^501 C81b A I ^Z=C= A I =^g 5 ==^= D3 =^== lO 3 ^=^= O ^^^^= -z. 6 = t — 5 1 — 3 ^^^^ > 1 = -n 4 4 Cotton Book of Corrus Verses Ex Libris K. OGDEN THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES J SOOK OF Corpus Verses BY Julian James Cotton OXFORD S- H. SLACKWELL MCMIX A BOOK OF CORPUS VERSES BY JULIAN JAMES COTTON Of the Madras Civil Service Sometime Scholar of Corpus Cliristi College, Oxford Twi' e\awf w iro0ou|x€i' OXFORD B. H. BLACKIVELL, BROAD STREET MCMIX ^/ p OXFORD : HORACE HART PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY TO PUBLIUS iji3lXM\ PREFACE ly T OST of these collegiate rhymes have appeared in the Pelicafi Record, the magazine of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. The lines ' In Praise of Sigma ' and ' To the Pelican ' are new. No apology is, I trust, needed for including in this collection a few essays in the gentle art of writing Latin elegiacs. The ' Iter in Daciam ' was originally written for my old school magazine, the Shirburnian. At the end of the volume will be found three ' non- collegiate ' poems, for permission to reprint two of which I am indebted to the proprietors of the Allahabad Pioneer. CONTENTS PAGE Proconsular Corpus i Merton Street 5 In Praise of Sigma 7 On Ancient Dons 9 My little Corpus Year of Eighty-eight ! . . .13 First Epistle to Publius 17 Second Epistle to Publius ...... 19 To the Pelican 21 Experimentum in Corpore 23 My Affinity 24 O litel Goost 26 To 2 27 T. Casus 28 Tutorum Dialogus 29 Rota Rotae est Rota Rei Ipsius 30 Meus Annus 3^ Iter in Daciam 33 Eothen 3^ Vita Nuova 38 Madame Grand 41 The Dutch Cemetery at Pulicat 44 The Garden Master 47 PROCONSULAR CORPUS O CORPUS, proconsular Corpus, Thine empire is over the sea; Though others in Litt. Hum. may dwarf us. Thou holdest the wide East in fee. 'Tis plain that thy Scholars are spuming All else but the Indian exam., And like Sappho, I'm singing and burning At Narsapatam. Father Hailey, whose aquiline optic Fate at present obscures from my view, Has fed you with letters autoptic. And fired the minds of a few. Let me too, who have played the Bahawder, Take my pen in my hand for a while, Thou, Pelican, be my Recorder, And Swinburne my style ! Take my year !— Allen mining Erasmus, And Burnaby minding a class. And Leechman— who left a chiasmus, And Francis and I in Madras. The Law Felix Cassel a dab in, Wright and Egerton both Bengalese, J. Y. in Trevecca and 'Babin At Antipodes. B I remember the days and the dusk in The buildings o'erlorded by Bunce (Two pair back) and the chambers of Ruskin, The same we inhabited once. Its twin doors ! sure some deity sent 'em For purposes Prudence assigns, Postico falle clientem, The visits of Hines. My landing it neighbour'd the Bursar's, Bombarded by Battels and Scouts ; To think they were but the precursors Of curries, kabobs, and mahouts ! My wall the Wisteria mellows, The wall of the garden of Shields, Consecrated to cats and to Fellows, The Ellisian fields. The Common Room Pundits are running The railway that functions their feeds, The warlike in Kriegspiel are cunning. The pious in telling their Bedes. Farewell to T. Case and his steeple, To Don and Decanter and Dean, In the land of a low-lying people. We will seek the ev ^t)v. O Quad that 'twere rapture to roam in ! O Gown so delicious to feel ! Hall, which we once had a home in And many a murderous meal ! While Sidgwick is conning Greek dramas, And scholars are racing their grace, 1 am sitting uncrowned in pyjamas And trying a case. Time was when I sat on a cycle, A Corporal craving for war. That has been. There are others belike '11 Continue, Cook Wilson, thy Corps. We that were European are Asian, I am now a Cutcherry Hussar, Boiled redder than any crustacean, A new avatar. We range from Mahomet and Moses, To the gods of the latter-day East, Old Omar Khayyam and his roses, Modernity's latest High Priest. The Thug, the Fakeer, the Fanatic, We see them stalk by unabash'd, Their manners and morals erratic, And unhaberdash'd. O cloister'd and classic Corposian ! There are gods besides these, who are white ! Their diet — in tins — is ambrosian ! They haunt the Himalaya's height ! Their work to administer ' niggers ' By means of Collectors and Courts, Fads, facts, and Hunterian figures. And roseate reports. They can blend the Babu and Barbarian, And make him a 'blood' and a 'blue', Coalescing the Celt and the Aryan, O great Ranjitsinhji, in you. They can fix Famine up by a Fiat, They can make the Parsi an M.P., Reform and recover the ryot, And reduce the rupee. Each year Competition is larger, Home is but a fortnight away. Come, come, you Oxonian Rajah, Come and see the sun shine every day, A pension awaits you when hoary, There are not many pills in the jam, Egregious exile and glory ! — Come and pass the Exam ! 1896. ME ETON STREET OLONG lane lost between conventual walls, Deep gardens, leafy trees ! O studious cloisters pale, and college halls Of Academic ease. Far from the dust and din of modern town, Loud wheels and trampling feet! Let me come home once more and sit me down In quiet Merton Street. There's my old window! in whose cushioned nook Alter Ego and I Together turned the pages of life's book — Nor found the matter dry. 'Laus Deo' ran the legend 'neath my feet Carved in the comer stone ; And, 'faith, I'll make the sermon quite complete, The argument mine own. Time was when I, and others my compeers- October Eighty-Eight— Now, 'AxiXX^i'ot ^I'Xoi in arrears, First passed the Porter's gate. Methinks I hear their laughter on the stairs. Their chorus to my psalm, As down the street the young procession fares- Companions arm-in-arm. Some sailed away to foreign shores to win Barbaric pearl and gold — To seek Aladdin's lamp, and find within Ambition's oil run cold. Others there were that stayed at home unmoved, The customary way, And every unromantic pleasure proved Of London day by day. And one we had who did no work at all, Cursed with a competence ; Egregious soul, who never tried a fall With hard experience. But still the old quadrangle keeps the same ; The Pelican is here, Ancestral genius of the place, whose name All Corpus men revere. O undergraduate, half-boy, half-beast, Who served with me your time. And like a Helot, at the Dons' high feast Played your brief pantomime ! Those days with Sidgwick, Nettleship and Case Now seem our happiest years, And that stone bird with his fantastic face Our patron saint appears. When far away the captive fancies beat Their wings against the bars, luvabit me7ninisse Merton Street Under the Oxford stars. 1900. IN PRAISE OF SIGMA WHAT would the Pelican do without Sigma, He who has nurtured this bantling for years, He who unravelled the hoary enigma That on page one of each number appears ? ^oi^os €0a— but both Bakis and he Yield in renown, greater Sigma, to thee. Some pin their faith to the deictic iota. Others may wrangle that it is the best, Phi, Beta, Kappa we know has a quota Of worshippers in the far-away West ; But little Corpus is first in the race, It swears by Sigma, the pride of the place. Well I remember my first introduction, Guru, and Mentor and Tutor, to you, As with affection I gathered instruction Esprit de corpus insensibly grew. Eheu fugaces those anni when I Lived in your mild and magnificent eye ! How the brave classics were conned and repeated In that old lecture-room under the stairs, Vergil improved upon ; Homer depleted Of his digammas and old-fashioned airs; El troT €T]v yf, for even in Corpus Homer was felt to be somewhat amorphous. Those were the days when bi-weekly I wended With compositions to lay at your feet. How all my howlers were deftly emended, All my false quantities rendered complete ; But if I happened good measure to bring, TTjV(X\a w KaWiviKe you'd sing ! 8 Rooms redolescent of Pipe and Recorder, (Here were KaraXoyoi hatched with a will), Rooms where the Forum looked down on disorder, Say, does his spirit inhabit you still ? Sumus a ! fmnns ; the fragrance is there, Perfume of pipe, in the old armchair. Here 's to the Pipe ! what a xrij/xa h dei, ' Purchased at Bergen in 'y^, How many hours of laetitiai Have you afforded your master and me ! As to the Cyclops of old, let's apply BpvajTO/ia'iVcor TrCp to its eye. See the quotations from Greek and from Latin Carved up and down every side of the bowl ; How the dear tags and reminders come pat in Your kindly mouth, as its joys you extol. Bow/coXiaCTScopeo-^a, we'll speed Through Greece and Rome with the aid of the weed. Twenty good years have now flowered and faded Since a shy scholar to Corpus I came ; Others succeed ; by one spirit pervaded AiaSoxrouo-ii' aXXijXois the flame. Balliol may boast of its Masters : what use Are they compared with Sidgwickian Zeus ? 'AXX* evTV)(oir}s, Arturus, old friend. Master of classics and master of men. May the high gods in their bounteousness send More and more power to your golden Greek pen. Gratias agimtts, Sigma, to thee. Porter and Pelican, Scholars and ' Pre.' ! 1908. ON ANCIENT DONS O HAPPIEST College in the Universe, Watered by Isis, girt by Academe, I come to put your Powers into verse, The * stem black-bearded kings ' outsiders deem, Though I can only make the better worse, For beards they have, but stern they only seem. Diversify and versify the Dons — This is the object of my orisons. Whenever at the College gate alighting On the first day (or night) of every quarter. We view the notice-board with lists inviting The Freshman to the field or to the water, There 's one we see whose spidery handwriting Directs the whole, from Pelican to Porter. Scouts, scholars, commoners, we all agree No premise is complete without the ' Pre.' In prose and verse, in Latin and in Greek, We've one as deep in Home Rule as in Homer ; Dodona's oaks he sugars once a week ; His rooms are fragrant with bacchic aroma ; Through him the Pelican has learnt to speak — ' Sidgwickian Zeus,' it said ; 'tis no misnomer. From Cambridge we imported this divinity. Adviser-general to the whole community. c lO Another used to give us useful tips On Caesar, Cicero, and Catiline, While recommending Long Vacation trips To banks of Neckar or to bends of Rhine ; His martial ardour nothing could eclipse, Especially at Kriegspiel's mimic line. Although 'twas Roman History he seemed wrapt in, At capping Pundits Leigh was always Captain. Another one there was — a world-wide rover From Don and Dnieper to the Dardanelles ; He knew each train from Petersburg to Dover, Also the tariffs of the right hotels ; Now that his mortal pilgrimage is over, Methinks he rides in fields of asphodels. Of cat and College who was ever prouder Than our much-travelled Bursar, Colonel Crowder? Echoes of Merton Street now let me waken ! Taffy and Taffy's master fill my rhymes. 'Tis said he breakfasts every day on Bacon, Each midnight up St. Mary's clusters climbs. His views on politics are not mistaken — He tells you so in letters to the Times. Great on ' Greats', cricket, history, matter, space — The greatest of good Fellows is T. Case. And who is this who comes, methinks, from Edom With necktie red and views uncompromising ? Is it ? — it is — a Friend of Russian Freedom, And also a philosopher surprising. Books too he writes ; let him write more ; we'll read 'em. And Corpus in the class lists will be rising. With Kant and Hegel I turned quite hobnobber When I brought essays to the feet of Hobber. II Back through the Fellows' Quad my footseps stray To Ruskin's rooms (of which I once was renter) ; Then— taking Sidgwick's passage on the way — To where the Garden Master bids me enter His halls, where little owlets love to play, And College cats find most convenient centre. A pair of spectacles but half conceals Thy mitis sapientia, Cuthbert Shields. Our Legal Member next demands attention : Look in the Common Room — you'll find him there. He gave its cat most honourable mention In lines, of which all Corpus is aware. Describing with what regal condescension Tom hailed him in his professorial chair. With wit and wisdom of the right variety Sir Frederick seasons Pelican society. Yonder the Chapel, in whose cushioned pew We surpliced scholars duly did attend : At once its gentle Dean steps into view, Librarian, Organist, and general friend; Icelandic Sagas like a book he knew. And Venerable Bede from end to end. Grood to us all — old stager and new comer — Good deeds I couple with the name of Plummer. Anon I wander into Dead Man's Walk, Like great Ulysses or Socratic Er ; I climb Parnassus' peak, with double fork, And meet the Muses' own interpreter. I hear the voice of Roman Vergil talk And feel the heart of the hexameter. Te vidi tanttim : but I took a sip Of learning at thy chalice, Nettleship. 12 In the front Quad there lived a lecturer, Past master at correcting verse and prose ; A sort of literary Baedeker, Exact in everything he did compose ; Par excellence he was a connoisseur On Attic theatres and such-like shows. When books and pupils left him any leisure With Ancient Mariners Haigh rowed for pleasure. Last comes the chief of a great Highland clan. Pundit, Professor, Sanskritist as well ; He flew the pennant of the Pelican Far camping on the Danube and Moselle ; And now he steers the modern India-man Into his Institute in Holywell. What happy circumstance Bengal befell To bear thee, Macdonell of Macdonell ! Under the punkah of the placid East I write ; but all around me voices call Of Cap and Gown, High table and High feast, 3 Bath Place, Ruskin's rooms and Bunce's Hall The flying terms, alas ! how quickly ceased, And the Wisteria on the College wall. My Dons from Eighty-eight to Ninety-three, Accept the gratitude of J. J. C. 1903. 13 'MY LITTLE CORPUS YEAR OF EIGHTY-EIGHT! ' TF to the Corpus Dons I was beholden ■'' As demonstrated in my latest rhyme, What of the Corpus youth with hopes all golden And aspirations verging on sublime, Who round the Pelican so quaint and olden Enjoyed up to the n^^ with me their time ? In Men, like Dons, my year was fortunate : Let us praise Famous Men of Eighty-eight. I'll try a thumbnail sketch of every one: Dear ' Publius ', you're the first upon my list — ' Publius ' the Scholar named you once in fun, And ' Publius ' you always will exist — Who watched the Record since its race begun And in your piety do still persist, Encouraging and spreading with a will The cult of Pillicock upon the Hill. So at the Cottage down by Long Wall Street, Where you (and Mrs. P.) have built a nest, Let auld acquaintance auld acquaintance greet, Like heroes in the islands of the blest ; Exchange for summer term the Eastern heat, And give the famine and the plague a rest, Forgetful of the long, long Indian day, Or if the mails are in, and what they say. Let us renew our youth, and talk of ' B ', That mighty man of muscle, beef and brain ; Those who remember him will all agree He pulled and played for us with might and main ; While if it comes to books, 'twixt you and me There's nothing that his head could not contain. Viv^s indeed ! an abler-bodied Bee Than ever Viv^s knew was Burnaby. And you, O Scholar Lawyer of our year, In whom the law has claimed a worthy limb, Felix! we could foretell when you were here The law would find you of uncommon vim. The other day to make the matter clear. It briefed you in the case of Doctor Jim ; Just as with us when arguments were needed, Cassel ' Q.C invariably succeeded. Here 's to Dunbabin ! proud Tasmania's boast, Who came and saw and took a double first ; At bayonet's point against a howling host He held his staircase once in floods immersed, And once with me at Tiibingen he coached, And on its beer the self-same Muse we nursed. And as an adjunct to the Muse did harbour Beards promptly sacrificed to Oxford's barber. A Welshman next, who may be fitly felt To represent the Principality: What Aristotle said about the Celt He knew— and quoted it with holy glee In that discourse, which words of wisdom dealt, Great Pelican, to thy society. Trevecca holds him now : but once with me Evans (in '90) sailed the Euxine sea. 15 Our trio of civilians then appears, Budding proconsuls, bound for Hindustan; Wright soared at once to Secretariat spheres And proved himself a prime lawn-tennis man ; While Francis waxed as great on Gazetteers And censused folk from Beersheba to Dan. India perforce makes us its Alma Mater : A Corpus man's the best administrator. This stanza, Willie Egg, is kept for you. Who at cross-country for your Oxford ran, And now with office box and with baboo Sit tight as only a Collector can ; Yet sometimes love to think of your Half Blue And those old days beside the Pelican, Those days, those nights, when you and I went bed ward. Assisted up the stairs by Bunce or Edward. Spirit of Corpus ! help Don Julian on (Esprit de corpus, if you like that better), Where went our Waring? scientific, strong, Our cricket champion ? was it some vendetta That called him back to far away Ceylon And made a runagate of our run-getter? Oh Echo ! Echo ! from some distant isle Send me a glimpse of uncle Leechman's smile. Meanwhile let me recall that gentle pair Of lotus lovers, whom no Schools could spoil ; One of the two did all for music care. And at her altars burnt the midnight oil \ And one bowled wickets with an easy air, And might have had a Blue but for the toil. Sound, sound the pipes : let other pipes o'erspread Halos of smoke round Lund and Wethered. i6 And other names stand pricked upon my charts ; Pocock, princeps in mathematic knowledge ; Thompson, whose feats in the gymnastic arts Maclaren's (round the comer) will acknowledge ; Briscoe, a lively youth of proper parts ; Curwen, who in a bye-term entered college — Some lived in the New Buildings ; some did dangle Legs in the Gentle-Commoners' quadrangle. But to * go down ' we all of us were fated ; One's year, alas, is such a fleeting thing, And mine may seem a trifle overrated To those who after us have had their fling. But here it is : let it ' go down ' narrated In verses of the true Cottonian ring. O little Corpus year of Eighty-eight, Valete, ivrvxolr^, rest in state. 1904. 17 FIRST EPISTLE TO PUBLIUS "T^EAR Publius, allow me to send you *-^A note on the varied career Of those of the Pelican's children Who are serving their country out here ; * Out here ' is perhaps a misnomer — I allude to the limited class Who have left the Koprroti/Titoi' 5«/ia To swink in Madras. The first on my list is great Francis, Who rowed in our Eight in the year That some flaw in the doctrine of chances Sent us bumped every night to the rear, The year, you remember, that Corpus Had Bow in the 'Varsity crew, Who turned round in the race ; oh avaitri's And improbus Blue ! Francesco is now a Collector In the district of fair Malabar, A regular regio dilecta, Though wetter than most districts are; Yet he writes that his liver is yearning To return and be young just for once In our College of playing and learning With Edward and Bunce. And Braidwood is gaily residing In a house on Godavery's bank O'er all Rajahmundry presiding In full Sub-CoUectorate rank. D i8 While D'Arcy Cornelius Reilly, Who used at the Union to sport, In this country is rated so highly That he * runs ' the High Court. J. M. Turing's engaged to be married, They say, and I hear that it's true ; I think he should bring her to Oxford To see little Corpus, don't you ? If now as Collector of Customs He pockets the lordly rupee, It's all due to the rite of Collections Prescribed by the * Pre.' As for me, I'm in suitable spirits, A Collector on dignified pay, Marked out (if I meet with my merits) To be Member of Council some day. Meanwhile, to maintain the mens aequa Abundance of humour is best. So I temper the hours of waiting With jape and with jest. Good-bye ! in three weeks you'll be reading In print these great deeds of great names, Dashed off in the train, where I'm speeding To meet Mrs. Julian James. They're in time for the mail : and will cover At most but a page and a half; May they give every genial lover Of Corpus a laugh ! 1907. 19 SECOND EPISTLE TO PUBLIUS THINK, dear Publius, what delight, now that furlough is in sight, To revisit Uttle Corpus once again, And to find we're not forgot in that old familiar spot, Where the Pelican looks down upon the plain ! I will turn up by and by, from my hansom in the High, Down the passage where your mansion greets the view ; Long-Wall Cottage is its name, and long-lived will be its fame From the magfium opus edited by you. How Erasmus his Epistles with your annotations bristles The literary world is well aware, And a Fellowship at Merton makes it absolutely certain That the Dons have taken you into their care. O those days when you and Hailey collaborated gaily The deeds of Corpus heroes to rehearse. And in piety for Pelican I climbed the mount of Helicon As a modest minor writer of light verse ! By the groves of Academe to propel the octoreme, To cultivate the Muses and the Mean, To find one's furthest Thule in the dbos and the v\r^, This was briefly the synopsis of the scene. Dear companions of my year, you are scattered far and near, Some have taken silk already at the Bar, 20 ,Some are sun-dried bureaucrats in pyjamas and pith- hats, Some are writing for the Standard or the Star ! In my best Amontillado, here's to Sharpley and Sheppardo, To poor Proctor with his scrolls of learned lore, To Quentin and Quixano, to Cornes cleped Juliano, To great Chambers — may his books sell by the score ! There was Burnaby named * B ' ; there was Cassel called Q. C. ; There was 7rd5«r w/cif Basil good at need ; There was Ponto and Jaw Bell, there was Puxley H. K. L., Bill Sanger, Isaac Sparrow, Uncle Reade. i\'ow Young Evans haunts Trevecca, that Welsh Calvinistic Mecca, Who was wont with me the Euxine Sea to roam, And Robertus L. Dunbabin finds Tasmania's log cabin Most congenial as a habitat and home. What of 'Enning, 'Ives and 'Ore, and the many others more, W^ho were famous in their places and their times ? But to name each co-collegian would demand of hues a legion And exhaust my little stock of double rhymes. Bene gesserint aut male; here's to one and all a Vale ; The Pelican their floruits will tell ; So not lacking vates sacer at the college of T. Case, sir. In spirit and in Corpus fare them well. 1908. ai TO THE PELICAN DEAR College, of which I'd be poet, Dear Pelican, avis most rare, My verses are nothing, I know it, But echoes that fade on the air ; Still if esprit de corpus can make them Find favour awhile in your sight. Why then, gentle scholar, go take them And judge them aright. Once again all the hopes reawaken Of those bright undergraduate days. The ambitions— how sadly mistaken — The hunger and thirst after praise; My ideals are most of them shattered, Romance is flown out of the door, And the only thing left that has mattered, Is amoris amor. As I sit at a piled office-table, Far away in a Dawk Bungalow, Thoughts come back of the things we seemed able To do in the brave Long-Ago, When we laid at thy feet, Alma Mater, A Gaisford, a Chancellor's Verse — Ah then was the Vita Beata For better or worse ! How my memory clings to the cloister, The Quad, the sundial, the porch, Where Philosophy sat and rejoiced her To hand her young lovers the torch ; 22 1 would I were quit of hot weathers And were home in the Pelican's nest, To be warmed as of old with her feathers, To be nursed at her breast ! O my friends Death has chosen to sunder! Where is multum amabilis Shields? Is he tending some garden, I wonder, In a haven of asphodel fields? Does he greet in that vasty N«Kuia The shades of the scholars long fled That our College, apia-ToroKtia Of heroes, has bred ? Lend me, Publius, a leaf of your learning, Give me, Sidgwick, the loan of your Pipe, Mr. President, grant me discerning Of the Aristotelian type, That in rhymes, which are more or less pleasing, I may sing like a dutiful son Kyavofia A'P^M« V'^X'7. She must have all three ; Necessitas trinoda, Neat and new and nice, The Whiskey and the Soda, Last of all the Ice. Where to find the XPW<^ Some say U. S. A. In an ocean steamer Is the nearest way. Slav or Celt or Asian ? Acres, mines or oil ? Spare interrogation, So she bring the spoil. Art in search of aSiixa Paints its dairymaid, Hebe-like in Homer, Nature unafraid. But the latest fashion Of this modem age Contemplates with passion Beauty on the stage. 1898. 35 Last of all, the Psyche ? Have we far to look? Horsey she, or bikey ? Reads the Yellow Book ? Perorates at dinners? Runs a church or pub. ? Enters for Divinners ? Founds a Sunday Club? Say, did Aristotle When he wrote his list Dream of morphia bottle Or she novelist ? Was the leading lady Of the Stagyrite Semitic or shady Or a Bloomerite ? Substance, body, spirit — In the words of Bohn Must the girl inherit Whom I call my own. Matrimonial critics, Find me such a wife, And the Analytics I'll resign for life. 2.6 O LI TEL GOOST A NIMULA, vagula, blandula, •**-Hospes comesque corporis, Quae nunc abibis in loca, Pallidula, rigida, nudula, Nee ut soles dabis ioca ? o litel goost, o pilgrim gentilest, my bodie's felawe and his dere guest, how wiltow faren to what strondes newe, that best so smale and ek so pale of hewe, yet must goon naked and nat chuse thy weye and lak thy woned jolitee and pleye ? 1893- a7 S TO 2 IDVICIANE, vagae moderator summe iuventae, principium nostrae materiesque lyrae, quod mare non novit, quae nescit opuscula tellus mille, quot ediderit nobiiis ista manus ? hac fit ut arte Maro superas revocetur ad auras, dimidiatus uti vivat Aristophanes : graeculus e caelo, duce te, descendit iambus : praestat divinam musa pedestris opem. multi illis pueri, multae studuere puellae, nostra etenim virgo non rudis esse cupit. munus id omne tuum, ZeC Sidviciane : sed idem non alias spernis, cor geniale, vias. sicubi per campum bacchatur Hibemius ardor, hie quoque cum fida coniuge semper eris : rus, urbes, orator adis— nempe ivimus una — ambigitur quoties prosit an obsit homo, talis es in patriam : sed plus collegium amasti, saxea quod decorat stans prope limen avis, hinc procul inferni lemures larvaeque recedunt, quis super imperium tuque tuique tenent, fausta precor : maneat nobis bene cognita barba^ nee calamus Bacchi fictilis ore vacet. sic nostro faveas ludo, stimulesque laborem, teque tuum Corpus diligat, omet, amet. 1891. 28 T. CASUS PCCE iterum T. Casus et est mihi saepe vocandus, -■-' Casus Apollinei maximus ille chori. pone canis sequitur vera de stirpe molossus imperturbatae parsque comesque viae, ipse petit notam tunica pendente cathedram, multus Aristotelem Porphyriumque sonat. ' o Corpose puer, nimium ne crede Baconi : ipse tibi iudex, ipse magister ero. dediscas quicquid mendax Germania finxit Sais et lonio non bonus Herodoto. quisquis enim credit mentem sibi fingere mundum ignorans atomos Iv asinumque voco. perlege tu contra, cui sunt corpuscula cordi, perlege quae noster vera libellus habet. nil ibi plebeium, nil radicale videbis, metropolitani conciliumve fori, in medio spes est : medio tutissimus ibo : noster enim dixit : dixit Aristoteles. num potuit nostras invadere Shavius aulas ? num qui fumosas noverat ire vias ? talibus baud faveo, nee ne mea Tempora fallunt : plebs in me poterit iuris habere nihil.' dixerat : ipsa meos facit admiratio versus : ipsa professorem nostra Thalia sonat. quando ego sermones memori non mente tenebo seriaque innocuis plurima mixta iocis? nam bonus ille vir est lepidusque ; ita dicimus omnes, quod nisi mentitur nemo negare potest. 1892. 29 TUTORUM DIALOGUS L. /^UIS vir hie est? quo te iactas cognomine ? V^^ quaero Leius, Ausonia magnus in historia. H. men' comes ignoras ? 'O^oioixrios fuxo/xat etvai : interpres morum, lector Aristotelis. L. distat opus nostrum, sed fontibus exit ab isdem : Corporis eiusdem cultor uterque sumus. //. floret nempe domus, nobis tutoribus usa, quorum tu senior, iunior ipse vocor. L. olim miles eram : sed quam mutatus ab illo ! iam ferri species fit nova : vomer adest. //. te rude donatum studii nunc occupat ardor ? L. immo volens mittit se sub aratra puer. N. parce precor pueris. te quae sententia movit rerum quae nobis charta diurna notat ? L. Tempora Vexillumque lego : nil cetera curae ; nee tecum lernen disseruisse volo. //. Russia damnatos profert male sana tyrannos : libera sed nostra Russia fiet ope. Z. * ulterius nil progredimur ' si talia sentis : ' res non progressu sed stabilita viget.' H. nobiscum fluit unda : Senex namque ille triumphal, difficilem studio decipiente viam. L. more avis, australi figit quae in litore nidum, mox incrementum non meritum inde trahet. I/, non pugnare opus est : audin', decima ingruit hora, tutores alio nunc sua cura vocat. AMBO. JJpocrdf At'wf', oTTidfv 8' ap '0/3ovf, (livaos de Te Kaaos' nil non Corposum quod tueatur habent. 1893. 3° ROTA ROTAE EST ROTA REI IPSIUS A TER erat : errabam mediae per strata Suburae : ^ cum stetit in nostra cyclica pompa via. incedit senior mixta cum pube professor : exercet raucos machina quaeque sonos. aspice caeruleo bis tinctam murice pallam : armaque volvendae fixa sub axe rotae. ' dimidios ' fit vox ' cuneos formate : parandum est excipere hostiles non sine caede viros.' iam steterant acies morti ferroque paratae : in terram posito nunc cubuere genu, o Vilsone pater, Coque sive libentius audis : materiam qua sis ingeniosus babes, non equidem ignoras, scriptor quod cyclicus olim admonuit versu rrjv Kara a-avrov eXa. ludere militiam gaudes certamine ficto, sed quiddam furor hie utilitatis habet. dicitur et vestras audisse Britannia laudes nee Godleianis abstinuisse iocis. ipse ego pauca canam, nee eris sine nomine corpus ; carminibus vives tempus in omne meis. 1892. 3» MEUS ANNUS ALMA, vale, mater, qua tot transegimus annos, ^ quique lavas arces, Isis amoene, meas : avocor : heu lacrimas linquenda Oxonia poscit, nunc nova meta vocat, nunc nova cura virum. cetera turba vale, sed plus valeatis amici, parva sed officiis non aliena manus. praeteriit quaraquam noster mirabilis annus, carmina de vobis posteritatis erunt. alKivov aiXivov elire : prior Stat Publius "AXXrji' : nominis a positu primum habet ille locum, hunc sequeris iusto dictus cognomine Felix: praetor eris per quem lege licebit agi. turn video— sed quis nescit vim Burnabiensem ? fortis erat remo, fortis et ille toga, eloquar an sileam? sed nomen dicere versu non potis : australis vindicat ora virum. hue ades, o Trevecca : tuus iam dicitur Euan, Euan ingenio maximus, arte rudis. nunc Biscocta cano: nunc Thomae filius adstas luxurians magnis gymnasiarche toris. nota mathematicis genesis tua, TlaKone, credo : semper et in prima classe locandus eris. fallor an aera sonant ? non fallimur : aera sonabant qua citharam pulsas. Regie Lunde, tuam. Vervecine, tuum nomen quis versibus aptet ? tarn cari Capitis non meminisse piget. Leechmanum vidi tantum : tres atra tulerunt fata, peregrinas et didicere vias. hos pater o Ganges, hos Krishna salutifer amnis, molliter innocuis excipiatis aquis. si natura volet, fies proconsul, Egerto ; regnaque Franciscus, iuraque Rectus aget. 32 victrix causa deis placuit, sed victa Cotoni : India civilem me quoque fecit erum. o Pelicana cohors, o noctes Sidgvicianae, qua numen facimus quod prius ales erat, heu tuus avellor: quos tanta compede nuper iunxit amor, vastus dividet oceanus. at non solus ero ; tu, B. C, curre per Indos, curre per eoas & n68as ukvs aquas, omnes composui : sed lusimus impare metro atque usu placuit deteriore frui. forsitan haec dabitur citharae indulgentia nostrae, vestra canens vester, quamlibet hospes, ero. 1893. 33 ITER IN DA CIA M MUSA fave : immensum est errores dicere tantos, quot fuerint casus quotque pericla viae, sol, memini, terras Augusto mense coquebat, cum datur in nostras littera grata manus : ' navis adest : rector mihi cognitus : ibimus una, si placet eoas visere, care, plagas : coUige sarcinulas, modo paucis vestibus usus : praevius i : posita eras sequar ipse mora.' ventum erat ad portum : censetur nautica pubes, et nos in numerum dux adhibere iubet. navis (monte minor) gaudet cognomine erili : non fuit Euxinis notior alter aquis. interea nautae * tempus discedere ' clamant : nee patitur longas amplius hora moras, cemis, ut unda tumet ? pallenti surgimus ore, unaque vox cunctis *ima petamus' erat. mox desaevit hiems : fluctus spectare sequaces nunc iuvat atque aura liquidiore frui. quam cito labentes orae et fugientia retro litora provectam praeteriere ratem ! hie mare caeruleum, sol hie ferventior ardet : sic legimus montes, Maure peruste, tuos. fit clamor: mediam capiunt incendia navem : baud mora ; Vulcanum navita fonte domat. inde, fide maius, Siculum dum verrimus aequor, per vada delphinum grex comitatur iter. F 34 Dorida nunc Malean teneo : tu Graecia salve, Graecia centenis conspicienda iugis ! mane erat : excussus somno Salamina tuebar, Hellas ubi Medi contudit arma viri. curritur Aegaeum : Lesbo post terga relicta, ante oculos nostros incluta Troia venit. Stat laeva Tenedos : longus patet Hellespontus : iamque ratis portum perfugiumque petit, fallor ? an haec mirans Byzantia moenia lustro ? ilicet in terram nos cita cumba vehit ; quis tamen hie nobis se consiliantibus addit? ludaeum prodit nans adunca genus. * non ego crudelis, iuvenes : ignoscite,' dixit, ' sit modo cura sequi : me duce tutus eris.' hactenus ille vafer; nos credulitate secuti imus in angustam non sine odore viam. baiulus hac properat : velata hac femina pergit : sub pedibus recubant, improba turba, canes. adde tot insignes aedes, tot daedala templa ; quaque vides color est ; ipsa Subura nitet. urbe pererrata, reduces in nave locamur : occupat en rector — ' quin date vela, viri : ' mittimur in Scythiam : modo nuntia littera venit 'mutabit merces Dacica terra meas.' est locus, antiqui Brailam dixere coloni, quern lavat irrigua maximus Hister aqua, hue vectus cursu memini Nasonis adempti, quern gelidis posuit principis ira Tomis. haud inamoena tamen nobis regio ilia videtur ; dedidicit priscam gens nova barbariem. aspice, quam laeta ridet vicinia messe : mille sues errant, mille per arva boves. at certa veniente die, dare vela retrorsum cogimur, et tutos deseruisse sinus. 35 Socraticis longas fallo sermonibus horas: et non sentitur sedulitate labor, sed male lux pereat, ferro cum barba recisa est barba vale, clarae parsque comesque viae! finis adest tandem : nunc otia carpe, viator : mox capit errones terra patema duos, dulce sodalitium simul erravisse per orbem ! atque iter ut concors, ut sine lite fuit ! forsitan Oceanum rursus temptabimus una, nee quos devinxit dissociabit amor. 1890. 3^ EOTHEN nP02QnA: "AXX-riv, (juXoaocpos. "AXios, craTpdnrjs. EiSwXov KoTuvos, jSacriXewf 'ivBiKov, "AUtiv. Hoi 7rpa>r]v 6 Koruiv drrecrevaTO vqi fieXaiv^ ; 'Ev^eivov 8ls ap' iKer, es eaxara yas 686v iKdarn ; "AXios. OvK. fJKovaas ; is aiav t^fjaeTO TifKoOev ovcrav ^e'lvos ewe, Ivdois S' dpfiocTTrjs ev^erai tivai, "AXX. (pacrX 8i fjiiv Kpo'icrca Tip,r}V Koi ttKoxitov ipicrdnv, eKTrecreeiv G iniruv, nal drjpla Travra biuxeiv. "AXi. OVK orS'* TjV xpo^os f^Tf KaTTjyeTO nds tis oXijtt/j d(f>vei6s ^lOTOV' Tore 8' a^ios apyvpos rjev. "AXX. Keivov TTciys av i8oip,ev ; "AXi. eiTos TTTepofv rdx^a nep.\l/(o' eX^ei yap neXe/caf ndTpiov irori tapia tov avdpa. £i8(i)Xov KoTuvos. Tis B' ovTws ^aarpel p.e, pieaapfipivov vnvov ayovra ; jj Oeos ^ ^poTos €(TT f in dneipova ttovtov dXtjOeis ; "AXX. 6dp(T€i' croi Tre\6p,((T6a (rvvT]\iKfS, ols BofMos iariv iv Kadapa Xft/iiwi't, Trap' IcriBos dyXaop vBiop. "AXt. 'ivBiKa Tvas npuTTfi ; 'Pa8dp.avdos ap' icral BiKd^eiv ; ttoikCKos e'crri 6ep.is, prjrcop Be T€ Biiv' dyopevei. ^1 Ei8. K6t. TToXX' efj-adov, Koi 7t6W' ewaOov' kui TroXXd/cts enrov, 'lv8o\ del yj/^evcTTM, KaKa dyjpia, yacrrepes dpyai. "AW. ovx fJH-'i-v ova>v' aifioae yap ratv yXuacra, (ppepfs 8e r dvoinoroi evhov. EtS. K6t. a>(pf\es elcTopaav Katjxrjv rcov avTodev' al^oi, Trdvrr) ^op^opos icmv, del Konpoio iroTocrdav. "AXi. 'OfdXat, &s re AoKpoi' (ptXeti Zei;? '1p8lk6s 68p.Tjv, riypiBd t\ r]8e bpdKovra, TreXoiptov Tjb' eXecfiavrov, EiS. KoT. TjeXios Zeis afxfu TreXei* )(^aXeno)TaTa 8' apx^ii, &prj iv elapivrj, ore T fjfiaTa dipfid yivavrai. 'AXX. vpLjXiv lip', to pnydXoi Koi Kaprepol rj cro(pol av8pes, 7raTpi8' dfjxi^apiivoicnv eyiyvero voaros civocttos ; EiS. K6t. iToiov eiros ire TTi(^fvye' rpiTco XvKa^avn Karoyj^ei fjfids vo(TTTj(TavTas eV "icrtSi, davjjia I8ecrdai. 1895. 38 VITA NUOVA T HAD seen Mrs. Grundy in breeches, ■*• I was tired of cycles and Rays, Of London — its rags and its riches, Its century closing in craze. What faith in thy examinations ! What hope in thy gods, Cannon Row ! When I passed through the portal of nations Via P. and O. Hail ! magical, mystical Indies ! Hail ! punkas, pyjamas and pice ! Whose cows give us typhus and shindies. Whose cooks give us curry and rice ! Hail ! land of the sahib hybristic ! Hail ! natives kept up to the mark By a Government based on statistic, A code and a clerk ! From Oxford and Cambridge and Dublin The civilian is captured when young. The powers that be seldom troubling In what sort of seat he is flung. His work is with stamps and with papers. His references date from the Flood, O race of official red tapers ! It runs in the blood ! 39 Great Service of great disappointments ! Great pay that WE only deserve ! May we all be confirmed in appointments ! All find C. I. E.'s in reserve ! Imperial instincts around us Are spread by the wire and the pen, And most of our intellects found us By Gumey and Wren. Say, is all that we learnt worth the learning? Is the East but the glamour of truth ? Are proconsular posts worth the earning, Rupees in return for our youth ? Is it callousness or is it banter, Are the fetters beginning to fret. As the days and the nights imputanhcr Like my cigarette ? Hindustan ! many tongued, many handed, Why camest to dazzle our eyes ? To lend all thy lures when we landed, Thy sun and thy smell and thy skies? In egregious exile enfolden Shall our envied existence escape To emerge on a pension that 's golden — Crushed out of all shape ? Surely England on plain bread and butter, Its fads and its fashions complete, Is worth all thy glories, Calcutta, Even Simla's umbrageous retreat. The strength gained from whiskies and sodas Is drained by mosquitoes and ants. Where, where are the trees of pagodas — Auriferous plants ? 40 Sometimes we have sung it in metre, More often we put it in prose, The medium of verse may be neater, But scent is the test of a rose. O Uodos ! O ties that we sever ! O curse of the Covenant's chain ! You have bought us for ever and ever ! Is it right to complain? 1896. 41 MADAME GRAND (After Dr. Busteed's 'Echoes from Old Calcutta') "you a woman ! Yes, and more, -'■ Woman with /e diable cm corps, Naive and ingenuous Ere you met with Junius. Then your lovers came and went Till the prince of Benevent Made what once was Madame Grand Wife of mighty Talleyrand. * Was it the half-Danish air Of your birthplace made you fair ? Surely some auspicious star Shone that night at Tranquebar, And a more than human hope Cast the childish horoscope, How you were reserved to reign Queen of Ganges, Queen of Seine. Does your spirit haunt the floor Of that house in Alipore, Vis k vis to Francis set In the spectral minuet ? All Calcutta came to you Fit obeisance to do. What a story could you tell. Girlish ghost, jadis si belle. G 42 Once I wandered many miles Through the paintings at Versailles Till I lighted upon one By Gerard's own finger done, Portrait of a fairy form Which took continents by storm, In whose eyes we still may see Wondrous Indian witchery. Let them taunt you as they please With reputed gaucheries, You who learnt in fortune's school Minds of ministers to rule. 'Twas one answer from the heart Tit for tat to Bonaparte, That set servitor and spy To concoct their Crusoe lie. Overgrown with nettle grass Lies your grave at Mont Parnasse, Now without a date or name, Head abased as if in shame, But in regions of the blest, Venus of the East and West, Still you hold your Court above For sad souls who die of love. Lady, take my obolus Twixt your lips imperious. Sail the subterranean stream Cutting daylight off from dream. Come as you appeared before Zoffany at Serampore, Or as Pdrigord's princess In the latest Empire dress. 43 Come as we have seen you look In the page of Busteed's book. Madame Grand ! and something more, Madame with le diable au corps ! 1897- 44 THE DUTCH CEMETERY AT PULICAT (A.D. 1656.) IN old days when the past was your present, And futurity seemed without flaw, Here you walked in the ways that were pleasant, O dead Dutchmen whom Pulicat saw, In old days on the coast Coromandel, When your ships from the Isles of the Sea Made you chapmen of spice and of sandal. All the Indies in fee. Was your minister Johann Baldores, He who preached to the Moors long ago, And unfolded the East and its glories, In a book for the brethren to know ? Gone, gone are the church and the steeple, Gone is Castel Geldria to dust. Nought remains but the bones of your people, Hieronder they rust. O lychgate, O romanesque portal, Twin skeletons guarding your door. Through you went whatever was mortal Of heroes in peace and in war. Once Captains by land and by water From Ceylon to the coasts of Pegu, Now tenants of bricks and of mortar. Just whitewashed anew. 45 Predicant, Ondercoopman and Sergant, In that ghost of a garden they wait For the sound of the mighty Resurgant And the wings of the angel of fate. Whether lovers or married or single, All the mysteries of a romance Are left where they meet and they mingle, Petronella with Jans, As honoured in death as in living Lies the Governor's lady at rest. Glorified beyond gifts of all giving, Forty feet of proud earth on her breast. Homage had she and love more than loyal To couch in the richest of rooms. Silver chains to her cofifin most royal, Epicure among tombs. Hid away in that vast Aceldama Is the headstone made holy with praise To the daughter of Nicol Tadama And the deeds of her eminent days, The headstone which angels emblason And arms and medallions and shields, Distant dreams by some great master mason Of Elysian fields. It leapt from the lips of a lover Yon chronicle cut into rhyme. Whose capital letters discover The date and the year and the time. In life you were lovely, O Sara, The Am St el your cradle ; but death Has laid you, o coniux quam chara. With the children of Heth. 46 These were slabs from the Seven Pagodas, Sad cities that sank in the sea, Once so gay with processions and odours, Bells of Is in an Eastern countrie. But from their Titanic engraver Double part of his spirit did pass To your monuments better and braver, Seadogs of Sadras ! Now Finis and Telos and Amen Is writ large on these stones to your song. Though we see but the Jaaren and Naamen We can feel you were living and strong. So you wrought in the day of your landing So you fought in the day of your pride, Now wait ye the laatste opstanding. Vans wereldts plagen bevryd.^ 1897. ' ' delivered from this troublous life.' 47 THE GARDEN MASTER WAD HAM gardens bloom most fair Steeped in calm monastic air; Choristers to God do sing At Magdalen on May morning; Trinity can boast its limes, Christ Church bells their silver chimes ; Merton Chapel, Merton Tower, Make her many a paramour; And New College, cloistered well, Casts on Wykehamists its spell. But to me the dearest spot In mine Oxford is the plot Where the Pelican looks down On a Quad of Cap and Gown ; Pelican, so gaunt and gray, I have loved thee many a day, Loved thee since my race began And the Boy became a Man. Still the old Wisteria blooms Round the walls of Ruskin's rooms, Rooms where I dreamed many a dream On some worn Socratic theme, And did sore perplex my head With what Aristotle said. Ah ! with very different eyes Do I now philosophize ! 48 From that window went my looks Past my little world of books To the Fellows' Garden, seen Like a picture set in green. Rash intruders ne'er profane This the Garden Master's reign ; Yonder by the southern wall A fallen Caesar guards it all. In this quiet resting place, Garden Master, didst thou pace Oft with me, till thy rich talk Made it seem a Muses' Walk. Knowledge, fervour, wisdom, wit, All thy gifts went out on it. Now thou'rt gone, dear genial friend, Showing kindness to the end, Gone, symbolic, mystic soul. Heaven's gardens to patrol. But we have thy watchword yet — DOMINVS CVSTODIET. 1909. This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 2w)-6,'52(A1855)470 1 A t V /^0O^^' i^rs ^^^^ ^^^fei^ PAM PHLET BINDiR" ■ Syrocuse, N. Y. - Stockton, Co UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 365 314 1