Works

THE DREAMER

I

He was a Dreamer of the Days:
Indolent as a lazy breeze
Of midsummer, in idlest ways
Lolling about in the shade of trees.
The farmer turned - as he passed him by...

John B. McKinney, Attorney and Counselor at Law, as his sign read, was, for many reasons, a fortunate man. For many other reasons he was not. He was chiefly fortunate in being, as certain opponents often strove to witheringly d...

They called him Mr. What's-his-name:
From where he was, or why he came,
Or when, or what he found to do,
Nobody in the city knew.

He lived, it seemed, shut up alone
In a low hovel of his own;...

A corpulent man is my bachelor chum,
With a neck apoplectic and thick -
An abdomen on him as big as a drum,
And a fist big enough for the stick;
With a walk that for grace is clear out of the case,...

O soul of mine, look out and see
My bride, my bride that is to be!
Reach out with mad, impatient hands,
And draw aside futurity
As one might draw a veil aside -
And so unveil her where she stands...

What is it in old fiddle-chunes 'at makes me ketch my breath
And ripples up my backbone tel I'm tickled most to death? -
Kindo' like that sweet-sick feelin', in the long sweep of a swing,...

My father's halls, so rich and rare,
Are desolate and bleak and bare;
My father's heart and halls are one,
Since I, their life and light, am gone.

O, valiant knight, with hand of steel...

"He is my friend," I said, -
"Be patient!" Overhead
The skies were drear and dim;
And lo! the thought of him
Smited on my heart - and then
The sun shone out again!
...

He's jes' a great, big, awk'ard, hulkin'
Feller, - humped, and sort o' sulkin' -
Like, and ruther still-appearin' -
Kind-as-ef he wuzn't keerin'
Whether school helt out er not -...

Ah, friend of mine, how goes it
Since you've taken you a mate? -
Your smile, though, plainly shows it
Is a very happy state!
Dan Cupid's necromancy!
You must sit you down and dine,...

"Mylo Jones's wife" was all
I heerd, mighty near, last Fall -
Visitun relations down
T'other side of Morgantown!
Mylo Jones's wife she does
This and that, and "those" and "thus"! -...

My Mary, O my Mary!
The simmer-skies are blue;
The dawnin' brings the dazzle,
An' the gloamin' brings the dew, -
The mirk o' nicht the glory
O' the moon, an' kindles, too,...

You've a manner all so mellow,
My old friend,
That it cheers and warms a fellow,
My old friend,
Just to meet and greet you, and
Feel the pressure of a hand
That one may understand,...

I am not prone to moralize
In scientific doubt
On certain facts that Nature tries
To puzzle us about, -
For I am no philosopher
Of wise elucidation,
But speak of things as they occur,...

When Little Claude was naughty wunst
At dinner-time, an' said
He won't say "Thank you" to his Ma,
She maked him go to bed
An' stay two hours an' not git up, -
So when the clock struck Two,...

I hail thee, Nessmuk, for the lofty tone
Yet simple grace that marks thy poetry!
True forester thou art, and still to be,
Even in happier fields than thou hast known....

There are many things that boys may know -
Why this and that are thus and so, -
Who made the world in the dark and lit
The great sun up to lighten it:
Boys know new things every day -...

Another hero of those youthful years
Returns, as Noey Bixler's name appears.
And Noey - if in any special way -
Was notably good-natured. - Work or play
He entered into with selfsame delight -...

"They ain't much 'tale' about it!" Noey said. -
"K'tawby grapes wuz gittin' good-n-red
I rickollect; and Tubb Kingry and me
'Ud kindo' browse round town, daytime, to see...

Of the North I wove a dream,
All bespangled with the gleam
Of the glancing wings of swallows
Dipping ripples in a stream,
That, like a tide of wine,
Wound through lands of shade and shine...