Class 
 
 Book. l^.^yS-i 
 
 COEBfllGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
(( 
 
 Sweetness and Light" 
 
 A Volume of Poems 
 
 by 
 
 CHARLES EDSON JUNKINS, A.M., LL.B. 
 
 Former Principal of Thetford Academy ; 
 
 One-time Graduate Student of Broivn University ; 
 
 and Member of the Massachusetts Bar 
 
 1920 
 
 Press of the Kennebec Journal Co. 
 Augusta, Maine 
 

 ^^^p^ 
 
 Copyright, 1920, by 
 CHARLES EDSON JUNKINS 
 
 StP \7 1920©CU576456 
 
PRELUDE 
 
 I often feel the poet owes 
 
 Apologies, full many, 
 To some, not only, of his time, 
 
 Like Lewis, Brooks and Kenney, 
 
 But to some others, who, unborn. 
 Will, some day, buy his poems, 
 
 To get possession of them all. 
 As if they were bright sea-gems. 
 
 And yet the poet feels, of course. 
 
 His limitations, keenly; 
 And hence he tries, and tries, and tries 
 
 To do his work not meanly. 
 
 And all he asks of critics is 
 That they may grasp his meaning. 
 
 And realize that, like others, he, 
 In Nature's school, is gleaning; 
 
 For if they take an attitude 
 
 That's friendly to the poet, 
 They help themselves by quite a bit. 
 
 Although they may not know it. 
 
OUR OLD DOG SANDY 
 
 Ha, ha ! Our old dog Sandy's 
 The best dog that we know. 
 
 His friends are as the sea-sands; 
 He has not any foe. 
 
 Old pussy is- his playmate 
 
 And confidential friend. 
 They eat and sleep together; 
 
 Each other help do lend. 
 
 Yes, ever as a watch-dog, 
 Most faithful is he found. 
 
 Especially, at night-time. 
 He makes the air resound. 
 
 In all domestic creatures. 
 
 His interest is keen. 
 And when we utter biddy, 
 
 Or horse, or cow, no mean. 
 
 Uncertain understanding. 
 
 By ev'ry means which he 
 Can use, by look and actions, 
 
 He shows, plain as can be. 
 
 And not unmindful, either. 
 Does our pet, Sandy, seem, 
 
 Of reptiles, birds and woodchucks; 
 They make his bright eyes gleam. 
 
Sweetness and Light 
 
 That Sandy is half human 
 In many of his ways, 
 
 To all his friends, admirers, 
 His very life betrays. 
 
 We cannot speak of Sandy 
 In terms that match his worth, 
 
 His staunch supporters many 
 Would overflow with mirth. 
 
 And so we'll end this ditty 
 Concerning him, we prize, 
 
 By saying, he's a jewel. 
 Through knowledge, not surmise. 
 
A Volume of Poems 
 
 SONG OF THE SEA 
 
 Dashing, beating, dashing, 
 On the gray sea-sand. 
 
 Making plainest discord. 
 Like a crazy band, 
 
 Surging, rolling, surging, 
 'Gainst the steadfast rocks. 
 
 Studding all the sea-coast. 
 Even as the flocks 
 
 Decorate the hillsides. 
 In the month of June, 
 
 Much aroused by tempest. 
 Ragged seems the tune. 
 
 Which the sea divulges 
 
 In our open ear, 
 As we try to listen, 
 
 Like a little dear. 
 
 Seated on a sofa. 
 
 In our bungalow. 
 Which we built substantial, 
 
 Many years ago. 
 
 Dashing, beating, dashing, 
 
 All the stormy day, 
 Surging, rolling, surging, 
 
 Seem the billows gay; 
 
 Broken and discordant 
 Seems to us the tune. 
 
 Coming from the sea-shore, 
 On this day in June. 
 
Sweetness and Light' 
 
 TO THE GRASSHOPPER 
 
 Jump, jump, hop and jump. 
 
 All tke summer day, 
 Plaything for the happy farmer, 
 
 Busy, making hay! 
 
 Hop, hop, jump and hop, 
 
 Ev'rywhere we go. 
 Over field or plain or pasture, 
 
 Or in meadow low ! 
 
 Jump, jump, hop and jump. 
 While, indeed, you may. 
 
 Ere the cruel hen or turkey. 
 Take your life away ! 
 
 Hop, hop, jump and hop, 
 
 Strange though seem your way ! 
 To yourself, the fowl, the farmer, 
 
 Pleasing is your stay. 
 
A Volume of Poems 
 
 THE SONG OF THE BROOK 
 
 Down through the meadow all day long, 
 Flows on, the brook, from dawn 
 
 To dawn. Incessant music, at 
 The bidding of the faun. 
 
 That, o'er the region round about, 
 
 Exerts authority, 
 With gentle sway, the brook supplies ; 
 
 And fills, with constant glee. 
 
 All forms of life nearby. The grass, 
 
 The trees, delighted are; 
 And their delight reflected is 
 
 By their green garb. From far 
 
 And near come birds of many kinds. 
 
 Attracted by the song 
 That issues from the brook, to lave 
 
 Their tiny plumes along 
 
 Its mystic borders, or to flit 
 
 About in neighb'ring trees 
 And grasses, searching all the while, 
 
 For food or shelter. Bees 
 
 And butterflies and other kinds 
 
 Of insects are among 
 The forms of life that come to pay. 
 
 As others may have sung. 
 
 Respectful visits to the brook 
 That from the hillside through 
 
 The meadow flows. Amphibians 
 Of diff'rent kinds, not few 
 
lo "Sweetness and Light 
 
 In numbers, in and near the stream. 
 Are found. The fox, the deer, 
 
 The hare, and many other kinds 
 Of native beasts, their fear 
 
 Allayed by magic music of 
 
 The ever-singing brook, 
 Frequent the stream to quench their thirst. 
 
 Then to some neighb'ring nook 
 
 Which most delightful is, because 
 Of trees whose shady boughs 
 
 O'erhang the same, to take retreat. 
 That there, quite free from cows 
 
 And sheep that roam the hillsides, here 
 
 And there, beneath the care. 
 The watchful care, of shepherds and 
 
 Their trusty dogs, in rare, 
 
 Refreshing slumber they may dwell. 
 
 The herds within the reach 
 Of that delightful song respond. 
 
 And their response does teach, 
 
 Like that of all the other forms 
 
 Of life, we've spok'n about. 
 The pow'r, the subtle pow'r, the brook, 
 
 Through ceaseless song that's out 
 
 And out delightful to the sense 
 
 And magic-born, may wield 
 O'er different kinds of life. And is 
 
 The cause or why still sealed? 
 
A Volume of Poems li 
 
 THE LANDSCAPE IN OCTOBER 
 
 October — once the eighth, but now the tenth, 
 
 of our revolving months — 
 Is with us once again, translating leaves which, 
 
 only recently. 
 Were green as emerald, frosts hoar assisting, 
 
 into those which now, 
 In ev'ry vale and moor, on ev'ry hill-side, ev'ry- 
 
 where, in all 
 The rustic regions, 'round about, display bright 
 
 tints of yellow, red, 
 And brown, together with their native green. 
 
 A scene, how beautiful. 
 The rural districts now present to view, for all 
 
 with eyes to see! 
 
12 "Sweetness and Light*" 
 
 CIDER AND VINEGAR 
 
 Sweet cider is the stuff 
 
 That many people like. 
 There never is enough 
 
 Of it, in fact, for Pike. 
 
 But cider, sweet at first, 
 
 Grows sour by and by; 
 And then, to quench their thirst, 
 
 Men drink it, low and high. 
 
 And sour cider, changed. 
 
 Good vinegar becomes ; 
 And yet, some have arranged. 
 
 Themselves to turn to "bums"; 
 
 For all the vinegar. 
 
 They ever seem to make. 
 Produced is when a jar 
 
 Of cider strong they take; 
 
 But, since it happens oft. 
 
 That jars of cider old, 
 Now flow, both fast and sofl^ 
 
 Although the women scold, 
 
 There ought to be, forsooth, 
 
 Abundance and to spare. 
 For Jim and Joe and Ruth, 
 
 Of vinegar that's rare. 
 
Volume of Poems 13 
 
 THE CIDER-MILL 
 
 October is the month 
 In which, as sailors say, 
 "Sweet cider flows galore," 
 
 For morning, noon and night, 
 And all the hours of day, 
 In ev'ry rural clime, 
 
 The cider-mill, so called, 
 Proclaims its little tune, 
 "Grind, press, grind," 
 
 In sunshine or in rain. 
 The sweet, delicious juice! 
 Oh, how it bubbles, flows. 
 
 And gurgles, harmless as 
 The waters are, that come 
 From nature's fountains pure! 
 
 And yet, within its veins. 
 Concealed, there lurks the strange 
 Potentiality, 
 
 Through which its harmlessness 
 Is quite transformed to what 
 Is clearly harmfulness. 
 
 "Grind, press, grind," 
 Proclaims the cider-mill. 
 Which freely now brings forth, 
 
 The old, familiar juice, 
 Delicious, harmless, sweet, 
 Yet full of secret harm. 
 
14 "Sweetness and Light' 
 
 JACK FROST 
 
 As the temp'rature falls low, 
 And the zephyrs cease to blow- 
 In October, comes apace, 
 Like a swift steed, in a race. 
 Our old friend. Jack Frost, by name, 
 Striking, chilling, with the same 
 Graceful, charming beauty, he, 
 As each one may plainly see, 
 All through past eternity. 
 Has, perhaps, employed. And we, 
 By aurora's early light. 
 Ere the sun is shining bright, 
 May behold, this time of year. 
 All around, both far and near. 
 Earth and nature, that were green, 
 In the summer, as a bean, 
 Growing in its season, now. 
 Clothed in garment, anyhow, 
 That's resplendent, silv'ry, white, 
 What a pretty, pretty sight! 
 
Volume of Poems 15 
 
 AN EPISODE 
 
 It was a winter evening calm and warm; 
 
 And though the earth embedded was with snow, 
 
 The country roads were worn as smooth and hard 
 
 As adamant. The moon, the satellite of earth, with smile 
 
 ironical as that 
 Of fate might seem to some, looked down upon 
 The earth. The stars, the planets, all the hosts, 
 The countless hosts of heav'n, displayed, we know, 
 As many of them are, and have been for 
 A time which antedates all records man 
 Has left upon the earth, in groups which now 
 Are known as constellations, shed, on all 
 The regions round about, abundant light. 
 
 And such conditions were one time, long years 
 Ago, when youths and maidens gay, from all 
 The neighborhood, had planned to congregate 
 At our old home, at which we and our friends 
 Would meet them, thence together to a lake 
 Near by, to wend our happy way, and there 
 Upon the lake, as smooth as crystal glass. 
 To spend the evening, so to speak, both one 
 And all, a skating party blithe and gay. 
 
 But when the party congregated at 
 Our home, with me as leader, were about 
 To take departure for the lake, there came 
 A horseman to our door, borne thither by 
 A pacer swift as light, and, leaping down 
 With haste from off his trusty beast, with much 
 Excitement, met me face to face; and then 
 And there, for me and all the others of 
 
i6 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 Our party, quite reluctantly, since he 
 
 Had come to see our plans would be upset, 
 
 Delivered up the message he had brought, 
 
 Which quite informed us all that Mr. B 
 
 And his devoted wife just fifty years 
 
 Ago that day had "donned the double yoke"; 
 
 That, through himself, to all the dwellers of 
 
 The neighborhood they now were sending what 
 
 They did insist was invitation most 
 
 Emphatic to attend that night, at all 
 
 Events, what they were pleased to call, it seems, 
 
 Their golden wedding, not their silver one. 
 
 Our joy was turned to momentary grief 
 
 Our plans we quickly changed, and quickly towards 
 
 The B's, together, bent our happy way, 
 
 Determined there to have a jolly time, 
 
 In spite of disappointment keen and sore ; 
 
 And such a time we really, truly had. 
 
A Volume of Poems VJ 
 
 A MARCH FRESHET 
 
 When a school-boy we remember, 
 
 In this section of the country, 
 
 In the month of March, a freshet. 
 
 Such as never since we've seen, e'er 
 
 Pressing 'gainst the framework of the 
 
 Wooden bridges spanning here and 
 
 There the rivers, washed in many 
 
 Cases, clear away, foundations. 
 
 Obstacles impeding, and then. 
 
 These same bridges, onward, in its 
 
 Mighty waters, rushing, roaring. 
 
 Bore to distant places ; sometimes 
 
 Even to the ocean. Workmen, 
 
 Such as engineers, mechanics. 
 
 Masons, set themselves at work, the 
 
 Task of better, stronger bridges. 
 
 O'er the rivers building; and, in 
 
 Just a little lapse of time, their 
 
 Work was well accomplished. Hence, some 
 
 Gain resulted from great losses. 
 
i8 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 THE CROW AND THE FARMERS 
 
 The greatest pest, perhaps, the farmers have 
 
 To meet in early spring, especially 
 
 In our New England States, which border on 
 
 The broad Atlantic, is the common crow, 
 
 As if in hunger driven mad, he flies 
 
 O'er field and plain to catch a glimpse, perchance, 
 
 Of busy farmers, planting their spring crops. 
 
 Consisting of potatoes and of corn, 
 
 Especially. And, when the farmers' backs 
 
 Are turned, he takes his opportunity 
 
 To plunder and to pillage whatsoe'er 
 
 He can that's pleasing to his taste. The corn 
 
 He digs up and devours upon the spot; 
 
 Potatoes he unearths, and, grasping them 
 
 In his strong talons, flies aloft, to some 
 
 Familiar spot of safety and repose. 
 
 In which a feast, a real symposium. 
 
 For all his friends, he hastens to prepare. 
 
 The farmers, when they learn of what their friend, 
 The crow has done to them, or rather to 
 Their crops, are moved with indignation and 
 A purpose to outwit the crow by hook 
 Or crook, or any other means, that they 
 May find. Some place, at intervals, upon 
 Their planted plots, discarded papers, or 
 Such dummies as, with ready skill, their hands 
 Have raised. Some make of twine, a network, on 
 Their planted plots, or smoky fires maintain 
 Upon the same. And some, like sentinels. 
 Within proximity of planted plots 
 
Volume of Poems 19 
 
 Of theirs, stand on their guard for days. 
 Such means the farmers use in efforts ^^ 
 Out-wit their friend the crow. And, i in fact, 
 By any means, they somehow check the course. 
 The hungry, greedy bird pursues with zeal 
 In ref'rence to their crops, consisting of 
 Potatoes and of corn, they labor well. 
 
20 "Szveetness and Light 
 
 THE POTATO-BEETLE 
 
 When the crow, the 
 
 Sly and cunning crow, the 
 Bird we sometimes call the 
 
 Rook, has ceased to 
 
 Plague the farmer. 
 Raising havoc with his 
 Corn as well as with his 
 
 Pommes de terre, the 
 
 Colorado 
 Beetle causes him a 
 Valiant, ceaseless battle, 
 
 To protect the 
 
 Leaves and stocks of 
 His potatoes from the 
 Deadly ravages that 
 
 Insect may, if 
 
 Left alone to 
 Execute its own sweet 
 Purpose, soon inflict, in 
 
 Fact, upon them. 
 
 Early in the 
 Month of June the beetle 
 Lays upon the leaves of 
 
 The potato- 
 
Volume of Poems 21 
 
 Plant its tiny, 
 
 Yellow eggs. So shy and 
 
 Cunning is the parent- 
 Insect that it 
 
 Often dodges, 
 
 Falls, and thus escapes the 
 Cruel hand, the farmer, 
 
 In his somewhat 
 
 Urgent need, it 
 
 Seems, extended has to 
 
 Pick it. In the latter 
 Part of June the 
 
 Beetles' eggs are 
 
 Hatched, and beetles young their 
 
 Devastating work so 
 Pleasing to their 
 
 Kind or class, they 
 Now begin. The farmer 
 Vexed almost beyond the 
 
 Pow'r of what is 
 
 Known as real or 
 True endurance, hastens 
 His potato-vines to 
 
 Spray, forthwith, with 
 
 Arsenate of 
 Lead. And soon another 
 Of the farmer's plagues is 
 
 Lifted from him. 
 
22 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 TO THE MAN IN THE MOON 
 
 O man in the moon, 
 Old man in the moon, 
 Dear man in the moon. 
 Old man, dear man, to me! 
 
 Your smile is unchanging; 
 From fall until spring. 
 From spring until fall, 
 Ever, it's ever the same. 
 
 It's also impartial. 
 For aye and forever, 
 Impartial to all 
 That dvirell on the earth. 
 
 It's the same for the rich; 
 The same for the poor; 
 The same for the great; 
 The same for the humble. 
 
 It's the same for the strong; 
 The same for the weak; 
 It's the same for all classes 
 And orders of people. 
 
 O man in the moon. 
 Old man in the moon. 
 Dear man in the moon. 
 Old man, dear man, to me! 
 
A Volume of Poems 23 
 
 POLITICS OF MUTT AND JEFF 
 
 Ah, Mutt and Jeff are two great lads, in politics, to-day, 
 While politicians sound and great are sure to have their way ! 
 Forbidden by dire circumstance, the biggest toads to be, 
 That swim the muddy, seething pool, in which engulfed, 
 
 we see, 
 The world of politics, both Mutt and Jeff employment find 
 In tactics dili'tory, such in character, in kind. 
 As common fools and those unskilled in business ways, 
 
 might use. 
 But Mutt and Jeff, of wrong intent, we never should accuse. 
 
 Yes, wheels of time, or wheels of history, in some degree. 
 Seem backward e'er to turn. When Cicero, who chanced to be 
 A famous consul of old Rome republican, became 
 Informed that Catiline conspiracy had planned, so lame 
 And wretched was his life, against his native land, in one 
 Of his Invectives said in irony, or wit, or fun. 
 That, though the State had len'ent been, 'twas not his fault, 
 
 in fact. 
 But that attaching to the times. What skill, adroitness, tact I 
 
 And history, yes, life itself, abounds in cases that 
 Do tend to show that politics of Mutt and Jeff seem pat. 
 Both ev'rywhere and always, in a world of ways and means, 
 A world so great, so comprehensive that its kings, its queens. 
 Its rulers, one and all, no less than those who somehow find 
 Their calling in the lower ranks, are seared by ev'ry kind 
 Of understanding, which, in part, of pure necessity, 
 Misunderstanding is, and was, and ever is to be. 
 
24 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 PUSSY-CAT 
 
 Pussy, little pussy, 
 
 With her fur so soft and warm ! 
 Pussy, little pussy. 
 
 Well equipped for storm or cold ! 
 
 Yet, beneath the stove that's 
 In our kitchen quaint and old, 
 
 When the weather's cold or 
 Stormy, pussy likes to lie. 
 
 And at times to stretch her 
 Kinky limbs and body, in 
 
 Truest cat-like fashion, 
 
 Singing, now and then, with what 
 
 Seems to be contentment 
 
 Pure and simple, pussy's song, 
 Which, unchanging, is a 
 
 Monotone that's all her own. 
 
 Pussy has no "sweet-tooth," 
 Such as others seem to have; 
 
 But, on "hearty things," she 
 Likes, at least, three times a day, 
 
 Sumpt'ously to feast. And 
 
 Pussy is no peace-maker; 
 Constant, deadly warfare. 
 
 Ever she pursues on mice. 
 
A Volume of Poems 25 
 
 Rabbits, squirrels, birds and 
 Rats and other forms of life 
 
 Lowly in their nature, 
 And, to cap the climax, we may 
 
 Say of pussy, that, with 
 
 All her strength and weakness, she's 
 Plain and simple pussy. 
 
 Pussy, pussy, pussy-cat. 
 
26 "Sweetness and Light' 
 
 OUR PET SQUIRREL 
 
 In our back yard lives a squirrel, 
 
 Just a cunning, little squirrel. 
 
 He's not red, but gray in color, 
 
 Silver-gray, and very pretty. 
 
 And he likes to play with biddies. 
 
 For he knows they will not harm him. 
 
 But the pussy he is shy of. 
 
 Though she does not seem disposed, in 
 
 Any way, to harm him, for she 
 
 Knows, instinctively, perhaps, that 
 
 He's a little pet of ours, that 
 
 Not allowed is she to trouble. 
 
 In a corner of our back yard, 
 In the hollow of a tree, that's 
 Very aged, this gray squirrel, 
 Has a cozy little dwelling, 
 Though it's large enough for him and 
 All his choicest winter stores, that. 
 In the main, consist of nuts and 
 Apples and the like, which, in the 
 Cold or stormy days of winter. 
 When the earth is covered deep with 
 Snow, and sustenance denies him, 
 Splendidly, a feast afford him. 
 
 During all the days of autumn 
 And of early winter this cute 
 Creature is most busy at his 
 Work of getting stores for winter. 
 In the warm and sunny days of 
 
Volume of Poems 27 
 
 Winter how the little fellow 
 
 Likes to run and jump, from branch to 
 
 Branch, from tree to tree, or, basking 
 
 In the sunlight, loud to chatter ! 
 
 Of our pets, the squirrel, that lives 
 
 Near us, in our back yard, is, to 
 
 Say the least, one of the choicest. 
 
28 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 THE HUMBLE BEE 
 
 Busy is the bee, the humble, 
 Humble bee, that gathers 
 Nectar sweet, from flowers of 
 
 Many kinds, in days of summer. 
 
 Moving constantly, from flow'r to 
 Flow'r, from plant to plant, the 
 Little insect mingles 
 
 Monotones of humming, ceaseless 
 
 Humming, with his other labors. 
 
 Busy as the bee, and 
 
 Self-forgetful, too, as 
 He, we would that, somehow, we might 
 
 Be, both now and always. Human, 
 
 Simply human, hope we 
 
 To remain; but freedom. 
 Greater freedom, do we long for. 
 
A Volume of Poems 29 
 
 TO THE BUTTERFLY 
 
 Pretty little butterfly, 
 
 Dressed in colors very gay, 
 
 Now, in fact, not bye-and-bye, 
 Just a ditty, just a lay, 
 
 To thyself we'll dedicate. 
 
 Those who study insect life, 
 Find, it seems, without a doubt, 
 
 Creatures beautiful are rife; 
 But afflicted with the gout. 
 
 Or some other worse disease, 
 
 Must they really, truly be. 
 
 If, when noting all thy charms. 
 
 Which no one can fail to see, 
 Though, devoted to our farms. 
 Such a one be not, indeed. 
 
 They thyself do not pronounce 
 E'en more beautiful, by far, 
 
 Than all other insects, ounce. 
 Ounce by ounce, or jar by jar. 
 Or, in other coml'er ways. 
 
 Reckoned or considered. In 
 
 This, a little tribute, that 
 To thy signal beauty, din, 
 
 Sifiiply, to pure lustre pat. 
 
 Rightly, nobly, seeks to add. 
 
 We're not sorry, but we're glad. 
 
 Opportunity that's such 
 As it is, nor good, nor bad. 
 
 Rests with us just now, to touch, 
 At a chord, responsive, true. 
 
30 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 THE MUD- WASP 
 
 Building on the door-step 
 Of our cottage old, 
 
 In the days of summer, 
 In the law we're told. 
 
 Trespass is the tort, the 
 Wasp does perpetrate. 
 
 First of our impressions, 
 Which we may relate, 
 
 In the court an action. 
 Trespass on the case, 
 
 Quare clausum f re git, 
 Trespass, either, base. 
 
 Base as any charge of 
 Trespass seem to be, 
 
 Is to prosecute. But 
 How we tremble. Gee, 
 
 As we think of many 
 
 Mystifying ways 
 Which are exercised by 
 
 Courts of justice! Bays 
 
 Anywhere a dog, in 
 Awe at what we call 
 
 Luna or the moon, with 
 Less avail, withal. 
 
Volume of Poems 31 
 
 Than do many men seek 
 Justice at the courts? 
 
 Then a thought occurs to 
 Us which us transports 
 
 Far above the realms of 
 Things that are, at least, 
 
 More or less uncertain, 
 There alone to feast 
 
 On whatever chance or 
 
 Probability- 
 Otherwise we'd have to 
 
 Win, to win, by Gee, 
 
 Justice that would be, in 
 Fact, substantial, though 
 
 Intervention of the 
 Court of law, we know, 
 
 Our intention it is 
 
 Not to seek. And this. 
 This the plan, we make and 
 
 Soon, with ample bliss, 
 
 Execute. The structures 
 Of the mud-wasp, placed 
 
 On our door-step, plan we 
 To remove. Abased, 
 
32 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 Then the mud-wasp, saucy 
 
 And impertinent, 
 Ought, no doubt, to be. But, 
 
 Should he, like one sent, 
 
 Bent to do us mischief, 
 
 Still persist in that 
 Which he has begun, then, 
 
 Ready as a cat. 
 
 Watching for her prey, he'll 
 Find us, fixed in will, 
 
 Resolute in purpose, 
 Him with awe to fill. 
 
Volume of Poems 33 
 
 TO THE WOODCHUCK 
 
 Here, here, old fellow, we meet you, to-day, 
 
 Feasting, heartily feasting, upon our beets, our 
 
 Cabbages, lettuce, and legumes all. Now, in 
 
 Strict and limited justice, stern are the measures 
 
 Which we should exercise firmly against you ; but 
 
 Since, in the hard school of life, we've learned, the justice, 
 
 The common-sense justice of many a one. 
 
 True mercy should temper, list to a tale, 
 
 Which we'll tell you, about a contention, which. 
 
 Long, long ago did arise, between two brothers, 
 
 Over a woodchuck, which they had caught in a box-trap. 
 
 Thus to restrain him from working injury to the 
 
 Veg'tables, which, in their father's garden, were growing. 
 
 List to the tale, and know full well, that with its 
 
 Moral, he, who accosts you, is fully delighted. 
 
 Right in the midst of a noisy contention, which the 
 Brothers were having over the creature which they, 
 Haply, had captured, appeared their father, care-worn. 
 Aged, yet, mentally strong, and in judgment mature and 
 Ripe as the sages, the office of judge to assume in 
 Refrence to matters concerning the woodchuck, while the 
 Brothers, as counselors, one as complainant, the other, 
 Noble defendant, most feverently argued the case. 
 When the young counselors, each, in his way, had argued 
 Fully, his cause, their father, at once, a judgment, 
 Which, in its substance, now follows, seems to have rendered. 
 Noble, the cause of the woodchuck. Ever and always, 
 Ought we the cause representing all life of the earth, all 
 
;34 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 Liberty, also, boldly and firmly defend. 
 
 Never a woodcuck, with our consenting, shall forfeit 
 
 Life, that, to him, is both precious and sweet, just because he 
 
 Eats of the things, that our garden produces ; no, never. 
 
 Unto a forest that's distant, secluded, take the 
 
 Woodchuck, O sons, and, op'ning his prison, set him 
 
 Free as the birds, that sing in the tree-tops delightful. 
 
Volume of Poems 35 
 
 THE TADPOLE 
 
 Pretty little tadpole, 
 Swimming in the mud-pool, 
 Swimming in the mud-pool; 
 Pretty little tadpole^ 
 Swimming in the mud-pool; 
 
 Wiggling, wiggling, wiggling. 
 Through the shallow water, 
 Through the shallow water; 
 Wiggling, wiggling, wiggling. 
 Through the shallow water; 
 
 Growing in the sunlight. 
 Growing in the shadow. 
 Growing in the shadow; 
 Growing in the sunlight. 
 Growing in the shadow; 
 
 Growing, ever growing, 
 Head and tail and body, 
 Head and tail and body; 
 Growing, ever growing. 
 Head and tail and body. 
 
 Soon, from out the water, 
 Frog-like, if not tailless. 
 Frog-like, if not tailless ; 
 Soon, from out the water, 
 Frog-like, if not tailless, 
 
^6 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 To the land he scrambles, 
 Dearest little creature, 
 Dearest little creature; 
 To the land he scrambles, 
 Dearest little creature. 
 
 In both land and water, 
 He will spend his future, 
 He will spend his future; 
 In both land and water. 
 He will spend his future. 
 
 Like a true amphib'an. 
 Living and enjoying, 
 Living and enjoying; 
 Like a true amphib'an. 
 Living and enjoying. 
 
A Volume of Poems 37 
 
 THE SONG OF THE CRICKET 
 
 Chirp, chirp, chirp ! 
 
 Sharp and shrill's the note, comes. 
 
 Emanating from the 
 
 Cricket, in the summer 
 
 Time when ev'ning sun is 
 
 Low, and calm and still, ere 
 
 Long, begin to fall the 
 
 Shades of coming darkness. 
 
 Chirp, chirp, chirp ! 
 
 In the rural ears, which 
 
 Cannot help acquiring. 
 
 True appreciation 
 
 Of its charming beauties, 
 
 Lodgment finds the chirping 
 
 Of the little insect. 
 
 That we call the cricket. 
 
 Chirp, chirp, chirp ! 
 Ever, in the future, 
 To each generation, 
 Must the cricket sing its 
 Little note, which, to each 
 Heart attuned to nature, 
 Is a source of joy and 
 Holy inspiration. 
 
38 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 RETURN, OUR COLLEGE-DAYS 
 
 Return, our college-days. 
 Our grand old college-days, 
 Abounding in large measure, 
 In man-enobling pleasure. 
 Return, our college-days. 
 
 Return, our college-days. 
 
 Too swiftly did you fly. 
 
 So full of life's true meaning. 
 On which our soul is leaning. 
 
 Return, our college-days. 
 
 Return, our college-days. 
 And with us e'er abide, 
 
 A noble inspiration, 
 
 Whate'er our work or station. 
 Return, our college-days. 
 
 Return, our college-days, 
 
 The best days of our life. 
 And make for us a dwelling, 
 All other things excelling. 
 
 Return, our college-days. 
 
Volume of Poems 39 
 
 FIGURES OF SPEECH 
 
 If true it be that two important qualities 
 
 Of English style are force and beauty, as in school 
 
 Our goodly teachers taught us years ago, and as 
 
 Maturer years have caused us fully to believe, 
 
 It follows, clear as day itself, that ev'ry means 
 
 Legitimate should be employed by those who seek 
 
 Success and fame, as masters of a noble style 
 
 Of lit'rature, whereby they may express, as much 
 
 As possible, these qualities. And nothing is, 
 
 Which more can add of force and beauty to one's style 
 
 Than proper use of language that abounds in what 
 
 Are sometimes called expressions allegorical. 
 
 Or fig'rative, to use a somewhat broader term. 
 
 The simile is an expressed comparison 
 
 Between such objects as belong to classes of 
 
 A different kind. If we compare a person to 
 
 A tree, a candle to an act of kindness, or 
 
 A beehive to a school-room, we may form what's called 
 
 A simile. The best of similes are those 
 
 In which the objects subject to comparison 
 
 Have one and only one respect in which they bear 
 
 Resemblance each to each. The simile is quite 
 
 Familiar to us all, and hence we feel that one 
 
 Example will suffice to make it clear just what 
 
 It is or seems to be. A good example this : 
 
 How very far that little candle throws its beams ! 
 
 So shines a good deed in a naughty, naughty world. 
 
4© "Sweetness and Light 
 
 The metaphor, just like the simile, is used 
 For purpose of comparison. The metaphor 
 Is used for purpose of implied comparison, 
 Whereas the simile is used for purpose of 
 Expressed comparison. And in the simile 
 We say an object like another is, but in 
 The metaphor we say an object really is 
 Another, as is clearly shown in this concrete 
 Example : There, in France, our boys, a wall of stone, 
 A tow'r of adamant, must fight and help to win 
 The war that's being waged for world-democracy. 
 
 Person'fication is a form of metaphor 
 
 In which life is attributed to objects that 
 
 Are sometimes called inanimate, or, as it seems. 
 
 In many cases, it's a form of metaphor 
 
 In which the qualities of persons are assigned 
 
 To objects, animals, or e'en those thoughts such as 
 
 Are sometimes called abstract. Examples are : The day 
 
 Is done; and slowly, from the scene, the stooping sun 
 
 Upgathers his spent shafts. And soon old nature, worn 
 
 By toils and cares of day, seeks for herself a couch, 
 
 A golden couch, on which to rest her weary head. 
 
 Apostrophe is like person'fication, but 
 
 It has a char'cteristic in addition to 
 
 Person'fication. When directly we address 
 
 Inan'mate objects, or the absent ones, as if 
 
 They present were, we have the figure called by some 
 
 Apostrophe. Example is : O death ! Where is. 
 
 Where is thy sting ? O grave ! Where is, where is, I pray, 
 
 Thy seeming victory, if God or Love be all? 
 
Volume of Poems 41 
 
 Metonymy consists in substitution of 
 
 One object for another one, the objects so 
 
 Associated being that the mention of 
 
 The one suggests the other. And examples these : 
 
 Lord Tennyson, in full, the young men of our school, 
 
 Are reading, with much zest. Each Hamlet heard the call. 
 
 Synecdoche consists in substituting part 
 
 Of any object for the object as a whole. 
 
 Or else the object as a whole for part of it. 
 
 Examples two : Ten masts now hove in view. Ring out 
 
 A thousand years of woe, ring in a lasting peace. 
 
 In saying just the opposite from what we mean, 
 But in a way that emphasizes what we mean. 
 Does irony consist. Example : What, what has 
 The aged pris'ner done ? Has murder stained his hands 
 With gore ? Not so ; his crimes's a fouler one by far. 
 In spite of all his toil, God made the old man poor. 
 
 Hyperbole is an exaggerated form 
 
 Of statement that's devised, in larger measure, to 
 
 Increase effectiveness of language, as is shown 
 
 In these expressions : James, you Hft your hoe a mile 
 
 Too high ! My brother John's a man of boundless skill. 
 
 Antithesis consists in statements that are said 
 To be contrasted, and is found, sometimes, confined 
 To single sentences, sometimes, extended through 
 An entire paragraph. Example : Seem polite 
 And courteous and true to all with whom you may 
 Associate; but be quite other than you seem. 
 
 It's climax that consists of words or thoughts such as 
 Arranged in an ascending series are. A good 
 Example of the figure climax is : Come now. 
 My boy, my precious boy, be strong, be brave, be true ! 
 
42 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 . DEISM 
 
 Deism, thou art product of old Rome; 
 
 And insep'rably united 
 To thyself is destiny or fate. 
 
 The decaying faith of Rome in 
 Gods and goddesses, in course of time, 
 
 Substituted was, in many 
 Cases, by thyself, the simplest and 
 
 Crudest of all faiths, that wedded 
 To a universal Being are. 
 
 Thou doest teach that God created that, 
 
 Which we call the universe, and 
 Straightway left it to itself, to work 
 
 Out its plans and purposes, as 
 Best it could ; and hence, it seems, that thou 
 
 Dost reject the Christian doctrine 
 Known as revelation, none the less 
 
 Than that other Christian doctrine 
 Known by some, at least, as immanence. 
 
Volume of Poems 43 
 
 ATHEISM 
 
 Some there were among the ancients, 
 
 At the time when ancient Rome was in full sway, 
 Who could see no satisfact'ry 
 
 Reason, for believing in a Deity, 
 Such as Deism postulated; 
 
 So they quite denied, it seems, the postulate 
 Known as God, and hence, devoid of 
 
 Faith, according to the meaning which attached. 
 In the early days, to such a 
 
 Word as that, with which the English word, "faith,' 
 Ever should agree in meaning. 
 
 They received from some the appellation known 
 Commonly, as "infidels," and 
 
 So we see, that, strictly speaking, infidels 
 Are but atheists, as, also. 
 
 Infidelity is only atheism. 
 
44 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 AGNOSTICISM 
 
 Agnosticism, of ancient origin, 
 
 In many ages, climes, has lived, although 
 Most inconsistent with itself it's been, 
 
 And much opposed, alike, by friend and foe. 
 It holds itself unable to affirm. 
 
 Or to deny there is a life we call 
 The Deity, the perfect seed, or germ, 
 
 From which it's claimed, the world proceeds. A wall 
 Of doubt, in ref'rence to the world of things, 
 
 Agnosticism has seldom tried to rear; 
 And if, consistently, it really brings 
 
 Itself to face the truth, without a fear, 
 It ought to entertain, at least sincere 
 
 Opinions of the Deity, or God, 
 And nevermore, with sullenness, adhere 
 
 To what is called "a silly, useless hod." 
 
Volume of Poems 45 
 
 PANTHEISM 
 
 Pantheism's a doctrine old, and yet, it's young, for 
 Millions of the sons of earth still bow, in humble 
 Rev'rence, at its shrine. Monistic, or Platonic, 
 Or Spinozan, or, in gen'ral, ide'listic. 
 As philosophers and scholars might still tell us. 
 Pantheism's a doctrine, that denies all matter. 
 As unreal, or non-existent, claiming God's the only 
 Life there is. So, in the light of pantheism, all 
 Knowledge, like all life, without the intervention 
 Of what scientists call matter, comes directly 
 From on High. So, immanence and inspiration, 
 Are, of pantheism, perhaps, most precious doctrines. 
 
46 "Sweetness and Light' 
 
 UNITY OF FAITH 
 
 The pessimist will tell you how, 
 
 It's folly we should hope, 
 
 Successfully to cope. 
 With those that ever stoop and bow. 
 
 He says that most men lacking are 
 
 In honor, justice and 
 
 In truth, and are a band 
 Of helpless creatures that are far 
 
 Too base and mean to be above 
 Contempt that's utter and 
 Unchangeable, since fanned 
 
 They're bound to be by pride and love, 
 
 By bigotry and hate, as well 
 
 As selfishness, of shapes. 
 
 Which not the lowest apes 
 Would strive to emulate, so fell 
 
 And loathsome they appear to be. 
 
 But are we ready, you 
 
 And I, as but a few. 
 And not the rank and file, which we 
 
 Are wont to rev'rence more and more, 
 
 In all the ages past 
 
 Have done, down, down to cast 
 Our hopes and nevermore adore 
 
Volume of Poems 47 
 
 The rising structure of a world 
 
 Begun? No, never, may 
 
 Such attitude, we pray, 
 Be ours ! For us is now unfurled, 
 
 We trust, the starry banner borne 
 
 By all the optimists, 
 
 Who know that, in His fists. 
 Our Father holds the reins, though worn. 
 
 Or torn, or tattered, even, they 
 
 May sometimes seem to be. 
 
 Our Father is not free. 
 We do not hesitate to say. 
 
 To make the world from blemish free 
 
 In twinkling of an eye; 
 
 And yet, for low and high, 
 For all the forms of life that be 
 
 In heav'n and earth, we rest assured. 
 
 He's doing what he can. 
 
 In ways, which not a man. 
 That anywhere exists, allured 
 
 By human understanding, can 
 
 Completely comprehend. 
 
 And yet, O Lord, do send 
 A vision clearer, unto man, 
 
 Of all thy ways, in firmament 
 
 Above, in earth beneath ; 
 
 To him, O Lord, bequeath 
 More knowledge of all things, now lent, 
 
48 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 As part and parcel of Thyself, 
 
 To him, it seems, as one 
 
 In Many, that old gun, 
 Philosophers, against the elf 
 
 Of ignorance, have fired, almost 
 
 Since time began, although 
 
 We must concede that, so 
 Constructed by the brilliant host 
 
 Of thinking men, this ancient gun 
 
 Has ever been, it seems. 
 
 That whenso'er the beams 
 Of scientific light, that run 
 
 A constant course, through space and time, 
 Should suffer change, perhaps. 
 Within a gen'ral lapse 
 
 Of time, new-modeled, for a dime 
 
 Or so, both ever and anon. 
 
 It might become. But, w^hat. 
 
 Away, the cords can cut, 
 That keep at bay, from dawn to dawn, 
 
 While still it blows its golden horn. 
 The noblest friend of all 
 The earth, which, now, we call. 
 
 Faith unified, with scorn? 
 
Volume of Poems 49 
 
 THE CRITIC 
 
 Ah ! the critic ! What a man, 
 Drumming at his old tin pan! 
 
 Drumming, drumming, ever drumming, 
 Drumming at his old tin pan ! 
 
 Other men endowed with sense. 
 Straddle, straddle, ev'ry fence, 
 
 Straddle, straddle, somehow straddle, 
 Straddle, straddle, ev'ry fence, 
 
 But the critic drums away. 
 Melancholy, seldom gay, 
 
 At his dull and cheerless music, 
 Melancholy, seldom gay. 
 
 "Hush !" my heav'nly muse declares. 
 Fearing neither bulls nor bears. 
 
 Interposing for my profit. 
 Fearing neither bulls nor bears. 
 
 "Foster-child, advice I give. 
 Borrowed from a witch's sieve; 
 And I know it's not offensive, 
 Borrowed from a witch's sieve. 
 
 Narrow seems, indeed, your view. 
 Of the many and the few. 
 
 Of the critic and the common. 
 Of the many and the few. 
 
50 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 Some with lives that seem at ease, 
 Ever busy, like the bees, 
 
 On formalities are nourished, 
 Ever busy, like the bees. 
 
 Some with lives quite full of strife. 
 Such, indeed, are few nor rife, 
 On totalities are nourished, 
 Such, indeed, are few nor rife. 
 
 And these latter, in Life's stream, 
 Howsoe'er to some it seem, 
 
 Feel they are, and e'er progressing, 
 Howsoe'er to some it seem. 
 
 But the former hold a view, 
 And their number is not few, 
 
 Fed by reason long respected, 
 And their number is not few. 
 
 Foster-child, take my advice. 
 Take it like a show'r of rice. 
 
 Try to learn each man's a critic, 
 Take it like a show'r of rice." 
 
A Volume of Poems 51 
 
 THE CRIMINAL 
 
 The criminal! "But who is he?" 
 
 How silly and, withal, how like 
 
 An ignoramus do you seem ! 
 
 The criminal is one who breaks 
 
 The laws enacted to protect 
 
 The social order from the foul 
 
 Aggressions of the few, who seem 
 
 To lack, in measure great, a sense 
 
 Of honor and propriety, 
 
 Such as the man who murders, steals, 
 
 Or arson does commit. "Indeed, 
 
 According to the law, man-made, 
 
 Your definition as to him 
 
 Who is the criminal seems just. 
 
 But in the contemplation of 
 
 A higher law, as yet, not well 
 
 Defined, does not the criminal 
 
 Include man universal, and 
 
 Each form of universal life 
 
 Embraced within a common Whole, 
 
 Whose all-pervading consciousness 
 
 Works night and day, and all the while, 
 
 A moral order stronger to 
 
 Efifect within Her growing Self?" 
 
52 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 DEATH 
 
 O death, we've asked you gently, gently, for 
 
 A long, long course of years, what are, indeed. 
 
 Your nature and your purport; but you've been 
 
 So tardy at the task of answer to 
 
 Our question making, that we feel, we're still, 
 
 Still lacking, in true knowledge of yourself. 
 
 And yet, in measure quite sufficient, to 
 
 Our oft-repeated question, hints that show. 
 
 In manner worthy, what your answer to 
 
 Our question ought to be, ten-thousand times 
 
 You've freely, freely given. Let us see. 
 
 In youth's green spring, we did perceive the fact, 
 That you o'erpower all forms of life; again. 
 When little older, we perceived that you, 
 In subtle ways, stay with the world of life, 
 With which, a constant struggle, for a good. 
 Yea, holy cause, you seem to wage; then we 
 Perceived the good, the holy cause, for which 
 Eternal struggle, in the world, 'twixt you 
 And life, goes on, no other is than that 
 Of evolution, growth, or progress, which 
 Is constant, ceaseless, never-ending, and 
 Identical with that of Deity. 
 
Volume of Poems 53 
 
 CONVENTIONALITY OF CHURCH 
 
 Conventionality of Church, which still 
 Conceals, from view of very many, that, 
 In numbers, fewer, ev'ry year, become, 
 The fuller, grander truths of Being, serves 
 A purpose, only in a social life, 
 , Which still is far from being able, both 
 To understand and to appreciate. 
 Scholasticism, which known and taught among 
 The early Fathers of the Church once was, 
 No less, indeed, than that, which now assumes 
 A later, newer, form, in which, it seems, 
 The most accomplished scholars of our time 
 Are fully trained. "Give us the truth, the truth 
 That's pure and holy, undefiled as that. 
 Which sacred is to priest, philosopher, 
 Or scientist," the watchword of the hour, 
 Is growing stronger, clearer, all the while. 
 
54 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 THE CHURCH-BELLS 
 
 It's a splendid Sabbath morning 
 
 (Ev'ry morning splendid is, 
 Whether couched in sunshine or in 
 
 Storm) ; and, ev'rywhere, in fact. 
 Ring the church-bells, through the would-be 
 
 Balmy, mystic air. The bells, 
 Ev'rywhere, the church-bells, mundane, 
 
 Earthly; mystic, heav'nly, ring, 
 To the world proclaiming tidings. 
 
 Blessed, holy tidings, that. 
 Laden are, with useful purport. 
 
 Ring? Yes, ev'rywhere the 
 
 Church-bells ring, to bring to us, 
 On this splendid Sabbath morning, 
 
 Tidings, sweetest, truest, best, 
 That the mystic ages of the 
 
 Past, together with what now, 
 Scientific ages, we are 
 
 Pleased to term, "by hook or crook," 
 Somehow can, no doubt, afford us. 
 
A Volume of Poems 55 
 
 THAT MORNING SPLENDID OF A BRIGHT 
 THANKSGIVING DAY 
 
 Ah, indeed, it was a morning 
 
 In the distant long ago ! 
 And Thanksgiving morning was it; 
 
 And the landscape white as snow. 
 
 Silver-coated, bright and shiny, 
 
 Even dazzling to the eyes, 
 Ev'ry tree, in all its parts, that, 
 
 Reaching upward towards the skies. 
 
 To the eye, a weighty mass, which. 
 
 Was, indeed, a gorgeous sheen. 
 In a splendid way presented. 
 
 How delightful was the scene ! 
 
 On the scene we gazed with rapture. 
 
 Till our eyes were dim as night, 
 Till refreshing sleep involved us. 
 
 In its overpow'ring might. 
 
 Then, indeed, a dream engaged us. 
 Which, of course, we must relate. 
 
 Borne along on wings of rapture, 
 Which, it seems, would not abate, 
 
 Many places, near and distant, 
 
 We surveyed with eager eyes, 
 Not a mortuary saw we. 
 
 Anywhere, beneath the skies. 
 
56 "Sweetness and Light' 
 
 Till, at an odd, distant hamlet, 
 Primitive and even weird, 
 
 Quickly we did stop, and quickly, 
 With our rigging rightly geared. 
 
 Once again prepared to journey. 
 
 But, before we took our leave, 
 Listen to a tale of what was 
 
 Our experience. And cleave, 
 
 Not at all, to what may seem its 
 Lit'ral meaning. Viewing it, 
 
 Saw we that the hamlet was a 
 Real necropolis, a bit, 
 
 Not to say the least, peculiar. 
 
 Since, among its countless dead. 
 
 It included all its living. 
 
 Poorly housed and meanly fed. 
 
 To these people that were living 
 With the dead, as quickly as 
 
 Anyhow we could, we shouted. 
 Loud as ever thunder has 
 
 Sounded, in the hottest days of 
 Summer. This is what we said : 
 
 QUIT YE, NOW_, YE LWING, THIS^ THE 
 LITTLE CITY OF THE DEAD ! 
 
 All at once a local priest, who, 
 Walking down a near-by hill, 
 
 Then had been, began towards us to 
 Run, to wave his hand, and fill 
 
A Volume of Poems 57 
 
 All the air with shouts, that, ringing, 
 Soon, distinctly, reached our ears. 
 
 Drawing near the priest addressed us : 
 Never entertaining fears, 
 
 Dare you try pervert our people? 
 
 Foolish, wicked man! You know 
 Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing! 
 
 Soon, no doubt, you'll dare to go 
 
 Into holy Church, and there, in 
 
 Public service, criticise, 
 What we prize so dearly, as our 
 
 Common, Christian faith. Get wise !" 
 
 We're not interested, chiefly. 
 In church dogmas, we declared. 
 
 Adding, we don't have to stand your 
 Precepts, teachings, and are glad. 
 
 At this juncture we awoke, and. 
 
 Not so stupid, not so dull. 
 That we felt no sense of joy, that 
 
 Life is neither void nor null. 
 
 Ever since that morning splendid. 
 Of a bright Thanksgiving Day, 
 
 So eventful, so impressive. 
 And the subject of this lay, 
 
 We have pondered o'er its meaning, 
 Time and time and time again. 
 
 Till, at last, it's dawned upon us 
 To transcribe it with our pen. 
 
58 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 ART AND NATURE 
 
 Ev'ry good deed, wrought by human skill or knowledge, 
 
 Is a work of art. And art, indeed, should never 
 
 Be opposed to nature, as some ancient schools of 
 
 Art, in ignorance, once taught; but should conform to 
 
 Nature, constantly in all its moods and fashions, 
 
 Imitating all its laws of truth and beauty, 
 
 And variety that's endless, endless as the 
 
 Infinite Himself. Yes, Turner and the school that's 
 
 Called Turnerean, praised by Ruskin, in his Modern 
 
 Painters, shows the way which modern art should travel. 
 
 In this way, suggested by the school of Turner, 
 Should all art forever journey, growing better, 
 Grander, nobler, as it passes, passes down the 
 Corridors of time. And, not alone each fine art. 
 Such as poetry, music, architecture, painting, 
 Sculpture, or the like, but, also, ev'ry art that's 
 Known as useful, like a trade, profession, or some 
 Line of work that's known as business, emphasized in 
 Ever-growing measure, men of each succeeding 
 Generation, doubtless, should behold with pleasure. 
 
A Volume of Poems 59 
 
 ST. NICHOLAS 
 
 Old Santa Claus, a saint renowned, 
 
 Immortalized in Christendom, 
 On Christmas eve, is ever found 
 
 From place to place to spin and hum, 
 His reindeer driving at full speed. 
 
 His sleigh packed full of things that please 
 The child, and tend to sow the seed, 
 
 Which, busy, like the rolling seas. 
 In course of time, may oft produce. 
 
 The fruit of honor and renown, 
 In places, in which grave abuse. 
 
 The strongest spirits may cast down. 
 
 Old Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, 
 
 Whom, in our early childhood days. 
 We did revere, each one of us. 
 
 Is just as dear, in many ways, 
 To children, as he used to be, 
 
 For childhood life is much the same, 
 As each of us may plainly see. 
 
 With people all, whatever name 
 Or nationality they own. 
 
 Regardless of the age or clime. 
 In which they live. Though not alone. 
 
 This saint may well survive all time. 
 
6o "Sweetness and Light 
 
 THE NEW YEAR 
 
 December thirty-first is here, 
 The last day of the fleeting year. 
 Yes, very soon the bright new year. 
 Expelling ev'ry dread and fear, 
 Will fill each aching heart with cheer, 
 We trust, and prove itself, indeed, 
 A mighty godsend to the earth. 
 
 How swiftly come the years and roll. 
 As part and parcel of the Whole, 
 A self-supporting Life or Soul, 
 Forever moving towards the goal. 
 The pantheistic, mystic goal, 
 Conceived, perhaps, in Eastern climes. 
 Some cent'ries ere the birth of Christ! 
 
 Life seems so full of meaning great. 
 
 And good, and strong, we can but hate 
 
 Hypocrisy, which should abate. 
 
 In ev'ry form, in ev'ry state, 
 
 Not sometime, at some distant date. 
 
 But even now, right now, and here. 
 
 And yet all progress must be slow. 
 
 Each year a greater heritage 
 Brings forth, to swell the mighty page 
 Of Time, which ever does engage 
 Its faculties, though blindness rage. 
 To thwart its purpose, like a cage, 
 
 That holds, confined, a captured beast. 
 
 Each year brings more abundant life. 
 
Volume of Poems 6i 
 
 MYTH IN LITERATURE 
 
 Myth is fab'lous story that's designed 
 To enforce some moral precept. "Find, 
 Find me", do you say, "concrete examples 
 To illustrate what you mean by words you've 
 Used so aptly and so strangely in the 
 Definition that you've kindly given''\ 
 
 What you want is easy to obtain, 
 
 For the field of lit'rature, to gain 
 An important object, comprehends a 
 Great variety of cases such as 
 May afford examples numerous, a 
 Few of which may satisfy our longings. 
 
 If it's really true that platitude. 
 
 Just as well as paradox, in rude 
 Times, before the age of reason, for the 
 Masses, has begun to ripen, serves a 
 Noble purpose, in the hands of sages, 
 Warriors, bards and priests and prophets. 
 
 Then it follows as a sequence that 
 All our early records seem to "chat" — 
 If it proper be to use a trope — of 
 Myth or fable. Aesop, Pindar, Homer, 
 Virgil, Dante, Bunyan, Milton, writers 
 Of the Bible, and a host of others, 
 
62 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 Famous have become for use of myth or 
 
 Fable; and, to use a common saw, 
 Since the advent of the novel, all or 
 Nearly all the novelists, of course, have 
 Made both wide and varied use of myth or 
 Fable in some shape or form or other. 
 
 Now let's have concrete examples, brief, 
 
 Simple, terse, of myth, and then relief 
 
 Must I grant you for a time. But two, and 
 Only two examples, for our purpose, 
 Will suffice. The first of these is taken 
 From old Homer's Odyssey. It follows. 
 
 Great Ulysses bound for Argos and 
 
 Famous Ithaca, his native land. 
 
 Destined was to steer his course quite near the 
 Isle so white with bones, where dwelt the Sirens, 
 Goddesses, whose pleasing task it was to 
 Sing and play with golden harps that they might 
 
 Tempt the sailors, plowing through the deep. 
 Straightway on their shores so very steep. 
 Each and all, their ships to moor, with transport, 
 That, for them, the bodies of their men might 
 Sumpt'ous feast supply. Ulysses warned his 
 Men that, if they would avert what seemed most 
 
 Dire misfortune, they should take of him 
 What he thought was best of council. Slim, 
 Very slim, Ulysses thought his men would 
 Be in face of such enticements as might 
 Come, in torrents, from the deadly, deadly 
 Shores. Then hastily, and in their presence, 
 
A Volume of Poems 63 
 
 Both his ears he stuffed with wax, and then, 
 Straightway, all his boon companions, when 
 Nothing loth, they saw their leader's bold, yet 
 Wise example, stuffed their ears, each one, with 
 Pliant wax, and then, returning to their 
 Benches, worked again, their oaken oars, with 
 
 Strokes redoubling, and, forthwith, unharmed, 
 And, withal, it seems, not even charmed. 
 Once, for all, with their brave captain artful, 
 Fled the Sirens and their baleful shores. Thus, 
 Thus concludes the first of our examples, 
 Which are given to illustrate myth or 
 
 Fable. Milton's theme that's known to deal. 
 Splendidly, as each and all must feel, 
 With the subject Paradise, which once was 
 Lost, the fable holds, and then regained, will. 
 Mainly for the simple reason that it's 
 Known so commonly, of course, suffice for 
 
 My example, number two. I think, 
 Such a theme as this has caused to drink, 
 Gently, if not deeply, of the fount of 
 Myth or fable, whomsoever's read the 
 Same, as treated by the master hand of 
 Milton. In a nut-shell here's the story, 
 
 Milton used as substance of his myth. 
 
 Sometime in the past the strength or pith 
 Lurking in the frame of Satan, urged him. 
 Aided by a host of rebel angels. 
 Bloody war to wage in Heaven 'gainst the 
 King of Heaven and his band of loyal 
 
64 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 Angels. Long the contest raged with ire ; 
 
 But the strength allied with Heaven's sire, 
 In the end, exerted undisputed 
 Sway, throughout the realms of Heaven, having 
 Banished Satan, with his rebel band of 
 Angels, from the happy light of Heaven, 
 
 To the distant, gloomy region, known, 
 
 Lit'rature records, as Hell, to own, 
 
 As their studied plan and purpose, foul and 
 Dire revenge against the throne of Heaven. 
 Satan, in his new abode, as soon as 
 He'd recovered strength he'd lost, quite lost, as 
 
 Consequence of his defeat in Heav'n, 
 
 Which was aggravated six or sev'n 
 
 Fold, no doubt, by shameful banishment to 
 Hell, made haste to summon to a council. 
 All his warriors, since through them he hoped to 
 Form a plan by which eternally to 
 
 Execute their common purpose. In 
 
 This, a gen'ral council, Satan's kin. 
 Viewed from standpoint of their common spirit, 
 After more or less discussion orr the 
 Part of foremost leaders, were, it seems, quite 
 Well agreed upon a plan that follows. 
 
 Satan, by the plan adopted, was 
 
 Chosen special envoy for the cause, 
 Which required that he, old Satan, after 
 Journ'ing to the earth, disguised as serpent. 
 Should gain entrance to the Gard'n of Eden, 
 And, while in that Paradise, should tempt both 
 
A Volume of Poems 65 
 
 Eve and Adam that forbidden fruit, 
 Knowledge giving, which would never suit 
 God in Heaven, they, in faithless zeal, should 
 Deign to eat. In execution of the 
 Cause by Satan there was great success, and 
 God, as punishment, forth from the Garden 
 
 Cast the faithless pair to win their bread 
 Through what's known as ceaseless toil and dread. 
 Not alone for Eve and Adam but for 
 Each succeeding generation harder 
 Grew the task of living. Meanwhile, haply, 
 God beheld man's lot with pity ever 
 
 Growing to assume the form of love, 
 Perfect love, that, coming from Above, 
 Should become the father of the Son of 
 Man, the Son of God, or Jesus Christ of 
 Bethany, who, as the great exemplar 
 Of God's love for erring man, the master 
 
 Of all forms of weakness, even death, 
 Should but prove himself to be. His breath 
 Simply, should o'ercome all space and time and 
 Even all the pow'rs of nature. Those who 
 Should accept him. as Messias, Master, 
 Heirs of God and joint heirs of himself might 
 
 Be; and thus, through Jesus Christ, as that 
 Love, which on the throne of Heaven sat. 
 Paradise, which once was lost, by sin of 
 Eve and Adam, once for all, it seems, might 
 Be regained. And thus concludes the second 
 And the last of our examples given 
 
dd "Sweetness and Light 
 
 To illustrate myth or fable. Ought 
 Something more be said, as food for thought, 
 Ere this little poem be concluded? 
 Will the poem make quite clear to all who 
 Chance to read it, both the nature and the 
 Purport, that attach to myth or fable? 
 
A Volume of Poems 67 
 
 AT THE SEA-SHORE 
 
 Worn by the toils and cares that come 
 To those whose task it is to win 
 Their bread as simple tillers of 
 The soil, one day in latter part 
 Of June, I felt constrained to quit 
 My farm, to take a view of what 
 The poet famed has styled, in words 
 Expressive of the simple truth, 
 "The sea, the sea, the open sea, 
 The blue, the fresh, the ever free." 
 
 Beneath a massive oak quite near 
 The shore, rock-ribbed and ancient as 
 The sun, I gave my weary limbs 
 Repose. I slept. I dreamed; and in 
 My dream, I took, or seemed to take, 
 An ocean-view, transcending far. 
 In beauty, splendor, and in true 
 Significance, the Alpine scenes. 
 Or such, withal, as Mammoth Cave 
 And great Yosemite afford. 
 
 The dream I had presented to 
 My mind, a panoramic view 
 Of all the nations of the earth. 
 Illumined by the light of truth. 
 No longer superstition bound 
 
68 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 The hearts and minds of men. 
 No ancient faith, no system of 
 Philosophy outworn, but truth — 
 Such truth as modern science owns — 
 Maintained in all, a helpful life. 
 
 The dream I had, while at the shore, 
 Reminds me of a solemn fact : 
 Among the savage peoples of 
 The earth, religious faith, in no 
 Small part, is but the child that's born 
 Of dreams and shadows. But, among 
 The cultured peoples of the earth, 
 Religious faith, in larger part, 
 Is based on reason, which, in turn, 
 Is based on scientific fact. 
 
Volume of Poems 69 
 
 TO EX-KAISER BILL 
 
 Ex-Kaiser Bill! Ex-Kaiser Bill! 
 
 Whatever lies in store for you, 
 
 In years that are to be, you've learned 
 
 The lesson well, we trust, that, though 
 
 The world be anything except 
 
 A paradise, no longer will 
 
 It tolerate autocracy. 
 
 Or any other Feudal form 
 
 Of government. "The world do move." 
 
 Old systems ever are outworn. 
 
 And yet the progress of the world, 
 
 Too great to please the lives of some, 
 
 Is much too slow, perhaps, to please 
 
 The majesty of others. Yes, 
 
 It's true, Ex-Kaiser Bill, to-day, 
 
 Just as it has been true in times 
 
 Gone by, the greatest problem that 
 
 A public man (and ev'ry man 
 
 Should be a public man) can find 
 
 To solve, within the field or sphere 
 
 Of government, is that whereby 
 
 He may acquire the faculty. 
 
 Whose office is to teach him this : 
 
 Just when exped'ency requires 
 
 Loose rein; just when a firmer hand. 
 
70 '^Sweetness and Light 
 
 WAR 
 
 "War, the greatest curse of all the ages, 
 
 Still abides with us," they say, 
 With a carnage that's outrageous ; 
 
 And a purpose clear as day." 
 
 Well, my friends, I sometimes wonder just how 
 
 Clear the object or the purpose that 
 Actuates the minds of those who fighting 
 
 Are, at present, really is. The cat. 
 
 Sly and cunning, knows both when and how to 
 
 Hunt its prey. The bat confined. 
 In the daytime, to its dark and narrow 
 
 Dwelling, soon as dusk appears, inclined 
 
 Straightway is to seek its happy fields of 
 
 Prey, and through a passage toilsome. Man 
 
 Selfish, crafty, preys upon his brother 
 Soothingly, as with a gentle fan. 
 
 War, though inhumane, is ever nat'ral. 
 
 And all nat'ral things seem subject to 
 What is called the law of change or growth. Won't 
 
 War in time its cruel self outdo? 
 
A Volume of Poems 71 
 
 AUTOCRACY AND DEMOCRACY 
 
 In barb'rous ages far remote, 
 
 Men lived in fam'lies, tribes or clans, 
 
 Which tried to take incessant note 
 Of all their neighbors' warlike plans. 
 
 From such a social state of things. 
 Evolved full many a jealous broil 
 
 Of which the bard or minstrel sings 
 In stately measures, wrought with toil. 
 
 And hence these fam'lies, tribes or clans 
 Called forth, as warlike chiefs, in times 
 
 Of doubt, the strongest of their bands, 
 The bravest, noblest of their climes. 
 
 These chiefs assumed the right to rule 
 Their peoples with an "iron rod". 
 
 And found, ere long, as useful tool, 
 Or prop, the teachings born of God. 
 
 Autocracy had now begun 
 
 To rule the sons of earth. Its ways 
 Were worldly wise, and shaped to shun 
 
 The obstacles of later days. 
 
 For centuries it moved along 
 
 Successfully, until it had 
 To face democracy, whose song 
 
 Of hope and cheer made millions glad. 
 
72 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 Democracy, supported well 
 
 By doctrine known as laisse faire, 
 
 Advanced by men, like Smith, to tell 
 The truth, still grew, in spite of care, 
 
 Till now it had become so strong, 
 
 That more than half the pow'rs of earth 
 Were on its side. Yet, still that song 
 
 It sang, a song it knew at birth. 
 
 Such strength, at last, democracy 
 Assumed, when this world-war of ours 
 
 Began, we trust, autocracy, 
 
 When peace be won, will claim no pow'rs. 
 
A Volume of Poems 73 
 
 OUR FLAG 
 
 Old Glory is our Nation's flag. 
 
 We honor her today as ne'er 
 
 Before we've done, for, though she's stood, 
 
 Throughout her history renowned. 
 
 The symbol of democracy, 
 
 Within the bounds of U. S. A., 
 
 She has a broader meaning than 
 
 She used to have, for now she's held 
 
 To symbolize democracy 
 
 For all the nations of the earth. 
 
 Is this, the broader meaning of 
 
 Our flag, compatible with that 
 
 Which, formerly, she had conferred 
 
 Upon her, in the strife, which gave 
 
 Us, once for all, our liberty 
 
 Political? The answer comes. 
 
 In accents clear, from North, from South, 
 
 From East, from West, from ev'ry part 
 
 Of U. S. A., "One boat must be 
 
 The common transport of us all." 
 
 Too long we've tried to sail 
 Life's sea, each, in his boat. 
 His little boat, and all alone. 
 The time is ripe when nations, just 
 Like individuals, should see 
 
74 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 That they have interests, which are 
 But common to them all, and which, 
 For reasons obvious, should be 
 Protected, by some means, in which. 
 Indeed, they each and all should share. 
 
 Our flag, the Stars and Stripes, of which 
 
 We all are proud, and prouder now 
 
 Than we have ever been before, 
 
 Symbolic is, in large degree. 
 
 Which, in the years, that come and go, 
 
 Is growing larger, all the while, 
 
 Of liberty and union, here. 
 
 At home, in U. S. A. Among 
 
 The states or pow'rs it signifies 
 
 A union of democracies. 
 
A Volume of Poems 75 
 
 THEN AND NOW 
 
 "In time of peace prepare for war," 
 
 The nations used to say, 
 As if, through armaments, alone. 
 
 They hoped to save the day. 
 
 And fed on doctrine such as this 
 
 Almost till now, it seems. 
 Through war and carnage they've awoke 
 
 To find their hopes are dreams. 
 
 And now they seek with one accord 
 
 The sword to relegate, 
 And in its place to substitute 
 
 The food of later date. 
 
 And what's the food of later date 
 
 To which we now allude? 
 It's reason higher than the kind. 
 
 That would the sword include. 
 
 And in this purpose lofty, grand, 
 We know they will not fail, 
 
 In gazing at the stars on high. 
 To breast the stormy gale. 
 
 For statesmanship in ev'ry land 
 
 Is wise enough, we feel, 
 Should ev'ry other means prove void, 
 
 To use the bloody steel. 
 
76 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 OUR BOYS RETURNING HOME 
 
 Now, the war is ended, 
 Across the surging waves, 
 
 All our boys still living, 
 Will homeward come again. 
 
 Singing songs of triumph. 
 Rejoicing all the way. 
 
 At the railway stations 
 
 Throughout our spacious land, 
 At the ports and harbors 
 
 Of dear old Uncle Sam, 
 Glad as all creation, 
 
 We'll greet our gallant boys. 
 
 Never in the future, 
 
 In all the years to be. 
 Into bloody conflict. 
 
 May we, with warlike states. 
 Shamefully be drawn, to 
 
 Preserve our liberty. 
 
A Volume of Poems yy 
 
 THE MISSION OF POETRY 
 
 The work of scholarship professional 
 
 Is this : to be a constant reaper of 
 All kinds of truth which any profit may 
 
 Afford to man. No other work so great. 
 
 The task of law professional appears 
 To be, in simplest manner, to adjust 
 
 The rights of parties, in accordance with 
 The principles of law and equity. 
 
 The duty that devolves on medicine 
 
 Is this : alleviation to afford 
 To those who suffer from what's called disease, 
 
 And means preventive of disease to use. 
 
 The business of theology is what? 
 
 Alas, I do not know ! And yet, I feel, 
 It ought to be to help mankind to solve 
 
 The complex problems of a growing world. 
 
 So much, in gen'ral terms, of scholarship, 
 
 Of law, of medicine, theology. 
 Now let us see what business, task or work's 
 
 Allotted or assigned to poetry. 
 
 All poetry of whatsoever kind. 
 In some degree, at least, didactic is. 
 
 And yet the paramount importance of 
 All poetry consists in its appeal 
 
78 "Sweetness and Light" 
 
 To human sense of beauty, pleasure, and 
 Of inspiration, through the mental views. 
 
 Or scenes, or visions, it arouses in 
 
 The human mind, of life, not simply as 
 
 It is just now, but as it would be in 
 
 The land "Utopian", the mystic land 
 Of "Nowhere", where nor dreams nor shadows would 
 
 Appear to dim the light of perfect day. 
 
Volume of Poems 79 
 
 MUSIC 
 
 Music, in the ancient Grecian sense, included a wide 
 
 Range of subjects such as called for an appreciation 
 
 Of the masterpieces of the greatest poets of the , 
 
 Ancient world; such subjects, also, as enabled one to 
 
 Take some part in private entertainments or in sacred 
 
 Games or in the paean sung upon the field of battle. 
 
 Music, in the modern sense, is quite a diff'rent thing. It 
 
 Takes but slight, if any cognizance, of poetry, with 
 
 All its rules concerning what are called poetic foot, and 
 
 Rhyme, and rhythm, and poetic thought, the last of which must 
 
 Constitute the beauty, harmony, and inspiration. 
 
 Which, of verse, but not of prose, are said to be the essence. 
 
 Music, in the modern sense, with slight regard to verse, seems 
 To concern itself, almost exclusively, with time and 
 Notes, with sharps and flats, with training of the voice, the ear, the 
 Eye, the hand, and other matters quite akin to these. All 
 Culture of such kind is excellent and should receive much 
 Emphasis in home, in school, in church, in daily living. 
 
 Music, in the ancient Grecian sense? Or music, in the 
 
 Modern sense? Of these two methods which is better? Both these 
 
 Methods, there can be no doubt, are excellent, but which is 
 
 Better must depend, in ev'ry case, on circumstance. Each 
 
 One who may, prefers, of course, the ancient, thorough-going 
 
 Method of the culture-seeking, beauty-loving Grecians. 
 
 But, however, method in the art of music is a 
 
 Thing of secondary worth. By either method we are 
 
 Glad to welcome music more and more. In all our schools, our 
 
 Churches, and our homes, and ev'rywhere, more music let us 
 
 Have, for music is an element, at any rate, of 
 
 All that's known as poetry, or even as religion. 
 
8o "Sweetness and Light 
 
 APPROVED METHOD IN THE STUDY OF HISTORY 
 
 History the greatest is of 
 
 All great subjects, we are 
 Called upon to study in our 
 
 Schools or elsewhere. And far 
 
 Greater as a subject is it 
 
 Than our youthful minds can 
 Master through the means afforded 
 
 By our public schools. Scan 
 
 Quickly, reader, what we have to 
 
 Say about the matter 
 That pertains to method useful, 
 
 Facts irrelavent, to batter. 
 
 As we study history. Well, 
 
 First of all, it's very 
 Proper that we well remember 
 
 Gently to make merry 
 
 Of full many facts that are as 
 
 Dry and tiresome as they 
 Can be, such as names of battles 
 
 And of places, really; 
 
 Names of warriors, statesmen, kings and 
 
 Emp'rors, popes and other 
 Less important beings, of such 
 
 Episodes as offer 
 
A Volume of Poems 8i 
 
 Slight, if any real assistance, 
 
 To a student such as 
 You or I, and dates, except a 
 
 Few, a very few. Has 
 
 Anyone of all our readers 
 
 Failed to "catch" the thought that 
 
 We've been trying to convey in 
 Ref'rence to the tomcat 
 
 Or the simple gnat, we ought to 
 
 Try full well to shun, and 
 Not the elephant, we ought to 
 
 Try to swallow. Quicksand 
 
 Has, no doubt, its uses. Endless 
 
 Detail, such as that we 
 Find in hist'ry, has its uses, 
 
 Also. But we really 
 
 Feel, great movements, more than simple 
 
 Detail, should receive our 
 Careful thought, for such shed 
 
 More of light and power. 
 
82 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 GREAT MOVEMENTS IN HISTORY 
 
 As we survey, with endless care, 
 The works, histor'ans have prepared 
 With toil and research, which have bared 
 
 Full many things of beauty rare 
 
 And true significance to man. 
 
 Long buried in the earth, perhaps. 
 Or in obliv'on which enwraps 
 
 All things in darkness which began 
 
 Its seeds to scatter soon as first 
 Creation's morning bright and fair 
 Appeared, we find the footprints bare 
 
 That time, upon the earth, since erst 
 
 A home upon our planet, in 
 
 Its present form, it's made, present 
 Resemblance, in some ways well meant, 
 
 For aught we know, its life akin 
 
 To that of earth's contour to show. 
 As earth's contour, alternately. 
 Presents to view, as some would say, 
 
 Its difif' rent scenes, so time, the slow 
 
 Effect to raze, that nulls its task, 
 When sameness is its only rule. 
 Variety, as useful tool. 
 
 With carefulness, displays. No mask 
 
A Volume of Poems 83 
 
 Has time seen fit to use to keep 
 From those who try to understand 
 Her dealings with a little band 
 
 Of mortals like ourselves. The deep, 
 
 Though simple fact is this : that in 
 Men's lives, as in all earthly things, 
 A never-ending song it sings. 
 
 Of movements great and small, the din 
 
 Of which world-history records. 
 Of movements small in history. 
 We waive consideration free, 
 
 Just now, and fully stake all odds 
 
 On treatment that is somewhat brief, 
 Of movements great in history. 
 The first great movement that we see 
 
 Is that which seems to bring relief 
 
 Of social kind, to those compelled 
 
 To live alone. It is, indeed, 
 
 A movement such, that from its seed, 
 Perhaps, is really, truly spelled 
 
 The people that compose, it seems. 
 The population of the earth. 
 The outcome of the simple birth 
 
 Of this first movement are the beams, 
 
84 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 Which constitute foundation strong 
 On which is built the city-state. 
 And so, of very ancient date, 
 
 The second movement great and long 
 
 Is one which culminates, at last. 
 In what we call the city-state. 
 A movement which is very great. 
 
 Though in its jaws we're prone to cast 
 
 Reproaches of the basest rank, 
 Is that which follows close behind 
 A movement, we still have in mind, 
 
 A movement neither lean nor lank, 
 
 From which we have the city-state. 
 The movement, in itself, is one. 
 Which, when its task is fully done, 
 
 Results in empire, which, of late, 
 
 Is falling into disrepute. 
 
 When empire still is holding sway, 
 A movement great does win the day, 
 
 A movement, Roman, Angle, Jute, 
 
 And Saxon, Dane, and Norman, and 
 The leading peoples of the West 
 Of Europe soon embrace, as best 
 
 Of all the movements which the land 
 
A Volume of Poems 85 
 
 Affords for those who seek the truth 
 In things religious; and, perhaps, 
 We hardly need to say, it raps, 
 
 The movement gently raps, forsooth, 
 
 Upon the head of ancient myth, 
 Once sacred held by some, it seems, 
 And interposes what it deems 
 
 The sacred truth, the monolith 
 
 Of Deity. The fourth of our 
 Great movements is religious in 
 Its nature; and it's ever been, 
 
 From birth till now, a growing pow'r. 
 
 Accessions bringing to itself. 
 
 From time to time, from what are known, 
 
 In ev'ry place, in ev'ry zone. 
 Of earth, in which a thirsty elf. 
 
 For greater knowledge, makes appeal. 
 As "worlds of scientific lore" 
 That coming are still more and more. 
 
 And which, we cannot help but feel, 
 
 Will come until the Alchemist 
 
 Of Time shall abdicate His throne. 
 To-day we're trying to atone 
 
 For what we call an endless list 
 
86 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 Of cruel wars, of petty strifes, 
 Of murders, crimes of ev'ry kind. 
 In some degree, we really find. 
 
 Whatever tunes, with selfish fifes, 
 
 Base rulers try to play, by what 
 
 We call our movement number five, 
 A movement ev'rywhere alive, 
 
 Since wide as earth it is. But, but 
 
 The name by which this movement now 
 Is known to most of us, is that 
 Of world-democracy, most pat 
 
 And timely, as we all allow. 
 
A Volume of Poems 87 
 
 THE WORK OF FOUR GREAT ORATORS 
 
 When, at the close of the Peloponnesian 
 
 War, all the states of Greece lay exhausted 
 Worn out by endless domestic contentions, 
 
 Then, from the North, with forces invincible, 
 Philip of Macedon, came, his kingdom. 
 
 O'er all the Grecians, soon to establish. 
 Meanwhile, at Athens, was one called Demosthenes, 
 
 Who, by his wonderful eloquence, tried, so it 
 Seems, to arouse the Athenians and some 
 
 Others, effective resistance, somehow, to 
 Make. How perfect in structure, how bitter and 
 
 Violent, are the invectives, Demosthenes 
 Hurled against Philip ! And, though, as "Philippics," these 
 
 Speeches are known, the term "Philippics," 
 Often is given to writings of others. 
 
 If, as it happens, they're bitter and violent. 
 
 When to burn the city Rome 
 And to murder many great and 
 
 Noble men of Roman blood 
 Catiline, a famous spendthrift 
 
 And a man of low repute. 
 Foul conspiracy concocted, 
 
 Cicero, an orator 
 
 Unsurpassed, if fully equalled, 
 
88 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 In the days of classic Greece, 
 
 Just as in the days of classic 
 Rome, in what is sometimes termed 
 
 Purity and elegance of 
 
 Diction, and in eloquence 
 
 Grand, magnificent, sublime, in 
 
 Manner bold and daring, took 
 
 Care, the Romans proper knowledge 
 
 To supply, of facts that bore 
 On the horrid plan and purpose 
 
 Of the wretched Catiline. 
 And, as ev'ry modern scholar 
 
 Really knows, or ought to know. 
 
 Mainly, through the skill and prudence, 
 
 Cicero, the consul, then 
 Seemingly displayed, the city, 
 
 Destined, so it seems, to be. 
 In the future, proud and haughty 
 
 Mistress of the world, was snatched 
 From the cruel jaws of ruin. 
 
 When George the Third, the half insane 
 
 And very arbitrary King 
 Of Britain, tried, through Parliament, 
 
 The growing rights political, 
 Of colonies American, 
 
 Unjustly, to suppress, who else, 
 Save Edmund Burke, remembered is. 
 
 As champion supreme, of that 
 Great principle, which, in these days, 
 
 So universal is, and, which. 
 The name, conciliation, bears? 
 
Volume of Poems 89 
 
 When Haine once took a stand 
 
 So ignominious 
 
 Against the tariff and 
 
 In favor of state-rights 
 
 Extended far enough 
 
 To nullify a law 
 
 Of Congress, since he held 
 
 The tariff, in itself. 
 
 Unconstitutional, 
 
 Then Webster thundered in 
 
 Reply, for two long days, 
 
 A mighty argument. 
 
 Defending, forcefully. 
 
 The Constitution. And, 
 
 From Webster's time till now, 
 
 This speech of his has found 
 
 A place, important, in 
 
 The field of lit'rature. 
 
90 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 GREAT DEEDS OF FOUR MODERN STATESMEN 
 
 In Italy, the famous statesman called Cavour, 
 Will be remembered long, by all Italians, who 
 Themselves shall comit true patriots, for things, he did 
 To unify the petty states of Italy. 
 
 In Germany, it was the statesman Bismarck, who, 
 Through policy of "blood and iron", as it's called, 
 From twenty-four or more of warlike German states, 
 Brought forth, of Feudal grandeur, modern Germany. 
 
 In England, Gladstone was the statesman, through whose wise 
 
 And lib'ral policies, for British subjects all. 
 
 The way was paved, for equal rights before the law 
 
 Of Britain Great, and for a true democracy. 
 
 In our United States, when foul rebellion of 
 The southern states, against the Union, with a rage 
 Most shameful, was begun, whose statesmanship save that 
 Of Lincoln, took us wisely, safely through it all? 
 
A Volume of Poems 91 
 
 AMBITION 
 
 In early college days it used to be 
 
 My privilege to listen to a free 
 Discussion of "Ambition is the source 
 
 Whence springs all nobleness in those we see." 
 
 I cannot now recall the arguments 
 
 Invoked in jest or earnestness by "gents" 
 
 And ladies of the college, in attempts 
 
 To prove their chosen side, by why and whence. 
 
 I cannot now recall just what, indeed, 
 
 My early views upon man's need 
 Of more ambition may have been. But, now, 
 
 For many years, I've tried to pay some heed 
 
 To all such subjects, I am sure; and, now, 
 Maturer thought, perhaps, makes me to bow 
 
 And stoop to many things and thoughts 
 
 Which once I did not recognize. But, how 
 
 I view the subject, at the present time, 
 It's easy quite to state in prose or rhyme 
 
 Or any other sort of way that seems 
 Delightful to one's taste, since now I climb 
 
 With ease to rugged heights which once I thought 
 I could not reach. It's true, ambition's wrought 
 
 A noble work in man ; and, yet, it's true 
 That other things some good to man have brought. 
 
92 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 Strong character inherited, good sense 
 
 Acquired through any means, and mind, not dense, 
 But fully cultivated, and some things. 
 
 Besides, afford of man's success, the whence, 
 
 No less than does ambition. Hence I'll say. 
 
 Ambition is an attribute, for aye, 
 Of man, and serves its little purpose, all 
 
 The while, assisting in its little way. 
 
A Volume of Poems 93 
 
 HOME 
 
 O home, sweet home ! Oh, where, on earth, 
 
 Can any other place like thee 
 Be found? Thou art the place of birth 
 
 Of man, the place in which we see 
 His character both shaped and stamped, 
 
 As nowhere else it is, for tasks 
 Of future years, although revamped 
 
 Of ev'ry life that ever basks 
 
 In sunlight, twenty-million times, 
 
 It may have been, as some now think. 
 
 O home, dear home ! No place like thee 
 
 To live in; and no place, withal. 
 Like thee to die in. Hence how free, 
 
 Upon our stubborn knees, to fall. 
 In rev'rence pure for thee, we ought 
 
 To be, especially, since true 
 It seems to be, that thou art bought 
 
 With such a price, that all too few 
 
 Of all the sons of earth, from thee, 
 Full benediction, do receive. 
 
94 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 
 
 If true it be, "That mind's the measure of the man," 
 
 It's truer still, the institution which devotes 
 Itself, exclusively, to freeing from the ban 
 
 Of ignorance, the native mind of man, as quotes 
 A famous modern author from an author that. 
 
 Though famous as himself, lived years before his time, 
 With due regard to armaments which sometimes get 
 
 The favor of us all, perhaps, through prose or rhyme. 
 Without a doubt, "a mighty bulwark," is. Indeed, 
 
 If man enlightened, fully, in the things in which 
 He lives and moves, in time, shall ever be, the creed, 
 
 Not simply of his party, or his church he'll hitch 
 His wagon to, good as that creed may be, but, that. 
 The public school sets forth, so grand and yet so pat. 
 
A Volume of Poems 95 
 
 THE SCHOLAR 
 
 We met a gentleman the other day. 
 
 He is a scholar very great 
 And very famous, too, as millions, gay, 
 
 As well as sober, now, of late. 
 In ev'ry quarter of the globe, are free 
 
 To testify. Of many things, 
 He said to us, if we should live to see 
 
 Both good and ill, on fleeting wings 
 Of time, borne to ourselves, a million years, 
 
 There's one we shall not soon forget. 
 "It takes", said he, his eyes suffused with tears, 
 
 "All peoples and all life, you bet, 
 
 To make the world such as it is to-day; 
 And, for its growth, no man the debt can pay." 
 
96 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 THE POLITICfAN 
 
 We rode full fifty miles the other day, 
 
 My friend and I, to hear 
 
 A politician dear 
 To many jinghoists who wrongly lay 
 Much blame, for ills of government and law. 
 
 On changes that are made 
 
 By those who seem to wade 
 Knee-deep in the affairs of nation or 
 Of state, for honor, or for money, or 
 
 For other, higher cause. 
 
 And as, to think, I pause 
 What next to write about my theme so raw, 
 
 I recollect what Tennyson once wrote 
 
 About the same, Lord Tennyson of note. 
 
A Volume of Poems G/j 
 
 THE FARMER 
 
 In former days the farmer was 
 
 So simple in his ways of living that, 
 At times, by those engaged in work 
 
 Of other kinds, as "hay-seed" he was known. 
 But time has changed, in many ways. 
 
 The early status of the farmer, so 
 That, now, he is, in fact, a man 
 
 Of ways complex and difficult to scan. 
 
 Let's take a somewhat casual view 
 
 Of what the farmer thinks he is ; of what 
 He is. A scientific man, 
 
 The farmer thinks he is ; a greater man 
 Than e'er his fathers hoped to be. 
 
 And reason sound and firm he has on which 
 To base this creed of his. He's been 
 
 To agricultural school, or better still. 
 
 Perhaps, he's had the training of 
 
 A college-graduate. At any rate 
 He's well supplied with knowledge of 
 
 The art of farming. Soil-analysis 
 Is A, B, C to him. The food 
 
 For different kinds of crops he's studied long. 
 He's well informed, in ev'ry way. 
 
 About the sources of such things 
 
98 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 As used in fertilizers are, 
 
 Such as phosphoric acid, potash, lime, 
 And nitrogen. Of beetles, moths 
 
 And other insects that molest his crops 
 The farmer has a knowledge that 
 
 Is more or less exact. Of different breeds 
 Of stock and poultry, too, of freight. 
 
 Of special legislation that's designed 
 
 To meet the farmer's urgent needs. 
 
 Of markets, transportation, roads and things 
 Of such a kind a store of facts 
 
 Almost incredible he's really known 
 To have. Of automobiles, too. 
 
 He has, indeed, a knowledge that's 
 Surprising. To the farmer here's 
 
 Good luck, success. No "hay-seed" any more ! 
 
A Volume of P o e ins 99 
 
 THE CLERGYMAN 
 
 The best of all our men, perhaps, 
 Is he, the clergyman; and yet, 
 For some of us to understand, 
 
 He's difficult, indeed. He raps 
 
 And hammers, saws and drives, with tools 
 So out of date, he seems to some 
 Of us more like a quirk or crank 
 
 Than like a man of sense. He rules 
 
 His little flock, it seems, through means 
 Which some believe no longer should 
 Be used. And yet the clergyman 
 
 Is learned, wise. What awful scenes 
 
 Of protest from his little flock 
 He'd witness, should he fling away 
 His tools so crude, and, standing on 
 
 His rugged feet, the door unlock 
 
 Through which, indeed, may enter in 
 The light of day! No single man's 
 At fault, perhaps. If fault there be, 
 
 We think it shared by all. All sin 
 
 Is weakness. Time's the only cure, 
 We have for weakness, since it gives 
 Us endless opportunity 
 
 To grow in strength. We must endure. 
 
loo - "Sweetness and Light 
 
 THE POET 
 
 Of many things 
 The poet sings, 
 
 And sings because 
 He must. The flaws 
 
 Of nature do 
 
 Not seem so few, 
 
 Or yet so great, 
 That he should hate 
 
 To do his work. 
 Or ever shirk 
 
 The task at hand. 
 In ev'ry land, 
 
 The poet finds. 
 Old Nature binds 
 
 Her parts in One, 
 With deathless sun, 
 
 To permeate 
 
 The mass. And fate, 
 
 To him, is naught 
 But error fought, 
 
A Volume of Poems loi 
 
 In modern days, 
 In many ways, 
 
 By ev'ry creed 
 Of worthy seed. 
 
 The poet last — 
 Not slow or fast — 
 
 In ev'ry clime, 
 Throughout all time. 
 
 Should rue his lot. 
 The poet's pot, 
 
 Or cauldron, boils. 
 With endless toils, 
 
 And efforts great 
 That to relate 
 
 Its contents terse. 
 In simple verse, 
 
 It may succeed. 
 Of life and deed 
 
 Of insect, bird, 
 And flower, stirred 
 
 In heart and mind, 
 Like one that's blind. 
 
 The poet writes, 
 
 Of ghosts and sprights. 
 
I02 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 Of myths and creeds, 
 0£ daring deeds 
 
 Of heroes old, 
 Whose works untold 
 
 Might still remain. 
 In noble strain, 
 
 The poet sings. 
 Whatever things 
 
 Appeal to him. 
 As Jack or Jim, 
 
 Who likes to dwell. 
 As he might tell. 
 
 On movements which, 
 By stitch and stitch, 
 
 Have made the earth 
 A place of worth. 
 
 Though full of flaws 
 Are all its laws 
 
 And all its ways — 
 Such things delays 
 
 No poet great. 
 At any rate. 
 
 To touch upon. 
 Before they're gone, 
 
 Beyond the thought 
 
 Of those who wrought. 
 
A Volume of Poems 103 
 
 And wrought full well, 
 The truth to tell, 
 
 To make their prayer 
 Ring true. What care 
 
 The poet shows, 
 Each mortal knows. 
 
 To make his work, 
 He cannot shirk. 
 
 So broad and deep. 
 It will not sleep. 
 
104 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 THE HUNTER 
 
 Long, long ago, in the age of tradition, 
 
 Nimrod, the hunter, is said to have strayed, 
 
 Over the hills and the plains of his kingdom. 
 Borne by a steed that detested a jade. 
 
 Many a Nimrod, in ages historic, 
 
 Aping the lion and tiger, his kin, 
 Roaming o'er copses and fields and morasses, 
 
 Thinking, no, never, his act is a sin, 
 
 Hunts both for pleasure as well as for profit, 
 Innocent creatures that no one will harm. 
 
 Even to-day, with our boasted humaneness. 
 Many a man, both in storm and in calm, 
 
 Scours the regions about him extending, 
 Shooting and killing whenever he may. 
 
 What of the laws we've already enacted, 
 And with a purpose that, even today, 
 
 Something that savors of higher protection 
 Both for the bird and the animal, too, 
 
 Somehow, yes, somehow, may work itself out? And, 
 What of all things, does it profit to do. 
 
 Trying enforcement of law to effect, of 
 
 Law that we know is enacted before 
 Even a sentiment strong in its favor 
 
 Anywhere seems to exist? Of a score, 
 
Volume of Poems 105 
 
 And, if the judgment of some ought to count, of 
 
 Many a law in addition, that's said 
 Still in the law-books to stay, though, in wisdom 
 
 Hoary, it never was made, and, so, dead, 
 
 Dead, in reality, ever has been, what. 
 What shall we say? As is often most true, 
 
 Landmarks of time, such as laws, are not records, 
 Which, of all records of earth, save a few. 
 
 Prove but the greatest of follies. For each, yes. 
 Each of our laws, whatever its flaws. 
 
 Serves a wise purpose, as most of us argue. 
 Even the hunter who laughs at the laws, 
 
 Sees their true meaning and runs little risk, while, 
 Bound to their sordid, commercial pursuits. 
 
 Men of all classes neglect the high duty. 
 Owed, we believe, to the innocent brutes. 
 
io6 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 TO THE LAWYER 
 
 lawyer, whereso'er you be, 
 
 Or whither you may hope to flee, 
 
 To you I dedicate this lay ; 
 And with you may it ever stay, 
 
 A starry light, through darksome night. 
 Through mazes thick, where legal right, 
 
 Can scarcely be discerned from what 
 Is known as legal wrong, no rut 
 
 Concealing from your view, as you 
 Pursue the toilsome way, which, through 
 
 Each nook and corner of your course. 
 Invites your footsteps. But such force 
 
 Of understanding as I need. 
 
 My task, with clearness, now to read, 
 
 Omnipotence provide. Oh ! yes, 
 
 1 now discern, I think, I "guess," 
 
 The threads of my discourse. Oh, sing, 
 Each lawyer brave ; oh, sing, and bring 
 
 To bear upon your life, each day, 
 Through whatsoever means your may, 
 
A Volume of Poe'ms 107 
 
 A greater mastery of law, 
 In all its applications, for 
 
 It's growing constantly, we know, 
 Though we, in learning it, be slow. 
 
 Sing subjects that, in former days. 
 To learn, you studied hard, in ways. 
 
 That made you burn the midnight oil. 
 Sing Keener's Cases wrought with toil, 
 
 And Gardner's Notes, that simple are. 
 And, comprehensive, more, by far, 
 
 Than true exactness would require; 
 Sing these, to music of your lyre. 
 
 As you survey, with growing zeal. 
 The law of contracts : and, then, wheel 
 
 About, while seated in your chair. 
 Beside your office desk, the care 
 
 Of which entrusted is to some 
 One other than yourself, and hum 
 
 A song, or else a sweet refrain. 
 Productive of, at least, some gain. 
 
 Of Doctor Bilelow, on law 
 
 Of torts. Sing on, both of and for. 
 
 The law of crime, expounded well, 
 
 By Clark. And having wheeled a spell. 
 
io8 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 Prepare to sing of Merwin's law 
 Of equity, devoid of flaw, 
 
 And very excellent. Sing, now, 
 Again, and sing this time, of how 
 
 The courts interpret and apply 
 The law of bills and notes, the sly 
 
 And learned Tiedeman wrote about. 
 Sing Chitty, clear as day, and out 
 
 And out, delightful, e'er to read. 
 And, having wheeled again, take heed 
 
 To sing of Cooley, Clarke and Beach, 
 And, also, Williston, who teach 
 
 Important branches that concern 
 The law. Sing, also, in their turn, 
 
 McKelvey, Story, Gardner, and, 
 Withal, a somewhat husky band 
 
 Of other legal lights. And, yes. 
 Of twenty branches, more or less. 
 
 Of law you will have sung. Again, 
 Now sing, and sing, with sweet refrain, 
 
 Since you have turned and wheeled about, 
 Of statutes, that your state's sent out, 
 
 And laws of Congress numberless. 
 Sing, last, I pray, and tell us ; yes, 
 
 Do tell us all, both near and far. 
 Just how to captivate the bar. 
 
Volume of Poems 109 
 
 RAIN IN SUMMER 
 
 How the rain-drops cool, refreshing, dance, 
 
 Reel and totter, falling from the skies 
 
 Dark and vaulted, to the thirsty earth, 
 
 In the good old summer-time! And 
 
 How the thunder roars, as if it were 
 
 Unrelenting, in its madness, or 
 
 Stubborn, even, in its studied plan. 
 
 Plan that's wreaking direful vengeance ! How, 
 
 Also, flashes, in the heavens, the 
 
 Lightning, darting into ev'ry nook. 
 
 Nook and corner, of the firmament ! 
 
 What a queer phenomenon, the rain, 
 
 Which, in summer, falls upon the earth ! 
 
 Patter, patter, on the house-top, through 
 All the weary hours of day and night. 
 With its dull and dreary monotone, 
 Which, at times, by peals of thunder, near, 
 Near or distant, for a moment, is. 
 Seemingly, o'erpowered, ceaseless falls. 
 Falls the rain, while darkness deep involves. 
 Things of earth and sky, in constant gloom, 
 Save, when flashes bright of lightning, here. 
 Here and there, and now and then, are seen. 
 Which, athwart the air, have burned their way. 
 What a queer phenomenon, the rain, 
 Which, in summer, falls upon the earth ! 
 
no "Sweetness and Light 
 
 TO ASTRONOMY 
 
 Astronomy, no greater science than 
 
 Thyself has ever yet 
 Been born, though, out of older science than 
 Thyself, thou hast, by slow 
 
 Degrees, emerged, invested w^ith the task, 
 Far more than other sciences, the mask. 
 
 Which has disguised, in part, at least, the face 
 
 Of nature, to uplift. 
 No other science can produce, it's thought. 
 Effects so broad'ning and 
 
 Enlight'ning, on the minds of men, as those 
 Which thou dost rightly claim, in spite of foes. 
 
 And thou, not simply broad'ning, and, withal, 
 
 Enlight'ning art. Thy work, 
 In other ways, is useful, too, like that 
 Of other sciences. 
 
 The navigator, and the man who land 
 Surveys, and others seek thy helping hand. 
 
A Volume of Poems iii 
 
 THE IVY 
 
 Creeping little Ivy, sprung from lowly birth, 
 Decorating buildings ev'rywhere on earth ! 
 Ever climbing upward, broadening is its course, 
 Setting an example of delightful force 
 Bearing on responsiveness to what, it seems, 
 Termed as higher Power ought to be. Though beams. 
 Gorgeous beams of sunlight, clothed in forms of truth, 
 Ev'rywhere and always are for those, forsooth, 
 Who have eyes with lenses focused, we may say. 
 As they should be, still there's nothing else to-day 
 Anywhere in all plant nature that can shed 
 Greater lustre on the living and the dead 
 Than the simple, loyal unassuming plant 
 Called the Ivy, known and honored ev'rywhere. 
 
 Twining massive buildings, wrought of brick or stone. 
 Adding to them beauty such as may atone 
 For defects in structure of a thousand kinds, 
 Pleasing to the student when, perchance, he finds 
 That he is a member of the Senior Class 
 Of some famous school in which e'er to amass 
 Worlds of knowledge and of culture he has spent 
 Precious, golden hours of youth, so firmly bent 
 Somehow e'er his purpose at the school has been, 
 Not infrequently's the Ivy found. So, in 
 All-embracing Nature, easily we see 
 Some unfailing uses of the Ivy, we, 
 
 Inadvertently, at least, might fail to note. 
 
 And these uses are important, one and all. 
 
112 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 FOR THETFORD ACADEMY CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 
 
 We've traveled South; we've journeyed West; we've lived 
 
 In other lands ; but nowhere else on all 
 
 The earth a place like Thetford Hill we've found. 
 
 It's true, we feel, that nowhere else is air 
 
 So pure, or sunlight quite so bright, or what 
 
 The chemist knows as H^O, in all 
 
 Respects, resembles quite so much, perhaps, 
 
 Proverb'al fountains of perpetual youth. 
 
 One hundred years ago the school, the light 
 
 Of all the region 'round about, upon 
 
 This hill was founded; and, through all the years, 
 
 The intervening years, that since have come 
 
 And gone, the influence of this school, upon 
 
 The whole, has held its own, to say the least. 
 
 In recognition of this fact, the sons 
 
 And daughters of this school, her friends, of whom 
 
 She has a host, to do her homage, for 
 
 They're thrilled with thoughts of what she is and was. 
 
 From far and near now congregated are. 
 
 For this old school of ours a happy day! 
 
 The history of Alma Mater to 
 
 Her sons and daughters here assembled seems 
 
 Delightful to recall. Events of days 
 
 Long since consigned to limbo find to-day 
 
 A welcome place within the minds of all 
 
A Volume of Poems 113 
 
 Her children; and, for many days and weeks 
 To come, the same will furnish them, no doubt, 
 With food for happy thought, or better, still, 
 With that on which they may conduct, in fact, 
 A conversation, man-enobling, grand. 
 
 The friends of this old institution feel 
 
 In her, to-day, no less of pride, for what 
 
 She is and was, than do her steady sons 
 
 And daughters fair. No words seem adequate, 
 
 E'en though they be compiled by those, we call 
 
 The greatest artists of the age, to give 
 
 To one a fair impression of the thoughts 
 
 And feelings, that now sway, both those who are 
 
 The children of this school, and those who are 
 
 Its friends, so futile is the pow'r of words, 
 
 So potent are the thoughts and feelings, too, 
 
 Of those concerning whom, just now, we speak. 
 
 We prophesy for this old school, the pride 
 
 Of Thetford Hill, a school, which winters ten 
 
 Times ten has weathered well, a lease of life. 
 
 Which o'er another century, in full, 
 
 Shall spread an influence, which, at once, shall be 
 
 So worthy and so true, it will eclipse 
 
 All past achievements, that the school has made. 
 
 May this, our noble prophesy, ring true. 
 
114 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 A CERTAIN MAN 
 
 A certain man a vineyard plants, and lets it forth 
 
 To husbandmen, and to a country, far away, 
 
 Departs, there to abide. In proper season, to 
 
 The husbandmen, he sends a servant, that, through him, 
 
 He may receive some fruit, such as the vineyard does 
 
 Produce. The husbandmen, however, beat the man, 
 
 And, empty, send him from the vineyard. And, again, 
 
 He sends another servant, and they beat him, too. 
 
 Entreat him shamefully, and, likewise, empty, send 
 
 Him from the vineyard. And, again, he sends a third; 
 
 Him, too, they wound, and cast him out. Then says the lord 
 
 Or keeper of the vineyard, "What, what shall I do? 
 
 I'll send my well beloved son; it may be, they 
 
 Will rev'rence him." But, when the husbandmen him see, 
 
 They say: "This is the heir; come let us kill him, the 
 
 Inheritance to claim." So, out they cast him from 
 
 The vineyard, and him kill. What, therefore, shall the lord 
 
 Or keeper of the vineyard do to them? He shall 
 
 Destroy these husbandmen, and, unto others, he. 
 
 Of course, the keeping of the vineyard shall entrust. 
 
Volume of Poems 115 
 
 THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN 
 
 Two men the temple enter, there to pray; 
 The one a Pharisee, the other is 
 A Publican. The Pharisee, thus, with 
 Himself, does pray: Omnipotence, I thank 
 Thee, I am not as other men, corrupt, 
 Unspeakably corrupt, or even as 
 This publican now standing at my side. 
 Twice, ev'ry week, I fast. I give, as tithes, 
 A tenth of all that I possess. And now. 
 The Publican, who, at a distance, stands, 
 Will not so much as heav'nward lift his eyes ; 
 But, smites upon his breast, and says : To me. 
 Omnipotence, be merciful, for I, 
 Indeed, a man unrighteous, really am. 
 
ii6 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 A CERTAIN NOBLEMAN 
 
 A certain nobleman there is, 
 
 Who, to a distant city, takes 
 
 A journey, that he may receive 
 
 A kingdom for himself, and then 
 
 Return. And, to himself, he calls 
 
 His servants, ten in number, and 
 
 Delivers up to them, ten pounds, 
 
 And says to them : Be busy till 
 
 I come. His subjects hate to have 
 
 Him as a ruler, and declare, 
 
 Through message, that they will not have 
 
 The man reign over them. And, when 
 
 He is returned, still ruler of 
 
 His kingdom, to himself he calls 
 
 His servants, unto whom he has 
 
 Entrusted money, that they may 
 
 Report to him how much they, each, 
 
 Have gained by trading. And then comes 
 
 The first, and says : Your pound, O lord. 
 
 Has gained ten pounds. And unto him 
 
 He says : Well done. A servant good. 
 
 Because you've faithful been, in that 
 
 Which little is, authority. 
 
 O'er cities ten, exert. And then 
 
 The second comes and says : Your pound, 
 
 O lord, has gained five pounds. And he 
 
 To him then says : Authority, 
 
 O'er cities five, exert. And then 
 
 Another comes, and says : O lord. 
 
A Volume of Poems 117 
 
 Behold, here is your pound, which I 
 Have kept, within a napkin laid, 
 For you I feared, because you are 
 An austere man. You sow, at times, 
 In places where you do not reap; 
 And then, at times, you reap, withal, 
 In places where you do not sow. 
 And then he says to him : O man ! 
 Why did you not my money, in 
 Some bank, deposit, that, my own, 
 With interest, I might require 
 Again? And unto them that stand 
 Near by, he says : From him the pound 
 Now take, and give it unto him, 
 The man right here, who has ten pounds. 
 
ii8 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 A CERTAIN JUDGE 
 
 In a city is a judge, who fears not Deity, it seems, nor 
 Man regards. And, in that city, is a widow; and she comes to 
 Him, and says : Avenge me of mine adversary. And he will not, 
 For awhile ; but, afterwards, he says, within himself, Although I 
 Fear not Deity, nor have regard for man, because this widow 
 Troubleth me, I will avenge her, that she may not weary me, by 
 Her continual coming. Like the widow, we should be persistent. 
 
A Volume of Poems 119 
 
 THE PRODIGAL SON 
 
 To his father, says the younger of two sons, The portion 
 
 Of your property that's mine, by nat'ral right, now give me. 
 
 Then the father, with his sons, his property does share. And, 
 
 Soon the younger son departs from home, and takes his journey 
 
 To a distant country, there to waste his property in 
 
 Wanton living. When his property and he are parted. 
 
 In that country, a great famine does arise, and, then, he 
 
 Is in want. And to a man who is a dweller of that 
 
 Country, he now joins himself, to feed his swine. But hungry 
 
 He becomes, and no one gives him any food. Then, soon as 
 
 To himself, he comes, he says. How many hired servants 
 
 Of my father have both bread enough and some to spare, and 
 
 I, with hunger, perish ! To my 
 
 Father I will go, and say to him, that I have sinned so 
 
 Grievously, I am not worthy to be called his son, and 
 
 Ask him that he make me as a hired servant of his 
 
 Own. And so he goes to meet his father. But, his father. 
 
 Seeing him a long way off, compassion having, runs, and 
 
 Falls upon his neck, and kisses him. The son then to his \ 
 
 Father says that he has sinned, so grievously, he is not 
 
 Worthy to be called his son. And then the father to his 
 
 Servant says : Bring forth the robe, the best I have, and put it 
 
 On him ; and a ring put on his hand, and shoes put on his 
 
 Feet, and hither bring the fatted calf, and kill it. Let us 
 
 Eat, and merry be, for this, my son, was dead, and now he 
 
 Is alive again; was lost, and now is found. And merry 
 
 They begin to be. And now the elder son is in the 
 
 Field ; and, as he comes, advancing, near the house, he hears, it 
 
 Seems, the sound of music and of dancing. And he calls a 
 
I20 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 Servant, and of him inquires the meaning of these things. The 
 Servant tells him that his brother has come home, and that his 
 Father's killed the fatted calf, because he has recieved him 
 Safe and sound. And he is angry, and will not go in; and, 
 Therefore, to entreat him, out his father comes. But says he 
 To his father : Lo, these many years I've served you, and, as 
 Yet, I've never disobeyed your orders ; yet, to me, a 
 Kid you've never given, that I might make merry with my 
 Friends. But just as soon as this, your son, has come, who 
 All his property with harlots has devoured, you have killed for 
 Him, the fatted calf. And unto him his father speaks, in 
 Manner such as follows : You, O son, are ever with me ; 
 All my property is yours. But very fitting is it, 
 We should merry be and glad, for this, your brother, dead was, 
 But, again, alive is ; lost was, once, but truly found is. 
 
A Volume of Poems 121 
 
 THE LOST SILVER 
 
 Or, what woman, says he, who has pieces ten, of 
 Silver, if she lose one piece, does not a candle 
 Light, and sweep the house, and seek, with diligence, till 
 She shall find it? When she shall have found it, she will 
 Call together friends and neighbors, and will say to 
 Them, Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece of 
 Silver, which I lost, as bright and good as ever. 
 
122 "Sweetness and Light 
 
 A FIG-TREE 
 
 In the vineyard of a certain man a 
 
 Fig-tree stands ; and to this tree, this man, in 
 
 Search of figs, is wont to come, though figs the 
 
 Tree produces done. Then, to the dresser 
 
 Of the vineyard, this, in substance, speaks the 
 
 Man : For three successive years, now, to this 
 
 Tree, I've come, in search of figs, and, never, 
 
 Yet, upon this tree, a fig I've found. So, 
 
 Cut it down : why cumbreth it the ground ? 
 
 And the dresser of the vineyard to the 
 
 Man makes answer such as follows : Leave the 
 
 Tree alone, this year, until, about it, 
 
 I shall dig, and dung it; then, if it shall 
 
 Fruitful be, why well and good; if not, then 
 
 Down, it will be proper, you should cut it. 
 
A Volume of Poems 123 
 
 A GOOD SAMARITAN 
 
 A certain man goes down to Jericho, 
 
 Departing from Jerusalem; 
 And on his way thereto he falls among 
 
 Some thieves, who strip him of his clothes, 
 And, after wounding him, and leaving him 
 
 Half dead, take their departure. And, 
 By chance, a certain priest comes down that way; 
 
 And, when he sees him, passes 
 Him upon the other side. A Levite, in 
 
 Like manner, comes along, and, when 
 He sees him, like the priest, he passes him 
 
 Upon the other side. But, when 
 A good Samaritan upon him comes. 
 
 He has compassion on him, for 
 He binds his wounds, both wine and oil on 
 
 Them having poured, and sets him on 
 The beast, which he himself does own, and brings 
 
 Him to an inn, and there takes care 
 Of him. And, on the morrow, when he takes 
 
 Departure from the inn, he gives 
 The host two pence and says to him. Take care 
 
 Of him, and, if this money, which 
 I leave with you be not enough to pay 
 
 You fully for your work, when 
 I, again, shall hither come, I'll pay you, in 
 
 Addition, whatso'er is right. 
 
124 " S zv e e t n e s s and Light 
 
 A SOWER 
 
 As a sower forth does go to 
 
 Sow his seed, it seems that 
 Some does fall upon the wayside, 
 
 Where it soon is trodden 
 Down, and by the fowls of air, or 
 
 Birds, as we may call them, 
 Is devour' d, or eaten up with 
 
 Greediness ; and some does 
 Fall upon a rock, and soon as 
 
 Upward it begins to 
 Grow, it withers, since it lacks such 
 
 Moisture, as it really 
 Needs ; and some does fall among the 
 
 Thorns, which faster than the 
 Springing seed do grow, and, in due 
 
 Time, do choke it ; other 
 Falls on ground that's good, and upward 
 
 Springs, and is productive. 
 
A Volume of Poems 125 
 
 A CERTAIN RICH MAN 
 
 There is a certain rich man, who a steward has. The rich 
 
 Man information gets, his goods his steward wasted has. 
 
 Accordingly, his steward to himself, he calls, and says 
 
 To him: How is it that I hear this thing of you? Explain 
 
 Your conduct in your stewardship, for you my steward may 
 
 No longer be. And then the steward says within himself, 
 
 What shall I do, for now my lord, from me, does take away 
 
 The stewardship I cannot dig; to beg, I am ashamed. 
 
 I am resolved what I will do, when from the stewardship 
 
 Ejected I shall be. I will conduct myself in such ' 
 
 A way as to receive, within the houses of the men, 
 
 Who are the debtors of my lord, a lasting shelter and 
 
 Protection from the elements of nature. So each one 
 
 Of his lord's debtors, to himself, he calls, and to the first 
 
 He says : How much is due my lord, from you ? Of oil, says he, 
 
 An hundred measures. And he says to him, In haste make out 
 
 Your bill for fifty, and no more. Then, to another, in 
 
 Like manner, says, How much is due from you? Of wheat, says he, 
 
 An hundred measures. And he says to him : And eighty will 
 
 Suffice. And write your bill accordingly. And, when the lord. 
 
 About these matters learns, the unjust steward he commends, 
 
 For use of wisdom rare, himself, to save from ruin dire. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Our Old Dog Sandy 
 
 Song of the Sea 
 
 To the Grasshopper 
 
 The Song of the Brook 
 
 The Landscape in October 
 
 Cider and Vinegar 
 
 The Cider-mill 
 
 Jack Frost 
 
 An Episode 
 
 A March Freshet 
 
 The Crow and the Farmers 
 
 The Potato-beetle 
 
 To the Man in the Moon ^ 
 
 Politics of Mutt and Jeff 
 
 Pussy-cat 
 
 Our Pet Squirrel 
 
 The Humble Bee 
 
 To the Butterfly ' 
 
 The Mud-wasp 
 
 To the Woodchuck 
 
 The Tadpole 
 
 The Song of the Cricket 
 
 Return, Our College-days 
 
 Figures of Speech 
 
 Deism 
 
 Atheism 
 
 Agnosticism 
 
 Pantheism 
 
 Unity of Faith , 
 
 The Critic 
 
 The Criminal , 
 
 Death 
 
 Conventionality of Church 
 
 The Church-bells 
 
 That Morning Splendid of a Bright Thanksgiving Day 
 
 Art and Nature 
 
 St. Nicholas 
 
 The New Year 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 Myth in Literature 6i 
 
 At the Sea-shore 67 
 
 To Ex-Kaiser Bill 69 
 
 War 70 
 
 Autocracy and Democracy 71 
 
 Our Flag 73 
 
 Then and Now 75 
 
 Our Boys Returning Home 76 
 
 The Mission of Poetry ^^ 
 
 Music 79 
 
 Approved Method in the Study of History 80 
 
 Great Movements in History 82 
 
 The Work of Four Great Orators 87 
 
 Great Deeds of Four Modern Statesmen 90 
 
 Ambition 91 
 
 Home 93 
 
 The Public School 94 
 
 The Scholar 95 
 
 The Politician 96 
 
 The Farmer 97 
 
 The Clergyman 99 
 
 The Poet 100 
 
 The Hunter 104 
 
 To the Lawyer 106 
 
 Rain in Summer 109 
 
 To Astronomy no 
 
 The Ivy in 
 
 For Thetf ord Academy 112 
 
 A Certain Man 114 
 
 The Pharisee and the Publican 115 
 
 A Certain Nobleman 116 
 
 A Certain Judge 118 
 
 The Prodigal Son 119 
 
 The Lost Silver 121 
 
 A Fig-tree 122 
 
 A Good Samaritan 123 
 
 A Sower 124 
 
 A Certain Rich Man 125