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 JCHOES FROM 
 THE WHITE ALOE 
 
 BY 
 
 Henry Nelson Bullard 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 The Library of Congress 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/echoesfromwhiteaOObull 
 
'X 
 
 ECHOES FROM THE 
 
 WHITE ALOE 
 
 BY 
 
 / 
 
 HENRY NELSON BULLARD 
 
 % 
 
 PARK COT.TiFGE PRESS 
 MDCCCXCrx 
 
 U 
 
•ECONO COPY, 
 1889. 
 
 38710 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1899 
 
 BY HENRY NELSON BOLLARD 
 
 ALL BIGHTS RESERVED 
 
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 JUL 2 A 1899 I 
 
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CONTENTS 
 
 By the old avhite aloe . . . . . .... 1 
 
 My sorrowed life 3 
 
 The avhite aloe . . . . . . . . 5 
 
 a lullaby 7 
 
 Just ACROSS FROM KANSAS 9 
 
 The annual ball . 11 
 
 Sonnet i. To her smile 13 
 
 konnet it. to a friend . 14 
 
 The GORILLA'S PREDICAMENT 15 
 
 The FOREST OF ARDEN . 17 
 
 December , . 19 
 
BY THE OLD WHITE ALOE 
 
 Swift the happy moments pass away, 
 Fast to night doth turn our youthful day, 
 Let us gather closely now and say 
 
 What we can to hallow 
 For the future time the memVies dear, 
 While the ghosts of pleasures past appear, 
 Of the days we've spent together here 
 
 By the old White Aloe. 
 
 Sad indeed the thought of parting seems, 
 Though ahead a distant brightness gleams 
 Welcome as the promise of our dreams 
 
 On the old White Aloe. 
 In these last few mel-ancholy days 
 All the future's dimmed by present haze; 
 Backward, seldom forward turns our gaze 
 
 By the old White Aloe. 
 1 
 
BY THE OLD IVHITE ALOE 
 
 Still it is a foolish way to do — 
 
 Spoil v/ith vain regret the forward view 
 
 And forget the many friendships true 
 
 That will ever hallow 
 All the present days. Come, let us tell, 
 While our mem'ries o'er us cast a spell, 
 Of the many friends we've known so well 
 
 By the old White Aloe. 
 
 Friends, farewell, farewell, we now must part 
 Tears are in the eye, and tears in heart. 
 Yes, we g^o, but friendship doth but start 
 By the old White Aloe, 
 
MY SORROWED LIFE 
 
 Crack, a struggle, and the shell fell off; 
 
 Quick the light shone through. 
 Sudden wonder and amazement came; 
 
 All was strange and new. 
 
 As I stepped upon my new-found legs 
 What a goose I felt. 
 
 I had only but a new home found- 
 In a coop I dwelt. 
 
 All around me did the chickens lie, 
 
 I, a gosling lass. 
 And my mother was no goose at all — 
 
 But a hen, alas! 
 
 Days passed onward but my feet were webbed, 
 
 I was out of place. 
 Still I scrambled with the chicks for food 
 
 Though of diverse race. 
 3 
 
MYSORROIVED LIFE 
 
 But one morning- came the awful scene 
 
 Which I'll ne'er forget; 
 At the bottom of the hill 1 saw 
 
 A small pool all wet! 
 
 With a sudden and a joyous hiss 
 
 I set off to run. 
 And the others all came running- too 
 
 Down to see the fun. 
 
 In we went without a single thought — 
 
 In the water cool. 
 Oh! how I enjoyed the sudden bath 
 
 In that pretty pool. 
 
 But, alas! when I got out again 
 
 Where were all those chicks? 
 
 Nothing could be seen but just their legs 
 Sticking up like sticks. 
 
 So my life is filled with vain remorse, 
 
 How I long for peace! 
 How much happier would my life have been 
 
 If they had been geese! 
 
THE WHITE ALOE 
 
 Rippling-, sweetly rippling-, 
 Little mountain song, 
 
 Gently, g*ently gliding* 
 Peacef ally along* — 
 
 List to the White Aloe 
 
 And its mountain song. 
 
 Tearing-, madly tearing. 
 Roaring in the storm, 
 
 Likeamig-hty giant's 
 
 Terrible dread form — 
 
 Fear the wild White Aloe 
 In the thundering- storm. 
 
 Sometimes fierce and awful 
 Like the swooping- hawk, 
 
 Sudden in its bursting*, 
 Quiet then to mock — 
 
 Trust not the White Aloe, 
 
 Treacherous as the hawk. 
 5 
 
THE IVHITE ALOE 
 
 Peaceful now its ripples 
 
 Like the morning* dawn, 
 
 With no thoug-ht of torrent 
 At your feet to fawn — 
 
 Fair is the White Aloe 
 In the morning- dawn. 
 
 Ever many memories 
 In my mind will play 
 
 Of the swelling- torrent, 
 Of the streamlet gay, 
 
 Of the glad White Aloe, 
 Smiling- in its play. 
 
LULLABY 
 
 Sleep, sleep my baby. 
 
 Sleep, ob sleep. 
 Mother is waiting near; 
 She will not leave thee, dear, 
 So sleep without a fear, 
 
 Sleep, my baby, sleep. 
 
 Hush, hush my darling". 
 
 Hush, oh hush. 
 Peacefully close thy eyes, 
 As daylight slowly dies; 
 I'll come if baby cries. 
 
 Hush, my darling-, hush. 
 
 Dream, dream my baby, 
 Dream, oh dream. 
 
 May thy dreams happy be, 
 
 And from all sorrow free; 
 
 Mother is watching thee. 
 
 Dream, my baby, dream, 
 7 
 
LULLABY 
 
 Rest, rest, my baby. 
 
 Rest, oh rest. 
 Angels look from above 
 With tender, watchful love 
 Guarding' thee v^ell, my dove, 
 
 Rest, my darling, rest. 
 
JUST ACROSS FROM KANSAS 
 
 Hot and'close and sultry 
 Burning off the grass! 
 
 How we wish the summer 
 
 Would more quickly pass 
 
 Till a cool breeze fans us 
 
 Just across from Kansas, 
 
 Many are the pleasures, 
 
 Spite of all the heat, 
 That the summer brings us 
 
 Though we plan retreat 
 Frcm the sun that tans us 
 Till a cool breeze fans us. 
 
 Cold and dark and freezing 
 
 Winter's icy blast! 
 How much time we're wasting 
 
 Wishing it were past. 
 How the cold unmans us 
 Just across from Kansas. 
 
10 JUST ACROSS FROM KANSAS 
 
 Yet it is the winter 
 
 Brings the g-lassy ice 
 
 And we spend the hot days 
 Dreading- mercury's rise 
 
 Till a cool breeze fans us 
 
 Just across from Kansas. 
 
AT THE ANNUAL BALL GIVEN UNDER THE 
 AUSPICES OF THE ASSOCIATION OF 
 INDEPENDENT MERMAIDS 
 
 As soon as the clamshells begaa to close 
 The invited maidens set out with their beaux 
 And hurried along- so as not to be late. 
 For the clams all retire at a quarter to eight, 
 And at eight the dancing was sure to begin 
 With laughter and rollicking clamor and din. 
 
 Now this was the dance to which every one went 
 Who was ever on fun or jollity bent. 
 All the girls who on Saturday evening you see 
 Swimming and diving and flirting and free, 
 And all the young men so gallant and gay 
 Who sit up all night and sleep all the day. 
 Both handsome and homely, beautiful — all 
 Are sure to be out at the Annual Ball. 
 
 11 
 
12 THE ANNUAL BALL 
 
 The music was fine and the dancing was great 
 And all went on smoothly till finally Kate, 
 
 The pride of the ocean, the queen of the sea, 
 Had a dance with John Lobster — a dandy was he! 
 All dressed in a dress-suit of satin dark green 
 As hmdsome a lobster as ever was seen. 
 
 But she danced him so hard and so long- that the 
 
 heat 
 Turned that beautiful lobster as red as a beet. 
 The excitement that followed was awful, for all 
 The illustrious guests in Sea Bottom Hall 
 
 Were rattled, and one in his fright set his heel 
 Oa the delicate tail of th' electrical eel 
 And instantly darkness descended o'er all 
 Aid thit was the end of the Annual Ball. 
 
SONNET 
 I 
 
 TO HER SMILE 
 
 111 ne'er forget when first you passed my way 
 
 And first I saw that sunny smile so sweet. 
 
 I turned and followed fast on willing* feet 
 And printed on my mind the hour, the day. 
 I had been sad before but then was gay 
 
 When I felt sure my questioning glance did meet 
 
 An answering look that told me you would treat 
 My boldness kindly and with smiles repay. 
 I stand and gaze into those sweet blue eyes 
 
 And feel all sorrow is assuaged at last 
 As noonday sun the morning dewdrop dries 
 
 Andwarms this whirling ball, thedampnightpast. 
 I now can dare to boast of this my prize — 
 
 The right to cause your smile, 111 e'er hold fast. 
 
 13 
 
SONNET 
 II 
 
 TO A FRIEND 
 
 A cloud oppressed me and I felt aloae; 
 
 I knew not why upon me did descend 
 
 That g-loom. I felt deprived of every friend. 
 And then I thou^-ht of you. A clear sweet tone, 
 Sounding- aloud through all the discord grown 
 
 So common in my heart that without end 
 
 The dread despondency increased, did send 
 Assurance that there was a friend, mine own. 
 Ah, love is meant to cheer the weary soul! 
 
 So when I feel discouraged and downcast 
 I turn not to the Persian's sparkling bowl, 
 
 I rise and gladly clasp affection fast 
 And feel that you, though ages swiftly roll, 
 
 Will be a faithful friend unto the last. 
 14 
 
THE GORILLA'S PREDICAMENT 
 
 There was a GDrilla of desert-wide fame, 
 Of hideous face, and most musqular frame, 
 Who went for a visit to Congo Free State, 
 Sent for by his monarch, King Leo the Great. 
 He was one of a party made up for the trip — 
 Crocodile, with his great alligator-skin grip; 
 
 And that large dripping animal there at his side, 
 With a bag of tough Hippopotamus hide; 
 And towering o'er all was the elephant's head. 
 Dyed early that morning a beautiful red. 
 
 Their guide was an ape from Timbuctoo, 
 Whose face wore a tired and thin look, too, 
 Who seemed to keep watch on the elephant there. 
 And again and again would tear his hair 
 
 And mutter when no one was looking as though 
 He would kill him quick could he bigger grow. 
 
 15 
 
16 THE GORILLA'S PREDICAMENT 
 
 All went on in peace, for a week or more 
 When the elephant came in all covered with g'ore, 
 And out of his mouth hung- the tail of an ape. 
 Then the guide, with his face twisted all out of 
 shape, 
 Leaped straight with a roar at the elephant's head — 
 New reddened with blood of the ape that was dead. 
 Deep into the tenderest part of the beast 
 He buried his teeth and never released 
 His grip, till the elephant, snorting with pain, 
 Dashed away in the desert and never again 
 
 Were they seen by the party who hunted all day, 
 But both guide and companions were vanished 
 away. 
 All were lost in the desert, alone in the sand, 
 With no one to lend them a beckoning hand. 
 
 In the worst fix of all, the Gorilla was placed — 
 'Twas far the worst problem he ever had faced 
 And his tail curled in fright, as he thought of the fate 
 That awaited him surely in Congo Free State. 
 
 So he drowned all hissorrow by getting real drunk 
 For he'd packed all his clothes in the elephant's 
 trunk. 
 
THE FOREST OF ARDEN 
 
 I sat alone at twilight 
 
 And dreamed over my books. 
 It seemed to me I wandered 
 
 Near sweetly sing-ing* brooks. 
 I thoug-ht they spoke in languag-e 
 
 I'd never heard before; 
 But yet I knew the message 
 
 And longed to gather more 
 Of the flowers beside the water 
 
 That seemed the spoken words 
 Let fall by the brook beside me. 
 
 Above the brook the birds 
 Were surely speaking to me. 
 
 The very stones awoke 
 And seemed to add their voices. 
 
 At once all nature broke 
 Into a wild glad chorus 
 
 Accompanied by the trees 
 With all their branches waving 
 
 In answer to the breeze. 
 17 
 
18 THE FOREST OF ARDEN 
 
 I ne'er had heard those voices 
 
 Until that summer night; 
 A scene like that had never 
 
 Spread out before my sight; 
 But I knew at once the meaning 
 
 Of words, of notes, of tune 
 And I dreamed of all I longed for 
 
 That silent night in June. 
 I had read of Shakespeare's forest; 
 
 I had longed to visit there 
 Amid the trees of Arden 
 
 Beside the clear brooks, where 
 One feels the touch of nature. 
 
 And knows as he is known; 
 Where all of the best within us 
 
 Answers in perfect tone 
 To every song of heaven, 
 
 To every thought below. 
 To all earth's joy and gladness, 
 
 To every call of woe. 
 
 Go not to seek the Forest; 
 
 It is no distant goal. 
 Ideal, a dream, but real, 
 
 It lies within your soul. 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 Remember, remember the month of December, 
 
 And all that it bring-s us of joy and good cheer, 
 Its sleighing and riding, its skating and sliding, 
 
 The pleasures it gives as it closes the year. 
 As yearly it meets us with gladness it greets us 
 
 And tells us that Christmas is drawing quite near 
 With mistletoe, holly, and company jolly. 
 
 And all the rejoicing of this time of year. 
 'Tis the time of all seasons which has the best reasons 
 
 For making us merry and free from all care. 
 For where is the fellow whose heart does not mellow, 
 
 At sight of the turkey and Christmas-tide fare. 
 Though raining or blowing, though freezing or snow- 
 
 We're now going home to spend Christmas time 
 there. 
 With father and mother and sister and brother. 
 
 Relations and friends, all for whom we most care. 
 From our College cares turning, the Yule log, bright 
 burning. 
 Will keep from our fireside the storm bleak and 
 drear. 
 For Santa Glaus binds us wherever he finds us. 
 To spend with our loved ones these holidays dear. 
 
 19 
 
JUL 21 1899 
 
LIBRI4RY OF CONGRESS 
 
 015 906 045 7 %