The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-03-05
DrOpning Into Poetry.

THE EXCHANGE EDITOR DOES IA NATURALLY
AT you please, sir" said the young lady
tlmldly, as the exchange editor handed her a
chair, III have composed few verses, or par
TALLY composed them, and | thought you
might help me finish them and then print
them. Ma says they are real nice as tar as
they go, and pa takes the Eagle every day.
She was handsome creature with beautiful
blue eyes, and a GROWING glory as yellow as
golden rods. There was an expectant look on
her face, a hopclessness that appealed to the
hoiest emotions, and the exchange editor
made up his mind not to crush the longing OF
that pure heart if he never struck another
lick.
MAY show you the poetry" continued
the ripe, red mouth. you will see that |
couldn't get the last lines of the verses, and if
you would please be 80 kind as to help me"
Help her! though he had never read a line
of poetry. the exchange editor felt the spirit of
the divine art flooding his soul as he yielded to
the bewlderlng music. Help her! Well, he
should smile.
"The first verse runs like this" she went on
taking courage from his eyes:
GLOW softly sweet the autumn air
The dying woodland fills
And Nature turns from restful care"
"To ambitious pills." added the exchange
editor with jerk. "Just the thing. II rhymes,
and it's So You take anybody now. Half
the people you meet are"
III suppose you know best" interrupted the
young lady. IL hadn't thought of it 10 that
way, but you have a better idea ofsuch things.
Now the second verse is like this:
THE dove-eyed kline upon the moor
Look tender, meek and sad;
While from the valley comes the roar"
"Of the matchless iiver-pad" roared tie
exchange editor. There you get 1t. That
finishes the second so as to match the first 1t
combines the fashions with poetry and carries
the right idea home to the fire side. If only
had your ability in starting verse, and my
genius in winding it up, I'd quit the shears
and open in the poetry business tomorrow"
Think :" asked the fair young lazy. at
don't strike mo as keeping UP the theme
you don't wautto. You want to break the
theme here and there The reader likes it the
better. ., yes! where you keep up the theme
1t gets m0notonouS."
perhaps that's So" rejoined the beauty
Frightening up. 81 didn't think of that. Now
I'll read the third verse"
"How sadly droops the dying day
As night springs from the glen,
And moaning twilight seems to say"
THE old mans drunk again, wouldn't do
would it," asked the exchange editor. some
nONy eISG NIDtc tldt, Suu We Lul1uL Ut dCCtlscu
af plagiarism. We must have this thing orig
inal. suppose We Say-now just suppose We
say, Why did | spout my benY"
is that new" inquired the sweet, rosy lips
AT least never heard 1t before. don't know
what it means"
New? Indeed it's new. Zen Is the Pres
bytcrian name Tor ovcrcoa,, and spout means
10 hook. Why did / spout my benz? means
Why did shove my topper That's just what
twilight would think OF first, you know. O,
don't be afraid, that's just immenscv
well, I'll leave it to you," said the glorious
girl, with a smile that pinned the exchange
editors heart TO his spine. This is the fourth
verse:
The merry milk maids somber song
Re-echoes from the rocks,
As silently she trips along"
"With holes in both her socks, by Jove,"
cried the delighted exchange editor. You
see"
20, no. num demonstrated the blushing
maiden. Mot that"
Certainly" protested the exchange editor,
warming up. Nine TO four she's got EN-,
and you ge, fidelity to fact with wealth OF po-
c,ical expression. The worst of poetry gen.
orally Is, you can't state things as they are. 1t
amt like prose. But here we've busted all the
established notions, snd IN, Ut an actual veil