CARiiNELLA m. m fi'taf Ghsjies Vf ic^ux CopghiN" \^PJZ«__ COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. CARMINELLA OARMINELLA COLLEGE AND OTHER VERSE BY CHARLES W. LOUX Author of "White Ribbons" I PROVIDENCE, R. I. Carmen Book Company 1902 THE LISRARY OF CONGRESS, T>'0 Coptfer- RtcSivED S£P, 20 190? [ OoPVRinWT EHTWY 4XL 'Lh. ic\0 1- -\MS ^ XXg No. COPV g. Copyright, 1902, By Charles W. lyOux. • • • • ••% • ••• ••• • • > V M To My Classmates of thh Cla00 ot inmeti8*^wo, Xata^cttc College, This Booklet is Inscribed. THE AUTHOR. CONTENTS. BEFORE" — Pre-Matrimonial Aberrations: Love and Long Ago .... 11 The Merrythought .... 12 The Song of the Garden Gate . 13 By Moonlight . . 14 A Barrier 15 An Impossible Condition 17 Love is Not Blind 18 "Not to Forget" .... 19 Botanical ...... 19 Get Another 20 AFTER"— Post-Matrimonial Cogitations : Meine Frau 21 Kisses Seven 22 The Young Pater 23 By the Perkiomen .... 24 The Highway Robber .... 25 The Matrimonial Broom 26 Kitty ....... 26 Lullaby 27 Farewell to the Muse .... 27 By the Kitchen Fire .... 28 CARMINELLA Stray College Verse : From The I^afayette, TheV-Trick 29 How it Affects Women . . 30 Hypnopsis .... 30 The Muse Jokes 30 Effect and Cause 31 Sometimes . . . . . 31 Playing Horse 32 A General Law . 32 The Maid, Again 33 Speed the Day . 33 The Astronomer . 33 From Ninety-Two's Melange, Junior Class Ode . 35 Ye Senior .... 36 Ye Junior . . . . . 36 Ye Sophomore . 36 Ye Freshman . 37 At Faston, Pa. . 37 To Ninety-Three . . 37 A Warning 38 The Ravin' Sophomore . . 38 An Uncommon Breeze 40 CONTENTS Class Day Poem 9 41 Tears and Smiles : September 19, 1901 . 49 When We Meet Again . . 49 Be Humble 50 Cheap Notoriety . 51 The Village Poet 51 In January .... 53 "Plantations" . 53 Different Life Paths . 53 Unspoken Thoughts and Passion s . 54 Greatness .... . 55 The Animal Man 56 Congenial Company 56 Justice a Cripple 57 Wolves and Tigers . 57 The Old Home Sold . 59 By the 0-hi-o . 61 A "Goose Egg" 62 A Threat .... . 63 Finis to Volume One 64 lO CARMINELLA MiLLENiAL Harmonies : How Long, O Lord? It is DoPxe Come Out The Foolish Virgins Look Up . Just Beyond . The Way . Inferior Superiors . Jesu, Geh' Voran 65 66 67 68 69 69 70 70 71 CARMINELLA. "BEFORE": PRE-MATRIMONIAL ABERRATIONS. LOVE AND LONG AGO. With e'en the master poet's pains, His lyre, soft and low, Will ever find its sweetest strains In love and long ago. The silver lake is peaceful when Dim twilight sleeps above. Yet thrice more when our mental ken Is lit with peaceful love. God's field, with starry blossoms gay, Doth still more gaily show When in the beautiful far-away You see the long-ago. 12 CARMINELLA O love and long ago ! the themes Of happy rich and poor ! When poets cease to dream their dreams, These songs will still endure. Ah yes, these themes will fill our song Where bliss is universal love, Where long-ago is ages long, In realms of light above. THE MERRYTHOUGHT. 'T was a happy little maiden. Eyes with cunning fraught, Who, one dinner, with me tried to Break a merrythought. "Which of us will live the longer?" So she whispered low; Soon the fateful lot determined Who was first to go. Presently there came another Wish-bone by her way; And she asked me, "Who'll the sooner See the wedding day?" "BEFORE" 13 But she paused — then with her sister Pulled it; for she knew That the bone could not be broken Equally in two. THE SONG OF THE GARDEN GATE. The night winds were rocking the flowers to sleep, The moonbeams preparing their vigils to keep, And birds singing evening greeting, While down by the rickety, well-loaded gate. Two forms in the swift-fleeing hours did wait. Two hearts were in unison beating. The blissful impression that circumstance wrought Created in him deep poetical thought Of the rickety gate a-swinging; Its creakings appeared like the voice of a fay That came from a paradise not far away, — The voice of a fay that was singing. 14 CARMINELLA To-night, by the saddening moonHght, once more He goes by the place whither often before His steps he was joyously bringing; But the music is sad and the music is low, And sounds like unbearable discord and woe, While idly the old gate is swinging. The fates were unwilling that he should possess The angel whom now some one else doth caress. The angel to whom he was clinging ; And though he should do the best that he can. It knocks all the poetry out of the man As idly the old gate is swinging. BY MOONLIGHT. When first they met, the light Of bow-shaped Luna bright Shone forth, and lo. Each gleaming ray departs Upon two beating hearts. Like silver-pointed darts From Cupid's bow. "BEFORE" Through each deceptive beam Beauty alone would gleam Upon her face; What the dim light could hide Fond fancy soon supplied, And thus he but espied A form of grace. But light of sun revealed The blemishes concealed In moonlit smiles; So lovers, then, beware Of forms by moonlight fair But lovely only there, And shun their wiles. A BARRIER. ''Thou art so near and yet so far,' Thus he was sadly musing, While calmly in the palace car Y\£r book she was perusing. i6 CARMINELLA Through opened window zephyrs stole And tossed her beauteous tresses, \Miile he beneath love's strong control Scarce all his sighs suppresses. The train still swiftly moves along And brings him to his station ; Her heart remains as full of song, His full of desolation. Why thus within his bosom's core Was he his love concealing ? Why did he not, as oft before, Give utterance to his feeling ? O barrier huge as Alpine cliffs ! His was a strong obstruction ; His was the worst of lover's "if's" — He had no introduction. O ill device ! why give such pain To some that might have mated, By ever making them remain Thus widely separated? Oh, that we always have to list To custom's stem instruction — That half life's joys must oft be missed For want of an introduction. "BEFORE" 17 AN IMPOSSIBLE CONDITION. O ye melancholy Memories of folly, Why torment my soul once more? Gladly would I bury All imaginary Thoughts of grief and worry, But the real I deplore. In the happy hours When youth's dewy flowers Freshly bloomed beside my way. Life, as in some Aden, With no grief was laden, For I loved a maiden — Yes, a maiden fair as day. Let me but remember Till my Hfe's December, Those blue eyes and flowing hair ; But, oh, what did sever Her from me forever — Yes, ah, yes, forever? 'T was her father, I declare. iS CARMINELLA I cannot be to her A delighted wooer While he has me in this fix : Dim became my vision When that politician Made the great condition, — "You must change your politics. LOVE IS NOT BLIND. It cannot be that love is blind, Sweet, happy love from heaven sent, Th.at bringeth hope to heart and mind, And sweetens life with calm content. Two souls first loved, one happy morn. While o'er them streamed the sun's clear light. Has life their love asunder torn ? Ah, no; and therefore love had sight. Dim shone the lamp where once two wooed, That was a long, long time ago ; Long, too, they have those moments rued; Was love then blind? No, 'twas not so. "BEFORE" For blame not love, it well can find The true heart if it daylight be ; But in the dark, although not blind, 'Tis true, of course, love cannot see. "NOT TO FORGET." "Forgive you I will, but I will not forget," She told him as down by the river they met ; But the river rolled on and is rolling on still, He waited for her, still longer he will; The love that he looked for will not return Though ever so much he should hope for and yearn ; Some day he will learn and sadly believe That not to forget means not to forgive. BOTANICAL. We were out a-botanizing. Plucking rarest flowers of May, And, what may be most surprising, Pressed the blossoms by the way. 20 CARMINELLA And though much you may dispute us, Since botanic lore we lack, While we never found arbutus Still we brought *'our beauties" back, GET ANOTHER. Married to another? — Well, that's rather rough ; But, my jilted brother, There are girls enough. Don't you end your wishes In the ocean blue; You should catch the fishes. Not the fishes you. Get about your duties; Join again the whirl; "Examine other beauties ;" Get another girl. "AFTER": POST-MATRIMONIAL COGITATIONS. MEINE FRAU. In the dimples on her cheek Play the blushes "hide and seek" ; On her lips ripe kisses grow, But no faster come than go, These she does on me bestow, — Meine frau. All the softness of the sky Lies concentered in her eye; She, with laughter of the brooks, Heaven's sweetness in her looks, Fills my heart and all its nooks, — Meine frau. CARMINELLA She is young, and through Ufe's years Lives her beauty, but for fears That it might not, she of late Brought a little duplicate. Just as sweet as is my mate, Meine frau. Lasting love to you I vow, Baby mine and meine frau. KISSES SEVEN. I kissed our pretty chambermaid As she drew aside a curtain ; The morning sun ne'er shone upon So ripe a lip, that's certain. I met the washerwoman next And raised a slight sensation. But was not spurned, for she returned My tendered osculation. I met our merry cook, who gets Our breakfasts in completeness ; She forgave my theft, for more was left Of luscious, labial sweetness. "AFTER" 23 I met and kissed the blushing nurse, I thought she'd Hke it, maybe ; A Httle girl, with flowing curl, I kissed, and then a baby. I met my wife and kissed her thrice ; She said, but not in warning: ''My dearest, this is the seventh kiss You've given me since morning." THE YOUNG PATER. Does it grate upon your senses As you see yon passer-by? Seems he owns the earth and fences ; Note his proud, exultant eye. He's too young to take possession Of the earthly powers that be ; That's your natural impression As his homeward steps you see. But you will forgive him, maybe, And declare his manner meet, When you learn he owns a baby That he thinks is very sweet. 2 4 CARMINELLA And his baby's got to talking, And it isn't strange, ha, ha! That he's changed his way of walking Since his baby says 'Tapa". BY THE PERKIOMEN. Say, wife, do you know, in the years ago, When you were a girl with short-cut curl. And I, well, I was a woe-man. How I stood by the brink — and my heart did sink, Like the mirrored trees, swung by April breeze — ■ By the brink of the Perkiomen? You were far away on that April day. As the cloud was blue, so your heart was true, But because of some evil omen, I thought you'd forgot and loved me not. And that was why I was ''blue" as the sky, As I stood by the Perkiomen. So I steeled my heart to forget its smart. And dream instead of a pretty co-ed. ; Now, if I had changed her cognomen. Pray, tell me true, do you think that you Would be to-day as happy and gay, — If rd staved bv the Perkiomen? "AFTER " 25 I'm glad, so I am, that the hours came When the dark clouds rolled from the skies of old, And my heart ceased its weary roamin' ; But I can't help think how I mourned by the brink, — Away from my girl with the short-cut curl, — By the brink of the Perkiomen. THE HIGHWAY ROBBER. Last night, before I reached my gate, While the evening shades were falling, A little robber made me wait, A halt upon me caUing. He had no gun, he had no knife. His eyes betrayed some laughter; So I perceived 'twas not my life, Nor money, he was after. His case shall not (to please his ma) Go on the trial docket; For all he said was this : "Papa, What has you in your pocket?" 2 6 CARMINELLA THE MATRIMONIAL BROOM. When the matrimonial broom Has ceased to cleanse the room With its proverbial perfection, It 's an economic trick For the wife to save the stick For purposes of correction. KITTY. Kitty, the flaxen curled. Has gone to the dolly world Because she was lately hurled From her little m.amma's arm. Receiving fatal harm. What shall the mamma do? She'll shed a tear or two. Then straightway her pa pursue With her favorite little plea, — "Buy anodder doll for me." "AFTER" 2-j LULLABY. R.ock a bye, baby, Gently will sleep Lock thy eyes, maybe, Till the day peep. Waking stars brightly, God's watchers, gleam ; Take thy sleep lightly, Happily dream. Thee need the folly Of care not enthrall ; HE cares for dolly. Baby, and all. FAREWELL TO THE MUSE. Muse, please do not chide If I no longer woo thee ; 1 must be satisfied To be a ''brother" to thee. Some years ago I wed Another ; And now a little mister Has come to join his sister And mother; And these want bread. 28 CARMINELLA BY THE KITCHEN FIRE. The long, long winter nights are here When, by the kitchen fire's glow, I live, with every passing year, The life, again, of long ago. Scarce are the dishes done for ma Ere some bright toddler, full of joy. Entreats me, ''Tell me 'dory', pa. Of when you were a little boy." It must be I am growing old ; I count the ''crowd" and feel that way ; But when their faces I behold, I feel like them, as young and gay. And when, to those that call me "pop", I tell my stories o'er and o'er, — Though now and then a tear may drop, — I feel my boyhood's life once more. God bless them : though I'm growing old After the ways of mortal men. The children and the stories told Still iiake me doubly young again. STRAY COLLEGE VERSE. From The Lafayette. THE V-TRICK. He was walking, oh, so stately, One of our renowned eleven, While the ice was on the sidewalk And the snow came down from heaven. From a window smiled a maiden Who had shared his glory with him. And behold, an exhibition Far too grand for rhyme or rhythm. Of his glory to remind her. Up he raised his feet, and he Thus maintained his reputation — Making ten yards on a V. $0 CARMINELLA HOW IT AFFECTS WOMEN. Aeneas and beautiful Dido Once flirted, a long time ago; And as it was leap year, she said: "I love you, oh, will you me wed?" But pater Aeneas said *'No." Then straightway she went and she died, oh ! HYPNOPSIS. So sleep that when thy summons comes to join The yawning crowd of students hustling on To chapel in the morn, where each must take His place among the rest, or absence get. Thou go not, if at least too "sick" thou art, Without thy breakfast, but, sustained and soothed By an unfaltering trust that thou wilt be Excused, do wrap the drapery of thy couch About thee, and lie down to pleasant dreams. THE MUSE JOKES. Said the Muse to me invoking: ''Still in numbers utter thou; But un-4-io-8-ly, rhymster, I have nothing w-8o now." COLLEGE VERSE 31 EFFECT AND CAUSE. Exceedingly blue was the morning, My answers professors were scorning, Too much by their hammering harassed, I was in the end so embarrassed That coldly I flunked ; and I fear, oh, The professors have given me zero. But it softens the pain of their action. My having the sweet satisfaction — She loves me, she loves me. SOMETIMES. Begging Hiawatha's pardon, — Not as to the beau the girl is So unto the man the wife is ; When she has him, safely has him, Then the fur begins a-flying, And the bee begins a-buzzing, And there's humming, ceaseless humming. And the coals — she rakes him over. Thus it sometimes strangely happens. 32 CARMINELLA PLAYING HORSE. A little girl I used to know, With innocent and happy heart; And in the school days, long ago, I used to play the driver's part, And she Played horse with me. That is a hallowed thought ; but now My soul doth sadly in me sink ; She, now a maiden, heard my vow But still I'm sad ; because I think That she 'Tlavs horse" with me. A GENERAL LAW. Man knows that the doctor gives pills made of bread. And sugar of milk with a color of red ; He knows that the lawyer is likely to lie, Yet he takes it all in ; it's peculiar why. Men like to buy organs with twenty dead stops. Get married to women, half milliner shops. While in by the fakirs the shekels are raked, All owing to this : Man v/ants to be faked. COLLEGE VERSE ^^ THE MAID, AGAIN. Oh, whom are you hunting, my pretty maid ? 'Tm hunting a hangman, sir," she said ; And why do you want him, my pretty maid ? *To choke off these parody makers," she said SPEED THE DAY. When every poetaster Is sorely sick to spin it. Some new slang will be master, And "in it" won't be in it. THE ASTRONOMER. T'm tired to-night," the astronomer said. As he sadly looked up at the moon ; Tm longing once more for the days that are dead, Of childhood departed too soon." 34 CARMINELLA I wish I could dream as I used to dream then Of yonder celestial orb ; Of heaven and stars could I but again Myself in those fancies absorb. The stars were all angels ; not Neptune or Mars Would haunt me in reasonings deep ; And the moon was a cradle for wee little stars, Whom breezes of heaven would rock into sleep. The firmament then, all so glorious and grand, Was heaven seen dimly by me; No comfort 'tis now to know that that land May elsewhere — I know not where — be. *l'm tired to-night," the astronomer said, As he sadly looked up at the moon; "I'm longing once more for the days that are dead. Of childhood departed too soon." COLLEGE VERSE 35 From Ninety-Two's Melange. JUNIOR CLASS ODE. The college mill grinds rather slow But grinds exceeding well ; And, as the wheels their circuits go, The Grinder, Time, can tell Who with the chaff escaped the mill (On college Hsts disclosed), And who has best endured the test Of labors hard imposed. Two years at length have brought the days When, clothed in Junior pride. On glories of the past we gaze. And long to rend aside The veil that hides the rolling sea And vessels cleaving through. Where soon shall float each struggling boat Of men of Ninety-Two. Ye men who have together shared Three years of common life. When Senior year shall have prepared ^ Us for the greater strife. To Alma Mater's worthy claims, To class and self be true ; Then long shall shine the "Pearl and Wine", The class of Ninety-Two. 36 CARMINELLA YE SENIOR. To what we do our prestige owe 'Tis very hard to tell, unless It is what people think we know And not the lore we do possess. YE JUNIOR. Now I live in lands elysian, Clouds all scattered from the skies ; Here I view by day the vision Which at eve I realize ; — O ye forms that vie with Venus, Bright has dawned the happy day, When each tide that rolled between us Now has washed, at length, away. YE SOPHOMORE. Red I paint the city, Green I paint the fences, Blue I am at morning. Dull are all my senses ; Full of blow, and valor Minus its discretion, Sophomore in name, but — Painter by profession. COLLEGE VERSE 37 YE FRESHMAN. The grass becomes more verdant yet When by a summer shower wet. But when the Freshman comes to us, Like treatment do we tender him, Yet strange to say, in hopes that thus Less verdant we may render him. AT EASTON, PA. "Big Ellis's'^ feet, as no one refutes, Were such as would make a man shiver ; But he found here a jack large enough for his boots In the "Forks of the Delaware river". TO NINETY-THREE. Of her first disobedience and the fruit Of that forbidden task, when Ninety-Three As Freshmen tried the chapel door and two Of her green rushers by one stronger man Found in the gutter their un-blissful seat, Say nothing, Lafayette Muse, that on the top Of College Hill dost flop thy wings and speak Torth dreadful past, when thou dost speak. 38 CARMINELLA A WARNING. Oh, flirt not with the Jersey dames And Easton maids and a' that; The Senior sees it in a Ught In which you never saw that. You think them cute, you love their smiles, Their tinsel show and a' that ; When the ice-cream season comes you'll know A girl's a girl for a' that. THE RAVIN' SOPHOMORE. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I found me weak and weary, Riding horses over Livy and the like forgotten lore, While I nodded nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, Oh, a tooting and a tapping, then I opened up the door; Visitors they — ''Who are you?" — asked I of the first one at the door ; Quoth he, "I'm a Sophomore." COLLEGE VERSE 39 Ah, distinctly I remember, — that was sometime last September, — Suddenly arose my temper, and they swept with me the floor ; Eagerly I wished the morrow, they proceeded then to borrow. From my bed a quilt to borrow, to the ceiling did I soar. And with such a mob assailing was resistance unavailing. And but made me — suffer more. Backward now my thoughts are going to the toothpicks and the rowing. To the rowing in the basin and my '^pulling for the shore"; To the deep humiliation of the tricks that found creation In the calabash of some one who now long has ''gone before". And despite my fear of leaving, I'm resolved as ne'er before, — Wait till I'm a Sophomore! 40 CARMINELLA AN UNCOMMON BREEZE. A Fayerweather wind came from the sea, And said, "Ye schools, make room for me." It came to Yale, and thus it blew: "Three hundred thousand unto you." Then to Cornell, and to it told: "You have two hundred thousand cold." Back to Columbia, thus it spoke: "Like good to you I will invoke." It thusly breathed on Lafayette : "There's a hundred thousand for you to get." To many a college thus it went, To each a precious promise lent. It came to Lehigh, chill and rough. And said, "Here's wind and gas enough And added, while it passed her by, "Cold day, cold day, in quiet lie." CLASS DAY POEM. With poetic license granted, Such as other mortals lack, Rhetoric and rhyme supplanted, Grammar lying on its back, With a host of like abuses Making every form of ill, 'Tis not hard to court the muses And the public patience kill. Neither need we ask the guiding Of the Pegasus of old ; For our backs are weary "riding", With a soreness yet untold. But we seek the muses' dwelling, — Paxinosa, not so far, — With another force propelling. We may take th' electric car. 42 CARMINELLA Muses ye of yonder mountain, Fairest muses ever found, Drinking deep of Shawnee fountain, Send soft melody around. Sing whate'er to you is given, Be it, aye, to bless or blame, Past or future, earth or heaven. Anything, it's all the same. Now they sing : Then hear, ye mortals, Knowledge never known before. Coming from the cloudy portals. Rich and deep and weighty lore; First we say, observe it duly, This with us had origin : Truly, truly, this is truly "A great age we're living in." Great is Ninety-Two ; no greater Class left Lafayette halls; Neither will there leave, though later Fifty times the mantle falls. Great of cities fair is Easton ; Some more modest muse then saith, Fairest next for eyes to feast on Is yon village Nazareth. CLASS POEM 43 Envy not, ye under classes, As we now the praises sum Unto her which far surpasses Classes by-gone or to come. Envy not ; more modest feeling Will be theirs when once they go ; But to-day it is their dealing, Soon will come your turn — to blow. What destroyed the calf ? Congestion Of the brain, said Ninety-One. Answers Ninety-Two the question, "Nay, by us the deed was done." Who was it that checked all hazing ? Praise to her to whom 'tis due ; Verily it is amazing How so good was Ninety-Two. Then who paralyzed the tutors. Took the highest grade yet made ? To those young and learned "shooters", Ninety-Two, the palm be laid. And aside from college duties, In the town's society, Who was it that charmed the beauties ? Ninety-Two, assuredly. 44 CARMINELLA Every one of them a scholar, Bound to spread himself — in time. First of them is Nathan Aller, (So pronounced here for the rhyme.) Graduate of the laboratory ; Next is "Gussy", tall and fair ; First a Greek, he sees more glory In creating "stinks" down there. Bond Erastus, the surveyor, Six feet two or three of him ; Chamberlain, so great a player On the 'varsity marble team ; Skilled in whist is Johnny Craven, And the game of two to one ; Do not say, 'twould make Dare ravin' Just how oft he's upward gone. Drew, called "Hitch", averse to punning, ( Hitch this in and hear him tear ; ) Wayne Dumont, who'll soon be running For the Presidential chair ; Fisler, who with "no, sir", "yes, sir", Wins his A. B. sheepskin yet ; Elliot, John, who loved Professor, But the prize he didn't get. CLASS POEM 45 Billy Funk, inseparable From his tnisty pipe of clay ; Greves, the good boy, loved by Gable And the rest since entrance day ; Bobby Hamilton, the poler, Man of studious ways and looks Howard, whose brain is a "roller", Worth perhaps a thousand books. Hower, who has fortunes (?) heaping, Managing The Lafayette; Jack, of Scotland, found a weeping For a few more worlds to get ; Jones, whose pointless information To the Profs, much humor yields ; Kellogg, by a foreign nation, Jersey, claimed from Western fields. Now comes Laird, down-town Professor, Biologically bent ; Follows Leiper, the possessor Of huge up-and-down extent; **Fat", not given much to hustle But to shuffle and to dine ; March, the man of mind and muscle, Noble lad of noble line. 46 CARMINELLA Meily, who with glad reception, Stranger to our column comes ; Mitchell, like friend Hower, exception, General Sci.'s, not general bums. Nesbit, much to impulse given, All the same an honest man ; Giant Oliver, of the eleven, Alias O'Hoolihan. Rodenbough, the lucky guesser, Four long years to that inclined ; Sechrist, unser Deutsch professor, Guter und gelehrter f reund ; Seem, who holds the proud position Of the fairest man in class ; Semple, Jr., a musician. Lacking only tune, alas! Shimer, Sigman, Tyler, Walters, Reads the bottom of the scroll, Wasley, Young, — the scribe here falters,- Endeth here the muster-roll. Not quite ended ; the Doctor's baby By adoption with us goes. Proud of him, for he will, maybe, Make a "prexy", too, who knows ? CLASS POEM 47 Thus were Two-and-Ninety's praises Sung by muses unto her, While I saw the morning hazes Resting on the Delaware, And beheld fair Paxinosa Clad in cloudy mantle still, While there never yet arose a Noise of day from College Hill. But when rays of early morning Clearer views to me unfold, Mist removing, all adorning. What is it that I behold? Muses they at Shawnee waters, Singing thus of Pearl and Wine ? No, but Paxinosa's daughters. Fairer than the muses nine. ^'Sarcasm's now forever ended, Nobly have you drained the cup ; All forgive; be not offended If these muses did you up." Then with parting burden laden Up the mountain pathway passed Each fair, muse-inspired maiden. This the song they uttered last : 48 CARMINELLA "As maroon and white are ever Like the colors wine and pearl, So may Two-and-Ninety never Tn disgrace these four unfurl, But be like her college mother" ; Thus their last few echoes fell; From the steeps I heard another, Twas the echo of "Farewell!' TEARS AND SMILES. SEPTEMBER 19, 1901. Half-masted clouds, in Autumn drapery, Hung low, in honor of his worth ; And heaven, betraying deepest sympathy. Mingled her tears with those of earth. The sun appeared ; 'twas like a smile of love On a face bedewed with sorrow's stains ; And men took heart and said, "The God above Still overrules and guides and reigns". WHEN WE MEET AGAIN. Oh, ask me not to see his form Now that he's run life's little span ; I would not in my mind displace The picture of the living grace And manhood of the living man. 50 CARMINELLA I cannot see him: on memory's walls I would no tearful picture cast ; So in the resurrection glow His happy face at once I'll know, 'Twill seem just as I saw him last. BE HUMBLE. If mistakes could be converted Into haystacks, large and steep, It might then be well asserted Hay was getting very cheap. We could all keep horses From our own resources. Could you promise fame for ages Unto each one who could ask Something that would put the sages To a more than human task, Every ignoramus Shortly would be famous. TEARS AND SMILES 51 CHEAP XOTORIETY. "You are getting famous, For I see your name is In your weekly paper", Said the cheerful wag With a wink and caper. Pointing to the — tag. "Conspicuous, too, Marked with blue", — (Subscription due!) THE MLLAGE POET. C)n the highest summits standing, Men like Mozart, Mendelsohn, Music's wide domain commanding. Seem alone to hold the throne, — 2\Ien whose music sweet and holy Charms the rich and soothes the lowly, Makes our inmost souls to hear And to rise above this sphere. 52 CARMINELLA Yet what town has not musicians, Somewhat better than the rest, Who have reached no high positions Nor in Fame's gay robes are dressed Yet some good to men are bringing And themselves alike by singing, Even though it should but come From the strains of ''Home, sweet Home". So among the poets, only To Milton, Shakespeare, and a few. Standing on Parnassus lonely. Is the praise of masters due ; Still though not one moment dreaming For the fame that's on them beaming, Why may not the village throng Hear the village poet's song? All cannot admire the grandeur Of the works of Mendelsohn, Or the depths of thought and splendor Of a master bard well known ; So the tender music pealing From the village choir with feeling And her poet's numbers, too, Have some little work to do. TEARS AND SMILES SS IN JANUARY. He slips, He reels, He trips, He kneels, He grips. He feels, He tips. His heels, And mutters as he rolls and rolls, "These be the days that try men's soles". "PLANTATIONS." My pedal terminations Are rudely called "plantations"; Yet, maybe, rightly, for 'tis true I have an acher there, or two. DIFFERENT LIFE PATHS. Strange are the courses that one finds In life-paths here below ; To some it e'en in summer winds O'er mountains capped with snow; 54 CARMINELLA To others, e'en in wintry days, Through verdant southern vale, 'Neath Pleasure's ever pleasing rays, Past founts not wont to fail. At last all in a vale converge By weeping willows lined, They meet death's cold and sullen surge, The lot of all mankind. UNSPOKEN TPIOUGHTS AND PASSIONS. Within the minds of humans Dwells many a sweeter thought Than e'er the pen of poets To poetry hath wrought. Within the hearts of thousands Oft greater passions swell Than ever man hath spoken Or ever man can tell. In one sweet way we tell them, 'Tis by the silent tear; But ah, the world oft knoweth The meaning- not, I fear. TEARS AND SMILES 55 GREATNESS. I was of glory the possesor When people dubbed me as "professor" ; I probably threw back my shoulder When I became an office-holder; But if I should turn out to be One of the nation's best defenders, Twould not bring half such joy to me As when I wore my first suspenders. The beauty of the ''silver" buckle Would cause me inwardly to chuckle. How the straps would stretch — 'twas more to think on Than if I held the chair of Lincoln. To kick the dog, to chase the cat. To feel that everything surrenders, — I haven't been so big as that Since for the first I wore suspenders. 56 CARMINELLA THE ANIMAL MAN. A zoologist coming from Mars To the land of the stripes and the stars, To study the animal Man, v^hanced lighting on Thanksgiving day ; He found us all putting away Much more of our provender than He thought we could easily hold. The next day it snowed and was cold. He said, as he back again flew, **They hibernate, surely they do." CONGENIAL COMPANY. Came sudden bad weather ; Sir Go-as-you-please Had not an umbrella: In his consternation. He met Retrogression ; This like-minded fellow And that, at their ease. Then tramped back together. TEARS AND SMILES $7 JUSTICE A CRIPPLE. How nimble is Justice to capture a tramp And cage him a year or more ; But she wabbles and waits till the well-dressed scamp Gets away to the Canada shore. Six years you may get and get it right quick, For stealing a bridle or broom ; But breaking a bank, if you do it '^slick", Will delay or diminish your doom. So perhaps it is true that Justice is blind, Or ought to wear glasses to see ; And upon diagnosis perhaps you will find She's a little bit weak at the knee. WOLVES AND TIGERS. Whether this is fact or fiction May be left to your conviction After due deliberation : Once, but when I don't remember. Let us say it was November, Sometime since the world's creation; — 58 CARMINELLA Once there was a wolf — a tame one — Maybe, now, it was the same one Honored by the ancient Romans As their founder's foster mother; Likely, though, it was another. Just an ordinary showman's. Likewise, too, there was a man, sir, Who he was I couldn't answer, A physician by profession. In his line he was a master. And a curious salve or plaster Was, they say, in his possession. Well, he made his lupine highness Caudal termination minus. So the story then continues. Of the salve one application Caused the wolf tail's restoration, Bone and flesh complete, and sinews. On the severed caudal ending Likewise salve and skill expending. Scientific care bestowing, TEARS AND SMILES 59 Soon he saw with satisfaction That with curious double action To the tail a wolf was growing. In the mighty city yonder Lived a tiger fat from plunder; He plays dead since last election ; But he has no serious ailing, It is simply a curtailing; There will be a resurrection. Stump and tail with salve are treated And the Christian men are cheated, F'or their eyes are deep in slumber; Sometime they will hear a roaring And discover on exploring There be tigers two in number. THE OLD HOME SOLD. Brother, you say the old home's sold, Where all our boyhood years were spent, Where oft we played in days of old. As summer seasons came and went. 6o CARMINELLA The roof that sheltered us at night, The flower beds, the willow tree, The comer pine of stately hight, Have passed, you say, in simple fee. The meadows where the brooklets run (No faster than our feet could trot) Have to a stranger's title gone. With claim to every sacred spot? If I should pick an apple up Beneath my favorite tree, some day. Could now a stranger's low-lived pup Deny my right, dispute my way? Old Jack ! a fine old dog was he. Our guardian of those early years ; His grave is sold, — by the old pear tree We buried him, with childish tears. And is it all in stranger's hands? On every spot do alien feet Step free, and owns he house and lands By title clear and right complete? TEARS AND SMILES 6i No, no; the title to the sites And all that dear to us appears Is subject to prescriptive rights Of those our fifteen boyhood years. As long as we remain below, These sacred rights may none gainsay Though owners come and owners go, The old home's yours and mine alway. And when we get a better home, When we awake, beyond the skies, Unseen we now and then may roam By haunts once dear to mortal eyes. BY THE O-HI-O. (AT CLIFTON, PA.) Oh, I'll not forget till my sun is set The scenes of the years ago, When I lived on the hill with the country folk, Away from the soot of the "City of Smoke", On the cliffs, by the O-hi-o. 62 CARMINELLA You could see there the sun in its bed He down In gorgeous drapery low ; 'Twas above the fog of the river's way, There the air w^as pure as the breath of May, On the cliffs, by the O-hi-o. There the cliff-tops wed the skies overhead, Wed the cloudlets white as snow ; And I wish till the Shadow my form enshrouds, My hfe could be always as near to the clouds As the cliffs, by the O-hi-o. A "GOOSE EGG". The teacher asked a high school "blossom' To conjugate the Latin possum. I am afraid she got a zero From that most cruel-hearted Nero; For 'possum-like the verb had left her And of the slightest trace bereft her. TEARS AND SMILES 6^ A THREAT. Reviewer, don't you, don't you do it, Bold, bad man; This my book — should you review it, Do not rave or you may rue it, Do not char me though you toast me, Don't you ever dare to "roast" me — In your pan. If my little pill-joTim verses, Like a drug. Stun you, or provoke your curses, Or my book your peace disperses. Don't you dare ill-treat my numbers. Or you'll sleep your next night's slumbers In the "jug". If you pour vituperation, Rave and tear, O'er my very worst creation, Don't reprint the perpetration ; Uncle's good — I am delighted — E'en my worst is copyrighted, So beware. 64 CARMINELLA FINIS TO VOLUME ONE. My ^gg is laid at last ; Of quality within Its "freshness" unsurpassed; But as the shell is thin, Step lightly, older hens, for fear My tender little ^gg so dear, My first, Might burst! MlLLEiNIAL HARMONIES. HOW LONG, O LORD? Creation groans: The beast, the wind, the wave. And everything, in plaintive undertones, The sentence of the grave. The fall, bemoans. Creation waits — The revealing to behold, When God's true sons take up their high estates And Christ the Paradise of old Anew creates. O Lord, how long, Most holy One and true. Till all creation shall break forth in song, And thy reign is fully due ? O Lord, how long? Not long, we know ; For thy prophetic word. The lamp that lights our pathway as we go, Which never yet has erred, — It tells us so. 66 CARMINELLA IT IS DONE. " 'Tis done" : a perfect home for man, An end in view, a perfect plan. Were all complete the seventh day; And man commanded to obey. But v/hen he disobeyed and fell. Death passed on him and us as well. " 'Tis done" : the ransom price was paid When Jesus unto death obeyed ; The Savior did the sentence meet ; The ''only way" was then complete. Whereby a race by sin defiled IMight unto God be reconciled. " 'Tis done" : once more it will resound ; Then shall the evil one be bound ; The Christ shall reign, the dead shall rise. And perfect manhood be the prize Which Christ for all shall offer then — A perfect home for perfect men. LcFC. MILLENIAL HARMONIES 67 COME OUT. (Tune, "Move Forward".) Come out of Babylon the great, Ye saints of God, no longer wait; That of her sins ye may be free, And of her plagues no sharer be. Clio. — Come out, com.e out. Of Babylon the great. Come out, come out. And be ye separate. Fallen is Babylon the great. And, in her, demons congregate ; And hateful birds and things unclean Are caged and hidden there unseen. Her sins have reached to heaven's height ; Her wicked deeds will God requite. Not with the merchants ''Woe" we'll shout, But praise the Lord who called us out. 68 CARMINELLA THE FOOLISH VIRGINS. Night's solemn shadows are appearing ; A worldly church, not half awake, Plods on, not knowing neither fearing The midnight blackness that is nearing, Which soon them all will overtake. And what a night ahead, when darkness utter Will have enveloped all about, And untrimmed lamps, with creed oils, flutter, And foolish virgins mourn, and mutter — "Our lamps, alas, are going out." And in the weeping and the gnashing Of teeth, when hearts of many fail, When lightning judgments bright are flashing, And God's eternal thunders crashing, The virgin's cry will not avail. "The door is shut" : the prize up yonder No one thereafter may secure. And ere God's fearful judgments thunder, I well may pause a while and ponder, And ask, "Is my election sure?" MILLENIAL HARMONIES 69 Thank God, this troublous night of weeping Precedes a day of joy for all; The plowing will overtake the reaping; A world aroused, no longer sleeping, Will hear the restitution call. LOOK UP. God made the human form erect That we might thus the better see The heavens, and looking oft, reflect Upon the life that is to be. But if our eyes seek but the dust, God may allow his child to lie Upon a bed of pain ; and then he must Look up and meet God's loving eye. JUST BEYOND. Just beyond the misty mountains Sleeps the earthly Paradise, Where the sunbeams kiss the fountains And the feasts for all suffice. Cho. — Just beyond, just beyond, All is glory just beyond. CARMINELLA Just this side the tribulation, Just beyond the finished race, Lies my promised heavenly station Where I'll see Him face to face. Stairs. Rugged Up the Climbing Then go gladly up a climbing, At the bottom drop your cares, Get your ticket from the Savior, With their bundles heavy in weight. If there were, what crowds would go there Running up to heaven's gate ; Oh, there is no elevator THE WAY. INFERIOR SUPERIORS. Although he be a double-D, If he respects not his divine superior And goes against God's high decree, He is the humblest soul's inferior And cannot claim respect from thee. MILLENIAL HARMONIES 71 JESU, GEH' VORAN. (From the German of Zinzendorf . ) Jesus, lead the way Unto endless day. We will follow thy direction, Blest with thy divine protection. Guide us by the hand To our fatherland. Come whatever lot, Let us falter not; Even in our greatest losses, Let us bear with hope our crosses. For through trouble's night Leads the way to light. If within be pain. Help us not complain; If without us, too, be sorrow, Make us patient for the morrow; Let our thoughts ascend ; Point us to the end. Still direct our way, Savior, every day. Rough though be the road to heaven, Give the help that need be given ; When the trial's done, May the prize be won. By CHARLES W. LOUX. WHITE RIBBONS: Temperance Verse. 16mo., 56 pp. Bound in maroon cloth, silver let- tering. Price, 50 cents; by mail, 53 cents. CARMINELLA: College AN D Other Verse. 16mo., 72 pp. Bound in maroon cloth, silver lettering. Price, 60 cents ; By mail, 65 cents. Both the above, $i.oo. mMNBO0KCflMY,PF0Weilce,R.I. The RiQHT Idea Pre^^ PROVIDENCE, R. I. 1^' 28004 SEP 261902 1CUP> Oa. TOCAT.OIV. SEP. 26 1902 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS iliillililiii 015 929 0761_t