IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // ^/ .. < fe 1.0 I.I ■ m " m ilM !||M 120 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 -* 6" — ► Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. MSSO (716) 872-4S03 M.fi ,.,v ^e. C/j CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques V vV Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. 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This item is filmed at the recuction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filmd au taux de reduction indiqui ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X 7 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X i itails i du odifier une mage The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: National Library of Canada The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. L'extsmplaire film6 fut reproduit grSce d la g6n6rosi;:6 de: Bibliothdque nationale du Canada Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettet6 de I'exemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning w;ith the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. 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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour 6tre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est film6 d partir de Tangle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. irrata to pelure, in d n 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ,1? f i DRINK ,HD f ^ ■ /' '' DRUDGERY. TWO SOCmi SINS. PROCESSIOiiAL. THE LftST somrn. THE BftRCiftin COUnTER. RECESSIOimL. BY F^vEDERICK L R SIMS. ILLUSTKATBD BY THE AUTHOR. TORONTO, FEBRUARY, 1900. Entered according to Act of ParUament of Canada, in the year one thousand nine hundred, by Prbdbrick L. H. Sims, in the office of the Minister of Agriculture. " Vexilla regis prodeunt, fidget cruets mysterium. PRCXESSIONAL. f i Tn tt.!i*^"*^ Of pilgrims lowly, glad we turn our willing feet To the heavenly Canaan holy, there our glorious Kinglo greet ; On the Cross for us once bleeding, Wksi- • . ^^^ Throne now, interceding, While against our ancient Foe forth The RoySl Banners go. Midnight shades still darker growing ' Wi,si.. • ""*'^ ^awn with glory glowing, While against our ancient Foe forth The RoyS Banners go. But°m!;j!f illr''? ^"^^ °^^ees waves of doubt fierce-beating roll But in vam Hell s empest rages, each true heart shall win the|S Waiting, we see Jesus seated '^ ' . Till the triumph be completed. While against our ancient Foe forth TKe Royal Banners go. G°odVriune iis'SSiL*"' t^"?' ^"^"'^ ""^^^ '^^ Christian host, Ood Triune its homage bringing, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; See, on high the Cross it raises, Wk;i - • Chanting loud the Victim's praises. While against our ancient Foe forth The Royal Banners go I Amkn ! THE L^T SoNaia. THE L?!iST SONftTft. ARGUMENT. This poem is founded on fact. A middle-aged, intoxicated man wandered into a city mission, and seating himself at the organ, aston- ished the audience by his wonderful performance on the instrument. To the horror of all, the music suddenly ceased, the stranger falling from the bench — dead I In the introduction it is hinted that the drunkard's wife committed suicide after murdering her babe ; and the terrible effects of the drink habit, once having the ascendancy, are brought out in the simile of the serpents that slew Laocoon and his sons. The thread of the narrative being resumed, the Sonata form is adopted in the changes of the metri- fication when the story of the drunkara's life is reached. Modulations and cadences are suggested by breaks in the metre. It only remains to add that the stkerzo movement was suggested by a personal experience with a very hard drinker, wh..» .n a fit of delirium tremens, became very violent while laboring under the hallucination that the fiend was counting the money he had spent in drink, using his little daughter's coffin as a cash -box. v Where ii he going, that wreck of a man }—Page g. f i THE LaST SONSTS. Staggering on up the drear/ street^ Where is he going, that wreck of a man ? Now in the gutter, and now to the wall, Covered with mud ttotn a drunken fall, Staggering on through the driving sleet ! Where is he going 1 Ah I who can say Till the Books shall speak in the Judgment Day ; Till the angeb shall bring those mighty tomes And read out the record of blasted homes, Saddle each still With its work of ill. Tally the spoils Of those snakey coils, Tell how the fires glowed, lurid and red, As the work of the demons merrily sped, While the bruised mother, with aching head And bursting heart, heard her children cry For just a crust — one crust of bread. As the weary hours dragged slowly by s No fire, -for the Fiend has stolen the coal To feed the flame of his greedy still $ No clothes, no food— for body or soul — Gone, gone — its hungry maw to fill The angry gale Drowns the infant wail. 10 '! And an echo comes on its frozen wings Of the Song of Death that the suicide sings When light is gone, The heart a stone. And hope is lost in the great Unknown. Who is that 1 Gruesome and pale and chill, Standing there at the window^ill ? Standing there With that icy stare ! Why are the mother and babe so still ? And the fires - the flames in that murky den, Where the fiends forge chains for the souls of Their sullen roar [men^ Will it ne'er give o'er If mother and babe should wake no more ? Nay, the glowering red of each copper snake Doth ever a changing semblance take. Coiling up through the mist of their fcetid breath That ever distils in the Sweat of Death, Grow they more fierce and cruel and strong, Writhing and hissing with fiery tongue, Till they seem as the twain That parted the main From Tenedos, noted in olden song. Whose dreadful coils caught sons and sire * In the hopeless grasp of a horrid fate, * LaocooB and his sons. yKniii, Lib. a, Virgil. u Rending their flesh with their fangs of fire^ Crushing their bones with a devilish hate. Bursting their hearts with their sinewy weight. Leaving them mangled beyond the ken Of those they had ^own when they walked as men ( Where is he going ? He hardly knows ; With his empty stomach and ragged clothes He slouches on till the cheerful light That shines through the Mission's windows bright, Catches his eye, and he leaves the storm For a seat in the comer, snug and warm« Better days— as some would say — That tumble^down building has known in its time. Once 'twas a church (of stone and lime, Mg.de with hands, and hence its decay !) After its fillip of fashion and show. Under the tap of the auctioneer It goes, with its trappings so quaint and drear. And thus it came *liat the mission was blessed With the old pipe^organ, thrown in with the rest. The crowd in the pews that winter night Would have put old Comus and crew to shame. Wretched and withered and blind and lame, — Heart of love I 'twas a saddening sight I IS m; Bodies all tortured and warped by sin, Misery vermin and rags and dirt, A babe wraf>ped up in a worivout skirt ! All brought in for the warmth and light Out of the ache of the winter night. Many a heart in that motley throng Sorrows tO'^ght with the Missioner, Weeping the loss of Cecilia fair, Joining now in the angels' song. " Friends, is there any will take her place ? " The father asks in a trembling tone, While the young folks sigh, and the old folks groan, — His loss is theirs, for her music sweet Was the one bright spot in that sin^cursed street. Why docs he rise, with those piercing eyes, The " drunk " that we left in the comer, there ? Running his hands through his long grey hair. What is that passion that rends his breast. Working his face like a fiend, possessed ? Is he mad ? Has the Drink/Demon crazed his brain ? ** Wait, friends — see, now he is calm again." And the mission^leader and people gaze As slowly he walks past the faded baize. That serves as a screen to the organ-loft. Speaking first to the father, in whisper soft — " You may trust me, sir, - will you let me play ? ** Oh, I must, once more, e'er I pass away ! " ? It Steady ! he's seated^ some stops are drawiii Long bony fingers caress the keys. Then, like the sigh of the evening breeze, Murmuring, whispering, far away, Crooning the close of a summer day, 'Neath the wizard touch of a genius bold Rare melody floats from the organ old. Silent the listeners and eager all, Courses the blood with a warmer glow. Louder and bolder the measures flow. Lengthy years crumble and totter and fall At the elfin call That is sounding clear. Now there, — now there , Now here,— now here, From some wonder^horn in the rosy dawn — Tan/ta*"!^ ! Tan^ta^^ra I Waked by the echoes of Used^To/'Be, Smiling, the Mends of our childhood we see Young once more. As of yore Yearning in hope over bright days in store* T* ^^ ^* ^w Now the streaming song is telling of a youth with promise bright, Of a tender mother s teaching to guard honor and the right, [height. Of a heritage of genius that may soar to loftiest Of a happy boyhood's prime ; I' Rosy lips pronounce the challenge " Drink it, drink it, if you