Sundry jottings, stray leaves, fragments

P S

3505

A77593

S8

1908

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MCMftY MOB8K STEFH

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ON MY FIFTY-THIRD BIRTHDAY

ERE'S a brief word or two of myself :
I'm not ready just yet for the shelf ;

Tliough I've reached fifty-three,

I'm as fresh as can be,
And still hungry for labor and pelf.

I still can enjoy a good book ;
No quarrel have I with the cook ;

In my love of a jest

I can rival the best ;
For appearance — well, how do I look ?

You will note that I'm togged for the road —
In dress I care not for the mode;—

When astride of my "bike,"

Or abroad for a " hike,"
Of cares I cut loose the whole load.

I've much more to say, but, oh see !
Cap "I's" are exhausted — ah m,e !

To go on i can't ;

I've depleted- the font ,—
An revoir, then. —

C. W. C.

May 10, 1908.

864349

THE ROSE GARDEN

N my charmed hill rose garden my fragrant

favorites stand, —
Tea, Hybrid, Noisette and Bourbon, — roses

on every band.
All, all, are my dearest darlings, and if I

but name a few,
Be sure tbat to most of tbe otbers an equal bonor is

due ;
But my skill in words is notbing, and none must beed

if 111 tbis
rvbymed rbapsody on roses some favorite's name tbey

miss.
Here tbe Bride and sligbt Nipbetos in tbeir robes of

purest snow,
\Vbile beside tbem clad in crimson flames old General

Jacqueminot.
Von Houtte, tbe sweet Dutcb beauty, and tbe cbarm-

mg Reine Marie,
\Vitb La France and tbe Ducbess of Brabant, form a

cnarmmg coterie.

Guarding tbis gentle circle, like a sentry bebind a
tbrone.

Looms the stately giant or roses, the grenadier Paul

Neyron.
IT the sages have taught us truly that Death loves a

shining mark,
He should launch his Lethean shaftlets at the Comtesse

Riza du Pare.
Should jousts he held in the garden there might meet in

combat s shock
Black Prince and the Desert Sovran — FEmpereur du

Maroc.

One for whom all rose lovers a deep devotion feel
Is the glorious gold-rohed soldier, the Southron, Mare-

chal Niel.

The Lilliputian couplet have partisans hy the score, —
The dainty Cecile Bruner and still daintier Perle d'Or.
Besides these are many others of greater or less degree.
Some with the rare rose fragrance, some with the scent

of tea,—

Countesses, princesses, ladies, duchesses, generals, kings,
All climes and countries ransacked for these heauties

the poet sings.

Old Omar's Persian garden held hut a tithe of these.
As he sat 'neath the shade of a rose-tree with a hook

of verse on his knees.

But the Persian embalmed those beauties in Lis. amber

Rubaiyat,
And their fame forever is deathless, they can never be

forgot.
These roses, alas. Lave no Omar, tney shall perish and

pass away.
Evanish and pass, and be truly but "roses of yesterday."

COSMIC GLIMPSES

IGHT gold sunbeams, filtered through lo
cust leaves ;
A cypress hedge, tall, set with dew-hedia-

monded cohwehs ;
On the garden wall ivy, ivy — old green and

new green intermingled ;
By the gate nasturtium masses, gorgeously scarlet and

yellow ;

Chatter or sparrows heneath the eaves, insistent, re
sourceful ;
A humming - hird, ruhy - throated, hanging poised in

mid- air ;

Bahhling of infants, laughter of light-hearted children ;
In the distance melodious half -inarticulate voices of
church hells.

Clashing of waves of the air, starting as faintest

zephyrs.

Growing in mood and power, impatient of opposition,
Till meeting in giant wrestle, with hellows of strenuous

onset.
They engage and strive in their might, earth-desolating

and awful.

Tke mountains, hoary or poll, cloud-hung, beloved or
tke poets.

Splendid and vast to our gaze, but in verity merest
eartk-pimples ,

Fever-rash or a world full or kumors, quakmgs, erup
tions,

V omitmg lava and askes, desolating leagues or fertility.

Tke multitudinous sea, many-sided and skif ty.
Breeder or storms, mother or myriad progenies.
Placid, smiling and peaceful, or in sudden fierce mur
derous mood

Crushing stauncn skips as egg-skells, tossing as surf-
spume despairing kuman flotsam.

In tke etkeric void constellations of suns witk tkeir at
tendant planets,

Teeming witk life or lifeless, moving in age-long orbits;

Mad dask of comets, skowers of star-dust and meteors
full of dire portent.

Wkat is it all ? Wkat signifies it ? Life, life !
Organic, inorganic, voicefui, inarticulate ;
Birtk, growtk, deatk (arrangement, rearrangement, dis
arrangement of atoms) ;

Change upon change, cataclysmic and sudden or age
long and peaceful ;

Seemingly riotous, wasteful, but planned, meted and
measured

To tLe millionth, ay, tne trilliontli part of a hairs-
breadth.

\Vbat signifying, whence from, whitherward tending ?

floods, phases, emanations of the Unknown, the Un
knowable,

^Vbetber Jove or Jehovah, Brahma or Allah, or name
less— the One-in-All, the All-in-One.

Tending still onward and upward to great and still
greater perfection, —

For as growth is the index of life, must a god e'en not
grow and he die not ? —

Not by us to be meted or bounded or named, and his
poles as but guessed at :

Protoplasm in tbe visible Here, Infinity in the vast and
Invisible Yonder.

o

ECCE HOMO

UT of the dusk of tlie past, his hostile en
vironment conquered,~~
The cave hear and sahre-tooth tiger extinct

in their caverns, —
Leaving content in the jungle his putative

forhears.
The not-to-he-hurried sloth and the all-too-loquacious

simian,
Man the autochthon emerges, persistent, resourceful.

Consumed in those days was the man with insatiate

hunger for knowledge,
Not dilettante nor abstract, hut concrete and practical

working : —
Smelting and fluxing of ores and shaping and tempering

metals,
Taming the ruminant heasts and mastering steeds in the

desert, —
Taming as well with rude prow the white-maned fleet

coursers of Neptune, —
Tickling the virginal soil till it laughed -with a houn-

teous harvest.
Crude though the plowshare and careless the methods

of culture.

Touched with a feeling of kin he acquired the gregar
ious habit,

Noting mayhap that in communes -was safety of purse
and of person ; —

Perchance from tne crow or tne magpie he borrowed
the hoarding of baubles,

Corn-colored ores from the gulches and ramhow-hued
shells from the sea-beach, —

So families grew into clans, clans to trihes, and trihes
became nations.

Curhing his once restless spirit, incessantly urging to

travel,
He abandoned his wigwams and lodges and built cities

of brick and of marble,
^Vith docks and great markets for trading and temple

spires piercing the heavens.
Index of aspirant hopes, ever leading him upward and

godward.

Still, while the man has been shaping with travail of

body and spirit
Destiny like to a god's, full of infinite longings and

strivings.
Runs through it all, atavistic, the red lust for slaughter.

Harking far back to the time when with flint-headed

arrows and axes
He tattled for life and for food with his neighbors

four-footed and savage ;
\Varfare at wholesale and large, oi nation arrayed

against nation,
Slaughter when not of his kind of his neighbors the

wild smaller peoples.

Thus as ever still onward and upward the pathway of
progress will lead him.

Though with manifold stumblings and baitings and half
hearted breaks for the back-track,

Man in the aeons before us will reach such clear bights
and broad levels

As -we in the haze of the present may dream of at best
but obscurely.

LIEGE LORD AND LOVER OF LILIES

Mr. Carl Purdy, of Ukiali, Collector. Grov/er and Distributor of
Pacific Coast Liliaceous Plants

ONSIDER tke lilies, kow tKey grow"-

1 his was to mm as a command ;
O'er kill and valley, to and fro,

He sought tke lilies tkrovigk tke land.

Tints tkat would skarne tke Tynan looms,
Perfumes of Araky tke Blest,
Blent in most rare kewildering klcoms ;
Dream-kells to lull to sweetest rest.

Ckarmed ky suck loveliness and grace,
Transfiguring tkeir wildwood kome,

He lured tkem from tkeir native place.
And taugkt tke lily kands to roam.

Countries and climes tkat knew tkem not,

In fartkest corners of tke eartk.
May vie now witk tke favored spot

Tkat gave tke lily legions kirtk.

THE MISTLETOE

RUID oaks in Britain's ancient forests.
Draped and hung with the sacred mistletoe,
Gathered at the full moon of the Yuletide
By the high-priest with mystic ceremonies.

Vast forests of pine on Norland fiords,

Crowned and festooned with sacred mistletoe,
(Vv^eapon wherewith the hlind god Hoeder
Slew the hright sun-god. Balder the heautiful.

Under star-shine portentov.s and natural,

'Mid palms and olive groves of the East,

At Yuletide, in humhle Judean manger,

A hahe horn, Harbinger of Peace, King of the Inner Life.

By process of the ages, — physical, mental, spiritual, —
Came hlendmg of pagan forms and Christian virtues.
The palm and olive overcoming the oak and pine.
The ^Vest and North howing to the East and South.

At Yuletide we, the product of these hlendings,
Deck our habitations with mistletoe and holly,
Signifying thereby our pagan oneness -with Nature,
But keeping within our hearts the peace and good-will
of the Christ-child.

BEFORE THE STORM

A FRAGMENT

The following lines -were •written quite a number of years ago, and as several
essays to complete them have been unsuccessful, the author has decided that as
the picture drawn by the fragmentary line.-* seems not without merit, to print
them in their present form. The whimsical thought is suggested that the inability
of the author to complete the poem was caused by the immensity of the subject
overcoming him. like Dooley's pcet. Hogan. -who could nevei get beyond the f:rst
line of his great poem. "O Moon, O Shtar !"

BOUT tke rumpled bay
V/kere tke fluttering wlntecaps play
Tke circling kills loom klue,
A rampart of mdigc kue,
Gainst a tangled disarray
Of clouds in somkre gray.

Tke tricksy wind-sprites swarm
In tke van or tke coming storm. —

THE JOYS OF READING

To tKe Ladies of the Grange Reading Circle

HE Land that rocks the cradle rules the

-world "-

So says tKe proverb ; we resign tlie tlirone
Ana scepter gladly to our daughters grown,
Here in home ports, where long with sails

close-furled

Our varied craft nave lain : now let's be whirled
Out on the tide of Romance, whence are Mown
Strange tales and fateful from tke vast unknown,
\Vhile round our prows the foam-wreaths are up-
curled.

To storied cities where great queens and kings
\Vrought deeds that shine for aye on History's pages ;
Meeting great 'warriors, poets, prophets, sages,
\Vho shall expound for us the core of things.
Up anchor then, O sisters ! let 's sail free
Unto strange coasts, mayhap e'en Arcadie.

drfh

TO MRS. R. J. W.

On Attaining Her Eighty-Seventh Birthday

HE longed-for fabled fount De Leon sought
Thou must nave found, that seven ana four
score years,

Vv ith all their burden of desires and fears.
Joy-laden some, others with sorrow fraught,
Have not availed to numb thy soul, nor

taught

Thy spirit yet to dim its youthful fire ;
VvHiat greater boon could mortal dare desire,
Passing all words, well-nigh transcending thought.

Crabbed Old Age mekseems hath passed tnee by.
Deeming tnee gifted with eternal youth ;
Children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren vie
In honoring one where Goodness, Honor, Truth,
\Visdom and Lovingkindness, haply met,
On a brave, cheerful soul their seal have set.

MY DEAR WIFE'S EYES

HE color, say you, or my dear wire s eyes,
Those sister stars that lit witli love-light

shine.

Kindling an answering radiance in mine : —
Have they the perfect hlue or summer skies,
Or their more somhre gray "when summer

dies.

The violet dusk or scented pansies fine,
The midnight shade that glows and glooms in thine,
Or heryl hue Italian poets prize ?

Nay, hut a hrown, rich, deep and true and tender,
Is the one hue that fills my soul with rapture.
The only shade my wife and offspring own ;
The others I admire, hut homage render
To the hrown eyes that erst my heart did capture,
And hold my fond allegiance sole and lone.

TO W. W. C.

On the 24th Anniversary of hia Birth

ELL gifted witli talents and LealtL,

Obtained wLence or Low, who may say?—
Atavism may well Lave Lad sway ; —

"Poor but Lonest,' not Lampered Ly wealtL ;

\VitL a poise and good sense tLat are rare
In tLe artist, wLere sense rarely rules ;
\VitL a courtesy porn or no scLools ;
\VitL modesty past all compare ;

TLe world, like a ripe fruit, to-day

Jiangs well witLm reacL or your Land ;
ReacL and pluck — Le not lacking in "sand,"-

Taste and sample, Lut cast not away.

Yours to jot down tLe melodies fine,
UnLeard by tLe world's coarser ears.
And tLe Larmonies wLicL tLe great spLeres

Evoke in tLeir cycles divine ;

To blend, and transcribe, and transmute.
And translate, so tLat all men may sLare ;
To make Music, fair maid, still more fair,

And to Lelp tLis old ^^orld evolute.

AUNT CINDA'S GRAHAM STICKS

A BALLADE

OURMETS may prate of their dainties rare,
Concocted by chefs or high degree,
\Vho cater to those tliat like fine fare.
Roast and salad and rich entree ;
Such dishes for them but not for me ;
From the thrall of the cooks and all their
tricks

I trust that I am forever free ; —
My fare is Aunt 'Cinda's graham sticks.

Of gout and all the attendant ills

That wait on the pampered and overfed,

And the doctor with his powders and pills,~~

Of these I have not the slightest dread ;

Never have I to go to bed

\Vith towel on head and at feet not bricks,

And heart within me as heavy as lead,

\Vhile I dine on Aunt 'Cinda's graham sticks.

These sticks are the fare for the simple life,
\Vnether in country or in town ;
You rise above all petty strife.
Heedless even if fortune frown ; —

Just take your pencil and jot down :
Grabam flour, water, some cream, tben mix.
Roll, sbape, and take to a golden brown, —
Tbus are made Aunt 'Cinda's grabam sticks.

ENVOY

Many have laid lire s burdens down.

Others remain in deplorable fix,

\Vno migbt still be winning wealtb or renown,

.Had tbeir rare been Aunt Cmda's grabam sticks.

IRMA'S NEW YEAR'S WISHES

1907

\VISH you, dear friends or mine, —
None being poorest or least, —
Whether in West or East,
Or under the palm or the pine.
Success, like a new strong wine,
Repletion, as at a feast.

Of all that the world counts fine,

Till life's loves and labors has ceased.

May you meet with a tace serene

And a dauntless, resolute mien,

Reverse, should it come, or sorrow.
And look for a better morrrow

And a brighter, vaster scene

In Hope s unspoiled demesne,

^Vhere the weakest one may borrow

Something whereon to lean.

TO THE WEE AND WINSOME ELIZABETH

( E. W.. aged three years)
For postal cards

'AID of tke flaxen Lair,

Maid of tke sweet Wet voice,
r msome and winning ana fair,
Tkou'rt tke maiden of my ckoice.

[OST remember, O maid fairest ever.
That most perfect day in mid June,
And the long stroll we took ky tke river,
\Vnen you sang me a quaintly sweet tune ?

Did your little keart tkrill witk rapture,
As a maid's keart must tkrill late or soon,

At tke tkougkt of your momentous capture
Of a man s keart, a maid s greatest koon ?

No ; you joyed in tke pure joy of living.
Like tke flowers or tke kirds in tke trees,

\Vitk no tkougkt of tke joy you were giving
Any more tkan tke least one of tkese.

TO E. W.

With a box of candy

to tke sweet, Sweetkeart ;
\Ve pour out sweets for tkee ;
But dotk never tlie questing tee
Seek ker koney wkere tkou art ?

MOULD all otker loves grow cold.
Here's our little keart of gold.

TO C. C.

On her marriage ana departure from home

(INGING afield afar at Love's kekest,
Tke one lone nestling leaves tke motker-nest.

THE JOY OF BEING AUNTIE

Elizabeth, the larger, (E. G. J.) rings

M an aunt, by God's grace I'm an aunt.
By tbe grace of anotber Grace, too ; —
Sure, I m raising a ballaballoo !

I would like to stop, but I can't ;

Kind nearer, nave you been an aunt ?

You would not rail and jeer if you knew

Tbat joy wliicb to aunties is due.

I m a loving, considerate aunt,

My rigbt tnere is none to dispute ;—
That man is a dub and galoot

MVbo \vould dare to poke fun at my cbant ;

He shall not see my niece, so he sban't —
That maiden so cunning and cute —
i es, she takes after me ; sbe's a "beaut."

I'm always all rigbt as an aunt, —

"All-wool, and a" — wbat's tbat you say ?
Be careful ; for sucb slips you'll pay ! —

Some for joys of maternity pant ;

T is better by far to be aunt.
If t is true tbat eacb aunt bas ber day,
I will joy in tbis joy wbile I may,

Gainst tbe day wben all joys may be scant.

THE CLAM
A SYMPATHETIC FANTASY

In the following lines the writer has endeavored to show that the proverbial
taciturnity and lack of sociability of the clam may be due to inherited physical
disabilities and an unfavorable environment, rather than to any inherent cussedness
of disposition. The fact that the writer has been for long, like many another, a
prisoner on the shore of the possibilities of life, may have led him to regard the
bivalve -with sympathy. And then, although we have been accustomed to turn
down this humble brother (in the chowder) , is he not, like ourselves, but one link
in the great chain of creation.

EING footless, the clam cannot dance ;

Lacking pinions, he never may soar ;

Like a prisoner ne s chained to the snore ;
Yet eye not his clamship askance,

For give Kim tne ghost of a chance,
Equip mm with fin, sail or oar.
And he'd glide over Ocean's mud floor,
Or roam o'er her billowed expanse.

Join the dolphin or whale in a dance,
The mid-sea's vast caverns explore,
Or joy in the tempest's mad roar.

Defiance, not fear, in his glance ;

Beach-comher would change to free-lance.
If the kind Fates will open a door
He'll move upward a step or two more, —

For his watchword, as ours, is "Advance ! "

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PAT. JAN. 21, 1908

U. C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES

864349

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