Page 75 - Poetry-Books

Will ever make a poet!
No, no, we’ll rhyme and chime it still
In that good old-time fashion
Which gave instead of rule and saw
Just melody and passion.

“First –catch your thought, then bend the ear
And set the lyre repeating
The tunes which still through earth and sky,
Through heart and brain, go beating:
The rhythms to which the billows sway
And which the flowers nod in,
To which the planets circle aye
And the first stars praised God in!”

Ah, no—too late! The day’s gone by:
Our simple themes romantic
Might on Parnassus win a place,
But scarce will suit The Atl-nt-c!
Who breaks the lock-step of the gang
Is lashed for being venture-y,
Or at the best will hardly find
His verses fin du C-nt-ry.

Wait, if you will, for better days;
Ambrosia and nectar
Are cheap, but bread and butter dear;
Starvation is no specter.
Leave nature’s music to the wind,
The ocean wave and birdie:
The lyre is out of date—I mean
To buy a hurdy-gurdy!

— Alice Williams Brotherton (Century Magazine, 1893)

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