MYGOODPOEHS MH^ S^j •."•S" «* « •".*.'. LTREb ••- * FA1I <*•*•;* *.»^» V LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. SECOND COPY. Deliver**! to ORDER DIVISION, AUG 3 1900 < Copyrighted, 1899, By CHRISTIAN PUBLISHING COMPANY. K» x \ V >V A* \ DEDICATION. TO MY BELOVED COMPANION, WHO HAS LIVED WITH ME DURING MANY YEARS AND MANAGED ME WITH A GOOD DEGREE OF SUCCESS; TO THE BEAUTIFUL AND HEROIC WOMEN OF KEN- TUCKY, WHO ARE FAMOUS IN EVERY LAND; TO THE GOOD AND NOBLE WOMEN EVERYWHERE, OF THE PRESENT AND OF ALL FUTURE AGES — ESPECIALLY OF THE YOUNGER AGES ; AND TO THE CAUSE OF HUMANITY, AND OF TRUTH, THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. PREFACE NO. I. In the; summer of the year 1898, two martins built their nest and reared their young on top of the metallic covering of an incandescent lamp which hung in front of my house over the middle of the street. With mnch interest I watched the birds from day to day, and I wondered that the nest was not destroyed by the hard rains and strong winds which frequently occurred. At last, after many narrow escapes, the birds were full-fledged and strong enough to make their flight. While I sat on my veranda late one afternoon, the mother-bird, together with other martins, which seemed to have come for the special purpose, held a noisy coun- cil on the wires near the nest. While engaged in this the mother-bird approached the dome on which was standing a young martin which had not yet used its wings in flight. With a sudden thrust of her body the mother forced the young bird over the edge of the dome, and as it started to fall it seized some straws which hung over from the nest, from which it hung suspended for a few moments, after which it lost its grasp and began to fall. At this critical moment all of the martins which were sitting on the wires dashed suddenly downward past the falling bird, with wild cries, in order to encour- age it to use its wings in flight. In a moment more they all rapidly ascended, wheeling round and round and going higher and higher in larger circles, twittering with delight as they ascended. The witnessing of these incidents so impressed me that I was led to write the first poem in this volume, entitled "The Martins." Previous to that time I had 5 6 PREFACE. had no desire whatever to write verses. The forcing of the young bird off of the dome, its attempt to prevent its fall by seizing the hanging straws with its feet, its failure and fall and subsequent flight, — to these incidents espe- cially may he attributed the origin of the present volume. The second poem written, entitled "The Robin," grew out of the song of a robin near my window on a stormy morning, at dawn, in the preceding April. PREFACE NO. II. This preface is written to inform you that I am already an author of world-wide reputation. It has fre- quently been said that no author's poems, however good, can be pushed into the market successfully unless the author has at least a national reputation. I agree that this is right. The dear, sweet public must be protected at all hazards by the publishers, from incompetent rhym- sters, and, even if an author has merit, it is well for all concerned to keep him on the anxious seat for a reason- able length of time. To speak the truth briefly and modestly — truth is always modest — I inform you that my "Drab Book," pub- lished two years ago under the title of "Organic Evolu- tion Considered," is known all over the world. I know this to be true from the numerous reports of my agents who have traveled everywhere. It has taken father Adam's fame six thousand years, Homer's nearly three thousand, the fame of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle more than two thousand years to reach us, but the fame of the author of my "Drab Book" and "My Good Poems" has flashed all over the world in a single year. This is indeed most marvelous. More than a year ago my leading agent among the Hottentots, that great Philosophic Nation of South Africa, reported to me that all the people of that great nation had adopted by a universal vote, in which they had a fair count, my "Drab Book" as an antidote against witchcraft and all other evils prevalent in that region. The common method of using the book in that coun- try is to support it in the split end of a stick which has 7 8 PREFACE. been driven into the ground for that purpose near the front door of each family mansion. With this pre- ventive all the inhabitants sleep soundly aud without fear, only a few watchmen being needed for patrol and to arouse the inhabitants at the proper time to resume their daily and honorable occupations. The Wild Man of Borneo, who is my agent plenipo- tentiary in Borneo, reports that last summer while he was reading my "Drab Book" to an immense audience of the most intelligent natives, who had assembled for the sole purpose of hearing the book read, suddenly the entire audience passed peacefully into a comatose condition before he had finished reading the first page. He rightly attributes this incident to the fact that their minds were suddenly exhausted by the gigantic thoughts with which they were called on to wrestle. It has been suggested by an enemy of mine that this large audience had fallen asleep, but I have been convinced by my agent that their unconsciousness was much more profound than that which exists in the deepest slumber, for it lasted two whole days and nights, during which time it was impos- sible to arouse any member of the audience. It was, therefore, a case of true and honorable coma. The Wild Man of Borneo further reports that the King of Borneo, King Dang-Bang-Weo-Hang, who is an ele- gant and noble specimen of the untutored and uncon- taminated man of nature, made what seemed to him a sin- gular but a wholly legitimate use of my "Drab Book." My agent had presented to the noble King, i. - iwiiiii