The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1881-04-28
| to contain but it did not. 1t
was mineral water, Of which he par.
took copio usly for severe kidney com.
/ ,,7oinf
a Poet from Deadwood.

a Poet from DeadwO0d.
7 yesterday afternoon the door of the
editorial rooms swung slowly open,
and a bushy head appeared, followed
IN a short time by the balance Of a
| man whose general outline indicated
that he was from the frontier.
- Is the Tycoon in % he asked.
The who % inquired the only edi.
tor in the room who was not busy just
then.
The Tycoon, the Shah, the main
guy,-the boss, you know
s." Oh, you mean the editor. No.. he
is not around at present. Is there
any thing we can do for you!''
/ reckon there might be, Colonel.
Some time ago your paper printed
something about a new racket in the
shape of practical tournament, n
offered prizes N things for the best
verses. Am I singin' on the right
key, boss e.
81 believe there was something of
that kind published replied the
person addressed, shut it was only in
fun
g IN sorry to hear that, pard,'' con-
tlnued the visitor; for ever since
leavin' Deadwood I've been thinkin'
how soft things Wos comm for me to
have prizes like them offered, N kick
in because there was one class, for
children, in which I was bound to be
barred. I'm powerful sorry it was
only in fun
Are you poet 2" inquired another
member of the staff.
Il am that, boss. Probably dom t
look it, but when it comes to exercis-
in the Muse, take what cake there
is on the dump. and any stray biscuits
that the shaft contains. I'm a two
tenner when you talk poetry. and do
not let it escape your memory
''WhOm do you consider our best
poet!' asked another man.
s'They are all on the same level.
From Shakespeare TO Milton, from
Dryden to Burns, from Wordsworth
to Longfellow, there amt no differ
ence. Gimme the tools'n I kin chop
out anything from a sonnet by Shak-
speare to an obituary by G. w. Childs
an never turn a hair. Why, boss, to
duplicate most poetry amt any exer-
else for me; it's just as easy as whit
Tim toothpick out of a match. All
you've got to do is to read the works
Of a poet and see how he's gated.
Then you go right ahead and do the
same thing. Git back to Shakespeare
time, f'rinstance. Most all the boys
in them days wrote their poems in
the same kind of time that a pony
makes when galiopin' over a hard
road-kind of short'n quick, with jest
about eight jumps to the mile. Take
Sir Walter Raleigh. I s'pose you
remember Walt-slung his yaller
overcoat down in the mud fer Queen
Elizabeth to step on, you know
The editors silently admitted their
recollection of the gentleman.
$ Now take this pome, The
Nymph's Reply N see if it don't
sound just like a broncho goin' down
street, when you read it little fast:
SO If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherds tongue,
Ihese pretty pleasures might me move
10 live with thee, and be thy love-
See how she jumps, boss? But
Christopher. MarloWe. who broWsed
around from 1854 to 1893, wasn't no
better, not bit. Listen at him when
he's tellin' what the pash nit shepherd
said to his love:
Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove,
That valleys, groves and hills and fields,
Woods, or sleepy mountain yields
:" Notice how easy she gallops along,
'cept right at the finish, where the
boss stumbled little Its jest pie to
reel off stuff like that. ..... /. -. II
1t does seem easy, doesn't it - OBJ
served one editor to another
Easy, bosse Why, it's jest cakes
and maple syrup to a man that drops
on the game. I tell you, it's a first
base hit every time, with chances of a
home-ru now'n then,-how's the
White Stockings - this to a short.
haired young man with four fingers
out of joint, who came into the room.
You bet I'm posted on basel ball !;
got picters Of the hull nine fur four
seasons back glued up in my cabin, n
won seventeen ounces of gold-dust on
the championship last year,
"But about the poets,' suggested
an editor.
'sAll right, boss; I'm harkin' back
to their trail agin. Look at 'em along
about the fust of this century. Why,
barrin' Byron N two or three more,
the most of 'em couldn't even write
things that would read smooth. I can
show you whole reams n stacks Of
PONIES with a metre that sounds like
a lame camel tryin' to run away. Six
dollars dozen would be a high price
for most of them ducks. They're like
them maccaroni-eating painters they
call 'Ole Masters Why, 80 per cent
of those fellows wouldn't be allowed
to stripe wagons in country paint
shop these times?' %
8. You are quite an iconoclast,'' OBJ
served an editor.
"Never mind what I am, sonny"
replied Deadwood, as he gently toyed
with forty-two calibre revolver that
hung at his belt. 81 dislike to kill a
man on his own ranch, but I mustn't
be sassed.''
The editor explained the meaning
Of the word, and the Modified West
erner proceeded: 'sSome folks prob'ly
think there is poets that have style
Of their own, but / know BETTER
ssA no x1o,, :, o1 will, &1,o