PS 3537 
 •P15 L3 
 1904 
 Copy l 
 

 • 
 
 LAKE KEUKA 
 
 WRITTEN BY 
 
 Z. A. SPACE, 
 
 KEUKA PARK, N. Y. 
 
 Dedicated to 
 HELEN MILLER SPACE. 
 
LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
 Two Copies Received 
 
 APR 13 1904 
 
 (] Copyright Entry 
 CLASG; 0- XXlc. No. 
 COPY B 
 
 
 Copyright, 1904, by 
 Z. A. SPACE. 
 
 N 
 
LAKE KEUKA. 
 
 Hail, Keuka ! Thy bewitching grace 
 Hath often charmed me ; 
 Spellbound I've watched thee by the hour 
 Unconscious of thy power to bind 
 In perfect reverie of thought, 
 A soul that loves thee. 
 
 On thy smooth surface I've been wont to row 
 And angle for the finny tribe below ; 
 Care free, restful, with a west wind sign, 
 And trolling out two hundred feet of Hue, 
 A sal monoid, charmed with the prospect of a meal, 
 3 
 
Strikes at the lively bait and turns the reel ; 
 Startles the fisherman, who swings the boat about 
 And feels that thrill of thrills, a 6 lb. trout. 
 Shakespeare and Milton both combined 
 Could not have sent a message to the mind, 
 Conveying half the inspiration 
 Of that mysterious, sudden, sure, vibration. 
 Thy contour, depth, and even beach 
 Spurs the imagination beyond its natural reach ; 
 And when we add to this thy vineyards, groves, and glens, 
 We multiply thy loveliness by tens. 
 The resting cottager with boat and sail 
 Skims o'er thy waves before the rising gale ; 
 5 
 
Then in the calm of evening's twilight hour 
 The outing song is heard from leafy bower, 
 Or, coming o'er the surface from afar, 
 Another message picked from a guitar, 
 Or mandolin, tells volumes of a future, 
 Which in those interesting hours intense 
 Seems like an undue period of suspense. 
 'Twas even so in far off days of yore, 
 At least so says our Indian legendary lore ; 
 Here in the primal forest's shade, 
 In birch canoe, basking on thy fair bosom, 
 Seneca's proud progeny had read from out thy depths 
 The same unspoken story of their destiny. 
 
 6 
 
Thy colder season when the frost king reigns 
 Another round of pleasure then obtains ; 
 Ivocked in the embrace of Winter's stern decree, 
 The ice-boat and the skating party's glee 
 Are but reminders of the valued rules 
 Which loving parents make, and rest them 
 On the laws of give and take. In metals, 
 Contraction and expansion, I am told, 
 Do not adjust themselves to heat and cold ; 
 Their inert power must be supervised, 
 Then only can their worth be utilized. 
 No doubt 'tis true that the same rules, 
 With all their variations, 
 
Are needed in domestic applications. 
 In youth, when Nature's fires glow warm and bright, 
 Some inuocent swerving from the line of right 
 May indicate an obedience which is better 
 Than always executing to the letter. 
 Though manhood ne'er forgets the limitations 
 As marked by more experienced observations. 
 Thy magic power ! How it hath drawn 
 Horticulturist, philanthropist, and scholar here to fawn 
 O'er thy attractions, until each, in his particular sphere, 
 Lauds thee for having called him here. 
 
 Many have been the battles thou hast fought with Jack Frost, 
 Driving him backward to the " heights and howe's," 
 8 
 
While the farmer in his nightly vigil knows 
 
 Thy influence, and the power that makes thee victor. 
 
 The College, with its attendant acquisitions, 
 
 Expresses fully, without written definitions, 
 
 The fact of its location. 
 
 The hand of God made these ravines, and slopes, the very clay, 
 
 For just the purposes that they're used to-day. 
 
 Those classic walls, richest of thy dower, 
 
 The best of all exemplifies thy power. 
 
 Once more I hail thee ! Thou life and leaven, 
 Agency of God to fit the soul for Heaven. 
 
LIBRARY 0F ||1| g|j l 1| ? | S||||||| 
 
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