PANAMA SONGS (Copyright, 1906.) BY MICHAEL DELEVANTE. NEW YORK: ALDEN BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS. To DOCTOR AMADOR GUERRERO, FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA,, THIS BOOK is SINCERELY AND RESPECTFULLY r DEDICATED. My home is where the tropic glare With glory crowns the Palms! Where the breakers roar on the coral shore With wondrous-sweet alarms! Where the Trade-Winds blow through the Summer-glow, And Hatred builds her Shrine Where Friendship's star, in a Cocktail Bar, Burns bright 'neath the flush of the Wine. CONTENTS. PAGE AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 9 PANAMA SONGS: Oh, Panama, Brave Panama 13 Twinkle, Twinkle, Incandescent 14 So Scant of Faith Our Little Isle 15 Our Club List 16 The Christmas Tree 19 A Colon Pay-Day Incident 20 A Colon Sunset 22 The Dredges 23 An Invierno Revery 24 Our Club 25 Christina, the Mad Girl 26 Colon Light House to Point Toro Light House. 27 A Sunday Symphony , . 28 Architectural. 30 Retrenchment 31 They've got Me Hooked 31 Some Colon Conclusions 33 The Af ricanos 35 The Trade Winds and" Old Pluvius' 37 The Rains Are Falling 40 'Ere's to Us 41 There's a Man About the Town 43 Song of the Electric Light A Song of the Weather The Date Tree Palm 47 Reviewal 48 A Verano Ode 50 The "Panther-Boys" 52 Tete-a-Tete 53 A Ballad of the Times 55 The "Acapulco" 56 ,He Just Couldn't Stay Away 57 CONTENTS. PAGE That's What I am 59 The Critic Criticised 60 Keep 'Em Away, for the Lord's. Sake ! 61 In Dialect 62 The Dream of a Colon-Sunshiner 64 Confessional 65 Under Two Flags 68 Songs of To-Day 69 The Unpopular Man 71 OTHER POEMS: Our First 73 The Malevolent 73 A Fragment 74 Eddy 75 The Rejected Lover 75 Lo, Sylvanus 77 To My Sydanna 77 Gone 79 New Year, 1892 80 Our Little Lives Are Mysterious 81 Distinctions ' ^ 82 Through Life We Travel All Alone 83 Tennyson 84 Bill McKinley 86 Consuelo 87 The Dawn and Lucille 89 Truth 89 Meemy 90 The Storm 91 The Song of Silver. , 92 The Christmas Serenade 93 Midnight Ode to the Dying Year 94 My Ambition 95 I'm Going Home -.-. 96 I Love to Wander* 97 The Present.... * 98 The Past 99 The Future 100 CONTENTS. PAGE I Wonder 100 So They Say.... 101 Awake 102 I Dreamt of Thee 103 A Plaintive Lullaby 104 Back to My Isthmian Home 105 So You've Heard That My Heart Is Plighted.. . 107 I See Thee Now, Sydanna 108 One Year Agone , no My Ship Sails Over the Blue in Cuba Libre 112 Address to the Sky 113 Homeward Bound 115 There's Joy Upon the Sea To-Day 117 A Message from the Sea 121 The Opera Cloak 123 Waiting 124 The Wind, the Wave and Alethia 126 Farewell, Sweetheart ! 129 They're Going 130 A Toast 132 A Meditation 133 I've Set Myself a Lesson to Learn 134 New York 134 In Dream Land 136 The Mystic Nine 139 The Ballad of a Coal Miner f 139 So Let It Be 141 Night 142 New Year's Eve, 1903 144 A Cat's Obituary 146 Just a Woman's Way 147 To Si r Thomas Lipton 149 The Slate's Redemption 151 A Bird-Song 154 There Are 155 In Love-Land 156 INTRODUCTION. "Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see, Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er could be ! In every work regard the writer's end, Since none can compass more than they intend." The earlier poems contained in this volume, those which date back to 1894 all of which have since been carefully revised, and a spirit of the new times infused in some of them have already appeared before the public, un- der the title of "First Blossoms." The later poems appear for the first time in book-form. Literature is not my vocation : I am simply a devotee before its glorious shrine a wor- shiper of that which lifts men's souls up to the higher and sublimer life ! I am but a toiler of the Desk; and this volume is simply the work of forced leisure nights and Sundays borrowed. I have written under severe difficulties even under domestic protests, entered and ex- tended to the fullest measure ; for jealous Love would invariably step in and divorce me from Pegasus just when I thought I had caught him by his wing, and held him in securely! It, I0> . . . INTRODUCTION. therefore, happened that, oftentimes, I was compelled to hide myself and wait to catch him again on the "fly" ; for, despite of inter- ruptions, I had determined, come what may, to accomplish this much, however little it might be. Then, again, when I tell my readers that this book has been conceived and written in a house where the noise and laughter of happy little children have swelled all other dins above with no particular apartment dedicated to me exclusively writing any and everywhere they will not wonder at rinding defects innum- erable. Be that as it may, however, I send my "Pan- ama Songs" out seeking no special public commendation whatever expecting only the just and impartial criticism of my readers. MICHAEL DELEVANTE. Colon, Republic of Panama, December, 1903. SONGS OF THE PANAMA ISTHMUS. OH. PANAMA, BRAVE PANAMA. Oh, Panama brave Panama ! Full weaned from thy late sires I sing to thee, dear Panama, The song my soul inspires. I wing the anthem wild and free Across the boundless blue, Till, 'long thy marge of murmuring sea, My song come back to you Till, on the pinions of the breeze, It reach thy furthest Bays Be scattered o'er the briny seas ' Tossed on the silver-sprays! Gifts within gifts are thine thou hast Thy storied rivers of gold ; And, in thy virgin forests vast, A Nation's wealth untold. Thou hast the secret of two seas Within thy jungles dense Thou art the keeper of the keys Of two great Continents. 14 PANAMA SONGS. Thou nast, unbosomed in the Past, My Boyhood's golden dreams ; But all the hopes my soul had massed Are vanished like sunbeams! tThou hast thy sons the dauntless, true Thy mighty Ministers, iWhom God this all-great hour lead through With Wisdom's wisest powers! Ten thousand golden Years be thine! From Strife, the sweet surcease; Above thy new-born banner shine, The glorious stars of peace. TWINKLE, TWINKLE, INCANDES- CENT. Twinkle, twinkle, Incandescent, How you jump and toss incessant ! As the breezes 'gainst you dash, Down you tumble with a crash! Late your lights are very poor, They scarcely "see" us to the door: Now they flicker now they're bright, Till, like a ghost, they take their flight, And leave us in the darkness groping O, we count it most provoking, Just when at our dinners seated PANAMA SONGS. 15 'Fore our meals are half completed To be thus, so badly treated! Twinkle, twinkle, Incandescent ! Why so stubborn, so persistent? I have told you, of times a score, That your costly light was poor; And I tell you once again, That your star is on the wane. February, 1901. SO SCANT OF FAITH OUR LITTLE ISLE. So scant of faith our little Isle; So prodigal of craft and guile, And war-like spirits a lovely pile! We fight, and, fighting, fight in style ! We woo the False, eschew the Truth; Our Janus-natures, born, in sooth, Of Hate enough a horse to kill, Take arms and, with malicious will, Ten thousand plots of wrong fulfil! Not wholly haters of our kind, But, like the boy, who leads the blind, We seek for peace, that lags behind, The peace we ne'er shall find. September, 1801. l6 PANAMA SONGS. OUR CLUB LIST. A stands for Anderson, whom the Schot- tische delights, And Ashby who seeks for his subjects their rights. B stands for Blixt, and Beveridge, the Scotch Bermudez, who makes of the English a botch ! C stands for Cecil, who has lots of fun ; D for Delevante, Dolphy, Degallon, Deboteau, Dogherty, Uriah DeLeon. E stands for Evans, who of Mars all can tell, And Ehrman, who tries to outdo Philo- mel! F stands for Eraser, our Waltzer the best Faulette, 'gainst whose height there are few to contest! G stands for Gilbert, our President Ex; Of Presidents he is the Right Royal Rex! H stands for Humphreys and Hambrook and Horn Herrera, who, if you'll let him, will dance until morn ! And Halstead and Hollier appear on the List, And Haffeman, too, whom we lately Have missed ; Another Herrera adorns our page PANAMA SONGS. 17 If I don't put him down he'll get in a rage! I is not in it / is sorry to say ; But when / is dancing, get out of Fs way ! J stands for James, who pays highest Ex- change, But never comes up to the Club it is strange ! K shares the same fate as I on the List ; May K-us forever keep 'way from our midst ! L stands for Levi, Limberi, Lebeuff The last mentioned gent, sure he serves us enough ! M stands for Mott, our President new The revision of Article Four he would rue ! And Mendes, Messias, come under the M Messias, though last, is not least among them. N like the / and the K, it seems is non est; N says that / Kan be none of the best ! O like the I,N and K, is not in, I think O says that I-N-K always spells INK. P stands for Pasos Pepito that's clear Pepito is running for President's Chair. Q on the Q-T, I find is quite blank ; So, with O, I, N, K, Q will fall into rank. R stands for Raillac, we don't often see, l8 PANAMA SONGS. And Russell, who think's he's the boss of the Glee! S stands for Sarria, Shaffer, Soracco Stevenson, too, and our friend Moritz Sasso. Istands for "Tolo" in full, Toledano, And Taylor of "Man in the Moon" fame, you know. U as you no doubt will see at a glance, Like O, I, N, K, Q, has made no advance. V Fve searched, and can find nothing there Like 7. Q, U KNO, V is not a compeer. W stands for Wardlaw, who, you all will re- member, His bachelor days brought to end last September. X as Xpected, is out there is none; But V, Q, U, I KNO that X has no fun! Y Y hide the truth ? Y is out, I admit ; He once was amongst us, but made his exit. Z say that Z IZ not here at the feast Vy, NO QUIZ, XKUse me, this Z(e- bra)'s a beast. October, 1892. PANAMA SONGS. 1 9 THE CHRISTMAS TREE. 'Twas Christmas Eve, and every heart was glad, As forth the music streamed! The Christmas Tree, with gewgaws dight, In gorgeous splendor gleamed. Then came the little revellers The beauties of this Isle ! Their cheeks, like the early flowers of Spring, All tinged with a sunny smile. In Youth's fresh bloom arrayed they came Their footsteps all blithe and gay Like beings strayed from their native stars, They wandered this sinful way. Oh, how they revelled in .the dance !, Did ye hear their mirthful noise As 'round the Christmas Tree they swung, Those bright-eyed girls and boys. Saw ye their sweet seraphic forms? The effulgence of their eyes? Heard ye their laughter, prattle swell To exulting harmonies? I watched them in the game of Chance Some faces radiant with glee; 2O PANAMA SONGS. On others I read, "Oh, Santa Claus, Have you got nothing for me ?" And then I fell to dreaming dreams Of my past romps and plays, Until my thoughts went back again To dead old Christmas days. December, 1902. A COLON PAY-DAY INCIDENT.* Miss KATE. Mista ! whe' de dime you owe me ? Jus' gimme me money, I say! S' 'elp me God ef you no pay me I wi' tek you a Jail dis day ! Den pay me 'fo' I raise one row So mek Policia come : Dis long, long time you owe me now You tek me money buy Rum! JOHNSON. Le' go me shut, I say, Miss Kate! Or else I wi' chop you, you know! * Dramatic scene between Miss Kate, the Ginger Beer and Bun Seller, and her debtor, Jeremiah John- son, who has just received his pay from the Pay Car. PANAMA SONGS. 2Ii Me no been ax you, gall, fe wait Nex' Pay-Day me pay you, no? Miss KATE. God blind me I not gwine wait at all! For promise can't bwile de pot; Jus' pay me now befo' I call De Constab f e mek you trot ! You ebba see me trial, eh ? Him well nyam me sinting done, And now de brute him no wan' fe pay Fe me Ginger Beer an' Bun! You teefin niggah ! You well an' cheat ! JOHNSON. Jus' mind how you talks to me now! I wi' lick you 'prawlin* in a de 'treet, So mek you go bawl like cow. Miss KATE. Hi ! man, cho ! de fight you wan' fight ? Mek I fetch "grass" bottle fuss! No 'tinkin' shame me can't seek me right Widout me get beatin' and cuss? A VOICE FROM THE CROWD. Dat 'nough now! no lick him no mo'! You wi' go a "Cage" 'fo' you done; 22 PANAMA SONGS. Cho ! you no hear Policia de blow ? Get up, you chupids, so run. A COLON SUNSET. Like forest-fires, illuming, far and wide, Some sylvan scene and desert leagues away, Last evening shone, all radiant on the tide, The last expiring embers of the day! Soft clouds of crimson, floating down the West, With glory crowned the distant bluffs and high; All flushed and dreamy sank the day to rest In twilight's arm outstretched athwart the sky. Yon "Toro Point," that skirts the watery way, With soft suffusion 'neath the Heavens glowed ; What wondrous hues reflected o'er the Bay As Night came stealing up the starry road! Calm was the eve peace brooded on the deep; The stars, all shining, warned the hour of sleep. April, 1893. PANAMA SONGS. 2$ THE DREDGES. Oh, ye Dredges leap From your long, long sleep ! Awaken, nor dream ye again, Till your work is done Gained your homeward run, The glorious task of men! Awake from the wreck Of the years, and deck Ye with triumphs all fresh and new! Like cormorants dash In the stream with a splash, For the prey that awaiteth you. Let the forests ring With your clink-clank-clink Oh, we long for that old refrain! Let your monster scoops, That the wild vine loops, , Swing merrily 'round their chain. On on, nor relent Till the bonds are rent, And the chivalrous deed is done! Till Atlantic rear A triumphant cheer For his bride, the Pacific, won. Then the waves will prance, And carouse and dance, 24 PANAMA SONGS. As the stately ships line the Bay; While foremost, elate, 'Mongst the Nations great, The U. S. in gorgeous array. November, 1903. AN INVIERNO REVERY. How switly come the drear Invierno days! When, lo ! the tropic lluvias descend, And mists grow thick athwart the arching ways, And threatening rain-clouds bend. Within their caves the balmy Trade-Winds rest; The sweet Verano days have spent their sum; The waves are pillowed on the Ocean's breast, And broad Caribbean's dumb. What fearful silence broods upon the deep, Filling my soul with spells akin to pain! I all but sit and sigh and mourn and weep While I explore the main; For in the stillness rapt, I dream and muse Of days long buried in the faded past. Till, faint and dim, like swift dissolving views, Before me crowd, at last, PANAMA SONGS. 25 Visions of Love, once beings of form and speech, But spirits now inhabiting the skies ; Alas! alas! the tender voice of each Those dear departed ties Bursts o'er my spirit in the stilly air Like sweet seraphic melodies from high ! ii catch the strain, and intercept the tear That lurks within mine eye. September, 1893. OUR CLUB. Say, lads, Oh, what's gone wrong With that dear old Club of ours ? Will ye see her droop through the Seasons long, And her glory fade like the flowers, Nor heave one sigh' As ye pass her by, That once beguiled the hours? Oh, desolate abode! Come, lads, uplift the crumbling pile! Shall the Summer come with her garnered load Of flowers that bloom and smile, Without one more Sweet Chaplet o'er Her portals as erewhile? 26 PANAMA SONGS. Hushed is she now and still ; Dispersed the merry band and gone : No more the voice of the music shrill Streams through her Halls forlorn: The Ballad is dead, And the mirth has fled From our dear "Club-Colon." October, 1893. CHRISTINA, THE MAD GIRL.* Senor, I am not mad! Why wouldst thou deem me so? Because thou seest me scant'ly clad, And indigent and low ? Dios me libre, Senor! In sooth, Senor, I feign: I have but lost my way In the labyrinth of my brain, Wherein my senses stray Hi! Que es esof musical List to the Musical I'll put my bundle down And dance for you the Cunibia, As they dance it in my town, Por un real, Senor! *A familiar figure about the streets of Colon. PANAMA SONGS. 2? I can read, too Senor: Here's my Breviary! And count my Rosary, too, Senor, And sing my Ave Mary 'Mejor que Ud f Senor! What sayest thou now, Senor *?\ I've sung my Ave well, And read my Santa Biblia o'er; For I am no infidel 'Diga, Senor! soy local I am not mad, I swear ! Hi ! see, the crowd gathers ! For the mummers are passing there With their painted masks and feathers; Y me voy a verlas! adios! November, 1893. COLON LIGHT HOUSE TO POINT TORO LIGHT HOUSE. Hello! my friend, across the Bay You that lure the ships to the strand; That flirt with the mariners, so they say, With the flash of your orb from land If you don't quit a-cutting your eye at me, v You prodigal charge for a light, 28 PANAMA SONGS. And a-winkin' and blinkin' all night at me, There's bound to be bloodshed and fight! How came you, Sir, on yonder Point? And what is your mission? Oh, speak! If you can without winkin' your eye out o' joint Are you merely the child of a freak ? Be you Christopher's ghost I see? Oh, you Brobdignagian pile! Go tend to the toros: you can't shine with me : I'm Lord of this sea and Isle. That's what I am, you parvenu ! That's what I'll be to the end; So, pack up your traps, and be off, and quick, too, My blinky-eyed, sleepy-head friend ; For the people say you've no right here The neighbors protest, so do I! Unwelcomed you came, like a dreaded night- mare So, good-riddance to you, and good-bye. November, 1893. PANAMA SONGS. 29 A SUNDAY SYMPHONY. Oh, those parrots! how they both yell All day long above my head! Hear the ringing of that church bell! Loud enough to wake the dead. Now the Loros start a-singing, And the peacock's shriek is heard Soon you'll hear a gun-shot ringing Through the air to down a bird ! Hear that tricycle above me, Pounding on the attic floor! And the "kid" that's riding, how he Screams till all his throat is sore! I am reading what I'm reading I'll be hanged if I can tell, For the tricycle that's wheeling O'er my aching head like well, Now my "kids" take up the chorus, And the noises swell to bad ! Parrots, tricycle the whole house And the children drive me mad! This is how I spend my Sundays Talk about your "Bedlams Loose!" This one takes the palm by long ways Oh! my head the noise, the deuce. March, 1894. 3O PANAMA SONGS. ARCHITECTURAL'. (To I. L. M.) Say, when are you going to finish that house That stands by the track line so near That once Jackson-famous old "Boston Ice House," That sold ice to the thousands down here? O, when will you finish, for heaven's sake say ? I long for some sparkling Old Mumm; But it seems to me, Sir, as I pass every day, The "Wetting-tide" never will come! For each day something new an improvement or two Some new work or other begun Greet mine eyes as I raise them the structure to view; But the answer comes back, "Not yet done!" So, pray let me ask, have you any new schemes ? More filigree work 'round the Gable? You soon will be wanting some strong, heavy beams; For the house grows above quite unable! So, let me exHort you to finish" tfie Bam ; For, I swear, all top-heavy she's getting! PANAMA SONGS. 3!; Just give her a coat of the best paint and warn All your friends to come 'round to t.Ji* "Wet- ting." March, 1894. RETRENCHMENT. The impending blow, that hath fallen at last, Hath my old-time stipend sundered! I feel the "cut" of the ten-per-cent. blast On my three score pesos and hundred! I'll have to do some "home cutting" too, To the tune of sixteen gold dollars : Eat one meal a day till they raise my pay Wash my own clothes, my cuffs and my collars, July, 1894. *t THEY'VE GOT ME HOOKED. They've got me hooked they've got me booked To the lass across the way; They've got my heart a-thumping so, I can't hear what they say! They've got a "case" against me, And they're looking for the dart 32 PANAMA SONGS. They're bringing Doctor Roentgen's Hays To navigate my heart! But it's just like folks in Colon : They know a thing or two! Can tell you more about yourself Than you ever dreamt or knew : They get it straight from Tom Eaves Have your ear-strings never rung? And all because there are no laws To amputate a tongue ! They've got it dead, I'm going to wed ; And I wish they hadn't now; For they'll find me 'commodating In a hell-split, firing row! They've got me alj a-thinking; For I want to know don't you ? If to chin a "boofer lady" means To work the Rule o' Two? But it's just like folks in Colon: They're bound to talk or die ; And I'm thinking, Sir, it's part of their Anatomies to lie! They've worked this Rule o' Two, Sir, Till my Muse's ears have rung! And all because there are no laws To amputate a tongue. May, 1896. PANAMA SONGS. 33 SOME COLON CONCLUSIONS. (Air, Killaloo.) If you'd have of truths a dose, I could give you, Sir, a gross ; For I've seen the gamut rise and topple over I could tell you things, my friend, That would start your hairs on end They're rougher than the passage o'er to Dover ! But the reason of this Rhyme Is to sing of present time To leave the dead Past buried for a minute Just to tell you, one by one, Some conclusions of Colon Your wise men from the East, Sir, are not in it! ~ r The first conclusion is, If a damsel you should quiz As you meet her in the moonlight with her mother ; Just as sure as eggs are eggs With the art of Silas Wegg(s) They'll swear you must be sweet on one an- other! Which conclusion, I must tell Is another name for well, 34 PANAMA SONGS. It rhymes with "eye" and ""sigh" ; and, by the by, Sir, It's a case of Verbum sat, With a bow drawn long as that, To flaunt the Ninth Commandment in dis- guise, Sir! The second is, I ween, Cause of many a home-made scene, Of which I've had, Oh, Lord, a dose ap- palling ! It's a fight to go to Lodge Thinks your wife 'tis just a dodge For a time out with the boys until the morn- ing. Why you can't go to a bar E'en to buy you a cigar, Or stop and with the barman have a laugh- ter; But, as one and one make two, They'll have something up 'gainst you: A cocktail or a Scotch they'll swear you're after! When you come back to Colon, After your vacation's done, And from the Press you get no "Personal Mention" ; Oh, you'll kick and swear and fuss PANAMA SONGS. 35 Say, each editor is a cuss, And conclude, for sure, the slight was of in- tention. I've conclusions by the score; But my Muse's throat is sore, Or else this song I'd keep up for a whole week! So, I'll only add to-day, My Conclusion, by the way, I've never struck a place like this for Logic. June, 1896. THE AFRICANOS. Did you see those Africanos Out the "Castle Eden" pour, With their pantaloons of gingham, And their shirt-tails out o' door? < Didn't you see them? What a gang, Sir, Each a tin trunk and a straw,* And I'd blush to tell you, hombrt, All the funny sights I saw! Some wore wrappers; some wore breeches Some had gambled all their "wears;" Some wore just what Nature' d wove them In the deft loom of the years! * Straw mat. 36 PANAMA SONGS. They were lined off every man, Sir! Pobrecitos, what a crew! Tore the Medical Profession Whole anatomies in view! It was, "Muzza!" it was "Johnson!" It was, "Chooko!" step this way Have your carcasses examined By the doctors of the Bay ! It was "Joseph!" it was "Sambo!" It was "Samuel!" "MacBain!" Till the pobre Africanos Were all huddled in the train Some a-dreaming of their mothers In dear Afric far away! Some a-thinking of the digging Of the Isthmus' Highway Some a-thinking of the "Eden," And the engineer, and how With a red-hot poker he, Sir, Quelled their contumacious row'! But they've come amongst us, strangers ; Let us take them by the hand Whisper, "Johnson, Muzza, welcome To this hospitable land." December, 1896. PANAMA SONGS. 37 THE TRADE WINDS AND OLB PLUVIUS. (After Kipling.) "What are ye Trade Winds blowin' for?" Said Pluvius-on-Parade. "To run you out, to run you out," The Balmy Trade Winds said. "What makes ye 'owl so loud, so loud?" Said Pluvius-on-Parade. "To warn you, Mister Pluvius, To 'ide your bloomin' 'ead!" For, we're tunin' of our Trumpets We're goin' to 'ave our spell ; We're blowin' of your fevers, Mister Pluvius to well, We've took of our Galoches off Umbrellas, gone to 'ell! We're goin' to blow our Trumpets till the mornin', "What makes the Palm Trees wave so 'ard?" Said Pluvius-on-Parade. "The touch of us, the touch of us," The Balmy Trade Winds said. "What makes 'em bend so low, so low?" Said Pluvius-on-Parade. They're waving you their farewells, Sir, The Balmy Trade Winds said. 38 PANAMA SONGS. Oh! they're 'appy in the sunshine They're 'appy rid o' you! They're shakin' off their mackintosh They've 'ad enough o' you! They're throwin' down their blossoms In the moonlight and the dew, For the little children's aprons in the mornin'. "What makes the Frangipani bloom?" Said Pluvius-on-Parade. "Their love of us, their love of us," The balmy Trade Winds said. "What makes 'em smell so sweet, so sweet?" Said Pluvius-on-Parade. "We've kissed 'em with the breath of us," The Balmy Trade Winds said. Oh, they're pourin' of their essence O'er the poisonous Lagoons! They're sending of their sweetness To the Back Swamps of the Coons They're fallin' on the pavements For whoever wants o' boons ; And the children will be 'appy in the mornin'. "What are Christ-Church Bells ringin' for?" Said Pluvius-on-Parade. Tis New Year, Sir, 'tis New Year, Sir, The balmy Trade Winds said. "What makes 'em sound so sad, so sad?" Said PJuvius-on-Parade. "Their last year's song they're singin', Sir," PANAMA SONGS. 39 The balmy Trade Winds said. Oh! they're ringin' all a blessin' 'Fore the passin' of their rhymes ; They're weepin' sad an' sorry, Sir, Those comrades of old times They're tellin' soon they're cuttin' them For other bells, called chimes They're biddin' you good-bye this New Year's "What are the sea- waves shoutin' for?" Said Pluvius-on-Parade. "To welcome us, to welcome us," The balmy Trade Winds said. What makes 'em look so white, so white?" Said Pluvius-on-Parade. They're decked out for your funeral, The balmy Trade Winds said. Oh, they're 'appy you are goin' ! They are marchin' you away! They're singin' songs o' burial For you, my frien', to-day! They're tellin' of the letters From our Loves of many a Bay .They're goin' to make us 'appy in the mornin*. December, 1896. 4O PANAMA SONGS. THE RAINS ARE FALLING. (Morning.) The rains are falling The heat's appalling! The butterflies are winging for the West; All the waves are rocked to sleep On the bosom of the deep, And the salams of the Palm trees are at rest. The rains are falling; The clouds are thralling The Monarch of the morn a-down the Bay: All the hills are robed in mists Deep as moltened amethysts, And the rain-clouds, all a-swif tly, dim the day ! (Night.) The rains are falling; The night is walling With battlements of clouds the ether heights! All the frogs are croaking loud, And the moon hath donned a cloud Oh, these weary, weary, weary rainy nights ! The rains are falling My soul is calling For the salams of the Palm Trees, to tfie sea For the fellowship I win PANAMA SONGS. 41 From the thunder and the din From the music of the billows' jubilee. August, 1897. 'ERE'S TO US. A Colon Vignette.) (After Kipling.) We've fought, O, many a battle in our day; An' some was red 'ot fights, and some was not! .We're a bloomin' set of Atkinses, they say Of Atkinses there is no finer lot! We've quarrelled over Dollars, Cents and Dimes ; We've licked the Africs silly in a fray! We've mixed up ideas with ideals, at times, And we've played the "cat and banjo" in our way. So, 'ere's to us, mi amigo, Oh, the Lawd, Gawd, keep us free From this sloshing, worse than Fuzzy Gave the British "Infantree!" We've 'ad enough o' fightin', So, let's call the bargain square, For the 'olidays are comin', An* the Christmas an' New Year. 42 PANAMA SONGS. We've done some things we 'adn't ought to do; But Christ is Christ to right the wrongs o' men! And Gawd is Gawd for gentile and for jew, And Time the foremost soldier in the en' ! Gawd! we're 'ell, we uns: we never sees the right; For Right is just where Wrong 'ad ought to be! Gawd! we're fools, we uns; but some day know we might, * The friend that's friend, and who's the enemy ! So 'ere's to us, mi amigo, And the friends which are astray; If we 'adn't been so thin-skinned, We'd 'a' 'ad 'em all to-day! But Give and Take isn't Gospel With a bloomin' crowd like we: It's just sloshing at our neighbors Till, at last, we don't: agree. We 'aven't got no peace 'ere of our own : We're 'acking at each other all day long; And when we've done a 'acking at the bone, We generally winds 'er up in song! We never shirks a scrap, it seems, no 'ow ; We rushes in the fight and don't gets done! PANAMA SONGS. 43 We're all 'ot 'eaded, 'asty in a row, And generally 'unts one when there's none. Then 'ere's to us, mi amigo, And 'ere's to 'ands all round; For it's six days Chagres fever And the seventh day under ground. And 'ere's to us, mi amigo, And the peace that is to be, You big bull 'eaded fellow You, amigo, all and me. November, 1897. THERE'S A MAN ABOUT THE TOWN. There's a man about the town Hunt him down! hunt him down! With a Crow-bar, or a Car-pin, or a Cane; For he thinks the earth and sea All are his on you and me He can look down with a studied, cold disdain ! There's a man about the town Run him down! run him down! With a Locomotive, Bus or Funeral train! Oh ! it doesn't matter which : A Road Engine or a Switch Will dispatch him to the warmest clime amain ! 44 PANAMA SONGS. There's a man about the town Nail him down! screw him down, That no breath of air his six-f . t house retain ! Chant the usual "Dust to dust," "Earth to earth" then swiftly thrust Thrust the beggar where he'll evermore remain. Then, we'll have him out of town Lower him down gently down, Safe on yonder Hill a-dreaming in the rain, 'Neath the blackest sort of skies Oh! let's hope the lullabies Of the Saurians will not Lazarus him again. January, 1901. THE SONG OF THE ELECTRIC LIGHT. I'm an independent gentleman: I come just when I please! *Tis my delight to take my flight Ere dinner hath reached to cheese. Then, it's all hands groping in the darkness, And a-swearing for no good ! PANAMA SONGS. 45 Oh, the hunting scene for kerosene To light up the neighborhood. I'm an independent gentleman, With faults as many as wires My Dynamo runs down so low, My life-light soon expire". Then it's rushing to the Street-Transformers It's a hunting the faults all 'round : They burn no Coal, and, 'pon my soul, That's where the trouble is found. When the West dons her dream-gold tiara When Evening's almost Day, 'Tis then I vie with the sun on high! But at dusk well, you know my way! But it's all the same to me, my friends It's all the same to me! You don't like my way? good-night good day: I'm Mister Monopoly. February, 1901. 46 PANAMA SONGS. A SONG OF THE WEATHER. The reefs are barren, and the tide is low What means this strange digression Of Season, of Winds, of the Waters' flow? Are the Weather clerks in session? Are the elements, mutinous, changeful, queer, Plotting vengeance all together? Ahoarding up rain-clouds, thunders' blare, For an onslaught on Dry Weather ? For the waves are dumb, and the skies are gray The Sunsets have lost their roses; The fisherman's boat, in the far-out Bay, On the peaceful sea reposes. E'en the Palm trees droop as if grieving o'er The Trade Winds grave omission! And the wave-desolated strand seems sore At the billows' indecision. But like as the weather are all things here: Fitful, inconstant deluding Like the veriest flower 'neath whose dream- folds fair Some poisonous germ lies brooding! So, hand-in-hand, all the weather-clerks go A-weaving I count it treason PANAMA SONGS. 47 From moon-wrought sheen and silver stars' glow, The rains for the next Wet Season. February, 1901. THE DATE TREE PALM Twas but a lowly Date-Tree Palm, That lived its life among the statelier trees, A-dreaming dreams of peace, white- winged and calm, Beside the lonely seas. And Time came, and time, as time will, went 'Midst songs of stars and litanies of winds; And though each day it sicklier grew and bent, It recked not of designs, Nor dreamt it of such sudden end, 'Gainst which the very winds did wail complain, E'en all the billows by the gray-beach bend Protested all in vain. For two score years and gone It saw the sun dip down to wed the sea; 48 PANAMA SONGS. But 'cause it strewed seared blossoms on the lawn, Death was the penalty It reaped just as the sun burst forth And all the waters with the morn did glow Thus two score years of Nature's growth A wanton hand laid low. REVIEWAL. 'Tis Evening our task of day is done : The Clerks have left their Offices 'tis five! The West is all a-glow with setting Sun ; The Reading Room with readers is alive. Along the Beach-walk sweep the strollers by! The children laugh and prattle on the sands ; And rainbow-tinted ribbons flaunt yards high, While Lovers tell their hearts'-tales, squeez- ing hands. Full shrill hath blown the Cacho's evening blast! Adown the tracks the weary Artisans go; Within the Washington the Boys are massed, And Pascal-Cocktails on the Counters flow. PANAMA SONGS. 49 The shadows fall night creeps on stealthily; The rain-clouds gather thick athwart the sky! The Toro Light House blushes fitfully The billows sob; the night-winds, deep- mouthed, sigh. Down swoops the rain, and darkness veils the land! The palm-trees shake and shiver on the lawn; And all is black beyond the boisterous strand, And all outside is dreary and forlorn. I hear the voice of Rumor on the winds; I hear the cry of Gossip on the deep The wild waves sing full lust'ly of designs Of malices that life-long comrades keep. "~ '- ^ I peer my head outside my cottage-door The rains have ceased; the night's grown hot as well, I don my hat, and sally forth to bore Sorre friends within the neighborhood that dwell. We talk of Church, where so few white folks go> And wonder why this element keeps 'loof: Are God and Christ not One in all men's woe? 5O PANAMA SONGS. Can Christian folks not worship 'neath one roof? We talk of foreign lands across the seas Of folks to whom the Isthmus had grown "cold"; Of things domestic of those Evening Teas, And quote from all the Gossips, new and old! Gossips that only tongues attuned to lies, And hearts all reckless of Commandment Nine, Delight to traffic in, and things disguise Condemn as faults faults theirs and yours and mine. October, 1901. A VERANO ODE. Thou comest back again, Sweet Summer, a-wooing the North-east blast With glad rejoicings o'er the blustering main Thou comest back, at last, PANAMA SONGS. 5 1! Fresh from they wanderings long ! A thousand voices greet thee, and the land Lifts up her welcome in a wild- wave Song, That melts upon the strand. All things from out their thrall The merry winds that rock the azure sea, The frangipanis, in high festival Awake to welcome thee! There's gladness in thy track And sun-lit visions borne upon thy wings, And sadness too, vain longings and the rack That Time, unconscious, brings. Thou comest back with heaven flushed Ravishing Sunsets crimsoning all the Isle ! With nights star- jeweled, and wave-songs unhushed, Thou comest back a-while. Verano, the winds are crying : Their deep-toned anthems sweeping o'er the sea, The rush of waters and the palm-trees' sigh- ing, Sing of the Past to me. February, 1902, 52 PANAMA SONGS. THE "PANTHER-BOYS." I've been asked if the war is ended I've told them, 'The struggle is done!" For the "Boys," that the Road defended, Yester evening left Colon. They sailed when the West was dreaming When the Sun kissed the day adieu ! And the girls on shore were grieving For the jolly Khaki-crew. They've gone, yet they scarce had landed ; Oh ! the Dock where they camped is dumb, And the Armored Car's disbanded, For the days of peace have come. They've gone some of new Loves dream- ing Others, haply, of the old Loves true; Some a-thinking of the war, while we sing Hosannas that the conflict's through. They were here when the days were clouded, And the nights all whelmed with rue! And the town each hour was crowded With rumors of some crisis new. They've gone though the "Panther" wander From Colon unto furthermost Bays, PANAMA SONGS. 53 In our hearts her brave Commander And her "boys" will live always. Then, it's Good-bye, Captain and Good-bye To the jolly Khaki-crew! For your ship, fair winds and a clear sky God speed you o'er the boundless blue. November, 1902. TTE-A-TTE. So, you want to know 'bout Society, my friend, In this land of perennial row? Here's a glass, and a bottle of the best Old Blend; Take a seat and I'll tell you now. You're a stranger come amongst us yester- day You're green in the Social Ring; But you'll find some Dont-believe-you-what- they-say, Who'll tell you of everything! 54 PANAMA SONGS. Of everybody, what's what and who's who God help genealogical trees! They'll paint them every color, Sir, black and blue O'er the Cups at their evening teas! When it's "Whom have you seen since you've been down here?" "Have you met Mrs. So-and-So?" They'll put you through a Catechism, Sir, most queer Tell you things they know and don't know! And "You mustn't visit So-and-So because We're out with the folks 'roundjhere !" But where'd be your peace if you didn't heed the laws Of neutrality right down here? Yet it's out of ten the chances are nine Come a day when we'll cut loose! Then you and your new-made friends'll com- bine To roast me as you would a goose! For that's the way some people down here Have of doing I know too well: I've seen it in the cases of friends most dear I've seen it, for I read and spell. November, 1902. PANAMA SONGS. 55 A BALLAD OF THE TIMES. Oh! the Christmas tide is coming; And the times are's hard as Laws ! All the little folks are humming Songs of dear Old Santa Glaus. The Druggists' bills have just come in Dios, mio! what prices! stars! For one prescription of Quinine, Two dollars or funeral cars! Then bills from Butcher and Baker From the Grocer down the lane ; And bills from the Old Shoemaker For the soles made new again. 'Tis bills from Senor Commissary, And bills from the Chinese stores; Tis bills each month Oh ! misery ! And "Cards" by the -'bunch" and scores! Oh, those Pay Days in the morning! Oh, those Pay Days in the noon, When the Bills come in a-swarming, How our heads begin to swoon! But worst of Pay Day ills we know Is the man who comes around With Bills, when funds are sinking low, Persecuting us like a Hound. December, 1902. 56 PANAMA SONGS. THE "ACAPULCO."* An Outcast on the deep am I A vagrant-ship, a waif, a stray! They will not have me, low nor high, From Panama to San Jose Corinto, nor, perchance Shanghai! And so, rejected and tabooed, I sail along the scornless brine, A plaything of the billows' mood The sport and prey of every wind I drift and drift upon the seas, "All on account of those dreadful peas!" From port to port and port I go: "Rejected!" comes the answer back; Then all those peas begin to grow *The Pacific Mail steamer Acapulco left San Fran- cisco on December 20th, 1902, bound for Panama, via Central American and Mexican ports. At Mazatlan, a Mexican port, where, it appears, there existed a few cases of bubonic plague, she took in some 684 sacks of peas, on account of which she was detained in Quarantine at Panama for eight days, after the expiration of which time her passengers were allowed to land at Isla de Naos, a small island in Panama Bay. The steamer, however, was turned back to San Fran- cisco, January 24th, 1903, with all her cargo on board. On the return voyage she was refused pratique by all the Central American and Mexican ports at which she called; and this incident it was that inspired the poem, "Acapulco." PANAMA SONGS. 57 With protests rending every sack ; Adown the hold the dread-peas bloom With Mazatlans all white with rage! I wonder what the morrow's doom : If port shall be my heritage, Or drift and drift upon the seas, "All on account of those dreadful peas!" A-weary of the strife and war Of boycotts, 'nough to fill a slate! I've set my Compass to a star That beckons from the "Golden Gate." Of peas I've strung a Rosary To tell my wanderings all forlorn! Count ports that have rejected me Perchance I'll have to round the Horn ! And drift and drift upon new seas, "All on account of those dreadful peas!" February, 1903. HE JUST COULDN'T STAY AWAY. So, he's come back here again? And he didn't stay for good, As he thought he would! But it's nothing strange, 58 PANAMA SONGS. And it's nothing new: I've never seen the man that could I- Have you? Oh! say, He just couldn't stay away. Missed the old haunts now didn't he? And the Isthmian life, and the Beach, And the rythmic speech Of the sad, sea waves, So wondrous sweet! And he dreamt of it all and each So fleet, That say! He just couldn't stay away. Longed for the Trades our Sunsets, And the ceaseless Song of the Palm ! And the mystic charm That binds us to this place He felt the sweet spell Around him like a Lover's warm Embrace, And say, He just couldn't stay away. Yearned to get back now didn't He 'Tis an old, old story, my friend, We'll sing to the end; PANAMA SONGS. 59 Full many a one 've sung it, As Time approves so well : I, too, essayed one day to rend The spell; But say, I just couldn't stay away, February 7th, 1903. THAT'S WHAT I AM. I'm sick and tired of some people's Malevolent jabber and chat! Their tongues are as tall as Church Steeples, And their mouths? well, I'm coming soon to that! It seems to me they want a damn good caulk- ing Or a gagging, or a Yale Padlock To stop their daily slanderous leaks of talking ; Tor their heads are just all chock-up-full-a- block With? you know what came when Moses struck the Rock. February, 1903. J5O PANAMA SONGS. THE CRITIC CRITICISED. Once upon an Isthmian time, There lived a man a Wise- Acre, Who posed as Judge of Lyric Rhyme, And thought himself a Seneca A something like a Whittaker! In sooth, he was far out his clime His rhetoric he deemed sublime; And in the Elocution line, He'd give you odds and beat you blind ! His speech was Angel-tongued he read, Just sweet enough to wake the dead ! He dreamt he wore Disraeli's head, This Pythagoras, Agrippa Of critics he was critica' At least as such he tried to be Without the Critic's quality ; But then I knew just how it went : This critic was of jealous bent; And yet I had not given one cent For his opinion cynica' ! I only knew this strange creature Was not my friend in lit'rature He sought to climb the heights of Fame one night But fell : he lost his cue through fright. March, 1903. PANAMA SONGS. 6 1; KEEP 'EM AWAY, FOR THE LORD'S SAKE. [They've gone ! keep 'em away, for the 'Lord's sake: No use for them down here They do no good, more trouble make Than you know, have any idea Keep 'em away, for the Lord's sake! They seem to think they're the Hundred- Four / do not think as they : That theirs is the and only door Society's vise Keep 'em away, for the Lord's sake! They're very exclusive they're' not to blame They're friendly with but few, Who kneel and bow to them the same As if they were Jesu' Keep 'em away, for the Lord's sake! They fight with the Rector of their Cfiurdi, Who's match for any two ! He stands up, fearless, on his Perch And he gives them Hallelu' Keep 'em away, for the Lord's sake ! 62 PANAMA SONGS. Let 'em be like the ships that pass at night No more to meet again! No moon, nor star their voyage to light Across the boisterous main Keep 'em away, for the Lord's sake! May, 1903- IN DIALECT. Johnson, you hear de news dat come From Bogota to-day? Me frien' it knack me down so dum' Me don' kno' what fe say! De Messige say de Treaty dead What Treaty is me no kno' ! Exceptin' it's de t'ing Mas' Ted And Morgan fight 'bout so. But anyhow, me tell you. say Dat porro ketch us now! An' we all wi' hav' fe go away, For me really don' kno' how We gwine fe manage at all, me son, Widout Canal down here! You soon wi' see de grass de run 'Bout 'treet an' ebery where! PANAMA SONGS. 63 So, fetcH me Ban Box an me 'tick, An* re'ch me Tin Pan down : Me wan' fix up fe go nex' week Wid me female to Greytown. Fo' what's de use o' waitin' mo' ? Me trousers bruck from wait! De oder day de t'ing look so Me went go speculate ! Me buy up nearly all de lan's De Rail Road hav' fe sell; But now me wish me had in han's Me money, dat gone to well, I's gwine to Nicaragua, John, Fo' all de papers say, The President at Washington Gwine dig Canal dat way ! But case you hear say, when me gone, De people change dem mind At Bogota 'bout poor Colon, Jus' drap me one short line, Fe tell me say de sinting fix At las' at Bogota! Me den wi' come wid shovel and picks Fe help dig Panama. August, 1903. 64 PANAMA SONGS. THE DREAM OF A COLON SUNSHINER. Last night I dreamt that Joshua came To visit poor Colon, And tried to play his little game He worked on Gibeon! But, 'spite of fame in that far land, He could not stay our Sun! For 'round him grouped a little band Of "Sunshiners-Colon." "Dear children, I am sore-afraid," Said Josh, "You hold the key:" "The Sun, that once my will obeyed, No more stands still for me !" "And yet, methought, I'd own him e'er For all time left to come But, seems, you folks that live down here Have got him 'neath your thumb!" "That's what we have!" said one wee boy, Whose head was crowned v.'ith curls "And yes, we fill the world with joy And sunshine/' cried the girls "You see, dear Josh, the time was when The Sun you could make dim PANAMA SONGS. 65 We were not in it, Joshua, then, But now we've cornered him !" We take him with us 'round the world North, South and East and West ! Our glorious Banner ne'er is furled Sunshiners have no rest!" We're up and doing all the time, And cheerfully we roam About this town, through mud and slime, Sunshining some poor home." Then Joshua stroked his hair said he: "Dear children, I am done! I cannot stop, I clearly see, The Sunshine in Colon." August, 1903. CONFESSIONAL. Oh, Lord of all the Universe, Who ruleth over land and sea, And blessings over all disperse, We open, Lord, our hearts to Theef 5 66 PANAMA SONGS. We are, O God, but weaklings, all A-groping through this thorny land, Where Vice, temptations several Beset us, Lord, on every hand. When first we came here, Lord of Lords, We went to Church in Sun or Rain ; But 'twas not long ere all the chords Of Good Resolve were snapped in twain. We wandered into evil ways, And soon, O Lord, Thine House forgot ; For all our nights and all our days Were spent in things that profit not : We wooed, fore'er, the magic wheel, And left it oft without a cent! We've drunk and drunk and drunk until From drink we're almost indigent ! In sooth, O God, our very lives All mammoth, living lies have been ! In every Vice we have been Dives, And Croesuses in every Sin! We've done, O Lord, the thousand things Thou countest vilest of the vile! We've been, O Lord, the hirelings Of Satan on this little Isle! PANAMA SONGS. 6% .We've practised every subterfuge That's known, O Lord, beneath the skies* tWe are a monument of huge Hypocrisies and wicked lies! ; We've sought to wrong the very men We swore eternal friendships to ; And been, time o'er and o'er again, Iscariots while we played true ! Our very souls we've sold to Debt, With int'rest Himalaya-high! We now have only Hell to get Upon the Brink, O Lord, we cry For Mercy, for Thou'rt merciful, And wilt not turn us from Thy sight- Oh, teach us, Lord, the Golden Rule, And lead us back to greater light To Hope and Faith and Charity, And all things goods before Thine eyes We seek, O Lord, Thy clemency Oh, in Thy wisdom, make us wise. Colon, July 1 8th, 1904. 68 PANAMA SONGS. UNDER TWO FLAGS. PANAMA. (Panama, November 3, 1903.) Last night I slept beneath the Banner that For years and years had flaunted o'er my head, And waved me welcomes in this land whereat I dreamt not of the wedding of the Red And dauntless Azure in one common band ; Nathless, I woke one morn and found the Two A brotherhood of One, hand clasped in hand The Spartan Sires of a Republic new,. Conceived and Mothered by Paternal Wrong, And years of stern oppressions, manifold ! To Panama there never did belong The right to shape her destiny, nor mold Her ideal dream the Isthmian sentiment In sweet fulfillment, proud accomplishing To weld up Continent and Continent By two great Oceans' hands a-joining. For in the stormy Councils and Debate, That shook the Capital, the dream was spent ; But yet, it seemed, one hope commensurate Remained for her right of self govern- ment! PANAMA SONGS. 69 And so, it came to pass that, on a night, Brave Panama, unaided and alone, Resolved to set her grievances aright, And seek what was, by heritage, her own, Before the just Tribunal of her arms, That heaped no carnage, and diffused no blood So worn the bird that laid the golden-charms, That from the hearts of men, that night, a flood Of indignation, passionate and long, Burst forth in Vivas to the Patria; But to her sons was sweetest, dearest song : Viva La Republica De Panama. November, 1903. SONGS OF TO-DAY. (A Memory of November, 1903.)' Oh, the Rain- Song day and night long- The Sun is asleep somewhere! Oh, the Bird-song, and the Wind-song That toys with the ladies' hair. 7O PANAMA SONGS. Oh, the Wave-song, like a great gong Sounding far and wide and near ! Oh, the Frog-song in the Swamps-strong! And the Songs mosquitoes rear. Oh, the Rush-song Hurry-Up-song ! Don't you hear the bugle's blare? Oh, the Bus-song! "Waited too long;" But then it was double fare! Oh, the Ball-song not a Ping-pong We'd have had to face right square ! Oh, the Praise-song of a whole throng For men that the fight did veer ! Oh, the War-song, and the talk-long Of the Orinoco-scare! Oh, the Gun-song that we missed strong From the R. M. Comp'ny's Pier! Oh, the Run-song couldn't stop thong For the steamers everywhere! The Relief-Song of a whole throng When the "Dixie" did appear! Oh, the Shield-Song hammer-and-tong! Every man thinks he'll get there! But the Prize-Song sure will be-long To a man who lives down here! PANAMA SONGS. Oh, the Gold-Song, which is dead wrong; But the Bankers they don't care! The Canal-Song, heard in Hong-Kong, And the Rumors everywhere. Oh, the This-Song, and the That-Song, Of the Wealth there'll be down here! Oh, the Scheme-Song, that folks ding-dong In your ears 'bout Gains each year. But they're all wrong, they that sing-song Of the Millions they will clear : There's an old song, if I ain't wrong, 'Bout the man who had his share. November, 1903. THE UNPOPULAR MAN. I am not what some folks would call, A man of popularity, Because I am not prodigal, Like some, of rank hypocrisy! Wherefore I'm counted e'er in thought A chap of great disparity They are not wrong : I deal in nought That savors of duplicity: 72 PANAMA SONGg. I tell my mind without reserve In me there's no mendacity ! Because I'm frank I don't deserve What's called down here "Sincerity." And yet time was, an ideal man They made of me in poesy; But was there aught on ideal plan In this unique community? Where one's unpopular, because He stands with the minority, Upholding all the moral laws, Eschewed by the majority ! But what care I ? I go my way, With head erect, defiantly! Unmindful of what people say 'Bout my unpopularity. For when we count the meaning well, Good fellowship's a luxury, In which men send their souls to hell, And oftentimes to penury. November, 1903. PANAMA SONGS. 73 OTHER POEMS. OUR FIRST. His little life his brief, soft breathing, Came like a dew-drop glistening on a rose Perchance he was a message past our reading ; But God only knows. June, 1883. THE MALEVOLENT. What! deemest thyself a man? 'tis cheap to deem! And meet of thy known ignorance and deep ; Then, wherefore mar thy wild, delusive dream ? The waking would but leave thee still asleep! Thou livest in a world from me apart Dost traffic in Malice and plots of Wrong: I heed, nor fear the cunning of thy heart, Nor all the mischief of thy venal tongue ! Thou art no man; for man was framed, 'tis told, 74 PANAMA SONGS. After God's own Image divine and vast i But I forbear to tell thee in what mould The Janus-spirits, such as thine, were cast. I spare thee, fool ! my modest Muse hath done: Tis better thus for such as thee to shun. March, 1890. A FRAGMENT. Bach em'rald blade that waveth 'neath the sun,, Speaks of fierce battle and a fallen one ! Each yellow leaf, strewn o'er the mossy field, Is epitaph no chisel e'er revealed ! The humblest blossoms scattered o'er the plain, Are beds whereon the countless dead have lain. The flowers, too, they tell a varied tale In fragrance wafted over hill and dale : They soothe our aching hearts, relieve the gloom, And bear us all in triumph to the tomb! Oh, love the flowers! they mingle with' our dead Distill sweet fragrances o'er them, and shed The lustre of their petals o'er each bed. July, 1891. PANAMA SONGS. 75 EDDY. (November loth, 1889.) All smiling thou earnest Then, wherefore, my darling, so soon away ? Scarce had thy morning burst forth into day, When, lo ! thou fled'st, my boj, to rest Down to the gilded West, Where lieth the peaceful Bay. So soon so soon to flee To thy Father's home o'er the crystal floods Ten thousand hopes lie withered in their buds ! Silent thy parents weep for thee No more thy Mother, flushed with joy, Keeps vigil o'er her baby-boy. November, 1890. THE REJECTED LOVER. "I do not love you!" were the words she spake The words that sent my soul a-sighing ! Oh, I thought my heart, that night, would break Beneath her cold denying. 76 PANAMA SONGS. She asked me to forget her for aye I chafed her tender hand and pleaded For one small spot within her heart alway; But all in vain she ne'er conceded. We parted I, with rheumy eyes and sad My heart all filled to overflowing ! Hers, seeming, in ten thousand winters clad Haughty and unbestowing ! But let that pass nathless, I'll love her e'er; E'en tho' my heart break on the morrow! I'll love her, love her till my life doth sear And my days grow weary with sorrow. Forget her tender face, I never shall! I'll think of her till my sands are run Till Night o'er my head draw its purple pall, And my weary travel is done. Then I'll take her image to the grave with me The impress of her hand beneath trie sod I'll wake with the Trumpet's call, and flee To confess her my love 'fore God. December, 1890. PANAMA SONGS. 77 LO, SYLVANUS. .Lo, Sylvanus! thou Sovereign of the Woods And trackless fields, and leafy solitudes A thousand memories are thine and sweet; Thy shady realms, the youth's enchanted seat, How oft, ere boyhood's tender days were run, And manhood's sterner, riper years begun, I gambolled o'er, a careless, happy swain, Glad 'midst the bowers of thy fair domain! Beneath the shade of thy tall poplars' arms, Thy towering pines and quivering palms, Are traces where my early footsteps strayed In days of yore in days forever dead. July, 1901. TO MY SYDANNA Thou'rt friore than I My soul doth yearn and pine for thee and long Light of my verse and spirit of my song! I live for thee and die. I wait for tKee; But weary's the waiting; thou comest not, sweet, /8 PANAMA SONGS. To light the burden of my soul, nor greet My longing, Love, for thee. I love thee true Nor Time, grown hoary, shall my love assail: 'Tis sung by the birds and whispered in the gale, And well thou knowest it, too : Ten thousand times, Sweetheart, mine eyes have flashed the tale and wept- Ten thousand times within my heart thou'st crept, And creepest in my rhymes. Lo! in my dreams I see thy form all rapturously fair! Sweet is the dream ; but Oh, the sadness, dear, Comes with the Eastern gleams ! But say Oh, say! For my heart is sad and my life doth sear How shall I bear these lonely days that wear My very soul away? I sigh for thee! Oh, bid the anguish cease within my heart ! Oh, haste the meeting, Love no more to part Till Death's rich harvest be. July, 1891. PANAMA SONGS. . 79 GONE. (To J. L. M.) Gone ! not like the ship to other havens bound, Nor like the Dove, with branch of Olive found ; But gone unto that sweet, ethereal .realm, Where thy wrecked bark no more may heed the helm, Where sails are furled for aye, and anchors cast, And nought remaineth save the barren mast Where the rude tempest's breath, nor Thun- der's roar Thy dreamless sleep shall mar! For, evermore, Hast thou past beyond the turbulent foam, And art safe safe. In -thy superrral home No levin's wrath upon thee shall intrude To mar the splendor of thy beatitude ! Sleep on sleep on ! thy homeward race is run, The din of storm is lulled, thy goal is won ; In thy haven fair our shattered barks may meet To swell the countless host of Heaven, Sweet ; If such be sooth a Doctrine Sages urge Speed speed, my craft across , the boundless surge, August, 1891. 80 PANAMA SONGS. NEW YEAR. (1892.) This is the glad New Year ! May it bring us all good cheer May every home 'Neath Heaven's dome, Upon this New Year da>, Be blessed for aye! This is the New Year tide Let Passion's flame subside I- Old wounds take flight, Friends reunite, As in the days of yore, In peace once more. This is the Season blest By lofty prayer and rest Let Charity, Humanity, Unfold their portals wide This New Year tide. Upon this New Year tide Away with Folly's pride! For Proud, Opulent, 6 PANAMA SONGS. Meek, Indigent, Alike shall pass to dwell Within one common cell January, 1892. OUR LITTLE LIVES ARE MYSTERIES. Our little lives are mysteries Around us lie the boundless seas Of Time, wherein by pain, disease, We fall and sink by slow degrees. Our days are spent 'midst fears and aches Till, like the placid rills and lakes The mightier torrent overtakes, " We're swept beyond all earthly wakes! Our days are numbered silently We pass from this deep mystery From out this turmoil drudgery, To sleep to dream eternally! We grope forever in the dark, Till, like the tempest-ridden bark, We're shattered ere one glimmering spark Doth warn us of the danger mark. g 2 PANAMA SONGS. So little Spring throughout the year! The chiliad winters blight and sear The tender roots of our career Ere we are aware. March, 1892. DISTINCTIONS. .When shall this world, this strange, cold world resign Her haughty purple, and her pompous line? And men, who walk through life their several ways To suit proud stations and their golden days, Pursue the self-same road the meek abound, And meet their brethren upon equal ground For, wheresoever our footsteps turn, All pathways lead unto one common bourn! Society, for starch decorum's sake, Within her halls plants firm the limit stake, And sets her boundaries with prudish mind To plan unjust divisions in mankind. Let fit distinctions lie within the gates Of Reason's realm Discretion's vast estates; PANAMA SONGS. 83 But wherefore Gold his glittering sceptre wield To raise up ramparts on Society's field? As in the meadows bloom, of every scent and dye, The varied flowers 'neath one argent sky, Transcending some in radiance, some in grace, Yet all must mix to harmonize the race ! So, after well proportioned lines are drawn, Precise as clouds divide dark night from dawn, Let all men know, whatever their stations be, Mankind may dwell in sweeter harmony. March, 1892. THROUGH LIFE WE TRAVEL ALL ALONE. Through life we travel all alone: There is no friend to call our own ; For Friendship is a thing unknown. The daily proffered hands we press How many a one in times of stress .Will minister one kind caress? 8 4 PANAMA SONGS. On this, our rugged road of life, We wage with man eternal strife! For every morn the air is rife With clash of arms, and cannonade The latest wailings of the dead, And carnage o'er the meadows spread. Eons roll on the Seasons bring The timely frosts, the vernal Spring, And soft and sunny skies that ring With melodies ; but what to man ? No nice mutations to our clan: The cycles end, as they began, In days of strife; for in the race And rush of life, we chase and chase, Fore'er, vain dreams of fame and place. May, 1892. TENNYSON. (October 6th, 1892.) Thy sun hath set, Oh, Bard divine; Thy day's sunk down Night shades thy head, Oh, Bard divine, With sable frown. PANAMA SONGS. 85 Cold death hath chilled thy honored brow* Thy life-blood quenched; And from thy hand, that resteth now, The quill hath wrenched. Mute hangs thy Lyre on the wall Mourning thy hap ; Thy mantle serves as Funeral pall Thy bier to wrap. Thine earthly voice is hushed fore'er, But soars above What other Laureate fill thy bright career With songs of love? I will not here invoke a throng Thy fame to ring : Thy praise, that lights on every tongue, What Minstrel sing! Thy name shall live in every age In every clime! Thy mem'ry dwell in every page Of thy sweet rhyme. In the bright meadows of thy verse Enchantment dwells : Thy fields of song I oft traverse With raptured spells! 86 PANAMA SONGS. Thou are not dead Oh, sweetest Singer! Thy bays are green Tho' cloistered in dark sepulchre Thy light is seen. Thou art not dead Oh, Bard divine! Thy work endureth Thy voice, through every song of thine, Still rings on Earth. October, 1892. "BILL" McKINLEY.* I hear them say, "McKinley's dead!" Dead for the cycles to be! His vaunted Tariff knocked in the head By triumphant Democracy! Poor Billy was a Shipwright famed, Who built for his party a Skiff, Which, one fine dav, he launched and named The "Nation's Protective Tariff." * Lines inspired by the defeat of the Republican Party in the U. S. of America in 1892. PANAMA SONGS. He sailed the shallop, he and his clan, 'Midst the din of Free-Traders' storm; He flew the flag Republican, And steered from the port of Reform! McKinley was a Skipper brave ; But his vaunted "Tariff" and he Lie wrecked fore'er 'neath the tidal wave Of triumphant Democracy. November, 1892. CONSUELO. Wherefore do we weep, my brothers Weep with blinding tears, our dead? Know we aught of that dim Future Of the after-life we dread? It may be that Death, the Pilot, Though his seas be dark and dim, Steers us o'er the silent waters, Nearer, nearer near to Him- It may be that the transition From a world of care and strife, Leads us to a sweet Elysium To a new and better life ! Where we reck no more the seasons 88 PANAMA SONGS. What the dawning morrows bring, Where the altar-fires clothe us In perennial garb of spring In the bloom of youth eternal, In the light of God's own Being. Time, my brothers, Time is fleeting : Onward sweep the years apace ! Day by day our steps grow fainter Till we stumble in the race Lo ! our little lives are speeding Like the streams o'er mount and hill : Onward till the currents take us To that Haven peaceful still Where it's golden summer always, And there comes to us no ill! Life, my brothers, life is two-fold: Earth is but the pseudo half; Elsewhere lies the golden harvest, Here we reap the grainless chaff! Let us then be steadfast, brothers, Strive to shape our lives aright: iteep with God the Trust unbroken Keep with men the Faith we plight; Justice be the glowing Censer Truth, the Incense burning bright. October, 1892. PANAMA SONGS. 89 THE DAWN AND LUCILLE. The morn, the drowsy morn elate, Silvering the tranquil blue Stole softly through the Eastern gate The starry avenue! Sweet was the message of that morn I heard the tiny warning: That unto us Lucille was born My own Lucille with the morning My pretty Lucille; My darling Lucille Long live my Lucille of the dawning. February, 1893. TRUTH. The crystal font of Truth is dry Falsehood chants Truth her lullaby, Till Truth in Falsehood's lap doth lie Aswoon asleep. And swoons and sleepeth on and on; For Falsehood, rising on the morn, Obscures, as early mist the dawn. The light of Truth. June, 1893. 9O PANAMA SONGS. MEEMY. I saw thee pass away, my own true friend, In all the matchless glory of thy days ! I watched, with anxious eyes, the frosts de- scend About thy path, encompassing thy ways; Till all the snows, that gathered 'round thy head, Had weaved for thee, in silence, Meemy dear, On yonder Hill amongst the countless dead, The grave wherein thou sleepest and f ore'er ! Oh, how my soul has sorrow'd at thy flight ! With trembling hands, across thy placid breast I laid thy wasted arms that, many a night, In childhood days, had lulled me back to rest For all thy sweet, unselfish love for me I pay thee back a thousand tears, Meemy. August, 1893. PANAMA SONGS. QH THE STORM. The calm is broke how darkly frowns the night ! The wild winds whistle through my cottage door; And, like a thousand cataracts, foaming white, The billows shout and roar ! And deafening thunders rend the skies and crash : I hear each far-off prophesying peal ; And fitful gleams of lightning, flash on flash, The gates of Heaven reveal. Wild is the scene, and dark the eve and cold See how the freighted clouds ^on heights in- vade! No stars to-night their sweet communion hold In those vast realms- of shade f But gloom is o'er the land ; and, far and wide, The storm-clouds, frowning, o'er the Heav- ens extend; I hear the deep, weird moaning of the tide, And lo ! the rains descend. Down swoops the mighty shower amain! The Palm Trees shake and shiver in the blast ! Apace, apace the driving hurricane Sweeps o'er the land aghast, And the rain falls thick and fast. November, 1893. p2 PANAMA SONGS. THE SONG OF SILVER.* I've ben ousted by the Senate, Where I've known nor had relief Since "them" Democrats came in and sate Upon me like a thief! They held the Wake before I died, And rang my knell and tolled; They dubbed me base, my worth denied, And howled for brother Gold ! I heard the cries of: "Down the wight!" "The Metal White to hell P I stood my guns : I knew my Right, I fought, and, fighting, fell. But why the rumpus? why the rows? The long debates gee whiz ! That made the Senate and the House With lucubrations dizz 7 ? For I'm taken by the hands of all! I've been counted as of worth E'er since I left my native thrall My boundless Mother Earth! I'm courted everywhere and sought; I keep men out of debt ; * Lines inspired by the repeal of the Sherman Law in the United States Senate. PANAMA SONGS. 93 'Twos with my stuff the Cup was wrought Dunraven tried to get! Some put me in heir pockets for wealth, I'm pocketed by "sum!" I'll be the poor man's friend and health From now till Kingdom come. Yet I'm banished into exile, The desert ore to range! But, hold my friends, just wait a while You'll come to me for Change. November, 1893, THE CHRISTMAS SERENADE. + What sounds were those that stirred the morn- ing air That snatched me from the glowing hours of sleep; That, loud and shrill, voluptuous and clear, Swelled on the morn, re-echoed on the deep? 'Twas the voice of Song that, floating from afar, Blent with the murmur of the sad sea rim; I heard the plaintive moaning of the bar The sweet, exultant swelling of a Hymn ! 94 PANAMA SONGS. Then all my soul, enraptured and elate, Half dreamy caught the burden of the Song That swelled all loud before the Chaplain's gate- Sweet were the words that lighted on each tongue, That Christmas morn beneath the starlit Heaven : "Peace upon earth, and Good Will toward men." December, 1853. MIDNIGHT ODE TO THE DYING YEAR. The year is dying dying fast : I hear the Minster-Bells a-ringing. By the wayside of Time, all weary, aghast, While the world is up and singing, Lies the old year dying fast. Calm is His rurrowed rJrow and pale ; All thick the mists are gathering 'round him ; From the dreamy West, like a soft Summer gale PANAMA SONGS. 95 The West where a red, lone star grows dim Comes the Old Year's dying wail. Hark! on the midnight, hushed and still, I hear the parting footsteps of the Year All light as the ripples of a babbling rill A million torches, burning clear, Escort the Old Year down the Hill. December, 1893. MY AMBITION. All men have their own ambition I have mine: 'Tis not to soar to realms of regal heights, Nor mingle with the long glittering line Of persecuting Monarchs, Lords and Knights : I hold all these the pageant of a day! Nor yet to don me with a Mammon's Crest Is my ambition far loftier than they! I'd sing the songs my neighbors love the best; And, singing, swell the ballad loud and long. g6 PANAMA SONGS. Till some poor mortal, bending 'neath the load Of griefs and cares find comfort in my song I'd help a fallen brother on the road Be humane, charitable my name write then Upon the hearts of all my fellow-men. February, 1894, I'M GOING HOME. I'm going Home I'm going Home My boat lies moored upon the land; I hear the sound of the surging foam Break break on the golden strand! And the voice of the wind, all loud and shrill, Like the wail of the whip-po'-will, A-calling me Home "Come Home!" I'm going Home I'm going Home r To my Home o'er the crystal floods, Whence my weary bark nevermore shall roam ; But beneath sweet flowers and buds, And Myrtles that forever are green, I'll sleep till God doth gather me in At last 'neath His shining Dome. 7 PANAMA SONGS. 97 Weep not for me when I am gone To that Haven of peace and rest, Where the noon-day sun, shining on and on, Never sinks to the dreamy West ; But come with the flowers thou reapest in Spring To brighten the spot where I sleep, Darling; And leave me a-dreaming on. April, 1894. I LOVE TO WANDER. I love to wander through the trackless woods, To quaff the fragrance of the opening buds, And hear the gentle lowing of the kme The lambs' cold bleating the rustle of the pine: Sweet are those solitudes beyond the strife And rush and tumult of the City-life! I love the mountain-paths, the meadows green The sweet romantic grandeur of the scene. I love to dwell the hills and dales among To catch the spirit of the song that's sung By every vine and waving branch around To feel the God-like silence sweet profound. 9 8 PANAMA SONGS. To hold communion with the sun-kissed hills, And hear the music of the rippling rills ; For here no scandal-tongues the ears invade 'Tis sweet repose and rapture in the shade! For in those boundless paths and forests dense, All things commune with lofty eloquence. April, 1894. THE PRESENT. Oh, thou, perturbed and all too fleeting Pres- ent ! Thou keeper of the Secrets of the Past ! All swift thou goest, like the Bedouin, bent On some grave mission hurrying througH) the blast And storm and tempest of thy fading hours, That, one by one, thou givest up to swell The wealth and harvest of the Years Time's dowers Tell me, Oh, thou mysterious Present, tell! What knowest thou of the Seasons and the Years Of all the days and ages yet to be? For 'fore thy Throne, o'er whelmed with many fears, PANAMA SONGS. 99 I crouch and shudder lest the wrath of thee Should bid my captive soul, this hour, away; Tell me, for thou art Master of To-day. May, 1894. THE PAST. Oh, thou, soul-sad, irrevocable Past! Ten thousand wrecks lie scattered at thy door I dream, ofttimes, of all the things thou hast Of mine within thy illimitable store. But foremost in the ruin and the rack Of all the years now gathered 'round thy head Amidst thy grief-worn paths I see, alack ! The wasted, pallid faces of my dead. All these, Oh, thou, relentless Past and sealed When thou, the Future, Present, shall be One To thy heir-regnant Future wilt thou yield, Clothed in new life, another course to run? Or wilt thou keep forever keep them all? Tell me, Oh, Past, for I grow skeptical. May, 1894. IOO PANAMA SONGS. THE FUTURE. Oh, thou Future ! sing me thy song all low, Thou stern, mysterious Arbiter to be; What hast thou in thy giving to bestow? Or Death, or Life Eternal thy decree? I speak not of the plenitude thou hast Of living dowers and bounties to bequeath; But when the years are gathered in, at last, Oh, claim me from the "sluggish clod," and breathe, Once more, within my crumbling form and dust Life's sweet ambrosial spirit that, from the dream And bond of Death, awakening, I may burst Forth into immortal Day, beneath the gleam Of the far-fair vistas of that glorious sphere Whereof have sung the Prophet and the Seer. May, 1894. I WONDER. Ofttimes I gaze into the starlit sky, In the tranquil night, elate, And wonder if, beyond those shining orbs on high, PANAMA SONGS. IOI Another destiny for me doth wait If there, beyond the cold ethereal space, Where a thousand stars are gleaming, I'll find the Haven and the tender Grace Of God, in my last long dreaming. June, 1894. SO THEY SAY. Some Poets, they say, are jealous of each other; Though each unto each should be brother. {Let a Poet just ask, sir, of one of his crew An opinion of such and such poem or two, "They are gems!" he will answer, but whew ! Let a Critic approach him The Lord help the poem! With praises for each line and letter! That Bard, sure enough, Will declare, "It's all stuff!" That, "A child, two years old, could do bet- ter!" Tho' he not as much, I'll bet, Sir. June, 1894. IO2 PANAMA SONGS. AWAKE. Awake and up, Sydanna ! See! o'er yonder mountain brown the sun is shining. Awake and up, Sydanna, And hie with me, for my heart is sad and pining ! Pining for thee that thou sleepest thus soundly ! Hark! dost thou not hear from yonder Belfry, dear, The hour of noon a-tolling all profoundly? Awake! awake! thy new-born boy is here Here with a thousand smiles to greet thee Smiles born from out that wonder-world of pain! Here with a thousand hopes ah, woe's me! What doubt and terror flash across my brain, All weary grown with sad misgiving Misgiving born as sudden as the storm, And thunderbolts and jagged lightnings, riving Italian skies, when Summer suns are warm. Thou wakest not, Sydanna! Last evening's buds in the noon-day sun are gleaming Buds that for the love of you Yield flower fragrances distilled with dew Of last night's heaven, where every star was dreaming, PANAMA SONGS. And the moon not e'en the weeping clouds- shone through ! For Sorrow was of moon and star and me, Sweetheart, all for the love of thee. December 5th, 1894. I DREAMT OF THEE. I dreamt of thee the live-night-long : I dreamt that thou wast fair as ever! I heard thee sing the old, sweet song That we twain once had sung together. I saw thee by the front porch standing I heard those mighty billows rqar ! And as I stepped upon the landing, We weaved our wreaths of kisses o'er. Bathed was thy face in Summer's glory; Around us played our little band, While we two spake our old love-story, With heart to heart, and hand in hand. But to my dream the awakening came And swept my soul from thine asunder ! And then my life once more became The prey of grief, I'm sinking under. 104 PANAMA SONGS. For Day me bringeth nought but sorrow Night soothes my soul with balm of rest; For then I dream, perchance to-morrow I'll once more clasp thee to my breast, To say some loving words unspoken Repair those graver moods of mine ! To give thee, sweet, this one last token: I loved thee with a love all thine. June, 1895. A PLAINTIVE LULLABY. Lullaby, lullaby child, I'm in sorrow! Sleep, baby mine, till the dawn of the day; Down into Dream-land go roam till the mor- row, A-dreaming of Mother, who's far far away! Far, far away, where, in raiments of glory, She watches thy slumbers, and guards thee, my boy Far, far away but I'll tell thee the story; I'll tell how my life was bereft of its joy Bereft of its sunshine, and love unawares When Time weaves around thee his garland of years. PANAMA SONGS. 10$ Lullaby, lullaby child of the morning! List, baby mine, to the song of my heart There where the stars are all brightly adorn- ing, Is where thy sweet Mother now dwelleth, apart ! Sleep, baby mine, the sweet slumber of child- hood; No fond Mother's kisses shall ever be thine ! Nor when thou awakest from boyhood to man- hood, Wilt hear the soft ring of her voice all divine ! For the songs she had sung thee are blending above With the songs Angels sang her, and won her, my Love. ^ June, 1895. BACK TO MY ISTHMIAN HOME. Back to my Isthmian home Back to the scenes of my boyhood ! Where my weary feet, every evening roam The sad, lone paths where once she stood, In all the glories of her prime io6 PANAMA SONGS. In all her loveliness sublime! 'Twas then we twain, my Love and I, Like playmates on a Summer's day, Together wandered, hand in hand, Adown the wave-washed, pebbled strand, And the world was one sweet May. Back to my Isthmian home Alone for my Love lieth sleeping ! No exile from his Tiber-watered Rome Hath wept as I am weeping! "Back" I hear the palm trees sighing "Back," the mighty billows roar; I see the crimson sunsets dying As in the happier days of yore. And stars are born to light the skies The silver crescents burn and wane, And gladdening Summer suns arise; But my true Love comes not again! Gone is the Mother of my flock Gone my counsellor and my friend ! I stand, as on a lonely rock Some shipwrecked mariner waits his end. Back where once my Love and I Together watched the sunsets dying, And spake of days that, drawing nigh, To kindred hearts would find us hieing. But now I sit and dream alone, PANAMA SONGS. Till, in the building of the dream, I win her back all Heavenly grown; And then my Love doth living seem! But soon the dream-wove spell is broken: I feel the kiss she gave me last I hear the sad farewell, half spoken; And then the Past is mine again, With all its bitterness and pain. August, 1895. SO YOU'VE HEARD THAT MY HEART IS PLIGHTED. So, you've heard that my heart is plighted? That my love is born again? And the love that my soul first lighted Lies dead at a new Love's fane? Have you heard that the Sunsets' glories Yesterevening burnt the East? If you have, sooner heed such stories Than believe me'n love, at least! Have you heard that the Ships of the Ocean All inverted sail the blue? I0 g PANAMA SONGS. Have you heard that the Earth's swift motion Hath paused 'round the Sun's disk too? Well, yes, methinks I'll marry When Heaven swings wide for me The gates where my Love doth tarry The gates of Eternity. August, 1895. I SEE THEE NOW, SYDANNA. I see thee now, Sydanna Flushed with the glories of thy girl-days' prime ! A wealth of rose-tints on thy cheeks, Sydanna ; And in thy violet eyes, sublime, A love, that was for me, All boundless as the sea A love that loved all time. I see thee now, Sydanna Not as thou art amongst the countless dead! But as thou wast, in days of old, I see thee : A gold-curl cluster circling thy head, And on thy face divine, PANAMA SONGS. IO9 The smile that e'er was mine The smile that comforted. I saw thee last, Sydanna The light all faded from thy blue-pale eyes; The kiss of Death upon thy face, Sydanna Upon thy brow, the star of Paradise! Thy smile, not as of old; Thy dream-head aureoled With halos of the skies. I see thee now no more! And nights are mine without one guiding star, Or silver moon, or pearly cloud, Sydanna Even the days without one sunbeam are! For thou, whom Death hath Won, To me wast star and sun And moon, no cloud could mar. I'll see thee nevermore ! Nor hear the tender cadence of thy tongue, That stirred such music in my soul, Sydanna, My very life with Angel-chords seemed strung; But those glad-golden days Are dead for me always. October, 1895. IIO PANAMA SONGS. ONE YEAR A-GONE. My soul is wrapped to-night in gloom, Deep as yon clouds the heavens wear! I sit within a cheerless room, And lisp some solemn words of prayer To Him Whose Will will e'er be done- God rest her soul in peace, I prayed I weep for her whom God hath won, Until I see her all arrayed In garb of peace, all heaven-made. One year agone ; and yet meseems 'Twere yesterday my life's own light The first Love of my boyhood's dreams Passed, like the Sunsets, into Night! Yet the world laughs on, all heedless Of my sorrow, and lonely am I ! Yet sorrow is but loneliness : I lift my soul to heaven on high For comfort, but there is none nigh ! One year agone wherefore I sit To-night, my body spent with fast My soul with meditations lit; Mine eyes all wet with tears of last Year's Sorrow, communing with the dead- I call her vision out the sod; PANAMA SONGS. ill I And, when my soul's half comforted, I give her back unto the God, Who giveth taketh I keep the Rod. December 4th, 1895. MY SHIP SAILS OVER THE BLUR I've just seen the children bless them! I've just bade them all adieu; I've just kissed the children spare them; And my Ship sails over the blue. I've just left them all God keep them From Sorrow and pain and rue! I've just left them all a-weeping 'Cause my Ship sails over the blue. I've left them, my loved-ones, dreaming Of days that were brief and few Of days that were reft of sorrow, Till my ship sailed over the blue. I've left them Oh, how they wept o'er me, And clung to my arms and flew ! How my hands they chafed, and caressed me Ere my ship sailed over the blue! 112 PANAMA SONGS. I've left them I go with my sorrow Mine eyes all bedimmed with dew My soul dreaming dreams of the morrow I'll return o'er the boundless blue- March, 1896. CUBA LIBRE. Cuba libre! Cuba libre! Full many a heart is crying. For Cuba libre, Cuba libre, Her brave, bold sons are dying. For Cuba libre sings the world For Cuba sings a Singer; What though my Muse's wings are furled ?- A song soul-deep I sing her! I wing the anthem wide and free Across the boundless waters ; And, singing, pray for Liberty For Cuba's sons and daughters. Then stand ye Spartan Cubans stand On the battle field and gory, And, for the love of thy dear land, Strike for her freedom glory! To arms! To arms! your Mothers cry; To arms! your children prattle To arms ! To arms ! the drums beat high, 8 PANAMA SONGS. And the bayonets clash and rattle! They come they come, the banded train ; The foe your gite is thralling They come, they come, and the bright red rain O'er the land ye love is falling To arms ! to arms ! the widows cry ; To arms! your children prattle .Where Gomez and Maceo lie, Go pledge your souls in Battle. June, 1896. ADDRESS TO THE SKY. Oh, realm of promised bliss ! Unfold to me thy secret, hidden lore, That I may read the myriad stars that kiss Thy meek, mild face, and, reading, weep no more. Illimitable sky! To-night all prodigal of moon-wrought sheen I fill my spirit with the things that lie, Perchance, beyond thee things that once have been, PANAMA SONGS. But are no more of earth, This grief-worn planet, where the sons of men Are born to suffer, and where life is dearth, And death is nigh, and tears fall as the rain ! Art thou, O boundless space! The far, fair bourn, where the freed spirits dwell? Where kindred souls, beneath thy eternal grace, Awake and quicken, and where all is well ? I lift mine eyes to thee! And in the hurrying clouds that blot and blur Thy stars and cold, pale moon that follow me, I trace the visions of the things that were, And weave them in a dream! Then, all my soul, deep-laden and o'er- fraught With things as many as the stars that gleam, Lies racked beneath vain questionings and thought. June, 1896. PANAMA SONGS. IT 5 HOMEWARD BOUND. The winds are up with litanies, And the Sailors' hymn swells high; And the lillows free Are chanting their glee As my Ship goes sailing by. The stately prow dips gracefully In the white baptismal sprays ! And the "Don" doth speed, Like a breathless steed, O'er the fathomless, boundless ways! For my children all are watching For the signal from the sea ^ Oh, each one doth wait At the Garden Gate With wreaths of kisses for me. Then, speed my Ship o'er the waters ! Haste, haste, o'er the surging foam ! For my soul doth long For the old sweet song Of my little loved ones home. Oh! I'm sailing, sailing, sailing In the track of the sea-weed now; Il6 PANAMA SONGS. And my heart beats high At the helmsman's cry Of "Land on the starboard bow !" And the birds poise on the topmast With a message sweet for me; And the Blue Peaks rise 'Gainst my native skies Like sentinels on the sea! Oh, I'm sailing, sailing, sailing! And my big Ship hails the morn ; For her flags wave high To the land where I And my widowed-love were born. Oh! I'm sailing, sailing, sailing To my home by the Caribee, Where affections flow And the true hearts glow With a deathless love for me. July 22nd, 1896. PANAMA SONGS. 1 17 THERE'S JOY UPON THE SEA TO-DAY There's joy upon the sea to-day: See how yon billows rise, And lash my ship, And bound and skip, And mount p to the skies! And, one by one, they follow us Across the boundless sea; Till ship and wave Together rave Vie for supremacy! The white-capf ed billows sweep the decks, And dash the vigilant crew; In myriad bands -. ^ They clap their hands, And lift us o'er the blue ! Till down we go, and up we come Poised on the heaving sea : My ship nor minds Nor wave nor winds, But dashes for the lea! There's joy upon the sea to-day i Dream-clouds festoon the skies; And underneath This God-wove wreath My ship, triumphant, flies. Xg PANAMA SONGS. For every wind of heaven is up To speed my ship along To marshal me Across the sea With music and with song. The glad waves lift the hurrying keel ! The "Medway" cleaves the foam. The sun has gone, The stars are born To-morrow we'll be home! Home again with my loved ones- Oh, Helmsman, guard the helm ; My children wait With souls elate Oh! steer me safe to them. Oh, Helmsman ! safe across the deep Helmsman; the night wind moans; The tackle sings, My brave ship springs High in the stellar zones! And sways and bounds up to the night To chase the vanishing stars Speeds on her way To reach the Bay With buntings on her spars. I'm sailing back to Love again Love, boundless as the sea PANAMA SONGS. IJ 9 To Love that's kind, To Loves that bind Immortal wreaths for me To Home, to Love, to Home again To hearts all tried and true! Oh, side by side, Each one doth bide My ship across the blue. I'm dreaming dreams of 'phemeral joys, Weft of the mid-night's loom : I hear the din Of children in My Sydna-Cottage room r They're donning it with roses sweet, And fairy palms and spice With mottoes such As but Love's touch Could fashion in Device. There's joy upon the sea to-day And gladness on the shore: Six hearts aglee All wait for me To welcome me once more. Methinks I hear their tambourines' And pop-guns' wild alarms ! With hearts aglow Of Love's true flow They'll take me to their arms. I2O PANAMA SONGS. With wreaths of kisses twined for me They wait to greet me back Upon the motr Or by the door They're watching for the hack. I hear their stormy prattling Re-echo o'er the brine : And in the row, Says Lucille, "Now The first kiss shall be mine!" There's joy in many a heart to-day! My native hills loom high ; The sea-iills pass And chant their mass, And, hurrying, homeward, fly With a message to my loved-ones God bless them! hear that drum! The pop-guns' blare, The children cheer, "Hurrah ! dear Father has come." January, 1897. PANAMA SONGS. 21 A MESSAGE FROM THE SEA. Last night, there came to me A message o'er the azure sea ; So soft it came across the brine, I scarcely dreamt it could be mine An Angel's had been less divine ! It came, that eve, like some stray chord Of music, struck by the Lord ! It was to me so heaven-fair, I felt my soul dwelt otherwhere: The stars a brighter silver wore; The waves sang sweeter on the shore The full-round moon, Saint-white above, Reflected back, meseemed, the love That came that night to me In a message o'er the sea. Out of this message sweet, A thousand buds beneath my feet Burst forth into immortal flowers, That wove a dial of golden hours And days about me, till my path, With Love's delicious aftermath Was myrtle-heaped, and redolent Of Love's new Spring, whose sweetness blent With strange, soft odors, till the night, That was with moon and star sheen dight, Betime seemed one vast Araby 122 PANAMA SONGS. Of blended scents, whose witchery Did fill my soul with harmonies And silver-throated symphonies, That held my soul in subtle bond And prison of song my Muse beyond. I only felt can only feel : What have I of the gift and skill Of poesy, to frame in song The cadences my spirit throng? Aswoon with joy, of late no part Of me, I took unto my heart The message sweet, and left it there, Where love shall blossom lily-fair! Where never boreal winds, astir, Shall chill the love I have for her Nor Arctic snows my lov^ buds blight, ; But like a star, burnt in the night, Our love in bur own heaven shall glow To light our little world below I know not why I love her so ! Nor how it came to pass I met her at the dying mass Of day, beneath the trellised porch, The evening sun's expiring torch Had kissed with many a golden ray Or what compelled my feet that way? I only know that in her manse PANAMA SONGS. .133 I found me soon by some strange chance Of Fortune, or happy circumstance! In converse, many-thinged, we fell; And as I rose to part, I pressed My whole heart in her hand, for quest Of Love, methought I saw, dream-wise, Across the Heaven of her blue eyes. Then, out in the dim twilight I went Aglow was all the Occident, As though the drowsy West, low-bent, Had caught the spirit and the fire Of all my longing soul's desire ! And so, with thoughts of her I'd won, I walked home at the set of sun That eve, with hopes new love had spun I know not how this love begun ! I only know that soon- she crept' Deep in my heart, where she was kept A prisoner of Love's prison cell, Where she, forevermore, shall dwell. August, 1897. THE OPERA CLOAK. Over the waters blue, Love O'er the fathomless, boundless sea, I send thee a token of love unbroken My love undying for thee. I2 4 PANAMA SONGS. Tis a token, Love, that's woven In the loom of the heathen " Chinee" Oh, each silken thread, that the deft loom hath wed, My heart binds nearer to thee ! And so, may the folds of the Cloak, dear, A-flowing thy shoulders above, Thy delicate form, from the stress of the storm, Protect now and ever, my Love! Then, here's the Cloak, and my Song, Love My song that is born of thee! The gift and the token of Love unbroken My love undying for thee. October, 1897. WAITING. She waits for me Alethia Where the sunbeams kiss the noon'; Where the glad winds moan, In a sweet, soft tone, He cometh to his own love soon. PANAMA SONGS. She waits for me Alethia Where the Southern Cross shines through, And the sun doth vie With the light of her eye, And the sea with its violet-blue. / She waits for me Alethia Where the south-wind woos the sea Where the Palm Trees loom, And the violets bloom, She waiteth, my Sweetheart, for me ! he waits for me Alethia By the south-bound hall alone, Where, heart unto heart, We'll each impart The love that was never full known. he waits for me Alethia By the hall-way 'cross the green, For the love that's due O'er the boundless blue For the Ship that'll soon come in. ctober, 1897. 126 PANAMA SONGS. THE WIND, THE WAVE AND ALETHIA Over the fathomless, boundless sea, A wind one morn went sweeping Over the wide and refluent tide, Where an infant wave lay sleeping. And it said to the Wave, "Sweet Wave, I crave, Thou comest with me a-roaming Across the sweep of the purple deep Over the waters foaming." Quoth the Wave to the Wind, "My lute and thine, Then string to a tension ringing With songs so sweet that the sea-gulls fleet Pause raptured with our singing." And we'll sail away far out to a Bay That Love each day is limning To a lady fair, with dream-gold hair, We'll go sweet songs a-singing." And the Wave and the Wind sailed o'er t^ie brine Across the Carib fleeting, Till on a shore where Love bounds o'er, They sang their songs of greeting. MANAMA SONGS. 1 27 (Sang the iWind.) OH, lady fair, with dream- gold hair, I come o'er the woodlands speeding Over the lea, over the sea, I come at Love's own pleading. I've roamed the meadows and 'prairies through I've kissed every leaf and flower; 'And on my wing sweet spice I bring, And rose-scents for thy bower. I've come whence my brother, the North-Wind, wails And frets for thee through the gloaming Where Solitude, in brotherhood With Love, for thee sits moaning. Oh, lady fair, zvith dream- gold hair, I come with Myrtle teeming This love-wove wreath for thee, 'Aleth', I bring with love-stars gleaming. I've roamed the valleys and mountains blue I've come o'er the waters fleeting Over the vales and hills and dales, I come with Love's sweet greeting. I2 g PANAMA SONGS. '(Sang the Wave.) Love, O Life, O Love, soon wife O Love, with gold hair streaming With violet eyes that mock the skies, The stars' and crescents' gleaming! 1 come from alien lands afar; And, on my bosom heaving, I bring for thee, from over the sea, A message of Love's giving. From Love that sings of thee all through The long, sad nights and lonely, The sea near-by, where Love and I Keep fellowship and only. Z4. thousand dreams are ours, Aleth,' Of joys, reft of all sorrow Dreams of a day that Love doth say Foretell a sweet to-morrow, When every wind of heaven and I, Responsive to Love's pleading, Across the sea shall bear to thee Thy Love, triumphant, speeding. I know thy secret well, for Love and I 'At nights when stars went spooning 9 PANAMA SONGS. The palm-trees through that rim the blue Have held our sweet communing. So, lend thine ear that's my message; For now thy lips Love merits; I give thee this and this and this The kisses Love inherits. November, 1897. FAREWELL, SWEETHEART. Farewell, Sweetheart ten thousand sad fare- wells ! Over the boundless deep thou'rt speeding Far from thy alien home, where thine own Love dwells Far from the heart, that for thee's left bleed- ing! Thou wilt not see me in the morn : Thou wilt have left me all forlorn Thy ship a-sailing o'er the sea Thyself, Sweetheart, full many a mile from me! 130 PANAMA SONGS. farewell! my heart doth grieve that thou shouldst go; But when thou art gone, far away, I alone Will stray by the banks where the waters flow, To catch, from out the billows' ceaseless moan, The far-off echoes of thy voice Some message from my own Love's choice To tell me, Sweetheart, thou art well Good-bye! God bless thee, and farewell. December, 1898. THEY'RE GOING. They're going Ten thousand myrtled-wreaths go with them! With rosaries kiss-strung to overflowing, They go, and my heart with them. They're going With blessings manifold Oh! God go with them, His image mirrored in the billows' flowing, The passionate tides to stem. PANAMA SONGS. [They're going Hush! Let's sing it to the fathomless sea! Let's wing the -song unto the waves, imploring Their mercy clemency. They're going Last night I read it in the star-jewelled skies ; And something fell, belike a dew-drop glowing,, From out n., soul-sad eyes. They're going Come a prayer, a benediction and a psalm ; Winds of the North, South, East and West! cease blowing Billows of the waste, be calm. +> For they're going The tender offsprings of two loves divine They're going where two loves converge, un- knowing iThe depths of each one mine. They're going Before my door the lilies droop and weep ; And hearts are grieving too because they're going, Their loved-ones o'er the deep! 132 PANAMA SONGS. They're going! The morrow's sun'll set, and stars pearl-pale be born ; And other suns shall rise, new bride-morns wooing ; But, Oh ! the children shall have gone. December, 1901. A TOAST. Hands all 'round! And hearts while the bowls are flowing; For it's many years just twenty years Of a Love of long, long wooing. Hands all 'round! For to-night their hearts are glowing With two souvenirs the gifts of years Living dowers of God's bestowing. Hearts all 'round! Hearts filled with a true love growing! For it's many years, through nights of cafes, Their visrils we've been knowing. PANAMA SONGS. 133 Then, it's glass all 'round ! A toast and a wish ere going : Here's health to them long life to them ! Rich harvests from their sowing. February 2nd, 1902. A MEDITATION. Again new moon the heaven doth dight ; The drowsy stars, with sleep aswoon, All abdicate the throne of night Unto the Regent Moon. Peace broodeth on the azure deep The peace some hearts with joy had stirred The peace they've not will never reap Through thought or deed or word. Swiftly the days speed on and on The sunsets hoard their wealth of gold, Till in the flood of years are gone Our hopes and longings manifold. April, 1902. 134 PANAMA SONGS. I'VE} SET MYSELF A LESSON TO LEARN. I've set myself a lesson to learn : 'Tis hard; but I'm a dunce at best My slate is all a-blur and worn With Friendship's interest! Nathless I wait with tearful gaze I pierce the starry world on high, And fervently I pray that days Of better things be nigh. For in this voyage of blinding dark, Head winds and seas my Craft assail ! God send my storm-tossed, fragile bark In safety through this gale. April, 1902. NEW YORK. I've just been a guest of the waters; I'm just now from over the sea J A wife and two sons and four daughters, And a lazy coon 'companied met PANAMA SONGS. I've just seen the sights of a City That Sleep buildeth only in dreams! Palaces, Sky-Scrapers giddy, And Sunday newspapers by reams! And Autos all madly careering Through Avenues, Streets and Har-few/ And "Us" where men sit all don't-caring For ladies who stand up 'fore them. Last night I went down into Dream-land, And I took all the children with me ; We frolicked and played on a gold strand New York is the ideal for me! It's the City of Citiesthe City My soul goes out to in refrain f Oh, I would that my pen were but witty To limn her my love, as I'd fain. But I sing to her, light though my song is I dream of those months holidays! The Suppers, "Wild Rose" and "Quo Vadis," And Races a-down Sheepsh ' Bay. I've visited lands o'er far waters Seen women, the fairest of fair; But to me North America's daughters For beauty stand foremost, I swear ! PANAMA SONGS. I've travelled from Calais to Dover To Paris and London and Cork; But give me, ten thousand times over All other great Cities, New York. July,, 1902. IN DREAM LAND. Last night I dreamt the world was sorrow- grown ; That Peace, whereof so few had little part, With fruitless vigils bent, had, weary flown And furled her wings beyond the strife-full mart, Where Peace was aye ; for in this pearly realm Of Comfort-Thoughts, wherein she'd sought to dwell, Empire was hers, and swift responsive helm, That no rude tempests shook, nor aught befell. Late, failure had been her part and many tears ; For all the stormy passions of Love's soul PANAMA SONGS. [137 Peace had essayed to quell, thro' years and years, Their bondage broke fier.ce as yon Ocean's roll! And dreaming on my soul a~swoon with sleep; And yet, perchance, I might have been awake, So real the dream methought I heard, full deep, The sound of voices twain that troubled spake : A thousand plaints seemed theirs who converse held! And, peering thro' the Night, all moon-star aureoled, For knowledge of the ones thaf thus rebelled, I saw, wasted by conflicts manifold, The crouched form of Peace, all Hoary grown ! No wealth of morn illumed her tear-spent eyes 'Midst waste of night, and crumbled column- stone She sat, a-weary, down nevermore to rise. 13? PANAMA SONGS. Dreaming until the dream seemed half a Creed I turned and gazed, when, lo! before Peace stood Love, that once was Love, but since had mutinied, Severe bereft of Love's beatitude! Love spake no more to Peace, grown idol- dumb; For all Love's Words seemed kindled into flame, That silent stirred Love's soul to mad delirium, Unconscious whose the praise and whose the blame. Dreaming, weeping, dreaming weeping in- tense ! I dreamt that Peace lay dead, that Love, heart-broke And whelmed with tears, too late, of penitence, Beside dead Peace sat down, when lo! I woke! September, 1902. PANAMA SONGS. THE MYSTIC NINE. He's lily-fair, With golden hair His eyes, soft-blue skin, mellow; He's a prize-show boy His parents' joy; In sooth, he's a lovely fellow! He came to us at the hour of two On the third day o'f September To swell my e'er increasing crew By one more little lember. Oh ! he came, the sweet lad, And all hearts are glad E'en the stars sing a song of greeting! And the waves on the shore Chant of one life more From God's, to our own 'keeping. September, 1902. THE BALLAD OF A COAL MINER. "(To Mr. Capital.) So, you've lost once more, Mr. Capital? You've lost, and you'll lose again! For Labor's not the Chap at all To be treated with disdain I4O i PANAMA SONGS. It is true I'm but a poor Coal Miner-^ You're king of your millions, ten! But I'm Labor, and a strong Combiner For the Rights of my fellow-men! Can you burn gold-bars, Mr. Capital, When the weather is all a- freeze ? Can you run your Trains or Ships at all When the Coal-shafts stand at ease? ' You're freezing to death, Mr. Millionaire! But what is your wealth 'gainst Coal? All your Steamers' dates are out of gear, And your Yachts at anchor roll. You've lost, and the strife is ended We've won would you grudge us? say, You've never in your life descended A shaft with your men one day! _ You live on your Lordly rations, And banquet on your dream-grape wines, Oblivious of the sad privations Of the men in your dank coal mines ! You've lost, and it's past here's my hand, Sir- Here's my hand, though the blame is yours ; PANAMA SONGS. 141 Here's my hand that has won for you lands, Sir, And your millions by the scores. October, 1902. SO LET IT BE. Well, perchance 'tis best: Friendships they come and go Like wave-breaks on old Ocean's breast Lost in the ebb and flow ! And so let it be! Oh, I ween it boots not ! For Truce is only Truce to me When everything's forgot. And yet, hath he aught Aught to forgive forget? I've never wronged him in one thought In deed or one word yet. Yes, we once were friends Friends staunch and tried and true; But then the flame that forged twain ends In One, is dead in Two. 142 PANAMA SONGS. Coffin the corpse, then; And dust to dust heap high! I sing no dirge nor weep Amen To me he's dead for aye. December, 1902. NIGHT. Out of the dreamy West, Night came again The heavens surpliced in the white of stars, And moon that dropped soft showers of argent rain O'er the glad waters and the moaning bars. Musing I sat, then 'round my day-worn soul I drew the peaceful pinions of the Night, And left my longings to the stern control Of Fate and looked back to a fallen height ! I made no murmur; but watched the white moon wane Beneath a cloud no harbinger of calms! Then, as a Mother soothes her child in pain, The meanwhile-darkness soothed my soul's alarms. PANAMA SONGS. 143 Comforted, I gave my soul up to the Night ' A thousand martins twitter on the trees; The billows glistened 'neath the moon-beams white Sweet was the music 'neath of the bugle- breeze. Then, back I took my soul again, and dreamed Dreamt of my loved-ones o'er the boisterous brine ! I I traced each lineament till each face seemed Around me gathered, with their loves divine. The moon waned; the stars in heaven grew blind; The waves lay pillowed on a peaceful sea; Hushed was the music of the North East wind The martins dreamt bird-dreams, and I well, ah! me. December, 1902. 144 PANAMA SONGS. NEW YEAR'S EVE, (1902-1903.) Comrades, draw your chairs around me Come a-near, and let's review, O'er this wassail-bowl and holly, Grim old Nineteen Hundred, Two- Grim with War and burning Lavas Grim with Death, oh ! Mount Pelee ! Forty thousand Aves Aires, Soared in vain to heaven and thee! We, too, home have had our sorrow : Crimson rains 've fallen like dew ! I, myself, have had my morrows And my days and nights of rue! But it's New Year's Eve, my Comrades; Brim the wassail-bowl again! Sing until the Halls of Decades Tremble with the glad refrain Sing but, hark ! Old Year is dying : Hark the echoes o'er the sea Of the Church Bells prophesying New Year, Nineteen Hundred, Three ! PANAMA SONGS. 145 Hush the Song and cease the revel! One tear to our kindred dead; Toss to absent ones a wassail: Toast the land our footstepb tread. Drink to Friendships purer truer, Round this Ring that's almost bare: Hands are missing, friends are fewer, Thus the Circle thins each year. Pass the bowl ! but, man, you're weeping ! Did the music of the bells Stir your tears, awake some sleeping Memories of sad farewells? Did you wander back to. Childhood ? Friends, I've long since walked that way ; For Old Time my brow has' furrowed, And my locks have grown all gray. Hands all round ! the time is flying- Draw the Circle nearer near; Hark the bells Old Year is dying Dead, my Comrades ! Happy New Year. 1902-1903. 146 PANAMA SONGS. A CAT'S OBITUARY. 'Twas only a Cat; But what of that ? We loved her and cared her well ! She was Lucille' s joy, And Ivan's toy, And Leonie's Cinderell'. A Chair was her bed, Where she slept and fed Manoeuvred in mimic fights! She was no cat-thief, For she had roast-beef At morning, noon and nights. She was full tame Well, she had no name Baptismal one, I mean; "Pussy," "pussy" was she To Leonie and me To Lucille she was Queen. But there came a day, I'll mind alway, She picnicked with us by Train, Till at Hindi nigh, The folks screamed high, "The cat has a fit again!" PANAMA SONGS. 147 I had just read done A New York Sun :To the Kit at once I hied; I found her aswoon In a fit, and soon In my hand the poor kit died ! So, up on a hill, Where the winds distil The scent of Orange and pine, I built her a grave Dear Pussy! I crave A cat-heaven peace be thine. March 15th, 1903. JUST A WOMAN'S WAY. She'll be very kind to you when you are sick She'll be kinder yet to you when you are dead: She'll forget your cranky notions very quick, And forgive you for the selfish life you led. She'll feel, too late, you loved her in a way She never knew nor tried to understand I She'll be sorry for the things she used to say, And she'll yearn to feel the pressure of your hand. 148 PANAMA SONGS. She'll weep for you, but not for very long; For soon another one will take your place ; And she'll sing to him the sweetest kind of song, As she holds him in her tender, warm em- brace. For few brief months, but just for Fashion's sake, She'll don the epicedial mockery, Whose place the gold and crimson soon will take, As one scene takes another's in a comedy! She'll be happy with her newest, latest rings To the next man, how she loves him she'll confess : Oh, she'll tell him : "You're an Angel without wings" As her new toy to her bosom she doth press. She'll soon forget the grave upon the Hill ; And weeds will run where flowers were wont to grow She'll think of him no more who used to thrill Her heart at his home-coming and saddened as he'd go. May, 1903. PANAMA SONGS. TO SIR THOMAS LIPTON. So, you've come again, Sir Lipton, A-chasing your pet-dream ? You've come again, for you're hipped on "America's" Cup, 'twould seem. For it's thrice you've crossed the ocean To battle for the Cup, And it seems you have no notion Of giving your pet-dream up! k With Shamrocks One and Two you came And now you've brought the Third; But she will have no easy game: "Reliance" is a "bird!" A dream, a swan on the water! A fiend till she is done ! If you don't look out she'll slaughter Your "Shamrock Third" each run. In Twice times One you got it where The chicken got the ax! In Three times One, Sir Tom, beware Of how you make your tacks ! For the Yankee Boat's a demon! A holy terror 'mongst Yachts! 150 PANAMA SONGS. She has no lubbers for sea men, But "Salts" and lightning knots. I am a true born Britisher, And yet I've gloried in Your two defeats, but now I'm for And with you in this spin! For of the Sportsmen I have met You are the King, I trow Dunraven tried his best to get The Cup got left you know. I'm betting all I have on earth This time, Sir Tom, on you; So whistle, Sir, for all you're worth, And wake the winds up do ! And spread your canvas forward aft, And warn jour bloomin' crew, They'll have to lick the Yankee Craft, And lift the Cup for you. August, 1903. PANAMA SONGS. THE SLATE'S REDEMPTION, Last night, I sat me down full wearily Dreamt of my heart-aches, sorrows and my pain! And yet, in sooth, I looked more cheerily Upon the world saw one bright star again. I sat me down, and counted all the years Of "Gold-barred" silence 'twixt my Love and I ! I took my slate again reck'd up th' arrears Of my late life, that seemed to multiply. Musing, I watched the goblin-figures rise Before my vision, westerning of late; I did not chide myself, nor sermonize ; I only sought redemption for my slate. Nor sought that very long ; for Love, to whom I poured my soul, in full, out yesterday Confessed my secret-sorrow, and the gloom That tore my heart, had, bless her! found the way. And so, through Love, and one true Achates, I lift, to-night, the burthen off my slate, And fill my spirit with the rose-release, Triumphant Love hath strewn before my gate! 152 PANAMA SONGS. I make no murmur, nor complain e'er more; But watch the world swing 'round a golden ring Of Time and space, until each dawn doth pour Its flood of sunshine and bird-caroling Till Night, a starry thing of wonder is! Belike, in sooth, the Bethlehem of old The West, a-glow with dream cloud argosies A-sailing freighted with the Sunset's gold! I dream no more of melancholy things, Nor hold sad councils with the nights my soul, Belike some bird, from far, long wanderings Through darkest space, at last doth find a goal Of Morning all a-flowered with delight, And sweet idlesse, and golden harvesting Past are the weary longings of the Night, And dawn steals o'er me, hope a-blossoming ! Dreams within dreams of future vows are mine! The Past of many a melancholy day, And sleepless nights and tears I now consign Unto the Fast, and cast my slate away! PANAMA SONGS. 153 For now, tny heart is like the thrush's light, And buoyant full, and prodigal of song! Free as the Nightingale's, that woos the night With cadences, and thrills the starry-throng. And so, I sit me down in sweet content, And tell a golden rosary of days! I look no more towards the Occident, Nor weep me blind, nor plead for Time's delays, As once I did when all my slate was blurred With promises that filled me with unrest! For now, with every man my plighted word And faith I've kept with interest on interest ! Yet Time was, dark nigt t my ship did envelop ; But once upon the voyage, meihought I saw A friend-beam I stretched my hand out for a rope, And caught not e'en the shadow of a straw. And yet, perchance, the glamour and the glow, I reck'd that night and counted as a star To guide my boatling o'er the depths, was lo ! A sneer to lure me to some sandy bar. Nathless, my boat, triumphant, rode the tide: The stormy passion of the night soon past! 154 PANAMA SONGS. Propitious winds my sail did fill with pride; I steered for port I'm anchored there at last. October, 1903. A BIRD SONG. There's a little bird that's sleeping 'Neath the cold stars of to-night ; There are tender hearts a-weeping For a bird-soul that's a-flight! There's an empty cage that's swinging To the music of the breeze ; There are bird-songs ringing ringing In mine ears bird-memories! There's a feed that's left unfinished There's a drink yet in her Cup ; But the ho x , that undiminished In our hearts, we've given up ! There's a Hook that, morn and evening, Woos my vision to a door With a vain trust and believing I shall see her as of yore. PANAMA SONGS. '155 There is sorrow in the bird-land In bird-heaven, one bird more; There's a blessing into my hand That she left ere all was o'er. There's a dream my soul's possessing: That, had I but known bird-lore, I had read, ofttimes, a blessing In the bird-songs, now no more. November, 1903, THERE ARE. There are some people 'on this Ecirth With greeds all beyond compare! You may give them every cent you're worth And more they will want, I swear ! You may do for them the Ninety-Nine If you don't complete the Hundred, Your soul unto Hades they'll consign For the One that you have plundered ! And, figure it out what way you will By Measures, Weights or Fractions PANAMA SONGS. If you want to lose your friends, just deal With them in money-transactions. For, it seems to me, for all you do For friends, when troubles come 'round, The most you get is a kick or two, And "cusses" just by the pound! But I take my kicks and "cusses" with A graceful resignation, And bind them up in a shameful wreath Of rank Depreciation. November, 1903. IN LOVE-LAND. Give me my harp once more, Ere yet my dreams are run : I have a song I'd sing before This little book is done A little song of life Of Death and deathless Love I'd sing in this, my garden, rife With blessings from above! PANAMA SONGS. Give me my harp, Sweetheart, And kiss each string that, so, From out their depths, with magic-art, My Muse's numbers flow. For here, within these gates Of Love's enchanted bower, I'd tell in song what Love relates To me in Bud and flower In Bud, a clustered-three That Love, ne^v-born, hath doled; In Flower, just six left unto me All by the Love of old ! And so, I sit in this Small Kingdom of my own, Contented with each living bliss, And leave the worl * alone. For in this peace- jeweled spot, Immortal wreaths are mine; And Myrtle and Forget-Me-Not Two Loves around me twine. Here, there is no morrow That Time swings 'round a-new, But a sun-beam doth not borrow Out of eyes of heaven-blue; 158 PANAMA SONGS. Nor yet is there one night That ever darkness mars, But ebon eyes are there, full bright, To substitute the stars! Musing, I sit and count Love's precious harvesting Some flushed with life at Youth's fresh fount- Others, just blossoming. Yet, here, not only Bud And flower about me bloom: The Weeping Willows shed their flood Of tears o'er many a tomb! By these, I sit me down, Soul-deep in revery, 'And plant on each a deathless crown Of loving memory ! And here, where Winter's snow Hath fallen thick and fast, I sit and watch the We'st a-glow With all my suns amassed. For on my faded brow, Old Time hath chiselled deep The years that are upon me now In numbers all a-heap! PANAMA SONGS. J 59 And now, Sweetheart, to thee I leave this harp of mine Take it and count it as part of me, And, when I've crossed the brine, Come sometimes, Sweet, and wake Upon each silent string An echo of my voice, that take As song to thee I'd sing. THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. APR 2 LD 21-100m-7,'39(402s) 314270 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA UBRARY YC159309