Works

Like fruit that's large and ripe and mellow,
Sweet and luscious is Longfellow,
Melodious songs he oft did pour
And high was his Excelsior.
He shows in his Psalm of Life
The folly of our selfish strife,...

A poor man stood beside his door,
His sad fate for to deplore,
For landlord's heart would not relent,
And seized his furniture for rent.

He hears song sweet as from fairy,...

Canadian provinces they lay
Divided by river and by bay,
Many a separate division,
Among them there was no cohesion.

But statesmen saw that a great nation
Could be formed by federation,...

Burns sang of joys of Hallowe'en
But in Canada is often seen
By far more jolly times than these
At logging raising, paring bees,
For here the youth is not afraid
To trip it with a pretty maid,...

Genius of Dryden and of Pope,
Both did take a mighty scope,
The first he virgil did translate,
The second showed us Troys fate.
On English themes they oft did sing
And high their muses flight did wing.

Tercentenary ode on Shakespeare read by the author at the anniversary concert, 1864.


Three centuries have passed away
Since that most famous April day,
When the sweet, gentle Will was born,...

This is our earliest cheese ode. The Ingersoll factory has been removed to Thamesford.

When Father Ranney left the States,
In Canada to try the fates,
He settled down in Dereham,...

About one third of a century ago there flourished in Canada three Scottish editors, all of whom were poets, McQueen of the Huron Signal, Goderich, who wrote a grand song on "Our Broad Lake," and McGeorge of the Streetsville Rev...

Moore found the ballads of Green Isle
Were oft obscured beneath the soil,
As miner digging in a mine
Finds rubbish 'mong the gold so fine,
So Moore placed dross in the waste basket...

Where it was announced ten days previous that the cereus would bloom, August, 1888.


We own we felt a little curious,
To see the rare night blooming cereus,
And as if 'twas divine anointed,...

Some do boast of their pedigrees,
But Salford's parent of the cheese,
Ranney, industrious and wise,
Here started this great enterprise.

He did work on the dairy plan,...

We send to you these rugged rhymes
In memory of the olden times,
Great chief of our poetic clan,
Admired by all, McLaughlan.

On the shores of the northern lakes
An infant giant now awakes,
He has long time been in a dream,
But now is roused by engine's scream.

For mighty spirits are abroad...

Written at the time of the last excitement on the Niagara Frontier.


Rejoice, rejoice, we all do stand,
United in one mighty band;
No traitors in our land we find,...

A great enchanter too is Poe,
His bells do so harmonious flow,
Wondrous mystery of his raven
On our minds is 'ere engraven,
His wierd, wonderful romances
Imagination oft entrances.

Poetry to us is given,
As stars beautify the Heaven,
Or, as the sunbeams when they gleam,
Sparkling so bright upon the stream,
And the poetry of motion
Is ship sailing o'er the ocean;...

Bacon, Hogg, Lamb and Shakespeare.

Bacon, philosopher profound,
With mighty thoughts his works abound,
Reflections did his mind engage
Were in advance of his own age.
...

The following lines were given at a concert when Port Burwell was a busy port and there had been a race on the ice the day before.


In winter time who here resort,
To pay a visit to your busy port,...

In winter time 'tis sad and dreary
For to gaze on stormy Erie,
But here in summer time this port
It is a fashionable resort,
For then it is always cheery
For to gaze upon Lake Erie.
...

Love it is the precious loom,
Whose shuttle weaves each tangled thread,
And works flowers of exquisite bloom,
Shedding their perfume where we tread.