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\title{The Poetry of Jack London}
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\chapter{A Heart}


(February 1899)


A lonely dwelling in a garden bowered,
\forcelinebreak Far from the world, the haunts of busy men,
\forcelinebreak It stood alone. No traveler yet had ventured
\forcelinebreak Down the shaded walk to where the door,
\forcelinebreak Scented with jessamine sweet and climbing rose,
\forcelinebreak Extended half a welcome, and again,
\forcelinebreak Half shyly turned away.
\forcelinebreak And cradled here,
\forcelinebreak A home of pretty fancies and strange dreams,
\forcelinebreak It had beheld, untroubled, the nesting birds,
\forcelinebreak And flowering lawns and budding trees, and seen,
\forcelinebreak With blinded eyes, the scheme of life unfold;
\forcelinebreak Often it had wondered how the river met the sea,
\forcelinebreak And stealing glimpses of the far highway,
\forcelinebreak Had watched the hurrying forms and tried to guess
\forcelinebreak The deeds of valor or the remote lands
\forcelinebreak Which called them on and on and would not let
\forcelinebreak Them lift their eyes or idle by the way.
\forcelinebreak The languid hours had crept by unawares,
\forcelinebreak And years slipped into years until at last
\forcelinebreak The door was all a-tremble, like a ripe
\forcelinebreak Rose petal, fluttering to the wind’s soft kiss;
\forcelinebreak And now there was a spirit of unrest
\forcelinebreak Through all its halls and inmost recesses,
\forcelinebreak A pulse of richer life and consciousness
\forcelinebreak Of things to come, a hum of preparation
\forcelinebreak As for a guest, unsummoned, yet expected
\forcelinebreak Once, a young wayfarer turned aside,
\forcelinebreak Lured by the noonday peace and pleasant shades,
\forcelinebreak And sought some quiet, fern-wreathed spot where he
\forcelinebreak Might rest his weary limbs and cool his brow.
\forcelinebreak But ló a swift turn in the walk disclosed
\forcelinebreak The house. Doffed was his plumed cap in awe
\forcelinebreak And slow amazement; he half turned, as though
\forcelinebreak It were a trespass, then his hand, quick-raised,
\forcelinebreak Lifted the latch to enter.
\forcelinebreak Ah’ the door
\forcelinebreak Was all but pressed ajar’
\forcelinebreak But comrades called,
\forcelinebreak And minded him of other quests. The world
\forcelinebreak Shrilled keenly through the trees, and trumpets blared;
\forcelinebreak The latch fell softly and the garden knew
\forcelinebreak No more his presence; his proud plume was lost
\forcelinebreak Among the many thronged upon the highway.
\forcelinebreak At last, all unannounced, the guest arrived;
\forcelinebreak Nor did he know whither the path did lead,
\forcelinebreak But with high pride, brushing aside the dew
\forcelinebreak And crushing under heel the scattered flowers,
\forcelinebreak He hastened toward the river’s marge. A rose,
\forcelinebreak Swaying on dainty stem, essayed to bar
\forcelinebreak His passage, but, rough-flung, his mantle snapped
\forcelinebreak Her slender life and trailed her in the dust.
\forcelinebreak The waiting door received him, and the latch
\forcelinebreak Shot rudely upward to his heavy hand;
\forcelinebreak The shock aroused no echoes, but the rose
\forcelinebreak Which clung above let fall its ripened petals
\forcelinebreak In fluttering flakes of ruddy light. They fell
\forcelinebreak Unnoticed, for he thrust the door apart
\forcelinebreak And sounded down the hall with sweeping tread.
\forcelinebreak ’Twas plain that he had trod such halls before;
\forcelinebreak His bold eyes ranged unerringly to where
\forcelinebreak The shimmering gauze but told the secret which
\forcelinebreak It strove to hide, the entrance to the shrine,
\forcelinebreak The inner sanctuary where as yet
\forcelinebreak No priest had entered and no flame had burned.
\forcelinebreak Swift the strong hand, the veil was rent in twain,
\forcelinebreak He stood within the holiest of holies.
\forcelinebreak At first, the somber light and brooding calm,
\forcelinebreak Withheld him and he paused in reverent awe,
\forcelinebreak Abashed before a presence by whose side
\forcelinebreak His soul was dwarfed, and on his inner sight
\forcelinebreak There smote a consciousness of nobler things.
\forcelinebreak He turned, as to retrace his path, when ló
\forcelinebreak The air grew heavy with the perfumed freight
\forcelinebreak Of unseen censers and a mellow flood
\forcelinebreak Of rapturous music stole upon his ear,
\forcelinebreak Dim lamps awoke, the altar burst in flame,
\forcelinebreak A dazzling light, a mighty glory fell
\forcelinebreak Upon him and his soul was kissed with fire.
\forcelinebreak Yet he had kissed and thus been kissed before,
\forcelinebreak By many altars had he knelt and laid
\forcelinebreak Fat firstling lambs and lavish hecatombs,
\forcelinebreak In many shrines had waited till the dawn
\forcelinebreak Reddened the east and called him forth again.
\forcelinebreak And so he rested through the sweet long night,
\forcelinebreak And when the day awoke, aroused himself,
\forcelinebreak Stepped lightly o’er the shattered veil, nor thought
\forcelinebreak To bend his head in last obeisance;
\forcelinebreak Again he brushed aside the dew and crushed
\forcelinebreak The flowers; his laugh rang loud and he was gone.
\forcelinebreak ’Twas then the flame upon the altar died.
\forcelinebreak A lonely dwelling in a garden hidden,
\forcelinebreak Far from the world, the haunts of busy men,
\forcelinebreak It stands unknown. The walk where once He trod
\forcelinebreak Is weed-grown and the brambles bar the way;
\forcelinebreak No more the scent of jessamine or of rose
\forcelinebreak Lingers about the open door; chill winds
\forcelinebreak Go out and in, rustling sad memories,
\forcelinebreak Dead leaves and musty draperies of gauze.
\forcelinebreak The shrine is cold and lifeless, and the house
\forcelinebreak No longer dreams of things to come, nor waits
\forcelinebreak A guest. It still beholds the hurrying forms
\forcelinebreak Along the highway, but it does not question
\forcelinebreak Whence or whither, it has learned the quest
\forcelinebreak And knows the way the river meets the sea.

\chapter{Abalone Song}


Oh, some folks boast of quail on toast
\forcelinebreak Because they think it’s toney,
\forcelinebreak But I’m content to owe my rent
\forcelinebreak And live on abalone.
\forcelinebreak Oh! Mission Point’s a friendly joint,
\forcelinebreak Where ev’ry crab’s a crony,
\forcelinebreak And true and kind you’ll ever find
\forcelinebreak The clinging abalone.
\forcelinebreak He wanders free beside the sea,
\forcelinebreak Where’er the coast is stony;
\forcelinebreak He flaps his wings and madly sings —
\forcelinebreak The plaintive abalone.
\forcelinebreak By Carmel Bay, the people say,
\forcelinebreak We feed on lazzaroni
\forcelinebreak On Boston beans and fresh sardines,
\forcelinebreak A toothesome abalone.
\forcelinebreak Some live on hope, and some on dope
\forcelinebreak And some on alimony;
\forcelinebreak But my tom-cat, he lives on fat
\forcelinebreak And tender abalone.
\forcelinebreak Oh! some drink rain and some champagne,
\forcelinebreak Or brandy by the pony;
\forcelinebreak But I will try a little rye
\forcelinebreak With a dash of abalone.
\forcelinebreak Oh! some like jam, and some like ham,
\forcelinebreak And some like macaroni;
\forcelinebreak But bring me a pail of gin
\forcelinebreak A tub of abalone.
\forcelinebreak He hides in caves beneath the waves, —
\forcelinebreak His ancient patrimony;
\forcelinebreak And so ’tis shown that faith alone
\forcelinebreak Reveals the abalone.
\forcelinebreak The more we take the more they make
\forcelinebreak In deep-sea matrimony;
\forcelinebreak Race suicide cannot betide
\forcelinebreak The fertile abalone.
\forcelinebreak I telegraph my better half
\forcelinebreak By Morse or by Marconi;
\forcelinebreak But if the need arise for speed,
\forcelinebreak I send an abalone.

\chapter{And Some Night}


“And some night,
\forcelinebreak You will find me in your arms,
\forcelinebreak Pleading---
\forcelinebreak For the eventual white flame
\forcelinebreak of your lips!”

\chapter{Ballade of the False Lover}


(November 1898)


He asked me there to be his bride,
\forcelinebreak 0 long and long ago;
\forcelinebreak He drew me close, my tears he dried,
\forcelinebreak His face was all aglow;
\forcelinebreak And I, poor me! how could I show
\forcelinebreak My love? What could I say?
\forcelinebreak I lay upon his breast--and lo,
\forcelinebreak He kissed and rode away.
\forcelinebreak He spoke me fair, and from my side,
\forcelinebreak He swore he would not go;
\forcelinebreak Said Heaven nor Hell could not divide
\forcelinebreak Us, for he loved me so.
\forcelinebreak Ah woe is me, I did not know,
\forcelinebreak I could not say him nay;
\forcelinebreak I lay upon his breast--and lo,
\forcelinebreak He kissed and rode away.
\forcelinebreak There lost I both my heart and pride,
\forcelinebreak And all I could bestow;
\forcelinebreak For when he looked and longed and sighed,
\forcelinebreak My tongue would not say no;
\forcelinebreak And when he whispered, soft and low,
\forcelinebreak That I was his for aye,
\forcelinebreak I lay upon his breast--and lo,
\forcelinebreak He kissed and rode away.
\forcelinebreak Envoi
\forcelinebreak Sister, ’twas thus: I did not know,
\forcelinebreak Nor dream that love would stray;
\forcelinebreak I lay upon his breast--and lo,
\forcelinebreak He kissed and rode away.

\chapter{Cupid’s Deal}


(September 1898)


“Me tell your fortune? Nay’ “ she cried;
\forcelinebreak And then, in mood relenting,
\forcelinebreak And roughish air, was by my side----
\forcelinebreak “And mind, there’s no resenting.
\forcelinebreak The things I tell are true as true
\forcelinebreak As ever yet were told to you
\forcelinebreak By gifted seer or Gypsy crew---
\forcelinebreak Don’t think that I’m inventing.


“First make your wish, but don’t tell me,”
\forcelinebreak (Ah well she knew my yearning)
\forcelinebreak “For then I can’t tell true, you see;
\forcelinebreak Some things are past discerning.
\forcelinebreak But what is this? A lady fair,
\forcelinebreak Of sprightly mien and debonair-----
\forcelinebreak Next Five of Clubs, which means beware!”
\forcelinebreak (Ah me, my ears are burning)


“And then yourself, the Knave of Hearts,
\forcelinebreak In dangerous conjunction
\forcelinebreak With Cupid’s ace, who aims his darts
\forcelinebreak At you without compunction.
\forcelinebreak Twixt you and her he bends his bow-
\forcelinebreak And my advice? ’Tis that you go
\forcelinebreak To Cupid’s Court, and bending low,
\forcelinebreak Pray him for an injunction.


“Your fortune’s told, I see no more;
\forcelinebreak The cards are counterpointing;
\forcelinebreak But hold’ What’s this? Within a Four?
\forcelinebreak Regarding an appointing?---
\forcelinebreak ’Tis on its way, “Twill come to you,
\forcelinebreak A sweetly scented billet-doux,
\forcelinebreak A very charming Billet-doux,
\forcelinebreak And very disappointing.


“Your wish is blank; but for the rest,
\forcelinebreak Remember what’s foretold you,
\forcelinebreak Add---nay, you must not, shan’t protest,
\forcelinebreak And say that I’ve cajoled you.
\forcelinebreak Come sir, confess; you can’t deny
\forcelinebreak The truths which I have given---why
\forcelinebreak The cards say so.” And I reply,
\forcelinebreak “I’d like to know who told you.”


And this is how it all began,
\forcelinebreak And why she called me “Mister”;
\forcelinebreak For she was at the depot when
\forcelinebreak I’d gone to meet my sister.
\forcelinebreak Because she did not know her, she
\forcelinebreak Thought the very worst of me---
\forcelinebreak That is---I---Well I kissed her.

\chapter{Daybreak}


The blushing dawn the easy illumes,
\forcelinebreak The birds their merry matins sing,
\forcelinebreak The buds breath forth their sweet perfumes,
\forcelinebreak And butterflies are on the wing.
\forcelinebreak I pause beneath the window high,
\forcelinebreak The door is locked, the house is quiet;
\forcelinebreak ’Tis there, abed, she sure must lie, —
\forcelinebreak To Wake her, — ah! I’ll try it.
\forcelinebreak And pebbles hurtling through the air,
\forcelinebreak Strike full upon the window-pane,
\forcelinebreak Awakening her who slumbers there
\forcelinebreak With their insistent hurricane.
\forcelinebreak Ye gods! in my imagination,
\forcelinebreak The wondrous scene do I behold —
\forcelinebreak A nymph’s bewildered consternation
\forcelinebreak At summons thus so fierce and bold.
\forcelinebreak A moment passes, then I see
\forcelinebreak The gauzy curtains drawn aside,
\forcelinebreak And sweet eyes beaming down on me,
\forcelinebreak And then a window upward glide.
\forcelinebreak Fair as the morn, with rosy light,
\forcelinebreak She blushes with a faint surprise,
\forcelinebreak Then thinking of the previous night,
\forcelinebreak In dulcet tones she softly cries:
\forcelinebreak “It should have been put out by Nan,
\forcelinebreak But I’ll be down within a minute —
\forcelinebreak No, never mind, leave your own can,
\forcelinebreak And put two quarts, please, in it.”

\chapter{Effusion}


Thou canst not weep;
\forcelinebreak Nor ask I for a year
\forcelinebreak To rid me of my woes
\forcelinebreak Or make my life more dear.


The mystic chains that bound
\forcelinebreak Thy all-fond heart to mine,
\forcelinebreak Alas! asundered are
\forcelinebreak For now and for all time.


In vain you strove to hide,
\forcelinebreak From vulgar gaze of man,
\forcelinebreak The burning glance of love
\forcelinebreak That none but Love can scan.


Go on thy starlit way
\forcelinebreak And leave me to my fate;
\forcelinebreak Our souls must needs unite —
\forcelinebreak But, God! ’twill be too late.

\chapter{George Sterling}


I saw a man open an iris petal.
\forcelinebreak He ran his finger underneath the edge,
\forcelinebreak unfolded it, and smoothed it out a little,
\forcelinebreak not as one guilty of a sacrilege —
\forcelinebreak because he knew flowers, and understood
\forcelinebreak that what he did would maybe help them grow--
\forcelinebreak though for a moment he was almost God.
\forcelinebreak Alone as we are, growing is so slow.
\forcelinebreak I think of one who tried like that to unfold
\forcelinebreak the margin of his life where it was curled,
\forcelinebreak to see into the shadows shot with gold
\forcelinebreak that lie in iris hues about the world.
\forcelinebreak Because he dared to touch the sacred rim,
\forcelinebreak does God resent this eagerness in him?

\chapter{Gold}


(May 1897)


Strange was the alchemy through which you passed,
\forcelinebreak Before, deep-sunk in earth and massive rock,
\forcelinebreak Thou layest concealed whilst centuries o’er thee passed;
\forcelinebreak Nor felt the rush of life, the toil, the shock
\forcelinebreak Of man above thee-torn with emotions wild--
\forcelinebreak Living, dying, existing but a space;
\forcelinebreak Enduring sorrows.or with joys beguiled;
\forcelinebreak Crushing his fellows in that fierce onward race,
\forcelinebreak Where brute survived and true nobility was lost;
\forcelinebreak Where souls pursuing hot desire were passion tost.
\forcelinebreak In cosmos vague, mysterious, unknown,
\forcelinebreak ‘Mid elemental war pregnant with life,
\forcelinebreak Where valleys fell and mountains were upthrown,
\forcelinebreak Wert thou vanquished and banished from the strife. .
\forcelinebreak Crushed ‘neath a weight of overwhelming earth,
\forcelinebreak The struggle o’er thee ceaselessly did wage;
\forcelinebreak But thou didst sleep and wait thy second birth,
\forcelinebreak When, with the strange, ungrateful genie’s rage,
\forcelinebreak Who swore to slay the first that loosed him, gave him light,
\forcelinebreak Didst thou mankind with fierce, unholy avarice smite.
\forcelinebreak As in the fabled tales of ancient days,
\forcelinebreak Within a casket were imprisoned ills,
\forcelinebreak The lid of which Pandora fain did raise,
\forcelinebreak So wert thou guarded by the silent hills.
\forcelinebreak Till one, more brave or curious than the rest,
\forcelinebreak Cast wide your portals, let the light of day
\forcelinebreak Behold the future goal of envious quest-
\forcelinebreak The deadly drug to lure manhood away;
\forcelinebreak To steep in evanescent dreams the groping souls;
\forcelinebreak To cast them, ‘wildered and forsaken, on treacherous shoals.
\forcelinebreak The hot, incestuous love, the rude desire
\forcelinebreak Of man for woman or of brute for brute,
\forcelinebreak Were icebergs floating in a sea of fire,
\forcelinebreak Contrasted with the agony acute,
\forcelinebreak Which seized on man with love impure and base,
\forcelinebreak When first beholding thee, he stood aghast.
\forcelinebreak And felt within him shrivel up the grace,
\forcelinebreak The joy of perfect love before thy blast
\forcelinebreak Of all-consuming heat--hotter than that which wells
\forcelinebreak From crater mouths, or leaps from fond imagined hells.
\forcelinebreak Yet wherein lies thy subtle, wondrous charm?
\forcelinebreak The meteor flashing athwart the sky;
\forcelinebreak The firefly in a summer evening’s calm;
\forcelinebreak Or meek glow-worm; thy warmest light outvie.
\forcelinebreak Precious ? Art thou as rare, as true, as good,
\forcelinebreak As she who blushes with the first surprise
\forcelinebreak At conscious knowledge of her womanhood;
\forcelinebreak Who glorious, peerless, hears with downcast eyes
\forcelinebreak And heaving breast, a lover’s tale of love unfold,
\forcelinebreak Nor who, in that sweet moment, can her own withhold?
\forcelinebreak Thou sprang’st into dominion, vast, supreme;
\forcelinebreak Became the lodestar of man’s pathless sea —
\forcelinebreak The dreamer, ‘wakening from his happy dream,
\forcelinebreak Returns to earth, beholds and chases thee:
\forcelinebreak The youth whose-scheme of life has just begun;
\forcelinebreak The man who walks erect in manhood’s prime;
\forcelinebreak The aged one whose race is nearly run;
\forcelinebreak Forget the aim of life, the thought sublime,
\forcelinebreak And stifling conscience, yielding to covetous thirst,
\forcelinebreak Seek thee, and seeking, fall, degraded and accurst.

\chapter{He Chortled With Glee}


He Chortled with glee
\forcelinebreak As he read me the letter —
\forcelinebreak And why shouldn’t he?
\forcelinebreak He Chortled with glee,
\forcelinebreak ’Twas a boy, you see,
\forcelinebreak And she was much better.
\forcelinebreak He Chortled with glee
\forcelinebreak As he read me the letter.

\chapter{He Never Tried Again}


(Spring 1897)


(With apologies to Henry of England)
\forcelinebreak He heard the wondrous tale and went
\forcelinebreak To Klondyke’s golden shore;
\forcelinebreak A year of trial and toil he spent,
\forcelinebreak And found not gold galore.
\forcelinebreak And starved and frozen he returned,
\forcelinebreak Singing a sad refrain;
\forcelinebreak For nuggets he no longer yearned-
\forcelinebreak He never tried again.
\forcelinebreak The air rang loud with war’s alarms,
\forcelinebreak And a soldier he became;
\forcelinebreak But Romance soon lost all her charms,
\forcelinebreak And life in camp was tame.
\forcelinebreak The drill was stiff, the grub was bad;
\forcelinebreak He slept out in the rain;
\forcelinebreak His captain was a beastly cad---
\forcelinebreak He never tried again.
\forcelinebreak He met a pretty Summer Girl,
\forcelinebreak Who stole his heart away;
\forcelinebreak She was a precious little pearl
\forcelinebreak And could not say him nay.
\forcelinebreak But when he asked her for her heart,
\forcelinebreak She searched and searched in vain;
\forcelinebreak For sad to say she had no heart---
\forcelinebreak He never tried again.
\forcelinebreak Three times he’d tried, three times he’d failed;
\forcelinebreak It could not last alway;
\forcelinebreak On Harlem Bridge he wept and wailed,
\forcelinebreak And leaped into the bay.
\forcelinebreak The water cold, he called for aid,
\forcelinebreak And struggled might and main;
\forcelinebreak He could not swim, so there he stayed---
\forcelinebreak He never tried again.

\chapter{His Trip to Hades (Triolet)}


(January 1899)


Trying to miss his trip to Hades,
\forcelinebreak Jack returned my umbrella;
\forcelinebreak Still you see I am afraid he’s
\forcelinebreak Failed to miss his trip to Hades.
\forcelinebreak Mine? No, Some mistake he’s made, he’s
\forcelinebreak Borrowed from some other fellah,
\forcelinebreak Trying to miss his trip to Hades,
\forcelinebreak Jack returned my umbrella

\chapter{Homeland}


I.
\forcelinebreak Beautiful Homeland, my own dear Homeland,
\forcelinebreak Deep in my heart dwells a love for Thee evermore;
\forcelinebreak To Thee returning, my heart Is yearning,
\forcelinebreak For Thy great mountains. Thy peaceful green vales.
\forcelinebreak In many foreign lands a wanderer I strolled,
\forcelinebreak Oft have their wonders and their beauties been extolled;
\forcelinebreak But none can compare with Thee, oh fairest on earth
\forcelinebreak And none shall I love as Thee, 0 land of my birth . . . . . .
\forcelinebreak Homeland . . . . . Homeland
\forcelinebreak Refrain:
\forcelinebreak Beautiful Homeland, my own dear Homeland,
\forcelinebreak Where hearts are loyal and friendship is ever true;
\forcelinebreak Beautiful Homeland, my own dear Homeland,
\forcelinebreak Hope of all mankind that loves peace and freedom;
\forcelinebreak Embraced by oceans and God’s sunny skies.
\forcelinebreak II.
\forcelinebreak Beautiful Homeland, my own dear Homeland,
\forcelinebreak Prom pine to palm and from glasier to cottonfield;
\forcelinebreak Great rivers flowing, sweet breezes blowing
\forcelinebreak O’er Thy vast prairies, Thy forest clad hills.
\forcelinebreak Fair are those other lands that lure from o’er the sea,
\forcelinebreak Fair are their maidens who have often smiled on me;
\forcelinebreak But I shall be true to Thee, oh homeland of mine
\forcelinebreak And my heart shall evermore your dear earth enshrine.
\forcelinebreak Homeland . . . . . Homeland
\forcelinebreak Repeat refrain.

\chapter{Hors De Saison}


(July 1897)


Nothing but comes too late with me,
\forcelinebreak No matter how I reason;
\forcelinebreak The fashions swiftly from me flee;
\forcelinebreak I’m always out of season.
\forcelinebreak My slim income with care I eke,
\forcelinebreak To gratify some passion;
\forcelinebreak But when I do it is antique,
\forcelinebreak Having gone out of fashion.
\forcelinebreak I struggle ‘mid temptations great,
\forcelinebreak To take a brief vacation;
\forcelinebreak But upward climbs the railroad rate,
\forcelinebreak ‘Yond all anticipation,
\forcelinebreak When at the seaside I arrive,
\forcelinebreak The crowd is in the city;
\forcelinebreak No matter how I do contrive,
\forcelinebreak I miss them--more’s the pity.
\forcelinebreak I never bought the latest hat,
\forcelinebreak Nor other ‘bomination;
\forcelinebreak But that my friends said “Look at that,
\forcelinebreak It’s older than creation.”
\forcelinebreak And thus it is with all my clothes;
\forcelinebreak My neckties, trousers, waistcoats;
\forcelinebreak My cuffs, my studs, my shoes, my hose;
\forcelinebreak My summer suits and greatcoats.
\forcelinebreak I learned to waltz with hop and jump;
\forcelinebreak And then the dancers glided;
\forcelinebreak My friends thought me the biggest chump,
\forcelinebreak And all my ‘tempts derided,
\forcelinebreak The cigarette I learned to smoke
\forcelinebreak With nausea most horrible;
\forcelinebreak But custom changed with one fell stroke
\forcelinebreak To briarwood pipes intolerable.
\forcelinebreak In. politics it is the same;
\forcelinebreak When tariff-struck, hilaric,
\forcelinebreak ‘Gainst free trade’s evils I disclaim,
\forcelinebreak The crowd’s gone bimetallic,
\forcelinebreak I never loved but that too late
\forcelinebreak I plead my adoration:
\forcelinebreak Another man had been there first,
\forcelinebreak To my great consternation.
\forcelinebreak At last one day, cursing my fate,
\forcelinebreak In dark despair to ‘scape her,
\forcelinebreak ’Twas told me on the brink, “Too late,
\forcelinebreak Suicide’s no more the caper.”
\forcelinebreak Nothing but comes too late with me,
\forcelinebreak No matter how I reason;
\forcelinebreak The fashions swiftly from me flee;
\forcelinebreak I’m always out of season.

\chapter{If I Were God}


If I were God one hour
\forcelinebreak And, gazing down from heaven’s dizzy stair,
\forcelinebreak Should see you idling in the garden there;
\forcelinebreak If I were God one hour,
\forcelinebreak And saw you flirting with that grinning cad —
\forcelinebreak Yes, flirting, don’t deny! — why, I’d get mad;
\forcelinebreak I’d loose the bolts of my mighty wrath
\forcelinebreak And turn the wretch to cinders in your path —
\forcelinebreak If I were God one hour.
\forcelinebreak If I were God one hour
\forcelinebreak And saw you in that garden, fair and tall,
\forcelinebreak I’m sure I’d fail to watch the sparrows fall;
\forcelinebreak If I were God one hour,
\forcelinebreak And haply you should raise your eyes to mine,
\forcelinebreak Right then and there I know that I’d resign
\forcelinebreak And fling away my scepter, dearest Nan,
\forcelinebreak Descend to earth and make myself a man —
\forcelinebreak If I were God one hour.

\chapter{In a Year}


In a year, in a year, when the grapes are ripe,
\forcelinebreak I shall stay no more away —
\forcelinebreak Then if you still are true, my love,
\forcelinebreak It will be our wedding day.
\forcelinebreak In a year, in a year, when my time is past —
\forcelinebreak Then I’ll live in your love for aye.
\forcelinebreak Then if you still are true, my love,
\forcelinebreak It will be our wedding day.

\chapter{In and Out}


When he came in
\forcelinebreak Why, I was out;
\forcelinebreak To borrow some tin
\forcelinebreak Was why he came in,
\forcelinebreak And I had to grin,
\forcelinebreak For he went without;
\forcelinebreak So I was in
\forcelinebreak And he was out.

\chapter{Je Rls en Espoir}


(May 1897)


I live in hope from day to day,
\forcelinebreak Of a joyous consummation;
\forcelinebreak When all my friends in manner gay,
\forcelinebreak Give me congratulation.
\forcelinebreak I live in hope that quick the hour,
\forcelinebreak Still in the dim perspective,
\forcelinebreak Shall me all happiness endower,
\forcelinebreak And cease to be subjective.
\forcelinebreak I live in hope that bells shall ring
\forcelinebreak In peals magnificent,
\forcelinebreak And to me tidings haply bring
\forcelinebreak From fate omnipotent
\forcelinebreak I live in hope the day to see,
\forcelinebreak When with a thrill electric,
\forcelinebreak I’ll merry hail with greatest glee,
\forcelinebreak A victory majestic.
\forcelinebreak My hope is this: that there may pass.
\forcelinebreak An uncle wisely provident,
\forcelinebreak From earth, who great wealth did amass.
\forcelinebreak And leave it me, an indigent.

\chapter{Memory}


(June 1899)


Grim prompter of forgotten lines
\forcelinebreak With wings of sable night,
\forcelinebreak Stealing the light of day,
\forcelinebreak Why have you come
\forcelinebreak In this, my perfect port,


O why?


O why?
\forcelinebreak In this, my perfect port,
\forcelinebreak Why have you come
\forcelinebreak Stealing the light of day
\forcelinebreak With wings of sable night,
\forcelinebreak Grim prompter of forgotten lines.

\chapter{Moods}


(October 1898)


Who has not laughed with the skylark,
\forcelinebreak And bid his heart rejoice?
\forcelinebreak Laughed till the mirth-loving heavens
\forcelinebreak Echoed his laughter back?
\forcelinebreak Joyed in the sheer joy of living,
\forcelinebreak And sung with gladsome voice,
\forcelinebreak Lays that were cheerful and merry,
\forcelinebreak And bid his heart rejoice?
\forcelinebreak Who has not frowned in the gloaming,
\forcelinebreak And felt the skies grow black;
\forcelinebreak While o’er him spread the dark mantle
\forcelinebreak Of sullen, solemn Gloom,
\forcelinebreak Whose mutterings broke the silence
\forcelinebreak Like echoes from the tomb--
\forcelinebreak Like echoes of lost endeavors-
\forcelinebreak Reproaches from the tomb?
\forcelinebreak Who has not cursed in his passion,
\forcelinebreak As Anger’s stinging lash,
\forcelinebreak Biting and smarting and racking,
\forcelinebreak Fell on his naked back?
\forcelinebreak Felt in his veins feverish tumult,
\forcelinebreak The strife, the savage clash,
\forcelinebreak As when hot steel, leaped from the scabbard,
\forcelinebreak Meets steel with crash on crash?
\forcelinebreak Who has not wept in his sorrow,
\forcelinebreak And looked in vain for morn;
\forcelinebreak Waiting with hopeless yearning,
\forcelinebreak The sun from out the bourn?
\forcelinebreak Heard from the world the sad sobbing
\forcelinebreak Of Faith and Hope forlorn?
\forcelinebreak Known that the sun had forever
\forcelinebreak Gone down into the bourn?

\chapter{My Confession}


(May 1897)


I love to feel the wind’s great power
\forcelinebreak On my silken sails on high;
\forcelinebreak As I upon my ivied, tower
\forcelinebreak My Dragon Kite do fly.
\forcelinebreak Each gusty breeze that stirs the trees
\forcelinebreak Strikes on my silken kite
\forcelinebreak Sending melodies like these
\forcelinebreak Down from the living light.
\forcelinebreak The silken string (a dainty thing,
\forcelinebreak And white and “bright and neat),
\forcelinebreak I fasten to a phonograph
\forcelinebreak And make the breezes speak.
\forcelinebreak That’s how I write my stories,
\forcelinebreak The wind upon the string
\forcelinebreak Makes clear the sun-sky glories
\forcelinebreak And tells me everything.

\chapter{My Little Palmist}


(November 1898)


The leaves stirred softly overhead,
\forcelinebreak While from my hand a tale was read,
\forcelinebreak By laughing lips of rosy red;


My little Palmist.


0 that slight form so dainty-fair,
\forcelinebreak That pulsing breast, beyond compare,
\forcelinebreak That cadenced rise and fall of air!--


Of breaths the balm’est.


“This line, unbroken, deep and long,
\forcelinebreak Assurance gives of health most strong,
\forcelinebreak And truely ‘twill thy days prolong;


The line Vitalis.


While this, so clear and firm and fine,
\forcelinebreak Say Cupid’s toils about thee twine,
\forcelinebreak And happiest wedlock will be thine —


’Tis called Mensalis.


“And here, thy disposition gay,
\forcelinebreak Is quickly learned from lines which say,
\forcelinebreak That where you go or where you stay,


Your ways are jolly.


And yet again, these furrows blent,
\forcelinebreak One thing alone for thee is meant,
\forcelinebreak In Love’s fond dalliance you’ve spent


Fair hours in folly.


“By this, and this, and this, is told,
\forcelinebreak Good friends about thee are enrolled,
\forcelinebreak While Love’s delights, so manifold,


Thy life shall gladden.


Nor sudden sorrow, or swift pain,
\forcelinebreak Nor misery shall thee enchain;
\forcelinebreak Nor blighting curse, or dread murrain,


Thy heart shall sadden.


“Yet least among thy pleasures great,
\forcelinebreak There will a little maiden wait,
\forcelinebreak With love, as bird feels for its mate,


With love sincerest.”


Ere yet she ceased, I knelt, a thrall,
\forcelinebreak As to my heart her last words fall,---
\forcelinebreak “I’ve held naught back, so this is all,


For thee, my Dearest.”


0 sweet that rippling flow of sound,
\forcelinebreak That fairy speech which wrapped me ‘roundl
\forcelinebreak Those magic meshes ‘bout me bound,


I would not sever.


0 sweet those pure, pellucid eyes,
\forcelinebreak Whose slightest glance I fondly prize!--
\forcelinebreak Ah God! in this, my paradise,


I’d-stay forever.


It seems but yesterday that we,
\forcelinebreak With hand in hand, and knee to knee,
\forcelinebreak Spent one sweet hour in childish glee;


My little Palmist.


But yesterday,---Ah well-a-day!
\forcelinebreak And where is now my little fay,
\forcelinebreak Who scanned my hand and went away?


O sing thou Psalmist.

\chapter{Of Man of the Future}


Of man of the future! Who is able to describe him?
\forcelinebreak Perhaps he breaks our globe into fragments
\forcelinebreak In a time of warlike games.
\forcelinebreak Perhaps he hurls death through the firmament.
\forcelinebreak Man of the future! He is able to aim at the stars,
\forcelinebreak To harness the comets,
\forcelinebreak And to travel in space among the planets.

\chapter{On the Face of the Earth You Are the One}


I am your Adam, you are my Eve,
\forcelinebreak As in the days of old,
\forcelinebreak Just like Adam, he loved his Eve.
\forcelinebreak My love for you is bold.
\forcelinebreak My eyes are blinded by love that’s true.
\forcelinebreak I see no one in this world but you,
\forcelinebreak Sweetheart divine,
\forcelinebreak Say you’ll be mine,
\forcelinebreak I love you, you. you.
\forcelinebreak Chorus
\forcelinebreak On the face of the earth you are the one.
\forcelinebreak My one, only one, only one.
\forcelinebreak You are my love,
\forcelinebreak Like the sun up above,
\forcelinebreak Only one, only one, only one — dear,
\forcelinebreak Since the birth of the earth you are one,
\forcelinebreak My battle of love has begun,
\forcelinebreak I’ll answer your calls,
\forcelinebreak Till life’s curtain falls,
\forcelinebreak On the face of the earth you are one. one.
\forcelinebreak I strolled mongst flowers. I picked a rose.
\forcelinebreak That was my vision so true,
\forcelinebreak Among all those flowers,
\forcelinebreak One flower I chose, The rose. I chose, was you,
\forcelinebreak I longed for you since the world began.
\forcelinebreak I’ll long for you till the end of man,
\forcelinebreak A vision of you,
\forcelinebreak Is my whole life’s view,
\forcelinebreak I love you, you, you,
\forcelinebreak Chorus

\chapter{Republican Rallying Song}


(Air of “Marching through. Georgia”)
\forcelinebreak Gathered round our standards, boys, we face the fray again;
\forcelinebreak We have gathered in our might and here we will remain,
\forcelinebreak Till we win to victory and sweep the whole campaign,
\forcelinebreak While we are counting majorities.
\forcelinebreak (Chorus) Hurrah! Hurrah! Our platform’s here to stay!
\forcelinebreak Hurray! Hurray! 0 hear the donkeys bray!
\forcelinebreak Won’t they sing another song before we go away!
\forcelinebreak While we are counting majorities.To the next election, boys, ‘twill find us side by side;
\forcelinebreak To the Grand Old Party, boys, its men so true and tried:
\forcelinebreak Let the toast go round the board and drink it in all pride,
\forcelinebreak While we are counting majorities
\forcelinebreak (Chorus)
\forcelinebreak We’ve a candidate who’ll win, or else his name’s not GAGE;
\forcelinebreak He will put the “Little Giant” in a little cage —
\forcelinebreak Won’t he make them gnash their teeth and. kick themselves with rage,
\forcelinebreak While we are counting majorities.
\forcelinebreak (Chorus)
\forcelinebreak There is something coming, boys, we feel it in the air:
\forcelinebreak ’Tis a tidal wave that’s made to mash them ‘yond repair —
\forcelinebreak Where will we be at? Oho! You bet we’ll all be there,
\forcelinebreak While we are counting majorities.
\forcelinebreak (Chorus)
\forcelinebreak When election day has come we’ll vote our ticket straight;
\forcelinebreak Then will they be out of it for all they feel so great —
\forcelinebreak We won’t do a thing to them but rub them off the slate,
\forcelinebreak While we are counting majorities.
\forcelinebreak (Chorus)

\chapter{Sonnet}


(1901)


A Trumpet call, a bursting of the sod,
\forcelinebreak And lo! I flung aside the clinging clay
\forcelinebreak Lifted my flight along the star-strewn way
\forcelinebreak Among the white-robed saints that fled to God.
\forcelinebreak And he that held the gate, with holy nod,
\forcelinebreak Did bid me enter that my feet might stray
\forcelinebreak Amid the flowers with those that God obey;
\forcelinebreak The just, the good, and pure on earth there trod.
\forcelinebreak Dear heart: I questioned him if thou wert there,
\forcelinebreak One of that bright-browed throng whos voices led
\forcelinebreak The heavenly hymn of praise, the wondrous strain
\forcelinebreak That kissed in ecstacy the trembling air?
\forcelinebreak But he that held the gate did shake his head,
\forcelinebreak Thou wast not there; I turned away again.

\chapter{The Gift of God}


(June 1899)


I


“Name me the gift of God!”
\forcelinebreak A man commanded.
\forcelinebreak His brow was furrowed
\forcelinebreak With thought.
\forcelinebreak He wished to know all things.


II


There was a clamor among the peoples;
\forcelinebreak Many strove to answer,
\forcelinebreak And many were silent.
\forcelinebreak Some did not care,
\forcelinebreak Yet none were too busy to listen.
\forcelinebreak At first,
\forcelinebreak They named all things,
\forcelinebreak In loud voices,
\forcelinebreak Till the weak were hushed.


III


Then the strong ones became as one:
\forcelinebreak “Life is the gift of God!” they cried,
\forcelinebreak In a mighty chant,
\forcelinebreak Which shook the heavens.
\forcelinebreak But in time,
\forcelinebreak They became tired,
\forcelinebreak And no longer outraged the sky


IV


Then a graybeard,
\forcelinebreak Doddering on the edge of his grave,
\forcelinebreak Raised a thin voice.
\forcelinebreak He had seen three generations
\forcelinebreak Come and go;
\forcelinebreak He knew all tricks;
\forcelinebreak He said. “Death is the gift of God.”
\forcelinebreak He knew.
\forcelinebreak But the people were angry,
\forcelinebreak And in a great clamor,
\forcelinebreak Drowned his thin voice.

\chapter{The Klondyker’s Dream}


(October 1898)


In slumbers of midnight the Klondyker lay;
\forcelinebreak The snow was fast falling, the cold was intense;
\forcelinebreak But weary and hungry, his cares flew away,
\forcelinebreak And visions of dinners were calling him hence.


He dreamed of his home, of the dining-room table,
\forcelinebreak And servants that waited his every behest;
\forcelinebreak He longed 0 to eat, to eat all he was able,
\forcelinebreak For ah! of all dreams he had dreamed ’twas the best.


Then Fancy her marvelous miracles wrought,
\forcelinebreak And bade the thin starved one get out of his bed;
\forcelinebreak The Klondyke he left far behind him, he sought
\forcelinebreak The place where the hungered could always be fed.


He came in good season, the table was laid;
\forcelinebreak The rich, fragrant coffee was steaming and hot;
\forcelinebreak The pastries and puddings were there all arrayed;
\forcelinebreak The beefsteak was done, aye was done to a dot.


His fingers were trembling, so rich was the fare,
\forcelinebreak And when Grace was ended he murmured Amen!
\forcelinebreak And took, of all dishes, the beefsteak so rare;
\forcelinebreak Ah! he was the happiest man of all men.


The jaws of the sleeper are moving with joy;
\forcelinebreak Food quickens his palate, his hardships seem o’er;
\forcelinebreak A feeling of plenty steals over the boy —
\forcelinebreak ”0 God! thou hast fed me, I ask for no more.”


Ah! whence is that form which now bursts on his eye?
\forcelinebreak Ah! what is that sound that now catches his ear?
\forcelinebreak “Tis the dog of the Klondyke thieving so sly!
\forcelinebreak ”Tis a crunching of jaws, a crunching quite near!


He springs from the blankets, he seizes his gun;
\forcelinebreak Gaunt Famine confronts him with images dire;
\forcelinebreak But out of the tent goes the dog on the run,
\forcelinebreak For well he knows when it’s time to retire.


The last piece of bacon is gone from the sack;
\forcelinebreak He weeps, 0 he weeps, for he knows what it means;
\forcelinebreak The last piece of bacon — ‘twill never come back;
\forcelinebreak Henceforth his diet must be sour bread and beans.


0 ‘Klondyker, woe to thy dreams of good fare!
\forcelinebreak In waking they left thee, they left on the fly;
\forcelinebreak Where now is that beefsteak so juicy and rare;
\forcelinebreak The coffee, the pudding, the pastry and pie?

\chapter{The Lover’s Liturgy}


Ah! my brothers, we are mortals,
\forcelinebreak Atoms on Time’s ebb and flow,
\forcelinebreak Soon we pass the dreary portals,
\forcelinebreak Soon to dreamless sleep we go;
\forcelinebreak We are sparkles, evanescent,
\forcelinebreak Doomed to perish in the hour,
\forcelinebreak And our time is in the present,
\forcelinebreak Ours but a moment’s power.
\forcelinebreak Love, my brothers, is the essence,
\forcelinebreak In the scheme of life and light;
\forcelinebreak Birth and death are fearful lessons —
\forcelinebreak Out of darkness into night, —
\forcelinebreak Thus we flash, a moment’s living,
\forcelinebreak ‘Twixt the silent walls of death,
\forcelinebreak Flashing for a moment, giving
\forcelinebreak Song but for a moment’s breath.
\forcelinebreak Then that moment do not sadden,
\forcelinebreak Prayers, nor beads, nor aves tell;
\forcelinebreak Then that moment do not madden
\forcelinebreak With mad dreams of heaven or hell;
\forcelinebreak Trust that he who cast you idly,
\forcelinebreak Asked of you nor aye nor nay,
\forcelinebreak Flung you idly, wildly, widely,
\forcelinebreak For his whim will not ask pay.
\forcelinebreak For a whim of bubble-blowing,
\forcelinebreak Perhaps to while an empty day,
\forcelinebreak For a whim of stubble-sowing,
\forcelinebreak For a game at godlike play,
\forcelinebreak Shall the bubbles in the drifting,
\forcelinebreak Pay the whim of Him who played?
\forcelinebreak Shall the seedlets in the shifting,
\forcelinebreak Of the sifter be afraid?
\forcelinebreak Shall the playthings of a master,
\forcelinebreak Falling idly from his hand,
\forcelinebreak Meet meritless disaster,
\forcelinebreak Meet with unearned reprimand?
\forcelinebreak Shall the children of fancy,
\forcelinebreak Born a certain race to run,
\forcelinebreak By an absurd necromancy,
\forcelinebreak Penance pay when it is done?
\forcelinebreak O, my brothers, go not questing
\forcelinebreak For some mystic grail in vain —
\forcelinebreak Why should ye a Master’s jesting,
\forcelinebreak Strive to fathom or make plain?
\forcelinebreak Wake ye from your fevered dreaming,
\forcelinebreak Groping for forbidden toys,
\forcelinebreak All about you life is teeming,
\forcelinebreak Singing of ungarnered joys.
\forcelinebreak Surely He who somewhere hovers,
\forcelinebreak ‘Yond the reach of mortal ken,
\forcelinebreak Gazing down on love and lovers,
\forcelinebreak Cannot blame the sons of men;
\forcelinebreak Cannot blame his bubbles bursting,
\forcelinebreak Heart to heart and lips to lips;
\forcelinebreak Cannot blame his seedlets thirsting
\forcelinebreak For the dew of honeyed lips.
\forcelinebreak Then again the golden chalice,
\forcelinebreak Once again a lingering draught;
\forcelinebreak Surely He will bear no malice
\forcelinebreak For the pledge divinely quaffed.
\forcelinebreak Thus, with sweet and fond caresses,
\forcelinebreak Hearts that beat with mutual bliss,
\forcelinebreak He who loves is he who blesses,
\forcelinebreak Sealing heaven with a kiss.

\chapter{The Mammon Worshippers}


We worshipped at alien altars;
\forcelinebreak we bowed our heads in the dust;
\forcelinebreak Our law was might is the mightiest;
\forcelinebreak our creed was unholy lust;
\forcelinebreak Our Law and our Creed we followed —
\forcelinebreak strange is the tale to tell —
\forcelinebreak For our Law and our Creed
\forcelinebreak we followed into the pit of hell.

\chapter{Rainbows End}


Just over the way where the rainbow fell,
\forcelinebreak I knew I would find a treasure of gold,
\forcelinebreak So I clambered over the fence pell mell,
\forcelinebreak Just over the way where the rainbow fell;
\forcelinebreak But I promised her I never would tell,
\forcelinebreak And I know if I tell you’ll tell her I told.
\forcelinebreak Just over the way where the rainbow fell,
\forcelinebreak I certainly found a treasure of gold.

\chapter{The Republican Battle-hymn}


0 Fathers of the Nation,
\forcelinebreak We struggle in thy name;
\forcelinebreak Each man was at his station
\forcelinebreak Ere yet the summons came.
\forcelinebreak We felt our country calling,
\forcelinebreak And sprang into the fray —
\forcelinebreak 0 in thy might appalling,
\forcelinebreak Withhold not victory.


We ask that right be given,
\forcelinebreak And justice where ’tis due;
\forcelinebreak Reward for those who’ve striven
\forcelinebreak And did the best they knew.
\forcelinebreak But punish those, who lying,
\forcelinebreak Have wrought thee evil deeds;
\forcelinebreak And pardon those denying,
\forcelinebreak Who follow other creeds.


Our country is far dearer
\forcelinebreak Than closer bonds of blood;
\forcelinebreak For we would see far clearer,
\forcelinebreak The nation’s common good.
\forcelinebreak Enlighten thou our labor;
\forcelinebreak Invest us with thy might;
\forcelinebreak So that we may not waver
\forcelinebreak While battling for the right.


We would our country flourished;
\forcelinebreak That all may at her breast,
\forcelinebreak Suckling as babes, be nourished,
\forcelinebreak Nor fail in fruitless quest;
\forcelinebreak That she, our mighty mother,
\forcelinebreak Will see the day come by,
\forcelinebreak When man calls man “0 brother!”
\forcelinebreak And all shall know the tie.


0 Fathers of the Nation,
\forcelinebreak We struggle in thy name;
\forcelinebreak Each man was at his station
\forcelinebreak Ere yet the summons came.
\forcelinebreak We felt our country calling,
\forcelinebreak And sprang into the fray —
\forcelinebreak 0 in thy might appalling,
\forcelinebreak Withhold not victory.

\chapter{The Sea Sprite and the Shooting Star}


(1899)


A little sea sprite,
\forcelinebreak on the sea one night,
\forcelinebreak Cried “Now is the time for me,”
\forcelinebreak And he looked above,
\forcelinebreak And he looked for his love;
\forcelinebreak For he was in love, you see.
\forcelinebreak But his love was a star
\forcelinebreak In the sky a-far,
\forcelinebreak And she knew not his love so true;
\forcelinebreak So he tried to think
\forcelinebreak Of a magic link
\forcelinebreak ‘Twixt the sea and the sky so blue.
\forcelinebreak Then out of the sky,
\forcelinebreak From the moon on high,
\forcelinebreak A silvery moonbeam fell;
\forcelinebreak And it fell on the brine,
\forcelinebreak With its wonderful shine,
\forcelinebreak On the brine where the sea sprites dwell.
\forcelinebreak Though the siren sing
\forcelinebreak Where the sea bells ring
\forcelinebreak And the sleepy poppies dream —
\forcelinebreak Though the sea sprite knew
\forcelinebreak Their songs untrue,
\forcelinebreak He knew not the false moonbeam.
\forcelinebreak For the way seemed clear
\forcelinebreak To his love so dear,
\forcelinebreak And he needn’t have wings to fly;
\forcelinebreak Up its silvery stream
\forcelinebreak He would climb by the beam,
\forcelinebreak He would climb right into the sky.
\forcelinebreak Up the glittering step
\forcelinebreak He carefully crept,
\forcelinebreak While his heart beat a merry tune;
\forcelinebreak But O what a fright
\forcelinebreak To the poor little sprite,
\forcelinebreak When he came to the crescent moon.
\forcelinebreak Alas! and A-lack!
\forcelinebreak He couldn’t get back,
\forcelinebreak For the moonbeams flew away;
\forcelinebreak And the stars in the sky
\forcelinebreak Knew not he was nigh,
\forcelinebreak Or that he had lost his way.
\forcelinebreak There he sat forlorn,
\forcelinebreak On the crescent horn,
\forcelinebreak And thought of his home in the sea
\forcelinebreak Of his brothers at play
\forcelinebreak All the livelong day
\forcelinebreak On the foam so fresh and free.
\forcelinebreak Then he saw his star,
\forcelinebreak In her golden car,
\forcelinebreak As she twinkled above his head;
\forcelinebreak And he sobbed and sighed,
\forcelinebreak And woefully cried
\forcelinebreak That he wished — he wished he was dead.
\forcelinebreak But the little the star heard
\forcelinebreak His every word,
\forcelinebreak And thrilled at his musical voice
\forcelinebreak Like the tinkling of bells,
\forcelinebreak Or the songs of shells,
\forcelinebreak And it bade her heart rejoice,
\forcelinebreak For she was lonely and sad,
\forcelinebreak And no lover had;
\forcelinebreak And she’d twinkled so long up there,
\forcelinebreak It had often been said
\forcelinebreak That she never would wed —
\forcelinebreak And yet she was wonderous fair,
\forcelinebreak But often she’d seen,
\forcelinebreak On the ocean green,
\forcelinebreak The sea sprite who had loved her so;
\forcelinebreak Though he came not to woo,
\forcelinebreak She had loved him too,
\forcelinebreak Yet she never would tell him — oh no.
\forcelinebreak But as she looked down
\forcelinebreak On the lover she’d found —
\forcelinebreak The story is strange to relate —
\forcelinebreak She sprang from her car,
\forcelinebreak For the height was no bar,
\forcelinebreak And hurried to join her mate.
\forcelinebreak Oh how her heart beat,
\forcelinebreak As she leaped from her seat,
\forcelinebreak And fell to the moon below;
\forcelinebreak And the stars were aghast,
\forcelinebreak As she darted past,
\forcelinebreak And they all said “I told you so.”
\forcelinebreak And her golden hair,
\forcelinebreak As she fell through the air,
\forcelinebreak Shown bright like a comet’s tail;
\forcelinebreak While the people on earth,
\forcelinebreak All ceased from their mirth
\forcelinebreak As they watched her fiery trail.
\forcelinebreak Not a bit too soon,
\forcelinebreak She came to the moon,
\forcelinebreak Where she grasped her lover’s hand;
\forcelinebreak And they sang with glee,
\forcelinebreak As they splashed in the sea,
\forcelinebreak Right into the sea sprite’s land.
\forcelinebreak And the sea o’ nights
\forcelinebreak Is bright with lights,
\forcelinebreak Whenever they’re out to play
\forcelinebreak For the white sea foam
\forcelinebreak Is their beautiful home,
\forcelinebreak Where they live forever and aye.

\chapter{The Socialist’s Dream}


(May 1897)


The room was narrow and cold and grim;
\forcelinebreak He reigned supreme, a king of dirt;
\forcelinebreak Beneath a slouched hat’s shadowed brim,
\forcelinebreak He viewed the kingdom about him girt:
\forcelinebreak But thoughts he held of fairer mold
\forcelinebreak Than filth and stench so manifold.
\forcelinebreak Vanished the press of misery,
\forcelinebreak The stamp of vice and poverty’s face,
\forcelinebreak The scenes he was so used to see,
\forcelinebreak The things so low, so vile, so base:
\forcelinebreak For dreaming, did he a long behold,
\forcelinebreak Where truth was worshipped as of old.
\forcelinebreak A land of honesty and thrift,
\forcelinebreak Where labor had its due reward;
\forcelinebreak Where each applied his special gift;
\forcelinebreak Nor turned from plowshare unto sword
\forcelinebreak To rob his neighbor of his gold,
\forcelinebreak But worked him weal instead of wold.
\forcelinebreak He saw the soil enriched by men,
\forcelinebreak Who gloried in such honest life,
\forcelinebreak Ranking with those of greater ken
\forcelinebreak Whose pleasures were in mental strife;
\forcelinebreak But who, as comrades true and bold,
\forcelinebreak Were in man’s brotherhood enrolled.
\forcelinebreak He heard the hum of joy arise
\forcelinebreak From merry hearts and housefires bright;
\forcelinebreak A joy, that climbing, scaled the skies,
\forcelinebreak And cried “Rejoice! There is no night!”
\forcelinebreak ’Twas but a melody uprolled
\forcelinebreak Of souls secure within the fold.
\forcelinebreak Truth and honor were upraised,
\forcelinebreak And purity of thought and deed.
\forcelinebreak The multitudes, adoring, gazed,
\forcelinebreak And in their hearts received the seed;
\forcelinebreak And righteousness, with firmest hold,
\forcelinebreak Sweet truths and many to them told.
\forcelinebreak The vision fair, before him shone;
\forcelinebreak His heart in ecstasies was rapt;
\forcelinebreak He awoke--he was no more alone,
\forcelinebreak For some one had quite loudly tapped:
\forcelinebreak The door was op’ed and in there strolled
\forcelinebreak A woman of demeanor cold.
\forcelinebreak “Your rent is due,” this female said.
\forcelinebreak “ ’Tis due these many, many days:
\forcelinebreak Your lazy body I have fed —
\forcelinebreak Say! How much can you raise?
\forcelinebreak Nay, not in looks so fierce and bold,
\forcelinebreak But in bright silver or hard gold.”
\forcelinebreak The socialist, in accents mild,
\forcelinebreak Told her a lie upon the spot,
\forcelinebreak And her soft soul with ease beguiled
\forcelinebreak Of treasure wondrous he had got:
\forcelinebreak His aunt had died; the bells had tolled;
\forcelinebreak His was the money; hers the mould.
\forcelinebreak Then hied him to a laboring man--
\forcelinebreak Forgotten was his vision pure —
\forcelinebreak Whose hand was rough and face was wan,
\forcelinebreak And did a greater lie conjure.
\forcelinebreak The man from his scant pittance doled
\forcelinebreak The price for which the lie was sold.
\forcelinebreak The visions are in pleasure spent,
\forcelinebreak Regardless of his dream so bright,
\forcelinebreak The money which his friend had lent;
\forcelinebreak Beholding ‘mid a magic light
\forcelinebreak The fond Utopia unrolled,
\forcelinebreak Of which the seers so often told,
\forcelinebreak Vanished all sin and foul desire;
\forcelinebreak Forgotten were deeds low and base;
\forcelinebreak Nor thinking of their vengeful ire,
\forcelinebreak He walked amid another race
\forcelinebreak Of men who ne’er their friends cajoled,
\forcelinebreak But truth and virtue did uphold.
\forcelinebreak ’Tis thus with all poor mortals here,
\forcelinebreak Whose dual natures struggles wage;
\forcelinebreak Who for misfortune drop a tear,
\forcelinebreak Then in the war of life engage,
\forcelinebreak And with their passions uncontrolled,
\forcelinebreak Rage on in wild pursuit of gold.

\chapter{The Song of the Flames}


(March 1899)


We are motes of sunshine stolen
\forcelinebreak When the world was fair and young,
\forcelinebreak Stolen from our joytime golden,
\forcelinebreak Into earth’s black bowels flung;
\forcelinebreak Kissed of light and born of passion,
\forcelinebreak Thrilling with the wine of life,
\forcelinebreak Ravished in most cruel fashion,
\forcelinebreak We were banished from the strife.


Pent in prisons dark and loathsome,
\forcelinebreak Cells of sorrow, ‘reft of mirth,
\forcelinebreak In our rocky chamber, lonesome,
\forcelinebreak Slept we till our second birth,--
\forcelinebreak Slept we through the long, long ages,
\forcelinebreak Dreaming of the time to be,
\forcelinebreak Till God, turning many pages,
\forcelinebreak Deemed it fit to set us free.

\chapter{Tick! Tick! Tick!}


And the clock went, tick, tick, tick,
\forcelinebreak While she’d rest her little head on his shoulder.
\forcelinebreak And they’d kiss so quick, quick, quick,
\forcelinebreak And oh, how tight he’d hold her.
\forcelinebreak T’was a lovely trick, trick, trick,
\forcelinebreak And they played it oh so slick.
\forcelinebreak When the clock, went tick, then his heart, went click.
\forcelinebreak And it ended in a quick, slick, tick, tick, tick.

\chapter{Too Late}


Too late’ Even Is death too late’
\forcelinebreak Had it but come---silence’ Put out
\forcelinebreak These sniffling fools that wait,
\forcelinebreak With hungry jowl and, slobbered snout,
\forcelinebreak My end---foregathered, at the feast
\forcelinebreak Like jackals when the lion is dead.
\forcelinebreak But you, who were among the least
\forcelinebreak Of all my friends, stay by my bed.

\chapter{The Way of War}


Man primeval hurled a rock,
\forcelinebreak Torn with angry passions, he;
\forcelinebreak To escape the which rude shock.
\forcelinebreak Foeman ducked behind a tree.
\forcelinebreak Man primeval made a spear,
\forcelinebreak Swifth of death on battle field;
\forcelinebreak Foeman fashioned other gear,
\forcelinebreak Fought behind his hidebound shield.
\forcelinebreak Man mediaeval built a wall,
\forcelinebreak Said he didn’t give a dam;
\forcelinebreak Foeman not put out at all,
\forcelinebreak Smashed it with a battering ram.
\forcelinebreak Man mediaeval, just for fun,
\forcelinebreak Made himself a coat of mail;
\forcelinebreak Foeman laughed and forged a gun,
\forcelinebreak Peppered him with iron hail.
\forcelinebreak Modern man bethought a change,
\forcelinebreak Cast most massive armor-plate;
\forcelinebreak Foeman just increased his range,
\forcelinebreak Tipped his ball to penetrate.
\forcelinebreak Modern man, with toil untold,
\forcelinebreak Deftly built torpedo boats;
\forcelinebreak Foeman launched “destroyer” bold,
\forcelinebreak Swept the sea of all that floats.
\forcelinebreak Future man — ah! who can say? —
\forcelinebreak May blow to smithereens our earth;
\forcelinebreak In the course of warrior play
\forcelinebreak Fling death across the heavens’ girth.
\forcelinebreak Future man may hurl the stars,
\forcelinebreak Leash the comets, o’er-ride space,
\forcelinebreak Sear the universe with scars,
\forcelinebreak In the fight ‘twixt race and race.
\forcelinebreak Yet foeman will be just as cute —
\forcelinebreak Amid the rain falling suns,
\forcelinebreak Leave the world by parachute,
\forcelinebreak And build ethereal forts and guns.
\forcelinebreak And when the skies begin to fall
\forcelinebreak The foeman still will new invent —
\forcelinebreak Into a star-proof world he’ll crawl,
\forcelinebreak Heaven insured from accident.

\chapter{The Worker and the Tramp}


Heaven bless you, my friend —
\forcelinebreak You, the man who won’t sweat;
\forcelinebreak Here’s a quarter to spend.
\forcelinebreak If you did but mend,
\forcelinebreak My job you would get; —
\forcelinebreak Heaven bless you, my friend. —
\forcelinebreak On you I depend
\forcelinebreak For my work, don’t forget; —
\forcelinebreak Here’s a quarter to spend.
\forcelinebreak My hand I extend,
\forcelinebreak For I love you, you bet: —
\forcelinebreak Here’s a quarter to spend.
\forcelinebreak Ah! you comprehend
\forcelinebreak That I owe a debt;
\forcelinebreak Heaven bless you, my friend,
\forcelinebreak Here’s a quarter to spend.

\chapter{When All the World Shouted My Name}


When all the world shouted my name,
\forcelinebreak Did, I remember you, dear friend?
\forcelinebreak You, who “by closest “bonds could claim
\forcelinebreak My memory? Yes, in the end,
\forcelinebreak When all the world no longer cried
\forcelinebreak My name, but mocked my nakedness,
\forcelinebreak Spat In my face, and sneered, and lied,
\forcelinebreak And damned in very wantoness.
\forcelinebreak You---why it seems but yesterday,
\forcelinebreak We cradled, in the self-same nook,
\forcelinebreak And dreamed, as foolish childhood may,
\forcelinebreak Of Life’s great game, and undertook
\forcelinebreak Wild, youthful oaths--swore full and strong,
\forcelinebreak To share alike each joy and. pain,
\forcelinebreak To face the utmost, right the wrong,
\forcelinebreak Let nothing come between us twain.
\forcelinebreak And, then---our paths did twist apart.
\forcelinebreak You led your uneventful life
\forcelinebreak In quiet places, played your part
\forcelinebreak Softly, took to your breast a wife,
\forcelinebreak Whose soul was so attuned to yours,
\forcelinebreak That hand in hand---nor vain the guest---
\forcelinebreak You sought, you found the golden shores,
\forcelinebreak The Happy Islands of the Blest.
\forcelinebreak Not so with me: I trod the path
\forcelinebreak Of my own choosing--and alone.
\forcelinebreak Naught could obstruct my course---the wrath
\forcelinebreak Of men, tile hot curse, nor the moan
\forcelinebreak Of those who sank beneath my arm,
\forcelinebreak Could stay my arm, or ease the blow.
\forcelinebreak I grasped for greater things--the charm
\forcelinebreak Of life like yours I did not know.
\forcelinebreak A score of phantoms did I chase,
\forcelinebreak And when, in turn, each grasped, in hand,
\forcelinebreak I paused a moment from the race,
\forcelinebreak Panting, I could not understand---
\forcelinebreak They were but phantoms, nothing more;
\forcelinebreak The time had passed, I could not joy
\forcelinebreak In what I had so struggled for---
\forcelinebreak A bright bauble---a pretty toy.
\forcelinebreak Success did crown my every effort;
\forcelinebreak But herein lay the great mistake---
\forcelinebreak I, who from all things could extort
\forcelinebreak Subservience, did, not partake
\forcelinebreak Of the reward until too late;
\forcelinebreak When I at last did grasp the thing
\forcelinebreak For which I strove, it was my fate
\forcelinebreak To find desire had taken wing.

\chapter{Where the Rainbow Fell}


(January 1899)


Just over the way where the rainbow fell,
\forcelinebreak I knew I would find a treasure of gold,
\forcelinebreak So I clambered over the fence pell mell,
\forcelinebreak Just over the way where the rainbow fell;
\forcelinebreak But I promised her I never would tell,
\forcelinebreak And I know if I tell you’ll tell her I told.
\forcelinebreak Just over the way where the rainbow fell,
\forcelinebreak I certainly found a treasure of gold.

\chapter{Your Kiss}


Your kiss, “beloved, was to me
\forcelinebreak As if all flowers of Araby,
\forcelinebreak And every fresh and fragrant rose
\forcelinebreak That ever blew, shall blow, or blows
\forcelinebreak Had all her sweetness taken up
\forcelinebreak And poured into one perfect cup
\forcelinebreak For me to drain . . .
\forcelinebreak Kiss me again!









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The Ted K Archive





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The Poetry of Jack London






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