OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Let me live as I was born to live ...

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. November 1928; titled with the first line in COLLECTED POETRY
Let me live as I was born to live * * * *
I will be a jester in the court of King Life.
I will rattle my bells until their sound frightens me
And I hide under the royal couch.
I will waste years in trying to find a process to
Hammer gold out of the rainbow,
Hunt whales on the great Sahara desert
And dive to the bottom of the ocean in search for camels.
I will wear out my life climbing a mountain
And when I am sitting on the top,
I will look back and sing praises of the valley
Which I did not see while I was in it
For looking up the mountain.
I will chant my desire to return to the valley,
But I will not go, if Hell freezes.
I will drop toads into all the high silk hats I can find,
Set a bare-rumped harlot on a pedestal and worship her,
Put on blankets and feathers and pretend to be an Indian
When company comes.
I will drag a girl to my couch, handle her genitals until
She catches fire, and then when it is all over,
I will glare and say, You strumpet, you have betrayed me.
I will toil for years to build up a fortune
Which I will then trade for a telescope on a whim.
And I will weary of this in a moment and give it
To a blind beggar and all men will sing of my generosity.
I will weep because Lazarus died and immediately
Thereafter, pass a freezing beggar on the street.
When I am wealthy I will scrape and save
And when I am penniless I will borrow from usurers
And throw the coins to the birds.
I will laugh and sing because of lone gone Yesterdays,
And will see no glory in Today or Tomorrow.
I will store up matches to start fires in Hell,
And die protecting a whore’s virginity.
________________________________
Note: * * * *The line of asterisks appears as published in Collected Letters, presumably as Howard wrote it.
This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# Life is a cynical, romantic pig ...

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. February 1930; titled with the first line in COLLECTED POETRY
Life is a cynical, romantic pig;
Life is a jackass on a slender twig;
Life is an elephant upon a fig;
Life is a lobster with a yellow wig.
—Philosophy of Hoolyu Li Awn.
This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# Love is singing soft and low ...

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. December 1928; titled with the first line in COLLECTED POETRY
Love is singing soft and low,
Beauty sets the lover’s goal;
Life’s a lot of hooey, so
Answer soon, God damn your soul.
This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# Mingle my dust with the burning brand...

Sent in a letter to Howard's friend Tevis Clyde Smith, August 28, 1925. First published in The Collected Letters of Robert E. Howard, Volume 1, 2007. Ballad stanza.
Mingle my dust with the burning brand,  Scatter it free to the sky Fling it wide on the ocean's sand,  From peaks where the vultures fly.
Let it drift with the drifting tide,  And flit o'er the artic floe, Let it spin and ride where the snow-storms hide  And the wild ice-field winds blow.
Let it mingle with desert sand,  And the waves of a tropic sea, When the roaring surge sweeps o'er the strand  And the ocean winds shout free.
This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# Moonlight and shadows barred the land ...

This poem has no title; it is referred to by its opening line.
Moonlight and shadows barred the land; Night breathed like some great living thing. The Seeker rested chin in hand And heard the night wind's whispering. He heard like songs of vanished men The waving branches answer then. "Lords of the seas of silence, old as the word of God, We are the ancient people, haters of chain and rod."
This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# Mother Eve, Mother Eve, I name you a fool ...

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. January 1928; titled with the first line in COLLECTED POETRY
Mother Eve, Mother Eve, I name you a fool,
you sweated red blood for the rise of the race,
Oh, woodlands of Eden; the trees waving green,
sward that was soft to your slim, naked sole,
The murmuring river as friendly and cool
as the woods where you first led young Adam a chase,
Where to this very day might you have been seen,
if you only had reckoned about birth control.
This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# Noah was my applesauce ...

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. November 1928; titled with the first line in COLLECTED POETRY
Noah was my applesauce,
And he got on a bun;
There were wildcats in his dignity
And crabs upon his gun.
He fell to heights uxorious
Beyond Hell’s farthest mule;
Fate his girl has often said
How lengthy was his tool.
Lilith she’s my cummerbund
Until my toadfrogs fly,
Most of her is picaroon
And all of her is pie.
Lilith she’s my saddle girth,
I tell her how to slink,
While someone in the stove remarks:
“The rainbow’s on the blink.”
Bacchus was my banner,
Nimrod was my rye,
Each of them has rhymed and sung
As how jackasses fly.
But when the elephants have come
Limburger will not smell.
But who in padded cells will care?
And I’ll be in a cell.
This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# Now bright, now red, the sabers sped ...

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith, June 22 1923; titled with the first line in COLLECTED POETRY
Now bright, now red, the sabers sped among the racing horde,
The Afghan knife reft Hindu life and leaped the Rajput sword.
Oh, red and blue, the keen swords flew where charged the hosts in whirls,
And as in dreams rang loud the screams of ravished Hindu girls.
And through the strife, where sword and knife clashed loud on spear and shield,
With sword in hand, Yar Ali Khan rode o’er the battle-field.
From heel to head the chief was red, the blood was not his own.
In crimson tide his sword was dyed that had so brightly shone.
This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# Old Faro Bill was a man of might...

This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
Sent in a letter to Howard's friend Tevis Clyde Smith, circa November 1928. First published in The Collected Letters of Robert E. Howard, Volume 1, 2007. Variation on the ballad stanza, with short stanzas compressed into one long stanza.
Old Faro Bill was a man of might  In the days when the West was young, He drank a gallon of booze each night—  The toughest galoot unhung! Oh, some men shrink at the sight of blood!  Bill roomed in a cougar's lair And for tobacco he carried a cud  Of Mexican prickly pear! Old Faro came of a wolfish breed,  When he was a suckling child He laughed at the marahuana weed  For he said that is was too mild. Old Faro he was a buffalo  When it came to rough-and-tumble, He laid the toughest battlers low  With never a miss or fumble. Some men stammer and halt and pause  At the sight of lover's moons, But Faro married a hundred squaws  And a couple of octaroons.
This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# Out in front of Goldstein’s ...

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. December 1928 (“Salaam: / Out in front of Goldstein’s ...”);titled with the first line in COLLECTED POETRY In addition to the opening 8-line song parody of “East Side, West Side (The Sidewalks of New York),” there are also seven two-line choruses scattered throughout the letter, which are included here as well. Fans of Solomon Kane should note that he makes a (rather uncharacteristic) appearance herein!
Out in front of Goldstein’s, over by the Loop,
Near Benito’s fruitstand we formed a smelly group.
Rachel led the dancing with Salvador Vendetto
While Solly worked the jew’s-harp on the sidewalks of the ghetto!
East Side! West Side! All around the town!
Everything is kosher, Naples bridges falling down!
Jews and wops together, me and Ysbel Levetto,
We danced a Yid gavotsche on the sidewalks of the ghetto.
East Side! West Side! Me and Nellie O’Hell!
We danced some devil dances on the walks of Israel!
East Side! West Side! Me and Marilyn Damn,
We danced the light bombastic on the walks of Adjiram!
East Side! West Side! With Harriet Beecher Stowe,
We danced a negro juba on the walks of Jericho.
East Side! West Side! Me and Stevie Stork,
We danced a Yid gavotshe with Rachel Stein, in Cork.
East Side! West Side! Me and Michael O’Hod
We danced the light fantastic on the hips of Thelma Todd.
East Side! West Side! Me and Solomon Kane,
We danced the light fantastic on the thighs of Sally Blane.
East Side! West Side! Me and Michael Shove,
We danced the light fantastic on the hips of Billie Dove.
This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# Out of Asia the tribesmen came ...

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith, July 30, 1923; titled with the first line in COLLECTED POETRY
Out of Asia the tribesmen came,
With speed of the wind, with sword and flame,
Never such conqueror, slayer of man,
Witness, oh, shades of Genghis Khan.
This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# Rebel souls from the falling dark...

Sent in a letter to Howard's friend Tevis Clyde Smith, November 1928. First published in The Collected Letters of Robert E. Howard, Volume 1, 2007. Variation on a ballad stanza, with two stanzas compressed into one.
Rebel souls from the falling dark,  What are the crowns you gain? The quenching night of a dungeon stark  And the brine of the rusty chain. The taunt and the tang of the bitter blood,  And the grim of the grisly bars, The friar's chant and the hangman's hood—  And a star amid the stars!
This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# Romona! Romona! ...

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. November-December 1928; titled with the first line in COLLECTED POETRY
Romona! Romona!
The stars gleam above!
I love you but love
Is a lot of bologna.
This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# Sappho, the Grecian hills are gold ...

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. November-December 1928; titled with the first line in COLLECTED POETRY
Sappho, the Grecian hills are gold,
And Grecian girls are not,
But I was bred on Devon wold
And rode with Lancelot.
This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# Apprehension

This is a disambiguation page. It lists works that share the same title. If an article link referred you here, please consider editing it to point directly to the intended page.
* “Apprehension,” a short story by Joseph Payne Brennan
* “Apprehension,” a poem by Hannah Flagg Gould
* “Apprehension,” a poem by Harriet McEwen Kimball
* "Apprehension," in Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed., 1911)
# Scarlet and gold are the stars tonight...

Sent in a letter to Howard's friend Tevis Clyde Smith, November 1928. First published in The Cross Plainsman, 2004. Ballad stanza with rhythmic variations.
Scarlet and gold are the stars tonight,  The river runs silver below the bridge— But the hour shall come when the dawn grows white  Over the eastern ridge.
Your face is a dim white flower of night,  In your arms unheeded the hours fall— But the dawn makes hearts grow strange and light,  And the far lands call.
This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
# The shades of night were falling faster...

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith, April 14, 1926; titled with the first line in COLLECTED POETRY
The shades of night were falling faster,
The cows were coming from the pasture.
When through an outland city went
A youth whose garments were a tent.
His others hung within a glade
Filched and concealed by a coy maid.
This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse