^^ 4^ %^^I^ <^^ ^ o^ I/. r^O CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICIVIH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques \ \ (6^^ Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibiiographiques The institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D D D D D D D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommag6e Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur^e et/ou peiiiculAe I I Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque I I Coloured maps/ Cartes gtographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ RelM avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La re liure serrAe peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge IntArieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouttes lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont pas «ti filmies. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppMmentaires; Thee toth( L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la methods normale de filmage sont indiqute ci-dessous. D D D D D Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagies Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaurAes et/ou peiliculAes Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages dAcoiorAes, tachettes ou piquAes Pages detached/ Pages d^tachies Showthrough/ Transparence The! possi of th filmii Origi begii then sion, othei first sion, or ill) I I Quality of print varies/ Quality InAgaie de I'impression Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du materiel suppKmentaire The I shall TINt whic Mapi diffei entir begii right requi metl' I — I Only edition available/ Seule MItion disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been ref limed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuiliet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont M* filmAes A nouveau de fa9on A obtenir la meilleure image possible. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est fiimd au taux de rMuctlon indiqui ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 2SX aox • n 12X 16X 20X a4x 28X 32X plaire es details liques du int modiffiar ixigar una da filmaga Tha copy filmad hara has baan raproducad thanks to tha ganarosity of: Lakehead University Thunder Bay Tha imagas appaaring hara ara tha bast quality possibia considaring tha condition and lagibillty of tha original copy and in kaaping with tha filming contract spaclfloationa. L'axamplaira filmA fut raproduit grAca A la gAnirositA da: Lakehead University Thunder Bay Las imagas suivantas ont 4ti reproduitas avec la plus grand soin. compta tanu da la condition et da la nattatA da l'axamplaira fiim6, at en conformity avac las conditions du contrat da filmaga. Id/ Iqutes taira Original copias in printad papar covars ara filmad beginning with tha front covar and ending on tha last page with a printad or illuatratad Impraa- slon, or tha back covar whan appropriate. All other original copiaa ara filmad beginning on the firat page with a printed or illuatratad impraa- slon. and ending on the laat page with a printed or illuatratad impraasion. Tha laat recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain tha symbol — ^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol ▼ (meaning "END"), whichever appliaa. Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to ba entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hf)y frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les exemplairas originaux dont la couvartura en papier est ImprimAe sont filmte en commenpant par la premier plat at en terminant soit par la darniire page qui comporta una ampreinte d'Imprassion ou d'iliustration. soit par la second plat, salon la cas. Tous las autres exemplairas originaux so^it filmte an commandant par la pramlAre page qui comporta una ampreinte d'impreasion ou d'iliustration at an terminant par la darniire page qu' comporta una telle empreinte. Un dee symboles suivants apparaitra sur la darniire image de cheque microfiche, seion ie cas: la symbols — »- signifie "A SUIVRE", la symbols V signifie "FIN". Les cartas, planches, tableaux, etc.. pauvant Atre filmte A das taux da reduction diffdrents. Lorsqua Ie document est trop grand pour Atra raproduit an un saul clichi, ii est filmi A partir da I'angia supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, at de haut an bas, an prenant la nombra d'imagas nicessaira. Las diagrammas suivants illustrent la m^thoda. i by errata Imad to Tiant , una palure, I fapon A a. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 32X I THE HUMBLER POETS. N i The Humbler Poets A COLLECTION OF NEWSPAPER AND PERIODICAL VERSE 1870 TO i88j By SLASON THOMPSON Read from some humbler poet, Whose songs gushed from his heart, As showers from the clouds of summer. Or tears from the eyelids start. Longfellow CHICAGO JANSEN, McCLURG, AND COMPANY 1886 ^s ■--^ 2. r c-l Copyright, By Jansen, McClurg, & Co. A.D. 1885. IGiCC? EXPLANATORY. IT has been said that "he is no common benefactor who shrewdly gathers from the world's manifold literature its words of finest wit and maturest wis- dom for our entertainment, instruction, and inspiration." Rut it is not well at all times to partake of the richest dishes or to drink the rarest wines. The finest wit and the maturest wisdom may be read too oft. There come hours to every lover of poetry when he wishes for "some simple and heart-felt lay," something that shall speak from out a mind feeling the every-day cares of life amid the multitude, and not from the heights to which the masters "proudly stooped " It was this feeling that, some fifteen years ago, led me, a prose-thinker, to begin collecting from newspapers and the ephemeral literature of the day such verses as suited my mood, or which seemed the utterance of a soul that had put its thoughts into song. Upon the fly-leaf of my first scrap-book, surrounded by some now faded natural leaves of oak, maple, bilberry, and Virginia creeper, and two withered sprays of trailing arbutus, I find the misquotation from Love's Labor 'j Lost^ " As though he had been at a feast of languages and stolen the scraps." The succeeding pages show that it was not from a feast of languages, but from the daily board of wayfaring humanity, that such scraps were gleaned. In the course of years, and dur- ing successive changes of residence from the extreme East to San Francisco and back, the collection grew until it contained over a thousand poems. A friend suggested the collocation of the most valuable into some permanent 8 EXPLANATORY. companionship of this volume, and are not generally ac- cessible to a large body of readers of poetry. Rain on the Roqf'is included for the reason assigned in an accom- panying note. The Water-Wheel has been a fugitive without a father so long, that this opportunity was taken to name its author. William Cullen Bryant had the courage to give the Beatitifnl Snow a place in his Library of Poetry and Song^ although denied sanctuary by Dana and other editors. As it appears in this volume the last verse has been restored. Some readers may be interested in comparing it with the Beautiful Snow written by Major Sigourney, who was long credited with the authorship of the more famous poem. As the reader comes to the end of poem after poem in this collection well worthy the pen of a master, but with- out a sign to show whence it came, he must remark the result of one of the most inexcusable faults of modein journalism. Some newspapers make it a rule not to publish the names of their own writers who contribute poetry, while others systematically reprint verses with only the name of the publication from which they are clipped, ignoring the signature appended to the original verse. From the blank spaces at the foot of the un- claimed poems in this volume there rises an appeal to the publishers of newspapers to do a sm^U justice to the minor poets of the English tongue. It says with irre- sistible logic, "If a poem is worth publishing at all, its author is worthy of recognition." Little more remains to be said. It is not pretended that all the selections herein were written within the years mentioned on the titlepage. Indeed, some of them are " old vagrants," and the date of many more it is impossil.le to fix, for newspaper poetry travels in cycles, the same piece turning up in the same " Poet's Corner" about once in seven years. Unlike standard collections from tht best authors, this volume contains a very small percentage of poems to be found elsewhere. It preserves many that would otherwise have nerished by the wayside, — lost for want of a collector. It is sui generis. Perhaps it may inspire future editions to which a more exacting standard of excellence can be applied. If in its pages there is shown the possession of a dis- il EXPLANATORY. criminating judgment regarding tlie treasurer "more golden than gold," irrespective of their lowly source, let it be attributed to an early study of Mr. Francis Turner Palgrave's Golden Treasury^ wliich I regret to say some Ill-equipped editor has attempted to gild with modern alloy. If the pleasure I have taken in collecting my scraps here, there, and everywhere, and the labor I have be- stowed in bringing them within the compass of this vol- ume, — the doubting judgment respecting some and the regret of rejecting others, — if this shall be the means of preserving many of the better fugitive verses of the period ; if to any man or woman, youth or maiden, it shall give a worthy book to take from the shelf when the tasks for the day are all done ; if any shall find herein some familiar but mislaid verse ; if its pages shall recall for- gotten scenes to some and whisper in the ear of "unevent- ful toil " some strains of the music that is everywhere ; if its leaves shall bring a balm of hope, encouragement, and sweet content to some despondent heart ; if its final mc al shall teach some frail and weary wight that love, truth, and mirth are unfailing comforters, comrades, friends, — I shall be satisfied. S. T. Chicago, Ociober, 1885. CONTENTS. -•o*- PACB Index of Titles 13 PART I. Of Poets and Poetry 2$ II. Among the Little Folk 37 III. For Christmas Tide 77 IV. Under the Open Sky 91 V. Love, Sentiment, and Friendship .... 123 VI. Echoes of the Past 167 Vn. In the Twilight 199 VIII. Home and Fireside 217 IX. Hope, Encouragement, and Contentment . 233 X. Lii-E, Religion, and Death's Mystery . . 277 XI. With a Story to Tell 329 XII. Parting and Absence 355 XIII. Tragedy and Sorrow 365 XIV. Every-day Lights and Shadows 381 XV. War and Peace 405 XVL Comedy, Burlesque, Parody, and Epitaph . 421 Index of First Lines 453 INDEX OF TITLES. PACB Accursed 366 " Across the Lot " C. S 326 Afeared of a Gal 135 Aftermath, The yames Hendry .... 199 , Age of Love, The 123 A (iirl 's a Girl for A' That 445 Ah! Me ijiJ All the Same in the End 450 Antony and Cleopatra .... Gen. W. H. Lytle . . . 143 Any One Will Do , . 431 Asli Pool, The 365 Asking 152 As Pebbles in the Sea 263 Astronomical 437 .At Home Bernard Barton .... 217 At Last 410 At Sea F. W. Brooks . . . . 185 At the Court-House Door 392 At the Loom 285 At the Piano 213 Autumn 112 Baby in Church 70 Baby-Land 37 Baby Over the Way, Tlie 61 Baby's Letter 46 Baby's Rattle, A 48 Bald-headed Tyrant, The 43 Bar-Tender's Story, The 397 Bean-Blossonii 100 Beautiful Grandmamma 59 B:;autiful Snow James IV. Watson . . . 371 Be:\utiful Snow Major Sigonrney . , . 370 Before Saihng 357 Bertie's Philosop'.iy Eva M, Tappan .... 66 Better to Climb and Fall 240 Beyond the Haze 266 " Bide a Wee, and Dlnna Fret " . Si. P.. G 261 Billy's Rose 330 Bird on the Telegraph Wire, The "96 Birthday Greeting, A , . . . M. E. F 162 Blue and the Gray, The . • . . Francis Miles Finch . . 413 14 INDEX OF TITLES. PAGB Blue and the Gray, The 412 lioat-Horn, The 177 Bottom Drawer, The Mary A. Barr . . . 194 Boys' Rights Carrie May .... 67 Brandy and Soda Hugh Howard . . . 447 Bridge of Life, The 277 Brook Song, A Eugene Field .... 109 Burial of Moses, The Mrs. C. F. Alexander . 310 By and By 241 By the Sea 291 Calumny 367 Captive Humniing-Bird, The . . . Joel T. Hart .... 94 Card Houses 65 Character and a Question, A 280 Cheerful Heart, The 233 Children's Bedtime, The 55 Children's Music, The 57 Chimes of Old England, The . . . Bishop Coxe .... 294 Chimney Nest, The Mary B, Dodge ... 93 Christmas Bells 82 Christmas Camp on the San Gabr'el Amelia Barr .... 79 Christmas Outcasts 82 Christmas Shadows %x Christmas Song, A Mrs. Hattie S. Russell . 70 Christmas Treasures Eugene Field .... 81 Churning Song, The Silas Dinsmore , . . 391 Cigarette Vagary, A Camilla K. von K. . . 421 CHy Contrasts 382 Cltopatra's Dream 7' J' Owens .... 147 Cleopatra's Soliloquy Mary Bayard Clark . 146 Cleopatra to Antony Sarah Doudney Clarke 144 Cloud, The 120 Clover, The JamesWhitcomh Riley . X05 Cob House, The Kate Putnam Osgood . 64 Cockney Wail, A 426 "Coming Man," The 41 Compensation 258 Conceit, A Mortimer Collins . . 136 Conquered at Last ...... Maria L. Eve . . . 416 Constant Friend, The 160 Content 267 Contentment Will S. Hayes . , . 267 Contentment 266 Conversational 438 Could n't Keep a Secret 126 Countersign was Mary, The . . . Margaret Eytinge . . 407 Court of Berlin, The 351 Creeping Up the Stairs Rev. W. S. McFetridge . 57 Curtain Falls, The Joseph Verey .... 341 Dan's Wife 224 Darwinism in the Kitchen 425 Days That Are No More, The 168 Dead in His Bed A. L. Ballon .... 387 Decoration Day 415 Decreed 304 Deed and a Word, A Charles Mackay ... 29 Delights of Camp Life 431 Deserted 36 INDEX OF TITLES. PACK 412 194 67 447 277 109 310 241 291 367 94 ^5 280 233 55 57 294 93 82 79 82 81 39 » 4" 3S2 M7 146 144 120 105 64 426 41 258 136 416 160 267 267 266 438 120 407 351 57 341 224 425 168 387 41S 304 29 439 368 Dolce Far Niente Do Something Dreams Drifted out to Soa Bosa Hartwick TJiorpe Driving Home the Cows .... Kate Putnam Osgood . Duty's Reward Eliab Eliezer James Roann Reed . . Elswitha Alary Barry .... Encore "En Voyage" Caroline A. Mason . . Exiles, The , Explanation, An Walter Learned ... Failure Fairy Faces < Fallen Geo. Edward Montgomery . False and True , Farewell Fate Father John Fifty Years Apart Fisherman Job James Roann Reed . Flotsam and Jetsam Flower from the Catskills, A . . E. W. Fool's Prayer, The Forever For Life and Death Fortune My Foe Alfred P. Graves Fred Englehardt's Baby .... Charles Pollen Adams French with a Master .... Theodore Tilton . . Friend or Foe? P. E. Weatherly . . Friend'ihip Friendship, Love, and Truth Frivolous Girl, The Gentleman Jim Daniel O^Connell Give Me Rest "Give Thanks for What?" Going Home in the Morning . , Wayne Douglas . . Going Softly Golden Side, The Gone "Good-by" Goodest Mother, The Good-Night Hester A. Benedict . ■ Gran'ma Al'us Does Green Grass under the Snow, The Annie A. Preston . , Growing Old Guilty, or Not Guilty ? Hardest Time of All, The . . . Sarah Doudney Clarke Haunted Chambers Hawthorn , Heads, Hearts, and Hands . . . George W. Bungay Heart's-Ease Heliotrope , Her Name Highway Cow, The Hindoo Sceptic, The Hindoo's Death, The Hint, A IS PAGB 161 253 175 348 405 399 293 201 22S 271 222 154 242 78 250 264 356 360 401 211 338 290 lOI 300 180 346 217 62 134 129 160 161 153 400 '122 2^6 385 271 184 355 63 358 52 208 388 262 171 190 247 103 104 72 440 303 442 44 1 i6 INDEX OF TITLES. PAGE His Messenger 361 Home-Coming 218 Home is Wliere the Heart is 21S Hope Deferred 360 Humming of the Wires, The . . . Edward A. Rand . . 384 Hymn to Santa Rita Ahey A, Adee . . . 154 Ideal Future, An T A. Harcourt . . . 317 If I Should Die To-night 309 If We Knew ; or, Blessings of To-day Mrs. May Riley Smith 207 If You Want a Kiss, Why. Take It 423 Improved "Enoch Arden" 443 In a Graveyard 319 In Ba^ Chaleur Hezekiah Butterivorth . 343 In Praise of Wine 421 In Snow-time 118 In the Hammock i ^o Indecision 133 Interrogation Mark (?) F. A. Le H. . . . , 286 Invocation to Poesy, An Charles Mackay ... 23 It Is Common 32 I Wud Knot Dye in Wintur 427 toy of Incompleteness, The 238 ubilate 158 udge Not 294 Ling's Picture, The Helen B. Bosiwick . . 30 King's Ships, The 322 Kiss in the Rain, A 138 Last and Worst Frances Ekin Allison . 376 Last Arrival, The 41 Late October D. M. Jordan . . . 116 Lavender 19a Lay Me Low * 313 Lay of a Dairy-Maid 439 Learn to Wait 240 Leedle Yawcob Strauss Charles Fallen Adams . 62 L'Envoy Randolph . . . 136 Lesson m Mythology, A Eliza C. Hall .... 434 Life 279 Life 279 Life (A Literary Curiosity) .... Airs. H. A. Deming . 283 Life and Death 288 Life or Death E. B 314 Life's Triumph Thomas S. Collier . . 236 Light F. W. Bourdillon . . 125 Light and Love 129 Like His Mother Used to Make . . James Whitcomb Riley 227 Lily and the Linden, TK» .... Dr. Fred Crosby . . . 106 Lines by an Old Fogy 437 Lines on a Grasshopper 438 Little Church Round the Corner, The A. E. Lancaster . . . 305 Little Conqueror, The 69 Little Girl's Curiosity, A 54 Little Goldenhair 58 Little Peach, The Eugene Field .... 428 Little Phil 329 Little Stitches 226 Living 289 Lost Babies, The i8a INDEX OF TITLES. 17 PACE Lost Letter, A Clement Scott .... 378 Lost Sheep, The Sally Pratt McLean . 205 Love and Labor 236 Love and Pity 125 Love of the Past, The 167 Love's Belief 128 Love's Life, A 124 Love's Logic . 130 Love's Transfiguration 127 " Lulu " Carrie W. Thompson . 69 Mad, Mad Muse, The Robert J. Burdette . . 445 Magclalena 244 March 444 Mattie's Wants and Wishes 51 Maximus .' . 255 Memories 169 Memory 168 Merry Christmas 77 Message of the Rose, The 99 Message of Victory, The .... Augusta Webster . .415 Meteors Anna Ph. Ekhberg . 109 Midges in the Sunshine 290 Miller and the Maid, The . ... F.N. Scott .... 137 Model Church, The 299 Moon and Dawn 117 Mother 185 Mother's Blessing, The 202 Music in the Soul 140 My Aim Thomas Guthrie . . . 277 My Cigarette C. F. Lummis . . . 214 My Josiar 159 My Lost Baby 47 My Lost Love i86 My Mother's Hands 221 Narrow House, The 316 Nearing Port C. P. R. 321 Near the Dawn , 243 Nelly Tells How Baby Came . . . Thomas S. Collier . . 38 Nestlings F. C. A 92 New Baby, The 45 New Magdalen, The R, L. Cary, Jr. . . . 345 New Year, A 86 Night and Morning 307 Nocturne 24 No Sect in Heaven 296 Nothing at all in the Paper To-day 381 " Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep " 53 October D.M.Jordan ... 115 October 115 Old Deacon's Lament, The . . . Mrs.E. ,. Corbctt . . 178 Old Fiddling Josey Ir-win Russell .... 435 Old Friends 162 Old Rhyme, An 153 Old Song, An 176 Old Time and I Mark Lemon .... 440 One by One 170 Only 356 Only a Baby 39 a i8 INDEX OF TITLES. Xv :: i;.- w PAf*R Only a Bit of Childhood Thrown Away ulaud Moore .... 74 Only a Woman 370 Only Joe James Roann Reed . . 335 Orchard-Lands of Long Ago, The . Juvks Whiicomb Riley 191 Our Childhood's Home R. S. 172 Our Darling .... 44 Our Last Toast Bartholome^v Dnvlhig . 409 Our Own 223 Outcast, The Afary E. Kiiter ... 367 Outcast's Dream, The Olive Bell 336 Outwards or Homewards . . . . F. W. Bourdillon . . 238 Out West 446 " Owed " to My Pocket-Book , . .^30 Pansies Sarah Doudncy Clarke '96 Paradise of Tears, The 320 Parson's Comforter, The .... Frcderit k Langbridge . 323 Parting Coventry Patmore . . 35; Pastor's Reverie, The 188 Patient 265 Pat's Letter Qiiecrguill 429 Pessimism 251 Phantom of the Rose, The .... Jerome A. Hart ... 98 Plea for " Castle