PS 3525 . fl2755 m 1921 Copy mil iiiiiiiiiiiiiig Melodies and Mountaineers Isabella McLennan McMeekin \m\r^\i il:!i;l Book. A 2( 7 5"f f^^- 10 nu COPiTOGHT DEPOSm MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS CQ < u a o Melodies and Mountaineers By • Isabella McLennan McMeekin ik 1921 THE STRATFORD CO., Publishers Boston, Massachusetts Copyright, 1921 The STRATFORD CO., Publishers Boston, Mass. NOV 25 192/ • • • • • • The Alpine Press, Boston, Mass., U. S. A. §)C!.A627903 Ai\^ // is with fond affection that I dedicate these Verses to the Folk of Line Fork, Letcher County, Kentucky- J[0abeUa Mtilmmn inrineehtn Contents Page Music of Mountains 1 Lullaby } . 2 Summer Is Green . 3 Mountain Peace . . 4 A Song . 5 Stormy Night . 6 Fairy Wind . 7 Compensation . 8 Rythm . . . 9 Grey Winter Trees . 10 Only the Road . 11 The Manuscript . 12 Over the Mountains . 13 Depression . 14 A Thought . 15 Spring Song . . 16 Sleeping Shadows 17 Autumn Song 18 CONTENTS Page Green Cheese 19 Young April 20 Fate 21 London Bridge Has Fallen Down . . 22 Promise ....... 23 Rose Song . . . . . . .24 Happiness 25 The Blind Man 26 The Passing 27 Beyond , . .28 The Answer 29 My Lesson 32 The Gleaners 33 Heaven and Hell 34 The Woman's Work . . . . .35 Aunt Katie 36 Uncle Henry 37 Emma 39 Orpha 40 Johnnie .41 Bessie 42 Page Maggie 43 Nance .... . 44 Dexter .... . 46 Coverlets . 48 The Working . 50 Blossoms ) . 52 Sunset . . 53 Blue Loveliness . . 55 Ballads and Songs . 56 "Will-o-the-Wisp . . 57 Contentment . 58 Music of Mountains Music of Mountains And song of the Hills, Rhythm of Forests And tune of the Rills. The dark is a drum The wind is a flute, Silence is fingering The strings of her lute. Immortal the singing Yet mortal ones may Hear vaguely its echo At dawn o' the day. [I] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Lullaby Little One, sleep, Shadow wings creep. Sleepy One, sleep Here in the nest. Little One, dream. Forest fires gleam. Dreamy One, dream Safe and at rest. Softly I sing. Softly I swing. Loving, I sing Yon at my breast. [^] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Summer Is Green Summer is green, Winter is white, Daylight is golden, And blue is the night. Ships on the sea Venture and pass, Luck to the sailor! Love to his lass ! Yellow and grey Butterflies roam, Dear is the fire-lit Hearth of my Home. [3] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Mountain Peace Mountain peace Is like a flower Whose one brief hour Enhance its dear loveliness. Fragrance sweet As mignonette Can we forget Or ever lose its hauntingness ? [4] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS >> A Song ^'Adam delved And Eve span, It shall end As it began. ''Gay go up And gay go down, The dusty road Leads but to town. ''Howdy, Stranger, Spend the day," When Judgment's coming Who can say? yf [5] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Stormy Night ^Tis such a night of wind and rain As city folk will never know, For what dream they, who 're safe at home Of how the storm may Grow and Grow ? A creature it of mighty strength How hungrily the great beasts roar. And Loneliness, a frightened child. Is standing there, beside my door. [6] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Fairy Wind Fairy Wind, From Wonderland, I see You pass And kiss my hand. [7] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Compensation The golden leaves Float from the autumn trees And drop casually To the ground. One moment They have of Freedom, Before it They were bound, After it They shall rot, Are they the less golden For all of that? [8] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Rythm The wind blows forever, The river flows on, Singing, it never Doth vary its song. |9l MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Grey Winter Trees Oh stark and lonely trees Who make me think Of hungry children Crouched together Comfortless, Are you the same As those most proud and radiant Courtiers, To whom I curtesied In green July? [10] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Only the Road — Only the Road My longing knows, And It will not tell Where my spirit goes. [II] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS The Manuscript A turquoise sky And a silver sea, Three painted gulls And a cedar tree. Unfinished sketch In a manuscript The artist paused E'er the brush was dipped. Another stroke And a huge grey sea Will cover the gulls And the cedar tree. As life was blue In my childhood's age Will ink smear black On the ''finis" page? [12] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Over the Mountains Over the mountain, (Sing, sing low) Over the hill. Springtime is singing, (Soft and low) As maidens will. Only her lovers (Still, be still) Hear aught of the singing (Soft and low) Over the hill. [^3] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Depression Black and huge The Mountains lie, Dying Beasts Beneath the sky. Impotent And little, I Pity them. And weary, sigh. [M] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS A Thought A single flower That scents an hour Of drab reality Is proven worth Of destined birth And of Christianity. [15] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Spring Song The little birds Sing roundelay, And gayly make A holiday. The vagrant winds Like children run And romp beneath The morning sun. My heart is glad For nothing more Than that the spring Is at the door. [i6] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Sleeping Shadows Under the trees The shadows lie Like tired children Sleeping after play. Earth is their Mother And she sings them lullaby. Flowers are sweet And forests green, Winds are soft And dreams come true, Shadow is a velvet cloak And sleep, dear heart, beneficent. [17] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Autumn Song Oh scarlet leaves Are lovely things, Which Autumn as A favour brings. My happiness Is glad and sings, For scarlet leaves Are lovely things. [i8] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Green Cheese I'll crumble yon pallid moon And build me castles In far off Spain, A galleon cloud Shall bear me thence Adventuring Through black and gold Enameled nights Like this, Whose spell Is as a cloak Enfolding me. [19] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Young April Young April is a charming maid, But newly come to town, I met her in a forest glade And stopped to praise her gown. A gorgeous frock of palest green Methought it passing fair, '^Perhaps she had to Paris been, Or was it sent from there T' She laughed and shook her pretty head, (A most engaging elf) ''Ah, no, young Sir" she coyly said, ''I made it all myself." [20] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Fate Every seed brings forth a flower, Every love, one perfect hour, Therefore take what the Gods may send In recompense of the bitter end. [21] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS London Bridge Has Fallen Down London Bridge has fallen down, Still the River flows; Hopeful hearts go up to Town, Still grey sorrow grows. Silver bells are very sweet Up a country lane, Have you heard the broken feet Stumbling after gain? Sing a song of sixpence, Oh And a scarlet coat, We who found the sixpence know It wasn't worth a groat. [22] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Promise The River hurries by On silver sandled feet, There's promise in the sky That He and Love shall meet. [23] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Rose Song ''Roses are sleeping And night winds sigh, Cease from their weeping E'er Life flow by/' ''Roses red Soon lie dead, "Why should I cease my weeping? "Each new spring Will roses bring, Not dead they lie. But sleeping." Heart that is broken, Forget thy pain, God sends for token Roses again." [24] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Happiness Ring her round with roses, Roses white and gold, Crown her head with roses, My love is white and gold. Make a song of gladness, Sing it now with me, I am filled with gladness, My love is here with me. [25] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS The Blind Man 'The Spring, you say is here? Ah, yes, I smell the April wind. You found some violets in the wood, And all the jonquils are in bloom? They are yellow, like the sunshine, I remember that. I will sit here, On the bench beside the door, Tell me of them once again. White violets And rows of golden jonquils Standing upright, in the good brown earth, I saw them once Myself." [26] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS The Passing One day in September The summertime passes, Suddenly hearing Her skirts in the grasses, I wake from my dreaming. But scarcely A shadow has shifted, I wonder If summer was passing. Or was it my childhood? What matter? I'm ready, Fond youth and frail summer. Adieu, Soon shall come winter, and with it My work. [27] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Beyond Open moor and spacious sky, The haze of blue September, In a dark grave I must lie But this I shall remember. m MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS The Answer Last night I listened While the people talked. They said, ''That mountaineers Were brutal, That feuds were merely politics, And there was no Romance ; Should they, therefore, show you Truly, As photographed in prose. Or, rather. Sugar-coat you For the Public Fancy?" They talked as if you were ''Exhibit A," Rather are you Like the definition some one gave Of Woman, "Like the rest of the world. But one degree more human," You are not as feather-fine [29] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS As last night's Folk, Yet are You As True, And Good, And sometimes — Beautiful, As They. Your hospitality Of bread. And beans. And ''Spend the Night '^ And ''Come again," Is more sincere than theirs. You're trigger-quick. But trigger-kind; Moon-shine drunk. But who has heard Of Mountain Funk? Philosophers and Poets Weavers and "Workers, You and They Are much alike. What man was there Who has not, Within his heart, Agreement with your singing? Beef steak when I'm hungry, Corn-licker when I'm dry. < ( [30] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Pretty women when I'm lonely And Heaven when I die." This is my answer, And this my song, Is their 's a better one? [31] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS My Lesson They taught me many things Beyond the Land of Copy Books, These Mountaineers, To whom I owe a debt Of Love. To rise at five o'clock, To build the fire, And cook whatever food there was, To leave the house Ship-shape, And get to school on time, To salute My flag, And teach the lesson for the day. To enjoy utterly The good hot dinner Which a neighbor cooked for us. To kill snakes, To chop small trees. And watch for ''sang. To work all day And sleep all night, In quietness Among the hills. [32] >> MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS The Gleaners They are old and grey Though not with years, Their backs are bent with weariness And yet their youth Was yesterday, A tragic end, you say? And yet Though tired with life, They once did live. Were young, till dirt and toil Parched lands and ugly pain Clutched at their throats And choked Young lovliness. Once, but yesterday, They sang. It is those, Drones of the world. Painted dummies. Velvet clad and lustreless, For these your pity. Who having never lived. Do not grow old. [33] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Heaven and Hell Battle, Murder And Sudden Death. Beauty That thrills With every breath. Such are the mountains And such their folk, God is their Vision But Hell their Yoke. [34] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS The Woman's Work Kill a sheep, And pack him in, The men must eat When they have worked, Beans and corn bread, Cucumbers And onions. Honey and sour milk, Coffee, strong coffee, Fill the cups. Men who grub and haul. Who swing the mattock and the ax. Who cut great logs And drag them. They are hungry folk. Go, kill the sheep. The kittle 's on the boil. [35] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Aunt Katie She is bent and old, Life and its work Have bowed her head And made deep wrinkles in her patient face.. Necessity is a stern Master He has stood behind her With a whip, Poverty Dirt And Weariness, A meek submittal Because there was no other way. Are there compensations? Yes, there must be For her face is kindly And goodliness is in her eyes, But what they are I cannot say. May Heaven grant her Peace And Joy. [36] c v u - FN o C CC u o u J H c >> c X Ji c D 4-1 CO c < MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Uncle Henry Uncle Henry is Aunt Katie's man And her companion, Old Age And Drudgery Have stood beside them, Yet at evening When they tilt back their chairs, (Rush bottom ones, caned by his hand) And sit in the doorway. Smoking their pipes And gazing Into the purple distance Where the mountains fade, Then there is another guest For I watched and saw him enter, Up the steep and crooked path He climbed. And stood beside the door. Thev smiled [37] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS And called him ** Friend" Nor minded that his name Was Death, For well they knew, that through the years He had been Love. [38] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Emma Emma lives over the mountain And walks alone, Between its tall trees, On her way to school. She is silent, Quaint and very solemn In her new red calico dress. The other children Do not play with her. She sits in lonely solitude Dreaming of the Little Folk Who dwell in the forest And walk with her Over the mountain. They are her Friends, These books And boisterous ones Are shadows. She sees them, that is all. Her spirit walks alone Child, she is, of mountain quietude Whose cloak is all of dreams. [39] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Orpha Orpha was sixteen And quite conscious of the fact. She had a georgette waist, a rhinestone comb And a ruby ring, ( The stone was pink glass, but still it was A Euby Ring,) Her beau had given it to her And it meant LOVE. He went to Oklahoma And the girl Found money and followed Him Across the Mountain He had left and she was too shy To buy a ticket, So she came home again. The Ruby Ring was gone. And with it, Youth. [40] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Johnnie Johnnie is my pet, A delicate little thing, He has the most intriguing ways, A bubbly giggle ' And a soft way of patting your cheek With his grubby little hand. He is as irresistible As a puppy. A pet lamb is his Dear Possession, It comes with him To school. Its name is "Ollie" And he recites its virtues By the hour, He's teaching it, he says. Its alphabet. And truly it can bleat BAA. [41] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Bessie Bessie is beautiful. She is eleven And fair as spring anemones. A silky braid Crowns her small head, And faded shrunken blue Hangs as a slip To her brown knees. A lithe and lovely creature In the moment of her Youth. [42] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Maggie Maggie lisps. She has short hair, And would like to be a boy. Her curse is shyness For then her tongue Gets twisted. In utter helplessness She ties her handkerchief In rumpled knots, And scrunches up her dusty toes. When she forgets Herself She has a charming smile, Slow and radiant. Full of jollity, When I ask a question There is a desperate struggle, She whispers back her answer. But at recess She fights and plays and lives, Yet cannot find the Key. Poor Little One. [43] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Nance Nance is of the Earth Most Earthly, And has found it Very pleasant, thusj Simplicity is virtue Rather than a fault. Heaven is generous And Youth is gone Like woodland flowers. Nance was built For Life And Love, And therefore took it. Big as the wind, An Amazon As bronzed and beautiful As Mother Earth ; On Sunday she wears Pink calico. And shoes. But through the week Her dress is red, [44] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS As washed and faded As Autumn's leaves (Whose kith and kin she is) Up the mountain, near the top, She hunts her cow, Pausing, now and then To listen for its bell, Which has a different tone From other ones. Far below I watch her wandering, A scarlet shuttle Through the woodland warp. The pattern is a simple one, Yet even in such The weaver sometimes Breaks a thread. And in the finished fabric Who shall see the knot? [45] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Dexter Dexter is Nance's child, Whom she adores. He's six years old But delicate. He loves his kitty, Nance, and his Great-grandfather, Who watches bees The long day through. He comes to school, Says'^A B C" Then, like a shadow is gone To play Or follow Nance. They never talk, And yet their love is proud And big. He stands beside her When she milks And hoes And puts the kettle on. Besides his ''jeans" He has a velvet suit, [46] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS (Sears Roebuck, 1910) Life, after all Is far more fair Than Preacher Jones Would have us think. [47] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Coverlets Mountain women weave Bright coverlets Whose patterns Are the stories of their lives. Even their names Are tales Of old romance. Listen to their singing ''Governors Garden And Olive Leaf, Eose in the Wilderness Winding Vine, Forest Wonder, And Mountain Rose, Sixteen Snowballs, Orange Tree, Wreaths and Roses, Summer Wheel, Parsons Beauty And Kings Delight, Star of Venus, Floating Wave, [48] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Lonely Heart And Lovers Knot, Wheel of Time And Weavers Choice, Birds of the Air, Indian Camp, Blazing Star And Honey Comb, Piney Rose and Flowery Plain, ' ' Back and forth The shuttle goes. Warp and woof The Pattern grows "Gentlemans Fancy Or Blooming Rose." [49] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS The Working Send out the word For all the men To come, A new log house Is to be raised. Tall trees, Walnut Pine And oak Must fall. Some must be sawed, Two men working Back and forth Back and forth, Until the teeth Of the huge saw Are nearly through the trunk. Then a peg is driven And a shout is heard ''Stand back!" A ripping tear, A thunder crash, [so] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS The great trunk lies down the slope Heavy, dead, "With all its pride Of forest years A heap of sawdust and dry chips. From Death comes Life, And soon the logs are cut and notched, Another day They will be raised, With careful art And old tradition As architects. And a new home Will stand in the forest Where once the trees Grew tall. Wilderness receeds The kettle boils And children sing. [51] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Blossoms Blossoms in these mountains Have such quaint, delightful names, They bring to mind old England And those stately gorgeous dames Who loitered in their gardens Among these same most lovely blossoms With the same delightful names Three hundred years ago. ' ' Beauty of Spain, ' ' black and gold What old Romance does your naming hold ? "Seven Sisters" and "Never Still," "Sleeping Babe" and "Merry Mill" "Michaelmas Daisy" and "Autumn Flames." Sweet are the blossoms and sweet their names. [52] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Sunset Majestically The sunset, Like a great king, Comes Bright clad In crimson robes, With retinue of splendour And with far flung pride The Conqueror proceeds, While in his train A gorgeous host Of minions pass Into the valley. Mauve and rose And beautiful The dancers follow them, And windy steeds Of burnished gold. With manes aflame And fire-shod hoofs. Prance high, In ecstasy, [53] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS We bow And deep obedience make Unto the King Who sees us not, But passes on. [54] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Blue Loveliness Blue flowers and bluer skies, Blue days that pass To where Night, sleeping, lies Blue shadowed on the grass. Blue space above the stars A sapphire arching makes For Dawn behind whose bars Blue morning once more breaks. L^5l MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Ballads and Songs The moutains are old But the day is new, The stories are told But the tale is true. My grandmammy sat At the log house door Strumming her zither And humming them o'er. ( i I i I I Barbara Allen," My Dearest Dear," Cherry Tree Eoundel" And ' ' Seven Long Year. * ' "Young Lord Lovel," * ' Fair Bettey Anne, ' ' "Broken Token" And ' ' False Young Man. ' ' The Teller may change. The Tale is the same, Wherever Death, And Love are the Game. [56] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEEKS Will-o-the-Wisp North and South And East and West, Over the hills, Ever the Quest. Up and Down Wanderings best, Weary the heart. Never a rest. Young and Old Grey toilers be, Yet one and all The Vision see. Night and Day We live or die. Hills are steep But blue the sky. [57] MELODIES AND MOUNTAINEERS Contentment Little log cabin Under the hill, Michaelmas daisies Blossoming still, Firewood and water, Good morning and night, Cheerful uprising And bedtimes delight : Life is so simple, This pattern we weave Teaches us daily In God to believe. [58] ililiSii 015 9265225