The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-04-16
OFFERINGS OF THE POETS.

He marked not how the windows grew
To squares OF cloudy opalescence-
How could he miss the sun. who knew
The rarer radiance OF her presencei
Yet one theme made his bosom burn.
Heart prisoner, for a key To loose it
A word. to give the talk u turn
To naturally Introduce i,
He searched; a dozen subjects tried;
But from his hands she deftly reft them,
OWNED their bent--decoyed them wide
From sentimental paths and-left them.
And so the conversation dragged,
Restricted by conventions tether,
Till he. with hope that never tagged,
At length bethought him OF the weather.
A topic free. by any chance.
From cause for all, save Cupid's censure-
And in q blissful ignorance
OF things without. he made the venture.
"a lovely afternoon as one
Who knows his ground and treads securely:
Her diniples danced with smothered fuu.
"Why, don't yousee-g' she paused demurely,
His secret. taken by surprise.
Came out in his confused explaining
81 only-only ace your eyes,
1 didn't know that 1t was raining!"
D, love, that knows 10 higher sky
Than that which lies below loves lashes
Above II; suns might pale and die
Below ii, earth be laid ia ashes.-
You would not see were IL undimmed,
Were 1t serene you would not hearken.-
A heaven by no horizon ruined
An arch where storms may never darken!
Frank Preston Smart.
BELLEyILLE, W. Va.
In ~ Gambling He'll.
When lights blaze gaudily DER gilded walls,
And decorative palms and beveled glass
When gently. as they pass.
The ring Of footsteps on the thing falls,
Amid the breathing. murmured hush that reigns,
And shaking or the dies and shufled cards;
Where cometh afterwards
Perchance wild loss or mad ~exultant gains.
Impassioned neil. with desperate hope atiame,
Embrace the vicious demon that controls
Their helLinspired souls.
And barter off their manhood for a game.
With faces pale. expressionless and still,
Save for tn unsteady lips Of some fair type
OF Godlike manhood. ripe
For virtuous l%iving-new to this sweet ill
OF fevered gambling. but betrayed and sold
BY hot youth too rebellious, will too weak,
They wait for some new freak
Vi nCRle fortune 10 Te8JOre Ine1f ROlU,
Oblivious to all the world beside
And silencing. perhaps. some deadly care
In the excitement there,
They take their winnings with o hanghty pride;
Or. with a pride as naughty, still they cast
Their one remaining stake. and lose, and go
One nearer stop below
Gods mercy on the gamblers soul at last,
Oliver Saint CyR.
INDIANAPOLIS.
A Buddhfstic Mood.
"Being and not being are the same"
All has been said that is to say;
All has been said this many a day;
All has been suffered and enjoyed
That's, and all the rest is void.
All has been thought that is to think
Down to Oblivion's very brink.
When bliss, and pain, and thought are gone,
Comes best OF all-Oblivion.
Some moments are Eternity.
Of thought, OF bliss, of agony;
No date for agony there is.
And no chronology of bliss.
One moments silent thought will leap
All boundaries that time can keep,
All paths Eternity has trod-
And that one moments Thought is God.
No less than that, Oblivion
Which comes when bliss and pain are gone,
And that one glimpse the boundary
OF all that Is or Is to be-.
And yet men wage the eternal strife
And clamor for q future life.
Juliet ". Strauss.
April Skies.
Here's to April skies, my dear.
Now q smile and now q tear.
wintry cloud and summer sun.
Showers that cease when just begun
Hayward childhood of the year,
Here's to April skies. my dear.
Just before this April rain
Love held but a tangled skein,
Birds were silent. lawns we're brown:
Came the gladness pattering down;
Song and veriure leaped amain,
Love renewed his silken skein;
One wee blossom rose to view,-
Which 1 pluck and bear to YOU
Lo. the blood-root's tender sheath
Rising from dead leaves beneath,
And the mandrake's baby hands
Opening In the pasture lands,
Welcome April as glad eyes
Speak the unuttered loves SURPRISE
Newness welcoming the new
90 my old love welcomes you.
Hf4tN 600
Here's to April skies. my dear.
Storms and rainbews, gloom and cheer.
Pouting eladness. laughing shades,
Tickle beaux and fickler maids,
Here LIES varied moods appear;
Aprirs heart holds all the year,
Holds the human. the Divine,
And its holdings all are thine.
All. these miracles that make
Change incessant. for life's sake,
Change us as the April moods
Frown or smile through Western woods;
Let them work. so love holds fast.
Whimsey April cannot last;
Sunshine broadens, clouds delay,
Life and love are calling May.
Hfapss advance prasaOas Irpa.