The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-04-25
Hartford Courant.l
Finch, the Poet.

Graduates of the principal American coll
leges, whose student days have fallen within
the last quarter of "a century, will recall one of
the songs they used to sing, entitled 1.-THE
Smoking Song" which begins:
Floating away, like the fountains spray,
Or the snow-white plume of maiden,
The smoke-wreaths rise to the star-lit skies
With blissful fragrance laden.
and of which the refrain is:
Then smoke away till golden ray
Lights up the Dawn of the morrow:
For cheerful cigar like shield will bar
The blows OF care and sorrow.
This song is perhaps the most striking poem
in English literature which the theme Of tobac-
co has inspired; and it is, at the same time,
almost the one lyric, remarkable from liter
ary point of view. which American student life
has produced. Its author is Mr.. Francis NJ
Finch, OF the Yale class of 1Si9, who, as is the
case In many other notable instances which
might be cited, has subordinated his literary
tastes to devotion to his profession. A we'll
known member of the bar IN western New
York, he has, however, not completely abau-
doned his worship of the Muses. for that Of
Themis, as two lyrics of wide popularity,
"The Blue and the Gray" and Nathan Hale"
abundantly evince. 'The Smoking Song" was
an almost impromptu effort Daring one Of bis
last years at Yale 1t CHANGED that the members
of his college society-t5e Psi Upsilon-were
blttluB III tueit Cndptot-IOOui blttl tn6 ClOso OL
one Of their meetings, engaged in smoking,
chatting and singing student songs. In an
interval of comparative silence member sud-
denly remarked, "We've lots of drinking
songs. why don't somebody write q smoking
soDg?" Mr.. Finch, whose facility at versif-
cation had always been remarkable, at once
withdrew into a quiet corner and in few
minutes produced the first three verses of
"The Smoking Song" written to the melody
of what was then great favorite, Charles
Fenno Hoffman's "Spsrkling and Bright"
These were at once sung with immense de-
light, The next morning these stanzAs were
revised and the tour remaining ones written
The subsequent history of the song was equally
notable. 1t has been published both in Eng
!ish and California journals, ascrlbed, in the
former case to a well-known English writer,
and in the latter to Pacific bard CT less lame.
In both cases graduates of Yale, residing in the
two regions named, at once communicated to
the public journals the necessary correction,
: giving the name of the real author. Some
wears ago new air Of great merit, aud far bet
ter adapted to the words than Sparkling and
Bright" originated &C the University of Virgil
pis, and to this melody il is now generally
ty OF the society for which it was written, and
became the common possession OF the whole
student world. In our colleges IL is still the
most popular and the most universally heard
of the better class of undergraduate songs: and
will probably always maiRtain its place as a
favorite. Mr.. Finch has produced several
other class, anniversary and society lyrics fa-
miliar to the ears OF ale mel. He has Just
written another entitled, '"The Old Mems
Song" which Is the spuua convention soug for
this year Of the Psi Epsilon fraternity, and
which Will be first sung at its convention in
New Haven next month, at which the author
! is to be present.