3^ Number One The Year Book Of THE PEGASUS "TO TURN AND WIND A FIERY PEGASUS" J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY PHILADELPHIA MDCCCXCV Number One The Year Book Of THE PEGASUS "TO TURN AND WIND A FIERY PEGASUS" "Pci <^a sua c\ u b , Th \ \ s^ 4e \ p'h \ : J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY PHILADELPHIA MDCCCXCV 1^ Copyright, 1895, BY The Pegasus Club. All the poems in this collection were, before publication, submitted to and accepted by The Pegasus, in accordance witli tlie rules of the Club. 2 fib v4 o T s TO THE READER s yfS forth and fro in town we went^ '^ Not one a winged steed. But drudges all, and all intent, — A harnessed, punctual breed, — Our day held too much prose for us And drove our thoughts to Pegasus. A bit of cheese, a mug of ale. Some smoke, and some discourse Were decent things, though they might fail To put wings on a horse ; And we would know the joy immense Of minstrels with an audience. We met upon a friendly time And saw that it was well. For some of us could make a rhyme. And most of us could spell; With ale and cheese for antidote. We swallowed what each other wrote. 3 TO THE READER We bring no message^ we're aware ; No missions us inspire; No Schuylkill yel nor Delaware Have we bards set afire ; Ballads and sonnets us avail For bits of cheese and mugs of ale. So do we while the years away ; Up-town the muse still sings ; Down-town we're hauling still our dray., And still we have no wings : Therefore it is we like to boast That we can limp as well as most. Owen Wister. CONTENTS AND AUTHORSHIP PAGE To THE Reader Owen Wister 3 Out of the Beast Solomon Salts Cohen ... 7 The Army of Despair J. Chalmers Da Costa . . 9 Cedar Hollow Frank Miles Day .... 12 The Overture Charles H. A. Esling ... 13 The Ladies of Manhattan Arthur Hale 18 Incompleteness John H. Ingham .... 20 Charles Henry Luders Gilbert P. Knapp . . . . 21 Melancholy Ernest Lacy 22 To Barbara John Kearsley Mitchell . . 23 The Passing of Tennyson S. Weir Mitchell .... 25 5 CONTENTS AND AUTHORSHIP The Constellations Oracle Arcadians Both The Prince of Peace The Beggar's Gift Mors Benefica Of Women Clerks Dreamland But Yesterday Love Came to Me Charles Leonard Moore . Harris 0/2 S. Morris Oliver Perry-Smith Charles Pomeroy Sherman S. Decatur Smith, Jr. Edmund Clarence Stedman John Stewardson . Henry H. Supplee . . . Harvey Maitland Watts . Francis Howard Williams The Ground-Hog and the Signal-Service Officer Owen Wister 28 33 35 37 40 42 43 44 45 47 48 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS OUT OF THE BEAST /^UT of the beast have we risen ; but mark, we have ^"^ risen Out of the beast I Who goes out, from the darkness, from prison. Back turneth never. Out of the beast and out of the law of the beast-kind forever, Mark, we have risen. Nature through ages of travail gave birth to the human ; Brute all she bare before. Now on the earth man and woman Up stood, upgazing. Thrilled and rejoiced all her worlds with the pang of that wondrous upraising Birth to the human. THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS Preach not alone what we were, O ye wise men, but tell us What we may be if we will. Still to rise — show — impel us ! Man shall be angel. Brute that was, man that is, God-like can strive, and be. This new evangel. Wise men but tell us. Solomon Soils Cohen. 8 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS THE ARMY OF DESPAIR TTE died alone ; in all this mighty city "*" Not one came forth to stand beside his bed, To speak of hope, to whisper words of pity, To close his weary lids when he was dead. Alone, he struggled with disease and sorrow. Alone, he fought with hunger and with cold ; Each night he prayed there would be no to-morrow To taunt his weakness with its beams of gold. Starved, within sound of steps and laughing people. Starved, in the splendor of a glorious day, Starved, while the bell which hangs in yonder steeple Called people from their homes to come and pray ; To hear the words Christ spoke upon the mountain. To hear of virtue, charity, and right. And of the waters of Bethesda's fountain, While this dead man lay pallid in the light. 9 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS So every day the bells are loudly ringing, And sending out their summons on the air, And Christians come with muttering and singing, And bow their heads and spirits in the prayer. So every day are human creatures dying. And every day hearts break from weight of care, And wringing hands and faces grooved with crying Are passed with downcast eyes by men of prayer. Man's creed is one of word and not of action, The God who scatters manna in the land For priest-held spirits offers less attraction Than when he holds a red sword in his hand. Oh, men with hearts I can you gaze with unkindness On human souls for all time steeped in woe ^ On eyes forever closed and sealed by blindness To all the joys and pleasures that you know ? On men whose voices echo out their sadness, Whose ears have never known a word that's kind. With minds like ruined cities, wrecked by madness ? Such is the state of millions of your kind. 10 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS Give up the play of idle priestly canting, Go out among mankind with loaf and cup. Without a thought of praying or of chanting, Give food and drink and raise the fallen up. y. Chalmers Da Costa, 11 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS CEDAR HOLLOW TDELOVED, close thy fringed lids and see Again that happy hollow where we stood While to us rose the charmed interlude Of rippling waters. There with motion free The billowy hills sweep up, while solemnly The deep sad cedars on their summits stand Dark 'gainst the azure. So the smiling land Of fair Urbino far across the sea Lies wrapt in music 'neath her peaceful skies. Oh ! might her son, immortal Raphael, limn Such hills and waters floating distant, dim, Mirrored within thy virginal, mild eyes. For fadeless, then, those eyes unknowing tears Should smile serenely at the hurrying years. Frank Miles Day. 12 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS THE OVERTURE CUMMER smiles o'er all the land, Sap leaps in briers, Earth feels her benediction bland, Spring's vestal fires Glow brighter 'neath her breathings fanned, Our spirits with her blooms expand And join in Nature's paean grand. With unseen choirs. II For music's soul on aerial wings Hath upward soared, Vibrating subtle welcomings From chord to chord, And time with sweet suspicions rings Of all the joys dear Summer brings. Rich prophecies of harvestings In blossoms scored. 13 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS III Each enfreed rill with tinkhng rune The strain begins, The woods, Hke leaf-crowned nymphs, attune Their vioHns, And Zephyr, with his soft bassoon, Awaketh all the birds of noon. To swell the orchestra of June With flute-like dins. IV His tambour sounds the bobolink From screening hedge ; The insect trumpets swell and shrink On grassy ledge, And sheeny cymbals clash and clink. Where by the streamlet's mossy brink. Like elves, the cowslips nod and wink 'Mid reeds of sedge. H THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS From caves wherein his mermaids dwell, Old Ocean's keys Are pressed in sympathetic spell. Through sunlit seas, Each Triton blows a pearly shell. Each Nereid sounds a surf-swung bell, With rich exuberance to swell Life's symphonies. VI And all along each golden bar. In notes of light, Our souls read on, from star to star, The Song of Night, Like serenade from sweet guitar, Poured down by spirit-hands afar. From where the founts of music are. With heavenly might. 15 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS VII But sweeter far than aught of these The spirit's calm, The inbreathed secret sympathies That like a psalm Wake in the heart rich melodies, Soft soothing labor's care with ease, As thrill his soul pure ecstasies Who wins the palm. VIII Now May withdraws Spring's filmy veil Of tawny green, And lo ! round wood, stream, hill, and dale Bursts glory's scene, Plays up the Easter fairy tale That doth our jaded souls regale. While Flora's incense-urns exhale A balm serene. 16 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS IX The Princess Beauty slowly wakes From slumber's thrall, The sunshine frees from dusty flakes Enchantment's hall : Now horse, now hound, sleep's leashes breaks. The jessed hawk her plumage shakes, Young Love aroused, old ways betakes. Gay lord of all. X While Summer thus tends on our state. Fair Muse of Song, Shall we thy poets silent wait With harps unstrung *? No, no ; beside thy rose-crowned gate. The floral dial marks the date When thought must bloom with speech elate. Life's chords along. Charles H. A. Esling. 17 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS THE LADIES OF MANHATTAN ODE TO PHILADELPHIA STOLEN FROM DOBSON ^"p^HE ladies of Manhattan Go swinging to the play, A footman and a coachman On top of each coupe ; But Philada, my Philada I Whene'er she goes as far As First-Day evening meeting, She takes a cable car. The ladies of Manhattan, According as they feel. Wear nothing on their shoulders, Or coats of silk and seal ; But Philada, my Philada ! Has neither frills nor furs, — The turtle-dove's soft raiment Is not so neat as hers. 18 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS The ladies of Manhattan Are always going out, — They run from call to concert, They drive from ball to rout : But Philada, my Philada I Has no such round perennial Save when, in every dozen years. She gets up a Centennial. My Philada, my Philada I Although it be so grand. The style of all Manhattan I do not understand ; I care not what the fashion Of all the world may be, For Philada— for Philada Is all the world to me I Arthur Hale. By permission of Tlie Century Magazine. 19 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS INCOMPLETENESS 'T^HAT Love is ever perfect, who can say ? This morning's revery by wood and stream, Though full of Love's sweet quiet, lacked the gleam Of its intensity. From yesterday With all its passion peace had flown away. One moment, 'tis the senses seem supreme ; Another, and they vanish like a dream, — Phantoms impure that shun the Spirit's ray. And there are times of strange forgetfulness When deep beneath the surface love doth flow Like the still waters of a buried sea. Oh, what if this were heaven — not to guess The secrets of the centuries, but to know In every instant Love's entirety I John H. Ingham. By permission of The Traveler's Record. 20 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS CHARLES HENRY LUDERS " A TRIBUTE, yea, a tribute," saith my heart, "Though yet of months a score ye knew him dead And spake not ; ye who soon alike shall wed The eternal stillness." So, with lips apart. As a mute singer, fearful of his art, Whereby sweet hours sigh on unharvested, So were it, Charles, though grief in me ne'er bred One rose of song at having thee depart. But sorrow wills it that I needs must seek To break the silence that hath chilled me long. One friendly wreath, though not in praise, I bring ; It is so hard to love and not to speak, — It is so hard to brook the stricken song That, spite of Death, my heart to thee would sing. Gilbert P. Knapp. 21 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS MELANCHOLY "IXZHEN silent are the chambers of the mind ^ To rippHng laughter and to whispering love, When hope hath whirred away, a mourning dove, And bats dart in and out, and moans the wind, Then melancholy comes, to night consigned. And haunts the moonlit windows. Perhaps above. Not on this earth, can shadowy thoughts that rove Like troubled ghosts a sweet oblivion find. O like some cindered orb that shineth not, Yet holdeth still its planets as a sun, Is one burnt out by sorrow and o'erfraught With that mute anguish of a life undone, — That sinking of the heart, that deadly thought That all is lost and would be worthless won. Ernest Lacy. 22 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS TO BARBARA " Simple ! Why, this is the old woe o' the world." nr^HE slow days pass : we live to learn How much of life is gone with thee, And while these long months linger, we Still faithful, to thy image turn. The little world that loved thy rule Scarce knew, till lost, thy firmer will. Thy higher aim, thy woman's skill O'er us, the children of thy school. A girl, and yet so nobly wise ! Self-thought and mean ambition fled And lower aims fell, smitten dead, — Killed in the pureness of her eyes : Brave heart and true, tender and wise. Though much we lost, somewhat we gained, For love is more, not less, nor waned, And, daily growing, change defies : 23 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS Nor can we dare to wish thee back, Since thou art happy and we gain New love through loss, knowledge through pain, And bear, as best we may, thy lack. John Kearsley Mitchell. H THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS THE PASSING OF TENNYSON DUTY, FAITH, AND LOVE T SEE a black barge, ere the night is o'er, Come on death's mighty tide ; And one who fears not, on a lessening shore Its coming doth abide. On the deck three spirits wait ; One, a Queen of strength and state, At her feet two maidens kneel, — Courage, with the ready steel. Honor, with the stainless shield. And her eyes are set afar On a single argent star Steadfast in the azure field. A spirit more sublime Looks across the darkened sea ; The patience of Eternity Hath taught her soul the scorn of time, 25 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS And the splendor of her eyes Inherits awful memories. She, that from each sister's might Gathers strength to feed delight, Chants with heaven-lifted head, " Behold our sacred dead ; This is he, a King of song ; Last of those to whom belong That sword of light. Which ever dull within a meaner hand, Shines for the Knights of God a burning brand." Rose the anthem of their praise, " This is he of blameless days." " Ay, this is he Who with increase of thought. In lofty measures taught. To follow me, Devoid of mean pretence Were wisdom in the scorn of consequence." And that other sister cried, " This is he my soul has tried. Ever since his song began, Through the large competence of man, 26 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS Unto life's crumbling edge, While the faint sunset light did yet endure, He kept my undiminished pledge Of Faith secure." Sang anew the gentler Queen, " By his side I walked unseen Through the wide world of men. Again, and still again. As one who understands. With word-winged thought He taught The double love of God and man, That since the ages ran Doth keep in perfect touch our sister hands. For we are they with whom his life did move, — Duty, and Faith, and Love, And he for whom we wait. The last and loneliest of the great Who waked the infant century with their lays, And to its waning days Still sang elate. O Singer, resolute and strong, We bear thy soul to starry homes of Song." S. JVeir Mitchell. 27 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS THE CONSTELLATIONS /^UT where yon sentinel rocks, unmoved, emerge From ocean's shaking floor Turns, pitches in the tide ; — Steel-gray the waves, the grass is gray, the mist Trails its gray mantle o'er The nearer face of things, and has dismissed The light-house from yon far horizon verge ; No difference does abide Upon the earth lost in the flux and flow Of this half dark, and I, too, in my soul Know the new, grave control, And feel the fingers of the mist erase All memories of my pride. The monuments and marks that prove my race ; And for a moment, I Seem but an uncertain eddy thrust aside. Only a thing of nature weak and base ; Then do I look on high, 28 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS And, scorning the low mist with sudden glow, I see them rise and ride The Unconquerable Ones, whose chariots urge Through chance and change their long determined way. And my thoughts mount. At last, at last, I know My Brotherhood of the undaunted sway ! ir As erst to Scythian shepherd, or before To conquering Mede, or him Bacchus, whose flushed hordes made First inroad o'er the Himalayan hills ; Or as to Orpheus, when the rim Of heaven diminished and its cirque that fills Held but few stars, which he within him bore Monitors all unafraid. Through the long struggle and the unequal fate So on this August night the eternal throng Pours proud and fair and strong ; Races have left their legends on the names Of these who cannot fade ; And still distinct do glitter forth the fames Of imaged heroes ranged about ; 29 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS Still strides the Belted Hunter through the glade, The Centaur and the Twins pursue their games, Mingled with all the uncouth rout Which fancy, working with its earthy trait. Found on these fields displayed, Dragon and Bear, Lion and others more Who ramp at large, who with the hero crowd Renew the old enmity and struggle great Till " Triumph" in the heaven is cried aloud. HI As Helen watching by the Skaian gate Saw the Achaians there Large, luminous, and close, — So see I marching to their destined goal The armies of the air. Though we misread or mock the antique roll. Call the Greek synod from its thrones of state. The Arabian kings depose. Still to our eyes the enduring shapes must swim. Still must we name them whom we know supreme Actors of the eternal dream. Who, pacing from their chambers azure hung, 30 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS Blazon the gorgeous shows Of passion, or with untumultuous tongue Say and unsay old tales, As weave man's future in their shuffling doze. Look I From yon front the plumes of War are flung ; There Labor flags and fails, Following his heaving plough from ocean's rim ; Ruddier that region glows, Where Love invincible before his mate His armor lays aside to be more strong ; And One whose eyes make all this brilliance dim Rises remote, — 'tis Aladness veiling wrong. IV In vain, in vain to plead similitudes With borrowed lore, or with Mythologies new made ; Even as we hail them do the visions change, Our words have lost their pith : — Glittering successive onward range on range They pass untroubled by our mortal moods ; They do not pine and fade, They stoop not to Autumnal disarray, 31 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS They have no part in Spring, nor no concern For all that clods inurn ; — In Beauty's glamour and the guise of Youth Flushed and for aye arrayed, On their unaltered courses ever smooth They move in high employ Of business or of banquet or of play, Still with no interlude of human ruth Compelled to endless joy. Ah ! withered grass and flowers that once knew May, That passions' debt have paid. Better to be with your frail multitudes Than with these leaders live who bear the sway Twofold of Youth and Immortality. Charles Leonard Moore. 32 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS ORACLE nr^HE winds come to me Full of the wonderful things The trees have said, Still-standing On the spring-tinged hill-side. They bear a burden of joys, Sweet utterless prayers. From the trees For a birth that warms their limbs. As a mother feels to her child, Loves it past love of the earth. Knows 'tis a dearer part Of herself, — So say the trees to the winds Of the tender green-skinned buds. Born of them, fed of them, loved of them ! 33 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS The winds bring songs of their own : Of a sweet-breathed God Who quickens his earth and erects Blossoms above her breast. Yet not alone that ye eat And not alone that ye love Doth he sprinkle leaves in the land : His wisdom flows in the green As the words flow out of men ; The woods are his large rescripts, And the flowers his song, His proverbs stand in the serried corn And wave in the sun-shot wheat ! Who knoweth it, saith the wind, Shall find his scripture green, Hedges and leaning grass And leaves are the words he writeth. One import is In them all : Life, though it wither, dies not, For he is the breath of its mouth. Harrison S. Morris. 34 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS ARCADIANS BOTH T ^'WO poets met, their friendly skill to test. The one a bold and hardy mountaineer, The other held the peaceful dale most dear : So each in turn sang that he loved the best. The sturdy mountaineer drew from his breast The whistle which his hounds most joyed to hear, And blowing shrilly, soon from far and near His shaggy deerhounds round their master pressed. Then sang he of the chase with eager joy. His hounds in joyous chorus baying loud. As if they asked to be once more allowed Another antlered monarch to destroy. The valley minstrel praised him well and long, Then raised the burden of his gentle song. The river winding through the golden grain. As thread of silver in a silken maze, Reflects the sunshine of the summer days. As maid the ardent glances of her swain ; 35 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS The boatmen, gliding to the stormy main With eager looks at their dim homesteads gaze, Then bending to their work their voices raise, In echo to their hearts, a sad refrain. Such humble sounds and sights as these I sing, A simple dweller 'neath your mountain crags ; But through the land not e'en the richest king, Though he hath hounds to hunt a hundred stags, Can buy the joys these simple pleasures bring. For not from wealth, but poverty, they spring. Oliver Perry-Smith. 36 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS THE PRINCE OF PEACE A WORLD from chaos whirled in circled flame : ** ^ And Wisdom, rising from the feet of God, Grasped firm its untrained forces and led forth, In smiling beauty, the perfected Earth. But the forgetting Earth in rapture sang : " To float in the light of thy smile, O thou god in the azure above me. Is bliss, for thy kisses beguile All my love, for 'tis thou who dost love me.'* The slayer stalked red-handed through the world : The robber boasted ; and the unheard plea From fear-locked lips and gaping mortal wounds Rose in a swelling cloud before the Throne. Swift Justice leaped to feet too long restrained, His mantle falling over shrinking Peace ; And slayer fell ; the robber lay despoiled ; And lips laughed triumph — but the dead were dead ; And Retribution reigned, but by his throne Forgiveness found no place, nor in the world. 37 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS Then wailed the Earth, with groping, outstretched arms : " Thou cruel, mocking god ! Thou smilest while I weep. Oh, take me, dread abyss ! Thy gloom I count but bliss — But bliss thy deepest deep, T' escape from such a god." Sweet Peace arose, and, casting off the cloak That veiled her beauty from a murderous world. Looked long upon the bleeding breast of Earth. Its heavings stilled ; its wounds grew smooth and white. And songs arose where erst were heard but groans. Then, starry bright, she coursed the azure sphere. And hovered o'er the hills of Bethlehem, — And night was vocal with the angels' song. Then, dove-like, settling down, she crowned a babe In hay-spread manger in a stable laid, And gave a waiting world its Prince of Peace. And kneeling Earth, with tear-stained eyes, sang praise : " Jehovah, God, Thou giver of all good, I kiss Thy rod. Its kindness understood ! 38 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS " Hail, Prince of Peace ! Thy gentle sway extend, Till mine, as I, In adoration bend !" His strength is Wisdom, and His righting arm Is Justice ; but His mightiest power to rule Is gentle Peace and her handmaiden Love. Charles Pomeroy Sherman. By permission of The Illustrated Christian Weekly. 39 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS THE BEGGAR'S GIFT " L'afFame . . . paya de tout I'argent mendie un gros bouquet . . . et Toffrit a la jolie fille." — Mendes. "1X70RN and weary and hungry-eyed, ^ ^ Closely wrapped in his mantle wide, His tattered dress by its folds concealed. The beggar stood at the pathway's side And for charity appealed. Young was he, with a handsome face ; His black hair curled with a careless grace ; His dusky cheek wore a tinge of red, Though pinched and drawn from his piteous case, — He had fasted two days, he said. The townfolk passed with a heedless air. For beggars in Spain are everywhere, Till three young maidens came anigh ; All were merry, and all were fair. And they stopped at the beggar's cry. 40 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS One gave a real to his demand. The second tore from her wristlet band (A gift from her lover) a silver toy, — She smiled as it dropped in the beggar's hand. And whispered, " God give you joy !" The third had never a thing to spare ; She was poor as the beggar, and only fair With a beauty born of her native South, So she raised her lips like a red flower rare And kissed him full on the mouth. His thin cheek flushed, and his heart beat high. He called to a flower-girl passing nigh, " Ho ! here is silver, and here is gold ; Come, give me all that my alms will buy !" He took what his arms could hold, Great red roses and harebells blue. All the blossoms the season knew. And laid them down at the maiden's feet ; Then close about him his mantle drew, And starving, left the street. S. Decatur Smith, Jr. By permission of The Pittsburgh Bulletin. 41 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS MORS BENEFICA /'^IVE me to die unwitting of the day, ^^ And stricken in Life's brave heat, with senses clear ; Not swathed and couched until the lines appear Of Death's wan mask upon this withering clay, But as that old man eloquent made way From Earth, a nation's conclave hushed anear, — Or as the chief whose fates, that he may hear The victory, one glorious moment stay. Or, if not thus, then with no cry in vain, No ministrant beside to ward and weep. Hand upon helm I would my quittance gain In some wild turmoil of the waters deep. And sink content into a dreamless sleep (Spared grave and shroud) below the ancient main. Edmund Clarence Stedman. By permission of The Century Magazine. 42 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS OF WOMEN CLERKS 13EFORE she came to us, with tiny feet Tripping confidingly amidst the roar Of grim Downtown, man's last redoubt, before Thy presence, Woman, tempered all the Street And shed soft light and made dictation sweet, Men were as bears, untutored bears, and wore Their shirt-sleeves visible, and slammed the door And led self-centred lives, and incomplete. Gone are those brutish days. Faint, suave perfume Of orris lingers on the smokeless air. And — save a glittering pin-point here and there — Fair Order rules from desk to anteroom. And one base wretch I know, who, unconsoled. Mourns the rude freedom that was man's of old. John Stewardson. 43 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS DREAMLAND T CLOSE my eyes in sleep, and silent lie As if in death, unconscious of all else ; And till the waking hours restore my strength. My weary senses to the present die. Meantime my soul abroad in dreamland strays, And wanders to and fro in mystic lands Where, waking, I can never hope to go. Nor into which my human eyes may gaze. Is it a vision, as it often seems*? I cannot tell, and yet I sometimes feel As if the passing days are not more true Than those bright moments in the land of dreams. But when, in coming days, my eyes shall close In that last sleep which wakens not on earth, I then may find that dreamland was my home. And life the vision of phantasmal shows. Henry H. Supplee. 44 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS BUT YESTERDAY A H, was it not but yesterday We two, love, you and I, Were all in all ? The envious say The years have hastened by ; But not so, love I It cannot be ; I know no flight of time Whose favors are inconstancy And life's dull pantomime. All is unchanged. Come, give me joy. Though morning breaks in gray ; Can one drear night our love destroy That blossomed — yesterday ? Ah, was it not but yesterday ? In memory's magic glass The deeds of years in brave array In august pageant pass. A Circe web is woven wide, As mind's fast shuttles fly, 45 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS And dreamland actions swiftly glide Just in the blink of eye. Success, defeats, and all their train Of joys and woes — Nay ! Nay ! The fleeting vision gives no pain. When 'twas but yesterday. Forgot is time, forgot is age ; A plague on memory ! Truth oft is hidden in its page, A palimpsest decree. For was it not but yesterday We two, together, here *? Love is not dead, and life is gay, — We weep beside no bier. Poor, sordid souls reproach the hour That wings its rapid way ; Dear Heart, they know not love's sweet power,- It was but yesterday. Harvey Maitland Watts. 46 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS LOVE CAME TO ME L OVE came to me when I was young ; He brought me songs, he brought me flowers ; Love wooed me Hghtly, trees among, And daUied under scented bowers ; And loud he carolled, " Love is King !" For he was riotous as spring And careless of the hours, — When I was young. Love lingered near when I grew old ; He brought me light from stars above ; And consolations manifold He fluted to me like a dove ; And Love leaned out of Paradise And gently kissed my faded eyes And whispered, " God is Love," — When I grew old. Francis Howard JVilliams. M THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS THE GROUND-HOG AND THE SIGNAL- SERVICE OFFICER AT noon on the appointed day The Ground-Hog stole from where he lay, and seeing No shadow in the clouded Sun, Observed, " This Winter's race is run. The Spring will soon come into being." A Scientific man o'erheard The quadruped's prophetic word with scoffing ; He was a Signal-Service man. And some predictions he began From data gathered in the offing. Said he, " Why make your idle boast. When from interior and coast our stations Report that this year we shall see The latest Spring since twenty-three, And such are all the indications *? 48 THE YEAR BOOK OF THE PEGASUS " Do you pretend your lore effete Of Grandam's legends can compete with Science ? What do you know of almanacs, Of isotherm, and parallax, To bid aerometers defiance'?" Each on his hobby waxed so hot. Through days and weeks, he clean forgot the weather. An average Season bloomed and found These savants screeching on the ground Knocking their hostile minds together. A farmer said, " I'm glad, because I sowed as usual." (He was a Quaker.) " Of theory I've had my fill ; Without its aid methinks I'll till In ignorance and ease my acre." Owen Wister. 49 immZLl.<='>^ss " "" W7?!?"*,