize:
"As a fact I don't like them very well;
Their songs and music have no place in hell;
Zeus-Jupiter gave them right to go where they
like
And return all right, hence I dare not strike.
"I've often wondered, and'am at a loss
Why he, the great ruler and Chieftain boss,
Made hell, then made me the master therein,
And yet I'm ruled by his dictum and whim.
"If he's to say who shall come in and go out,
And give them a license to sing and to shout,
Then I'm his slave to obey—that's about all,
And must bow at his nod and come at his call.
— 166 —
"He assumes to rule Heaven and hell,
Also the earth—which he doesn't do well;
And puts me in charge, as is very well known,
I think I'll start a little hell of my own.
"There's a crude inconsistency somehow loose,
Accepted by man, but rejected by goose,
That if there's power so great and so clever,
Why not abolish sin and the devil forever ?
"Neither nor both ever did any good,
For love will do more than fear ever could;
And those who have to be governed by fear,
Belong in the asylums built for the queer.
"Now, if right is always stronger than might,
Why does might often prevail over right?
And as Pluto and Fear are twins allied,
Then why resort to things despised?
"If profit is made of evil necessity,
Then its product is base—this is a certainty.
Reason and logic will disprove a fallacy;
They're mentors that teach the danger of
heresy.
"But some think he is very wise and strong,
And that he cannot do anything wrong;
That even Cypris cannot out do his feats,
And he loves to indulge in queer unique
freaks.
— 167 —
"He knows too much for one, not enough for two,
And he learns nothing, because he always knew;
He has a slight affliction,—'The big head,'
Never tires of flattery, nor is to vanity dead.
"Man is supposed to have more reason than a
toad,
Whose sense is never a burden or load;
Ignorance breeds superstitious loco,
There's nothing quite as bad in this Inferno.
"Why some things are permitted I do not know,
Or why mortals are inflicted with so much woe;
There is one thing that now comes to my mind,
Which if fraught with reason I cannot find.
"He creates reptiles with poisonous fangs,
Whose bite causes deathly pangs;
Then suggests liquid poison virus,
To counteract the eventual crisis.
"You've heard the story of the simple youth,
Who was caught picking borrowed fruit;
The watch dog bit him,—his name was
Levan—
Then he bit the dog to make things even.
"But as I'm seldom as authority quoted,
Nor as an expert on ethics noted,
My reasoning or logic will have little weight;
Few come here to find ideals lofty or great.
— 168 —
"Athena would hardly come here to teach,
Nor Aeneas for the Trojans beseech;
Neither would his Lavinia around here roam
If she expected to find Persephone home.
"When Aristaeus to Eurydice made advances,
She fled; looking backward with angry glances,
She stepped on a snake, and by its bite died.
Had it been Orpheus I would not have cried!
"I hate him to a degree of reverse respect,
Because he's always above me and is of the elect;
If I had him for a moment in my power,
He'd be in the bottomless pit within an hour.
"But they're coming nearer, closer to the gate;
I can talk no more to myself, nor longer wait.
Conditions are pressing; I must face the
ordeal;
If this isn't a paradox, it's hypocrisy real.
His saucer eyes with vengeance flashed,
And his tusks of teeth he fiercely gnashed;
From his mouth flowed froth, foam and drivil,
In fact he looked and acted like the devil.
He scratched his head with the tip of his tail,
Held head in his hands thinking how to prevail;
Placed arms akimbo like bat's wings in air,
And looked much like a vampire squatting
there.
— 169 —
"I have it; when I was on the earth plane,
I've seen suggestions control a subject's brain;
It's called hypnotism; this on him I'll try,
Few can hope with the devil's tricks to vie.
"I'll try the same thing in this realm of terror
That I've seen there, and along the same tenor;
And whether my followers be vassals or kings,
The deceit of the Pharisee I induce in all
things.
"A wily general by pretentious retreat
Will trap the enemy by his skill and deceit;
And I'll pretend that each is an invited guest,
And they're here by my invitation and request.
"And I'll give the high sign of welcome and
honor;
This will gain me favor and lessen their horror;
I'll handicap his speech by a suggestive cue,
That of all virtues, 'obedience' is best to pursue.
"And I'll give him a fine introduction,
And flatter—he'll think he's the whole function;
I may get him rattled and switch his theme,
And once side tracked he's trapped into my
scheme.
"As for Eurydice I'll entertain and amuse,
And tell her he's pastmaster of the lyre and
Muse;
This will keep her in good humor and quiet,
And there's no danger of her inciting a riot.
— 170 —
Pluto tapped his tail on his right horn,
And resumed normal condition and form;
He raised up slowly and stood erect,
And seemed contented and circumspect.
He grasped his fork, and the points he felt,
And around his waist with tail made a belt;
And now his fork and staff he holds up
straight—
This is the sign to open wide the gate.
And Orpheus and Eurydice came in.
Ah! there's a marked change in discipline,
For the shades oppressed broke all restraint,
While Pluto dare not heed or make complaint.
Gracious welcome and loud applause were heard,
For their presence had great interest stirred;
There're few ever entered within the line,
That were such favorites in Mythical time.
Pluto motioned him to the chair of state;
"No need of introduction, you know he is great;
He's true and wise, and has carte blanche
Into every realm he may come by chance.
"But in this instance he is not here by chance,
But at my request our welfare to advance;
He and Eurydice are invited guests and
friends,
And their visit a pleasure that no ill portends.
— 171 —
"However, it might not be out of place,
And this opportunity I embrace
To say, he's not only an orator,
But is also Jupiter's counselor.
"And that he is a famous musician,
And that he plays the lyre in any position,
And that he's pastmaster of all the Muses,
And that he never courtesy abuses.
"And that's he's equipped on any subject,
And that to help is his mission and object,
And that these facts are never disputed,
And that they're not denied or refuted.
"His counsels are those of a philosopher,
He's a poet, and also a biographer;
He abhors deceit, and his aim and pursuit
Is to be square and fair, and tell the truth.
"I'm not informed what his subject may be,
Possibly history or philosophy,
Or on the importance of obedience,
Which conserves order into expedience.
"With these words of presentation,
Which fully show my appreciation,
It's a privilege and a pleasure
To seek his counsel which we'll treasure.
Orpheus took his place in the circle large:
"Chief Pluto, I'm not here to present a charge,
But by your leave, and of this court en banc,
I'll express a thought, and be brief and frank.
— 172 —
"You are in the midst of a trial here,
I shall not be a witness, nor interfere;
A word: In passing judgment on man or
woman,
None should overlook that to err is human.
"I thank you greatly for this cordial greeting,
And I'm glad to be with you at this meeting;
True friendship, like music, will ever endure;
It's confidence and truth which never allure.
"If I believed only a small fraction
Of what has been said of my word or action,
I would be a monument of vanity—
From such a fault I beg your charity.
"A speaker is handicapped favor to win
When a loquacious chairman gets through with
him;
He'll premise and prologue, talk and then soar,
And though he talks too long, yet he'll talk
more.
"You understand I do not criticise
My host or this company—not in anywise;
In the upper world no doubt these ways
abound,
But on this plane I hope none such are found.
"Don't expect lofty phrases, but text simple,
low—
The deeper the water, the smoother the flow;
The louder the noise, the weaker the sense,
The weaker the cause, the stress more intense.
— 173 —
"Nor do not look for grandiloquent poise,
Assumption of sense in mere words to make
noise;
Nor the silent act—like an owl half asleep,
With a know-it-all look lost in wisdom deep.
"Prudence is to listen and with judgment inspect,
Nobility is character and self respect;
Peace is faith, and to be on good terms with
self;
Discontent is distrust, taught by discordant elf.
"It's true that if mortals would but understand
'Tis folly to disobey a just command;
There would be less tears or sighs of sore
lament;
Less remorse, and fewer errors to repent.
"Vulcan forges swords, and horns grow on Pan,
To safeguard the soul of an honest man.
Every force that tends to make man better,
First aims to break the evil fetter.
"If one would on his voiceless guide rely,
And follow its promptings and not defy;
If he'd obey conscience and its rule endorse,
He'd have no hell—which is nothing but
remorse.
"There can be no liberty without law,
Nor freedom if tainted with vicious license flaw;
Ability of government is evident when
It protects the cause and rights of all men.
— 174 —
"Obedience is the law of discipline,
It guards from ruin, chaos, and chagrin;
Where there's no rule or order, terror offends,
Where anarchy rules, Government ends.
"Should soul be attuned to the harmony of the
spheres,
There would be less selfishness, contention or
tears;
And if thoughts were ripened in the law of
compensation,
There would be more happiness in life's
relative equation.
"There's something here I do not understand,
I see words held out in a skeleton hand;
It's this : 'Keep the subject—obedience—in
mind,'
I'm lost—ideas or words I cannot find.
"As I journeyed here with Eurydice along,
She said I'd be called for speech or a song;
If a speech, I thought that on freedom I'd
speak,
If a song, the same text and your betterment
seek.
"But when admitted within the ring,
I could neither make a speech nor sing;
Your Chief Pluto gave such a greeting,
That in my surprise thoughts went fleeting.
— 175 —
"I could not recall what I wanted to say,
And try as I would all my themes got away;
I'm in a labyrinth, an entangled jumble,
And when I think I'm out, I fail and stumble.
"You observed that I started many a topic,
And abandoned each—I'm in a state chaotic.
When Pluto suggested the theme 'obedience,'
I felt subjected to a strange experience.
"I'm bewildered, and am impelled to declare
I see the word 'obedience' plainly in air;
It's in a dark cloud in white letters written;
I'm nonplused—with lack of will power
smitten.
"I'm under an influence, spell, or power,
I never experienced before this hour.
I realize now forces intrude and control
And urge sin and deceit that stain a soul.
"I am rambling, rattled and so muddled
And distracted, disconcerted and puzzled,
That Eurydice and I cannot longer remain,
And I may never care to come here again.
THE SIBYL
Icarus
Icarus, who had charge of the outside guard,
Proclaimed the coming of a favorite bard;
Now comes the Sibyl, the great prophet,
One who is seldom seen in Tophet:
"Chief Pluto, I come in by your consent,
Well knowing what my coming meant;
You desire me to prophecy or foretell
If the one you have in mind will come to hell?
"A prophet is not without honor accorded
Save in his own country, and there not rewarded.
Familiar surroundings seem to detract
From favor and merit, and credit distract.
"If results are attained by fair endeavor,
There're some who won't credit industry ever;
But will say: 'What luck, he was favored by
fate,
While I looked in only, through the open gate.'
"And should fair name and fortune favor the few,
The reward of labor to those honest and true,
'How in hell could he get it?' will be the ques-
tion,
'When we were boys there was no such percep-
tion.'
"I have reference to this culprit's pard,
His inside watch and your outside guard;
He was his crony on the upper sphere,
And he'll be his boon companion here.
— 177 —
 'Birds of a feather will gather together,'
And man is ensnared by his own tether;
He's known by the company he keeps,
And if bad is watched although he sleeps.
"Wolves hunt in packs, they are guided by in-
stinct;
In all animate nature this is distinct;
And whether or not 'tis for better or worse
Depends on the aim, be it a blessing or curse.
"You well know the fellow to whom I refer,
But I shall give his address if you prefer;
But characteristics and personality
Are more important than name or locality.
"Motive, intention and the purpose of acts,
And a good or bad name are material facts;
But I'm here the past, present and future to tell,
Not to pass judgment—that's your right, I
know well.
"But if you allow, and see what I can do,
I'll briefly but clearly describe him to you;
And from my description you will understand
He's one of your kind and belongs to your band.
"He is known as the fraud title shark,
And has the Minotaurus mark;
His friendship has the serpent's sting,
And his presence will suspicion bring.
— 178 —
"His sneer reminds one of a sick calf;
It's like a hyena when it seems to laugh;
His movements are like the snake we hate,
Or a polecat sneak at a hen roost gate.
"His gall is gross, but his soul is lean;
His heart is black, but his liver is green;
His mind is coarse, but his schemes are fine;
In truth he is nil, but his lies outshine.
CALLIOPE
Outside the gates are heard music and song,
The sweet chords of the harp enchanted the
throng;
And voice of the singer in harmony blended
With the instrument, and perfect time rendered.
The gates for admittance wide they fling,
And a passage is opened into the ring;
A messenger is sent with the request
That the goddess favor, and be a guest.
Calliope comes, and 'tis readily seen
That her coming attracted interest keen;
She is given a place at the right of the center,
An honor accorded to few who might enter.
She is crowned with laurels, myrtle and myrrh,
And draped with ferns and twigs of the fir;
Her bearing and grace, her pure cadence of
voice,
Show her a pupil and Muse of Apollo's choice.
She holds in her hands trumpet and scrolls;
Over epic poetry she presides and controls;
Her clearness of voice, with notes of the lyre,
Expresses emotion fit for the spheres higher.
"It is evident that you expect
That facts be stated of this suspect;
I know what occurred at times and places
When I was present with the Graces.
— 180 —
"And I'll now present and to this court show
Some reasons and facts why he is here below;
He is charged with grievous wrongs intent,
Which if proven will show a life misspent.
"Had he walked in the straight path and narrow
way,
And not the broad and wide where destruction
lay,
Or had not sown the wind in quicksand soil,
He wouldn't reap the whirlwind in this turmoil.
"The Graces implored and begged with love and
tears,
But he ridiculed their solicitude and fears;
When he crossed the Acheron, Hope bade
adieu,
And he's now forsaken in this purlieu.
"And as for charity, he never knew what it meant,
Or in its worthy cause ever spent a cent;
From Faith, Hope, and Charity he turned
away,
And to the Harpies went, and this his pay.
"Some think they're crafty and sly, no doubt—
But ah, their sins will find them out!
It takes more brains and a bolder plan
To be a rogue than an honest man.
"He's here to receive his earned reward;
He transgressed on earth with rare sang froid.
Wrong for a while may seem to prosper,
But fraud will always make a pauper.
— 181 —
THE FATES
Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos
"One spread the thread of life,
Another twisted lines dark and bright
And wrought it well together,
While the other at will would sever.
Clotho, the eldest, spoke for the three:
"Of sinister motives we are free,
And although referred to as daughters of
Night,
Our purpose is to bring out of darkness right
and light.
"We spin the thread of human destiny,
And cut it olf when there's necessity;
We preside over birth and life of men to the
end,
And advise that willful, wrongful acts surely
offend.
"Our mission is serious, yet solicitude is shown,
And it is our province to make this clearly
known;
All are warned that the trial at the Throne is
strict,
And judgment is passed on the record their own
wrongs inflict.
"Among other charges he was proved an
infidel,
And was promptly committed to hell;
Yet upon his arrival here he blamed the Fates
That passed him by the Pearly Gates.
— 182 —
"A spineless cipher blames others for his own
fault,
And thinks he can bury all in a dark, hidden
vault;
He does not credit the fact that nothing can
smother evil,
And is too weak to tell the truth and shame the
devil.
— 183 —
CLIO
Jupiter is chief of all the gods,
And Juno queen; to them Pluto nods.
He had nine daughters, and Clio who wrote
Attends this trial the facts to report.
She is first of the Muses, and with papyrus and
pen
Is the scribe who keeps correct records of men;
She presides over history, and her record of
facts
Is always accepted as their words and their
acts:
"I come here at the request of the Great Sire,
Although this mission and errand I do not
admire;
I go where duty calls, but I abhor a life
Spent in a place of discord and strife.
"I've listened with interest to Pluto's speech;
Did he ever take anything out of his reach?
This reminds me of the Pharisee trimmer
Who was glad he wasn't like the Publican sin-
ner.
"Should the question be asked, how comes he
here?
Your answer must be: 'I advised his career.'
The meanest of men is the hypocrite friend;
An enemy that's open has more to commend.
— 184 —
"The soul abhors deceit,—then trust finds its
grave,
The human heart is not a robber's cave;
Ah! the meanest baseness known to offend,
Is to be false to a confiding friend.
 'He who lives in a house that's made of thin
glass,
Should not challenge attack of stones or of brass;
We see through a glass darkly, not face to face;
Pass judgment on self ere on the rest of the
race.'
 'Tis true that his record shows a few credits,
But in the debits are too many demerits;
Of every mortal the same may be said
Who gamble in life, and take chances when
dead.
"Had he heeded instinct, the light of the soul—
That beacon that warns where are rocks and the
shoal;
He'd now be in peace. Ah, but few realize cost
Or appreciate blessings until they're lost!
"In closing permit one other word,
It's a saying that you've often heard:
'Don't claim for yourself all the virtues alone,
Let him without fault cast the first stone.' 
EUTERPE
And now comes Euterpe, one of the Muses,
A daughter of Jupiter, a goddess of Music;
Her sayings are epigrams pithy and terse,
And her phrases witty in prose or in verse:
"I understand and realize
This is a strange place to moralize;
But with your leave I would express
A few thoughts why some transgress.
"It's not my forte to make a charge,
Or of his faults speak or enlarge;
His worst accuser is abject fear,
That shows he recalls a past career.
"The wicked flee when there's no pursuit,
But the righteous dares the lion's tooth;
He alone is brave when backed by right;
Only cowards yield to evil might.
"The greatest test to mortal known
Is when he's tried before the Throne;
If he lives right, then his record clear;
He knows no hell, for there's none to fear.
"The Prince of Darkness is moved to grin
When he snares a victim into sin,
And urges mortals to grasp with talons round;
What's left behind when they're in the ground?
— 186 —
"None can deny, but all will agree,
That scenes like the present would never be,
If deceitful wolves were not clothed like sheep,
And deeds, not words, reward would reap.
"Should you ask for a semblance versatile,
And same thought dressed in another style,
Then you may compare and grant your favor
To whichever form you would savor.
"I predict that this text will be in books:
'Beware of false prophets, they're evil crooks;
They come in sheep's clothing, but are wolves
inside;
By fruits ye shall know them, and not by their
hide.'
"He who wears the livery of the Lord
To serve the devil, is a pious fraud;
He never fails to collect the wages of sin,
For long before death his troubles begin.
"A cow with milk may fill the pail,
Then spill by kick and lash of tail;
The wild blood in her veins and brain
Show savage tendencies remain.
"A man may all his life be fair,
Then by wrong act bring on despair;
Tfhis shows a strain of blood that's wild,
And sense no wiser than a child.
— 187 —
"It was not intended mortals should go wrong,
Or be led by influences bad or strong;
But for lure of gain, or power, or fame,
They sacrifice all, even a good name.
"There're burdens in life, and each has his load;
He struggles along to the forks of the road;
The tempter beckons to an easier way;
In weakness he follows—then is lost and astray.
"If fewer would hearken to the evil tongue,
And not be lured by what Sirens have sung,
And heed the maxim of sage and bard,
That 'the way of the transgressor is hard.'
"And when the tempter leads the way
To a high mountain, but not to pray,
And offers all the kingdoms that you see,
'If you will fall down and worship me.'
"Then if your answer is: 'Satan, get thee hence;
'Tis written whom I serve; you're a base pre-
tense!'
The devil will leave you, and behold
Angels will guide to the peaceful fold.
MOMUS
A voice outside is heard to thrill and sing,
And a passage cleared that he may come in;
The oppressed inside well knew that voice,
And by well known gestures show they rejoice
It is Momus, the gifted critic god;
Pluto fears the tongue lash of his rod;
He named him 'the shade without a head,'
And his criticism is Pluto's chief dread.
Momus has free passport into this sphere,
And Pluto couldn't prevent his coming here.
He is a son of Nox, the god of Night,
A deity respected and one of might.
He is a god of laughter and of fun,
Whose wit and humor great favor won;
He's well known and noted as a free lance,
And his coming regarded a fortunate chance.
His sallies and sarcasm and his satire keen
Is given a welcome here seldom seen;
His sarcasm cuts like a double edged sword,
While his satire scored until Thalia roared.
Whenever he found conditions grotesque,
His wit and humor turned to burlesque;
What wasn't consistent with reason or rule,
Without fear or favor he'd ridicule.
— 189 —
The silence imposed on those enslaved
Adds to distress, when a voice is craved;
And a brief relief from monotony stress
Is always appreciated when in duress.
Pluto would gladly him disregard,
And to keep him from Hades tried very hard;
But the unfortunates thought him a wonder,
And enjoyed the expose of each blunder.
"Mr. Pluto, in passing I saw such a crowd,
And all interested, and noises not loud,
I thought possibly a picnic was under way,
And a gala day on to which I might stay.
"But I see you're holding a regular court trial,
And this is hardly the place for song or my lyre;
The clash of the cymbal or blare thrum of the
drum
Wouldn't be considered good form by you or
your chum.
"I presume you expect a few stanzas of verse,
Not of the band wagon order, but dirge of the
hearse;
But the soul of a poet is full of joy and of
mirth,
And won't sing to bring tears either here or on
earth.
"Now with this understanding I'll give a few lines,
And ask you to throw off hate from your minds;
Anger and prejudice is bad temper insane;
An appeal then to reason is effort in vain.
— 190 —
"There're some things to which I would call at-
tention,
Perhaps overlooked, but full worthy of mention;
No where else can be found such conditions
unique,
And upon such subjects I prefer first to speak.
"At the right is Ixion bound on a wheel
Continuous whirling—this is a hard deal;
I think he'd get dizzy going round and round;
'Twas a dizzy idea this job for him found.
"A snake never gets drunk, its brain is too small;
Now figure this out why many don't fall;
There're some indeed who seem non-cephalous,
And if there's no head—can't see the ridicu-
lous.
"What is the sense of revolving around,
When there's much useful work here to be found?
There must be a vacuum where sense is in-
tended,
When such an absurdity is recommended.
"Power and force is motion applied,
This wasted energy should be utilized.
Now, criticism should be always respected,
When a betterment is plainly directed.
"The power that makes this wheel revolve
Is not apparent; this I can't solve;
If by nothing, and you this notion conceive,
Then you in perpetual motion believe.
— 191 —
"And if you do and that's your claim,
You have no head and less of brain;
But it's clear to a mind not blank
That it is turned by a crank.
"In looking to the left I see a high hill,
And Sisyphus rolling a stone up with skill;
When the top's attained, it rolls back again,
And ever and forever his task is in vain.
"Such wasted force and lack of good sense
Show business methods and grey matter dense;
If put to something useful, like making a good
road,
He could fill the chuck holes around this abode.
"But I can truly say this is not the first place
Where best results are lost in a like case;
On the upper plane it's often observed
The way business is done is very absurd.
"On this last victim it seems you have a sure cinch,
But while you can inflict him, he can make you
wince;
The joke is on you in some important features
That you can't deny to unfortunate creatures.
"For the requirements of existence you must pro-
vide,
Its necessities you can neither dodge or deride;
He gets something for nothing—that pleases
him greatly,
He strove all his life to obtain this completely.
— 192 —
"He should have something to eat that he may
work,
Else failure of strength will be excuse to shirk.
That he must be clothed, goes without saying
When Persephone comes here surveying.
"He's provided and furnished with fuel,
And sheltered from sun strokes or blizzards cruel;
No need of foot wear, woolen or leather,
It's hot enough here to roast a feather.
"All this being done, you've just begun
To realize the cost of your fun.
He's no producer—you're not such a pre-
sumer—
Fire, and not he, is the ultimate consumer.
"And now comes to my mind his chronic cold
feet,
Ever in evidence when time comes to treat ;
He's good in retreat and an expert athlete,
Showing heels of cold feet if friends he should
meet.
"If this thistle weed, for whom none intercede,
Had only believed it won't pay to deceive,
He'd be relieved from the debts of his deeds,
And now be freed from what wickedness
breeds.
"In reading the last few lines it comes to my mind
That critics may object to the use of double rhyme;
And that in serious poetry it should be little
used,
Lest the dignity of the subject be obscured.
— 193 —
"I'll admit, and critics I'll not contradict,
That's the rule on earth; but here I've a permit
less strict.
If they'll come to hell, they can write or spell,
Or get a license to suit, or to rhyme flute with
bell.
"And allow me here to state in this place,
That never a sprinter was swifter in race
Than this Mr. Manchu, when a sign of free
lunch
Would prompt him hot footed to out distance
the bunch.
"He's a full four flusher, a flash success,
And for gall and cheek can outbluff the best;
He'll put in hours in public writing checks,
And when alone burn them lighting cigarettes.
"He can make more noise with a dollar bill
Than a trumpeter tramp blowing up hill,
But when it comes to pay or making good,
Believes in absent treatment and quiet mood.
"I see Amphion over there on a rock,
He seems uneasy, I suppose it's hot;
He'll agree with me there's no need of flannels,
Thus you see great minds run in same channels.
"It is his privilege to be heard next,
And he'll find object lessons for a text;
As a satirist none him excel,
Hence Pluto has no room for him in hell.
— 194 —
"The time of my departure is now at hand,
Previously made engagements my time command;
To other realms I must my journey expedite.
I thank you for attention. To all good night.
— 195 —
AMPHION
As soon as Momus had taken his leave,
And order restored where so many grieve,
Amphion arose and is greeted with cheers,
But Pluto is sullen, his welcome is sneers.
"Mr. Pluto, and judges here assembled,
I believe your servant is remembered;
The privilege to enter and retire
Is given to few in this place of fire.
"Momus is a philosopher rare,
There are few in wit can with him compare;
I closely listened with profit and pleasure,
And his sallies and style are beyond measure.
"I take little interest in these proceedings
As affects the accused, or his pleadings;
Whether guilty or not, he'll be roasted dark
brown,
As on earth they kick a poor devil that's down.
"There's a saying: 'Misery loves company,'
You have what you like, a sort of farce comedy;
Company and a colony, that's what you want,
Hence misery is not lonesome in this horrid
haunt.
"You've heard Momus and his observation,
And noticed his criticism on compensation;
That he's wholly correct cannot be denied;
At lack of business foresight I'm surprised.
— 196 —
"If allowed to offer a few suggestions,
Subject to consideration or objections,
I'll submit propositions for your betterment
If promptly adopted in this settlement.
"The first thought that comes in this connection
Is the climate, and its dread conception;
The society you encourage here
Is prone to be rough, tough and quite austere.
"There is no water, and ice there is none.
'You cut no ice'; I mean this in more ways than
one;
And the intense heat, and the isolation,
Would drive the devil to desperation.
"The forces here, if properly.conserved,
But which are wasted and foolishly reserved,
If put to good use and made available,
Would bring crowds to seek this place attain-
able.
"You know great problems in economics
Are easily solved by wise quixotics;
'There are those who know too much for one
head,
But not quite enough for two who're dead.'
"It's likely you'll hand this same bouquet to me,
And most surely so if you get something free;
Advice is valued by the charges that's made,
And regarded worth only price that is paid.
— 197 —
"In every undertaking there's a risk,
And I'll take chances among you Basilisk;
While my advice is free and costs nothing to
tell,
If carried out there'll be improvement in hell.
"And when this is accomplished and known,
And the advantages of this location shown,
You should change the name of the place on
the map,
For no matter how good they'll suspect a trap.
"I met Boreas and Orithyia on the way,
And was asked to recommend a home place to
stay;
Now, if this place was all right and I could so
tell,
It would sound very rude to say: 'You can go
to Hell.'
"Now, fire and water when moderately used
Add to comfort; but if too much, it's abused;
Heat is caloric, the result of vibration,
And an elastic media of sensation.
"Great heat has expansive power and force,
And is a driving energy of resource;
So has water and air; Nature is motion,
And all things have use in earth and ocean.
"It is self-evident you have the heat,
And therefore the power to do things complete;
You control both, but get neither glory nor
pelf,
Like the snake that swallows its tail and itself.
— 198 —
"You've heard of the dog in fable who to his
master spoke:
'Your recent financial episode is a joke;
See how I hold my tail in my teeth,
That is the way to make both ends meet.'
"And there's the bear whose one coat of hair
Lasts him a life time without repair;
He don't care whether wool be coarse or fine,
It's inside the wool he prefers to dine.
"And you know the all night basso chorus frog,
Who practices his vocals on a log,
And whose conservation of resources
Would be an object lesson in economic courses.
"He uses his skin while it is of value,
Then swallows it and gets a suit that's new;
He is the ultimate consumer of his coat;
And though there's many wiser, yet he gets
their goat.
"I notice impatience and I'll come to the point;
Suspense is annoying, I would not disappoint;
I'll now tell you something simple, yet so ef-
fective
You'll wonder one head could be so subjective.
"Build several large pipe lines from hell to the
poles,
Exchange heat for the ice cold wind that there
blows;
And these extremes, when mingled and blended,
Will make temperate zones—my story is
ended.
— 199 —
Envoi
"Here's a typical hot air pipe dream;
It's useful and novel as a scheme;
No patent for idea applied for at this time;
It lacks only reason—you have the rhyme.
Pluto arose from his high chair of state,
Stroked his chin and seemed to meditate;
Folded his arms and stood erect,
And scowls, this shows he would object.
Around his neck he coiled his scaly tail,
This sign understood, he had something to as-
sail;
Conditions were not as he would like,
And as a rattlesnake he would strike.
"Ye Judges,—I'm impelled to voice my protest
Against the attitude some manifest.
At the opening the issue was defined,
And to the point statements should have been
confined.
"Much has been heard in the case at bar
Which was not germane,—this you should debar;
Wonder they didn't dilate on the rain stars of
Hyades,
It would have been as relative as criticisms of
Hades.
"It is incompetent, irrelevant
And immaterial—it's not pertinent;
No foundation laid; I object to opinion doubt,
And move you that all such be stricken out.
— 200 —
"The only question before you to decide
Will he make good, can we in him confide;
Has he qualified in the candidate class,
And as chief or decent devil can he pass?
"I ask and commend that this trial end,
And that proceedings no further extend;
There's a riot in Terra and I must aid and in-
cite,
I'm very busy; against law and order I de-
light.
The judges conferred and they agreed
That the plaintiff close, and no further proceed;
Strong charges were made, but the maxim's
old:
"One story is good until the other is told.
And Minos as spokesman for the judges three,
Addressed the defendant as follows; said he:
"You've heard the indictment, statements and
proof;
You may cross examine; tell your story and
truth.
The defendant came forward and said:
"This is my second trial since I've been dead;
I was tried first by the Court Supreme,
Found guilty and sent over Phlegethon stream.
 'Once in jeopardy' this court won't hear
As a 'plea in abatement,' in this sphere;
Your schemes and methods are unique and
clever,
But I can not define a decent devil, no never.
— 201 —
"But this is not the only place I know
That's short on ethics, and long on show;
I'll not cross examine, nor offer excuse,
Everyone knows 'twould be no use.
"I've not been long in this underworld,
But 'tis apparent from what's unfurled,
That on earth at least is one condition
Much the same as in this jurisdiction.
"There, is often found the political boss
And his henchmen—all must come across;
He rules the halls where laws are made,
And directs the course that will him aid.
"And there's the influential boss or king;
His word is law, and by subtle finesse pulls a
string;
The one above in graft plies well his art;
The one below in craft his counterpart.
Pluto now advanced with'staff in hand—
This is the sign of supreme command—
And in the circle's center took his place,
Turned down his thumbs; this sign closed the
case.
What the judgment was, we're not concerned,
And in due form the court adjourned;
He held the staff, arms crossed overhanded;
This sign was understood and all disbanded.
— 202 —
This is largely a legend the ancients of old
At their shops and firesides in tradition told;
But it will be observed that classic mythology
Has many phases of modern theology.
— 203 —
AN EPIC OF TWO WORLDS
In all the Greek myths Athena the learned
Was greatly revered—this by merit earned;
She was one of the sages to whom they referred
As teacher and counselor who never erred.
The Trojan prince Aeneas, son of Anchises and
Venus,
For valor at Troy gained the favor of Pallas;
And his skill and defense in the war of the
Trojans,
Made him a deity with Greeks and the Romans.
They were of the elect, and had power to go
Into Terra, Coelus, or Hades below;
Athena, a student, scholar and writer;
Aeneas, a statesman, leader and fighter.
They were companions and truest of friends,
And bound by confidence that perfect faith lends;
This trust in each other and mutual respect
Cemented a friendship, an affinis select.
On every mission of importance or note,
Aeneas was selected to go and report;
He'd say the right thing just at the right time,
And in the right way with native sense fine.
Upon the occasion of which I now write,
They are midst the scenes in the Land of Delight,
In the Golden Age time, in realms fraternal,
Where the ancients believe in bliss supernal.
— 204 —
Here truth and right prevail, not enforced by law
Nor rule of power to threaten or destroy;
The forest not yet robbed of noble trees
To make ships or masts for commerce or the
breeze.
No walls are built to fortify the town,
To keep foes out, or battering-ram force down;
There's no such things as sword, helmet, or
spear,
For there's no war or discord to engender fear.
The earth brings forth all things required for man
By nature's bounty, without skill or plan;
Perpetual spring, flowers and verdure reign,
And fruits of the earth mature without seed or
grain.
The rivers bounteous flow with milk and wine,
Fed by springs of nectar where grows the thyme;
The oaks distill pure white and yellow honey,
Aoid all else is provided, and no need of money.
This Heaven is allied to the Elysian fields,
Where reside the happy, and all sorrow yields;
And laurel groves perfume the balmy air,
And nothing disturbs to cause a care.
All objects are clothed in purple light,
That symbolic color of angel-spirits bright;
This region has a sun and stars of its own;
'Tis the Isles of the Blest, and there the White
Throne.
— 205 —
The song of birds and rhythm of the brooks
In harmony blend, in fields and in nooks;
Here may be found the music of spheres,
And that bliss that affects emotion to tears.
And here are found those known of yore,
The dear friends who have gone before;
Those loving, faithful, cherubic guides
That mapped the way to where Heaven lies.
The greatest measure of joy attends
When one's surrounded by his friends;
And the oldest friend, like seasoned wine,
Is most highly prized when tried by time.
Athena marveled at what she had seen,
The Throne of Peace, Jupiter and Juno queen;
At the expanse of beauty, the detail and charm,
And the solace and rest, and no alarm or harm.
And Aeneas, too, felt the glow of joy,
And in rapture met his allies of Troy;
He would in ecstasy his parent embrace,
Anchises, who explained the creation of race.
And he asked: "Oh, father, how can it be
That any from these tranquil seats would be free;
Is it that any can be so in love with life,
As to fear the coming to where there's no
strife?
Then Athena asked leave to answer the question:
"I may not agree with the sire you mention,
But if reason is a deduction of mind,
I'll venture an answer, though briefly outlined.
— 206 —
"The love of life is instinct inherent,
And self-preservation is nature's precedent;
To change from a known to an unknown con-
dition,
Should not be expected of mortal volition.
"Man prays and believes; he has faith and hope
That a happy realm lies beyond earth's scope;
That out of the grave will be lifted the veil
And Heaven revealed, where peace will prevail.
"A sensitive child is afraid of the dark,
And a mariner dreads a sea without chart;
A brave soldier fears a battery masked,
And a hero is not with mystery classed.
"A mortal will shrink when death summons the
soul,
For unknown is the way, uncertain the goal;
Down through the dark valley, led by spectre
and Fates,
Only Faith for support, and Hope the light
to the Gates.
"These are some of the reasons, as I understand,
Why a soul falters at coming to Elysium Land;
He leaves cherished ambition, be he ever so
proud,
And his clay frame and pockets, and even his
shroud.
— 207 —
Aeneas was interested in this philosophy,
And knew it was a truism of psychology;
And being himself a scholar profound,
Accepted the answer as apparently sound.
Meanwhile the Pearly Gates wide open flew,
And to the blast of trumpets a soul passed
through.
All Coelus arose with joy and acclaim,
And shouted hosannas again and again.
And bells of melody, with lute refrain,
Rang in unison echo when he came;
And every deity in the land of the blest,
Joined in songs of praise to their welcome guest.
Jupiter left his throne to welcome him,
Surrounded by hosts of cherubim;
And spread a lion skin under his feet,
This a token of honor a guest to greet.
He grasped both his hands in friendly clasp:
"We're more than glad you're here at last;
We were proud of you when on the earth plane,
And here is your reward—in this bliss remain.
"I do not know what we can do
To show appreciation great to you;
The world was the better that you lived,
Thus the mission of mortal was fulfilled.
He then addressed the assembled hosts,
Who vied with each other to welcome most;
The love they bore him, and great respect,
Called for silence, and speech at their request.
— 208 —
"It is a privilege great and benign
To join in songs of glory at this time,
And to extend in unbounded measure
The happiness and peace of Heaven's treasure.
"It is right and proper that you should know
That his life was so square on the plane below,
That when he appeared at the Judgment
Throne,
His case was passed on his record alone.
"He made mistakes, and who has not,
Whether he be sage or Hottentot.
But error is a fault that's blind,
And contrition purifies soul and mind.
"Truth gives courage, strength and self-reliance,
And victory follows strict compliance;
It's easier to be simply honest
Than scheme to beat, and lose and perish.
"Sorrow or pain the soul refines,
And peace and righteousness deifies;
Contentment is the soul of bliss,
And kindness seldom goes amiss.
"With a sincere heart I present to you
This desirable soul, honest and true.
He well merits this gracious greeting;
It is happiness to be at this meeting.
Aeneas said: "The proof is clear
That he's worthy of a haven here;
He couldn't have passed the Pearly Gate
Unless his line was fairly straight.
— 209 —
"But I'd like to know more of his work,
And how he left his place on earth;
At close of day, when he locked the door,
Does it appear that he would return no more?
"Man closes his task at set of sun,
And plans for tomorrow—it may never come;
The knight clothed in black, on white steed
mounted,
May serve citation, if he is counted.
"When he took down his cane, and hat and key,
He finished his earth's work before eternity;
And the marks he left and how they appear,
Will show if he thought the end so near.
"As a general rule mortals there
Don't for this change arrange or prepare.
They lay out their work and plan ahead,
And don't realize that they may soon be dead.
"He likely died in harness with hoe or tome,
And not with back towards the sky, a useless
drone;
He couldn't here have secured an entry in,
Tied to what might be called a lazy sin.
"Every circumstance leaves a trace;
Selecting the best evolves the race;
A mortal who's wise will observe and learn,
And from failure of others safely turn.
— 210 —
"I'm informed that father Jove requested
That you be with important mission vested,
And as special messenger to Terra go,
And observe how he left his work below.
"And leave a message or memorandum,
That may be found by search or random;
It may be left on chair, desk, or table,
Just a simple legend—I know you're able.
"You're best equipped for this errand,
And Zeus-pater grants the warrant;
Your notes and report we shall esteem,
And good will result, we know, not merely
deem.
"The wish has been to me kindly expressed,
That you leave an adage which may be impressed;
Now, should this not meet with your approval,
There'll be sore regrets, if a refusal.
"And make it plain, concise and terse,
A fitting motto for a hearse;
Yet a proverb for the living,
And a maxim aptly given.
"You will observe the Fates are here,
They will precede you to the sphere;
You may reveal yourself to them,
But to none other—this I commend.
"I'm highly honored by this commission,
And gladly accept, at your permission;
I'll go at once by the quick thqught line,
And hope to return in a short time.
— 211 —
"I don't know what I'll do or say,
But will think it over on the way;
You speak of being 'terse,' and of a 'shroud,'
I'll leave a message, and won't talk loud.
The Fates outside with muffled sigh,
Swept back to the Terra-world nigh;
Passed over mountain, valley, sea and plain,
The scenes of his earthly past to view again.
Then into a large building tall and grand
They entered rooms; but Death had shown his
hand;
There's a vacant chair, an unused desk,
And books, briefs, files and ledgers well kept.
A calendar hung on the side of the wall,
And data thereon for next day's call;
Some business letters are left unsigned,
And a contract drafted and terms outlined.
Documents held in place by paper weight,
And this: "Tomorrow I'll be here at eight.
While in letter crate is found unsealed mail,
And a letter on top of the postal scale.
There are pencils, pens and paper pouches,
Bank pass books, checks and cancelled vouchers;
Inkwell full, card rack and books in case,
But a mortal is missing from his place.
— 212 —
A vision developed into shape and form,
As vapors condense before a storm;
No living voice is heard, but the phantom
Is discovered making a memorandum.
It laid the message on the blotter pad;
The spectre seemed thoughtful, but not sad.
Then in a whisper soft, but very clear:
"I'm the spirit Aeneas you see here.
"Ah, few are favored to revisit the earth,
But my mission is to leave a legend of worth;
You'll find it on pad. The shade dissolved
like a cloud,
And this is found: "There are no pockets in a
shroud.
— 213 —
HOPE
"Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Proverbs XXIX :18.
Hope is the spirit of living promise,
And a ceaseless energy of the soul;
Inspired encouragement is its office
That freely enriches, yet takes no toll.
There are no griefs nor burdens of sorrow,
Nor disappointments, be they great or small,
But will be adjusted on the morrow,
For enduring hope will not fail or fall.
Hope is tireless to attain a purpose,
And wastes no time recalling past regrets;
'Tis dauntless though the course be perilous,
And a friend to courage, and fear rejects.
Storms may intervene and dense clouds darken,
And snares and mazes entangle and vex;
But to victory only it will hearken,
Defeat or failure does not it perplex.
Hope is a desire of some good expected,
And a vital force a mortal feels;
It is a promise by confidence directed,
And an inherent insistence that never yields.
It's spirit of valor that will never retreat,
Clearness of brain and buoyant heart,
Is never discouraged by defeat,
And an attribute that will not depart.
— 214 —
Hope is part and pulse of the heart's desire,
An ennobling enchantment of the soul;
An exalted purpose good to acquire,
And shirks not when danger calls the roll.
It does not harbor shadows or distress,
And reveres the Throne which gives it power;
It frees from bondage, despair, doubt, or duress,
And is solace and peace at the closing hour.
— 215 —
ATTRIBUTES OF HOPE
There are times in life when flooding fear
Gravely presages desperation near;
And dizzy allurements heart aches bring
And disappointments that chill and wring.
Clouds of depression are thick o'ercast,
And darken the light of joys present and past;
And truth seems crushed by falsehood strong,
And all appears lost and all seems wrong.
But troubles and worries are like a child who cries
And frets, fearful that tomorrow the sun won't
rise;
They're mostly borrowed and seldom repaid
Until time buries the debt in a grave self made.
The past, in retrospective memory's light,
Brings more rays of sunshine than clouds or
night;
The present, too oft fraught with bleak
despair,
Is founded on naught but worry and care.
The future is a wilderness untrod, unknown,
But the trail will be blazed and pathway shown;
Therefore, there's no good in doubt that les-
sens power,
But there's need of hope and faith in the
trying hour.
— 216 —
And out of darkness shines a light, a star,
Like a beacon to a lost ship afar;
Hope and confidence takes the place of alarm,
And reason and instinct will doubt disarm.
And when peace and contentment reign supreme,
And the heart beats in rhythmic joy serene;
And when truth is victor and falsehood weak,
Then the soul is thrilled by that which mortals
seek.
Should a desired prize be on a lofty height,
And attainment means sacrifice, strife and might;
Then Hope leads the way and never wanes,
Nor stops nor halts till the crown it gains.
Faith may trust and on any subject believe,
Charity may hold kind nature will not deceive;
But Hope is the balm and a vital force of the
soul,
And a ceaseless energy that achieves the goal.
Ambition may lose its eager quest for fame,
And discretion and prudence count the cost of the
same;
Caution may weigh the effects of a measure,
But Hope never falters to secure the treasure.
It is a sustaining glow, and a guide benign,
And to the soul of man a precious gift divine;
It implies expectancy of the good desired,
And satisfaction and contentment when
acquired.
— 217 —
Hope is the resolution of a mind that's brave,
And it never surrenders this side of the grave;
It's the bread of soul life, and of purity the
leaven,
A priceless endowment, a blessing from
Heaven.
— 218 —
SONG OF HOPE
The song of hope is a chime of the soul,
And a vibrant faith that controls the whole;
It is the music of prayer and peace,
And a psalm of promise which years increase.
The song of hope is a joyous song,
Its cheerful notes dispel all wrong;
The hope of the heart song instinct impels,
And instinct impels that this song excels.
It's a voice that's felt, but cannot be heard,
Like noiseless pinions of passing bird;
It's out of the silence, a message from Heaven,
A joy at dawn and a blessing at even.
It's the reflex of soul in the mirror of dreams,
And solace in which expectancy gleams;
It's incentive benign in peace or distress,
And helpful, enduring, its aid to impress.
It's a song that's wild, yet a soothing word,
It's serenely calm, yet to vigor stirred,
It's action of thought, yet rest to the soul,
It's patient, deliberate, yet reaches the goal.
It's the magic balm that heals every wound,
Without it happiness cannot be found;
From many a heart filled with sorrow drear
Gloom is banished when hope draws near.
— 219 —
It's a song of support and strength to the weak,
It conquers despair, it will not retreat;
It's a sword for the hand, a crown to uphold,
It's valor of conscience more precious than
gold.
In the infant's first journey from cradle to chair,
In the maiden's first fancy, this song is there,
In the youth's first vision of glory and fame,
In the last totter of age, this song is the same.
It's welcome in cot, or palace of kings,
It's in every phase that betterment brings,
It's promise inspired, filled with good cheer,
It's born with the soul, and sings at the bier.
It never forsakes, 'tis the staunchest of friends,
A brave faithful companion who always attends;
It is courage enriched by noble desire,
A song so divine would prayer inspire.
When the prayer is for dawn, then comes the
light,
When the prayer is for shadows, then comes the
night;
When the clouds darken, then stars will shine
through,
When the summons comes, then this song is
heard too.
The life of the heart is the song of hope,
A pulse which against sorrow will valiantly cope;
It never wavers, falters, or turns,
But steadily, clearly, its light ever burns.
— 220 —
This song of hope is our mentor and guide,
And as faithful as ebb and flow of the tide;
For courage and right lessen the weight of the
cross
First felt when a gain and last when a loss.
O Song of Hope, endowed with blessed charm,
Thou hast freed the soul from doubt and alarm;
In thy mystic language is God's voice of hope,
Thy song, the word that on the Mount He
spoke.
— 221 —
HOPE AND WOMAN
Mythology makes the first mention of hope,
Of all words in the language, of greatest import;
'Tis the life blood of the soul that never dies
While pulse is in body or light in the eyes.
A myth of the ancients, of Greece and of Rome,
Was Zeus-Jupiter, who was chief, but alone;
He was monarch of Heaven, but woman was
not made,
And to provide this essential he thought to it
gave.
So he made the first woman and called her Pan-
dora,
And gave her to Prometheus, so runs the story;
And properly enough she was made in Heaven,
Thus the bewitching mortal was fashioned and
given.
Here's a theme for a poet inspired,
Heaven, woman and hope, what more's required?
He's given time, place and circumstance,
And beautiful ideals for a romance.
The text and traditions greatly conflict.
One version is, she was sent man to inflict,
To annoy and punish by caprice and whim,
And to occasion an ailment known as megrim.
— 222 —
Another is that in good faith she was sent
By Jupiter, to bless and make man content;
That faithfulness, love and pure tender emo-
tion,
And prayer and hope, she bestows with devo-
tion.
Every god and goddess crowded around,
And the choicest of gifts eagerly found;
Each contributed to make her perfection,
'The gift of the gods' in rarest selection.
Venus gave beauty; Mercury, charms persuasive;
Apollo, music and tendency loquacious.
Thus finely equipped she was conveyed to earth;
This, according to Ovid, is her story of birth.
Prometheus had a brother on earth,
Which, as was Heaven, of woman was dearth;
His name was Epimetheus the great,
And he gladly accepted her for a mate.
He was cautioned to beware of Jupiter's ways,
She might be sunlight of hope, or cloud of his
days;
But he took a chance on this being of mystery,
And this the first lottery mentioned in history.
And the caution was not groundless suspicion,
Subsequent events proved the timely monition;
They had quarrelled about the use of fire,
And were persona non grata, hence his ire.
— 223 —
He had in his house a casket or vase
In which were kept noxious things for the race;
This she was strictly forbidden to open,
Or its contents know, and it must not be broken.
But curiosity overcame duty,
She presumed on her dress and beauty;
"A woman, she said, "has a right to look;
I'll get out of trouble by hook or by crook.
Again mythology gives the first instance
Of woman's disobedience and insistence;
For though trusted with a secret, she will tell,
And exploit a confidence, and do it well.
In later Hebrew writings it is said that Lot
Told his wife not to look back; she minded not;
For she looked back and was turned to salt,
And he lost a good woman by his own fault.
So she took off the lid and looked within,
And found it filled with plagues for men, and sin;
They escaped therefrom and crawled over the
side,
And scattered over the world far and wide.
She hastened at once to replace the lid,
And to remedy the mischief that she did;
All the evils took flight, except Hope alone
Who lay at the bottom willing to atone.
— 224 —
And among the pains and plagues that got out,
Were rheumatism, fevers, colic and gout;
And sore teeth—Oh, horror, nothing much
worse
That afflicts man, or more of a curse!
Those for his body, and as for his mind
There were envy, malice and passion blind;
Spite, jealousy, untruth and deception,
And all other vices in this connection.
This story much like the narrative later
Of serpent, apple, Eve, and Adam the faker
Who ate the fruit he was too lazy to raise,
And that he then had to work merits much
praise.
A streak of yellow is seen in the biped
When there's something doing, he crawls under
the bed;
If his knees are too weak to support his own
deeds,
He'll put blame on the woman, and show heels
while he speeds.
It may be of interest this text to compare
With Genesis, and the narrative there.
It seems very clear that in Ovid's days,
Jews were in Rome and knew Greek thoughts
and ways.
— 225 —
And the Tutors of Greece and the Rabbis of
Rome
Were wont to discuss legends of race and their
home;
For Mythology and Hebrew Scripture
Show close resemblance in text, tablets and
sculpture.
Another story is that Pandora was sent
In good faith by Jupiter, to bless man his intent.
She was furnished with a box in which was con-
tained
Her marriage presents packed and arranged.
That into this box every god put some blessing,
Such as beauty, persuasion, and a truthful lesson;
Music and art, grace, devotion and love,
Charm of form and voice, and tender heart of
a dove.
She incautiously opened the box
And all escaped with the speed of a fox,
Except Hope who remained in the jar
While the others scattered wide and afar.
This story is more nearly consistent
Than the former—Hope is truth persistent.
It's always faithful, constant, clings and tries
To encourage the soul to strive and rise.
And this is more with harmony allied,
For Hope is loyalty deified;
Such a jewel as Hope, so precious and pure,
In the same jar with evils could not endure.
— 226 —
And when she saw those evils flying about,
She, woman-like, cried and loudly did shout;
But alas, they were too subtle and fleet,
With speed of wings their escape they com-
plete.
Hope never leaves the wistful heart,
Nor abandons man, or seeks to depart;
And whatever evils may be abroad,
Hope will not join them, or the wrong applaud.
Oil and water never mixes or blends;
Wretchedness and hope are never friends;
Hope never in the same jar will remain
Or with evils class, or endure their stain.
Hope supports a mortal with faith benign,
Woman cheers and clings like an ivy vine;
A woman with a wreath, and an anchor and
rope,
Stands in a boat—this the emblem of Hope.
— 227 —
ON HEARING THE SONG OF A
MOCKINGBIRD
Of all the multitude charms in nature's loan,
That seem like conceptive reflections from the
Throne;
And fill the soul with joy by rapture stirred,
None appeals more than the song the
mockingbird.
The sweetest voice that is in nature known,
Is the kind loving word in tender tone;
And the sweetest song that is ever heard,
Is the lyric chirp to the mother bird.
Hope is an attribute of the normal mind
And so is faith; by them we shall find
Where happiness prevails and restful content,
In the promised Mansion of God's intent.
Instinct conceives this celestial realm,
To which the soul is guided by Faith at the helm;
There peace pervades the heavenly sphere,
And harmony reigns that is unknown here.
He who hears sweet music in brooks and rills
Is blessed with a joy which his soul fills;
And he who sees in every rock and flower
God's writing, feels His grace at the parting
hour.
— 228 —
When the soul is called and goes on its way,
Its mission fulfilled in this earth's day;
Should there be a requiem, or spoken word,
Let it be in unison with the mockingbird.
LOVE
Love is the soul of the human heart,
Its vital force thrills every part;
Its moral motive is never still,
For 'tis an attribute of God's will.
The best it gives and the best demands,
It brooks no thraldom, or locks, or bands;
It sanctifies, being holy, pure,
And consecrates when called to endure.
It encircles like an ivy vine,
And protects by faith that is sublime;
'Tis hope divine, for it lives and clings;
Even beyond the grave sweet solace brings.
The soul is a fire that darts its rays,
And through the senses vibrates and sways;
Love is the essence of spiritual fire,
And prepares the soul for realms higher.
By the light of truth is wisdom found,
And love and truth in the soul abound;
Instinct is light to immortal life,
And love is light in heroic strife.
Soul is the spiritual life of man;
Love is moral good will of the same plan;
And the mind has no concept of soul
That leaves out love as part of the whole.
— 230 —
SONG OF THE SOUL
The song of the soul is the love song for me;
'Tis the song of the birds, and the zephyrs on lea,
It's the song of the wave as it crests on the
shore,
And the song of the brook, or the cataract's
roar.
'Tis the song of the youth, the first glow of love,
And the song of the maiden with voice like a
dove;
It's the song of the mother to babe that she
holds,
And the song of the babe in the arm that en-
folds.
'Tis the song of the wanderer where'er he may
roam,
And the song of the woman whose shrine is her
home;
It's the song of the household when none are
away,
And the song of great joy when none from the
fold stray.
'Tis the song of sweet peace when hearts are
attuned,
And the song of tenderness with kindness
festooned;
It's the song that kind nature intended should
be,
Oh, the song of the soul is the love song for
me.
LIFE
Life often seems as full as it can hold,
And filled with more fullness than can be told;
And should fair success reward ambition
It's by endeavor,—not by dedition.
In its generic sense it has one aim
And it is this: happiness to attain.
And as long as it sustains any form
It favors sunshine—and not clouds or storm.
Creation is a continuous process
Of developing steps, which means success.
Life, like nature, has no conscious design
But, like creation, develops its own line.
Life sometimes seems like froth and bubble,
But two things stand like stone;
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in our own.
— 232 —
COMMON SCHOOLS ARE SHRINES
Our common schools bless all our land,
Each one is a monument revered;
They're in the van on every hand,
And guide to knowledge that's endeared.
In ancient times were many shrines,
And worshippers paid homage there;
Now schools are shrines on modern lines,
And honors paid them everywhere.
A school house dots the village green,
And there's the shrine of enlightened thought;
A church spire charms the rural scene;
God is with both—for there truth is taught.
— 233 —
A LONG VACATION
There was a man, we'll call him Smith,
'Twas not his name, yet he's no myth.
He was a careful business man
Who earned reward, as any can.
By strict attention to affairs
And constant grind, his health impairs;
His friends would say, "Now you have wealth
Take a rest and regain your health.
To their advice he'd make reply,
"Yes, I surely will by-and-by;
I'll soon retire and life enjoy,
And again be strong as when a boy.
"I'll go back to where I was born,
And breathe the fresh air in early morn;
I'll drive to pasture the muley cow,
And get an appetite I haven't now.
"I'll go to healing mineral springs,
And regain the health vacation brings;
I'll fish and hunt, my cares forget,
It never pays health to neglect.
"But I'm too busy now to go,
I cannot spare the time you know;
Next year for a long outing I'll hie,
It's some time yet before I die.
— 234 —
"I know full well and often read,
'When one's dead, he's a long time dead';
There's no fear that I'll wait too long,
Others have done so, but they were wrong.
While at his task next day he dropped,
The summons came,—heart action stopped;
At last he went on a vacation,
And it will be of long duration.