The morning call., 1893-02-22

San Francisco by the great blue sea.
My Tyre Is tuned to sing OF thee
Whose future greatness none can tell
Whose people are without a parallel.
The people and the press declare
Your ladies are most beautiful and far
IN this new Mecca OF the W est
Whose star Of empire dims the rest,
And all within thy gates are blest.
on, glory to your Golden Gate
outshining worlds of earlier date
Don't you think that'll take when it's
printed ?" asked the poet. mo; l won't
read the rest 10 you now, but | know it's
good. A man knows when he's done any,
thing real good. don'tyou know it2 And
Judge Bidler-yOu know Judge Bidder Pie
told me that poem oD San Francisco WAS
without an equal.
81 read it TO Colonel Irish once and he
said it was great. Yes; he spoke very fiat
tering OF 1t.
Now, I'll just give you a few more lines
from that poem. | don't agree with Pope
about vice being so frightful of mien! This
is the way put it in my poem:
Yet all great cities harbor vice
Virtue stlil demands this sacrifice:
And then l go on TO say.
Stern law must cautcrize 10 cure.
That's good line isn'tit? Farther down
The body as a whole is very free
II never does peryade society.
Now don't you think that's more to ma
ture than Pope's way of putting it? That's
my strong point. anyway; | draw right
from nature all the time, even when I'm
writing a paid ad"
as san Francisco your only poem?"
haZarded THE CALLmau.
'Oh, no; | wrote about 800 poems alto
gether, bur they amt all as good as this one.
Tn working on another big one now; I've
been at it for nearly two years. It's called
Mortal Man. It's going to be my best
poem from any standpoint you take 1t.
IT'S in different meter from San Fran
CISCO and It's study of man based on
natural history. ! once read in a religious
paper that none of the great poets were
scien lists and that there were no scientific
poems
know, and l think I've got something here
that will startle the world when It's COM
plsted and published.
"When will that be? Well, can't say
exactly, because, you see, l have so much
outside work Oh hand. I'm Busy now on
hundred lines for a big laundry firm ana
every line is got to rhyme. That's Lard
work, you know, and IL takes time.
III amt as high class as this other work,
but il takes longer to do and IT pays better
l find, at least for the present. But it
amt the kind of productions | would want
to rest my reputation on.
'Let me give you the first Iires Of my
poem on Mortal Man. 1t starts off like
this:
Mortal man-how great a thing
Has he a soul, or is OF baSer clay
A material being lacking the wing
OF the soul-bird ana the light of day?
"The other verses are just as good as
that all the way through, and when | come
20 my peroration Pm going to lay myself
right out for all Pm worth It's a big work
to do two such things as that aui San
Francisco, and | guess when Mortal Man
is done it will be my last big thing.
mo, | haven't got a publisher. That's
just what / want. you know. and l wish
you'd say in your paper that I'm here In the
city and would like TO fGd a publisher be-
fore 20 East. It's so hard to find a good,
reliable publisher, you know. one that has
good taste and gets up nice book.
Il had some of these San Franchises
struck off in a little office on Mission street,
but they don't take we'll. l don't think it's
printed good enough
"Why am going Eastp Well, you know
poetry don't pay unless you get right before
the public. Pm going to Chicago to be there
for the Worlds Fair. I'm going in advance
little because want TO get known before
the people all get there.
IF could take printed volume of poems
" it'll me. think could sell good many
of them on the fair grounds.
1--WE been there before. I'm drummer
by trade, but don't do anything now but
write poetry; mostly for the business firms.
| sell rubber goods a little on the side, but
that is just to keep up appearances.
say, | want good critic. too. about as
bad as do publisher. want some one to
criticize my poems for me. A man can't d o
that himself, you know.
You see, | think poem is liks a bou-
quet. It's got TO be arranged nicely or 1t
don't amount to shucks. Well, no,
couldn't afford to pay critic much. but he
would have chance to read my manuscript
before the public see the printed work.
did show you my funny poems? No?
Well, here's one on poker. 1t starts off
like this:
When you play poker
Just take out the joker.
"Its In that kind of light vein-very
humorous, they tell me. You haven't time
now to hear the rest? Well, when you
come again I'll read the rest to you. /
know you'd like it.
I'm going 10 write short poem on the
Native Sons as soon as | have time. Don't
you think that would go? Or, amt the
Native Sons poetical? I'm going to start 1t
off like this:
oh. Native Sons. so brave and strong,
Born on the golden shores unsung long,
"Do you catch The idea? You see. they
ought to have been immortaized In poems
long ago. and I'm the first one TO do 1t, see ?
MY line in poetry Well, l like de-
scriptive work best. Pm strongest in that,
l think. do very little sentimental
poetry. My poems are mostly either funny
or descriptive or speculative There's a
Goou deal OF speculation In Mortal Man.
That's going to make a big splash when it's
published.
"The modern poets and scholars l have
met all tell me that Pm the most original of
all the poets. l don't read too much. you
see-thats the secret of it. A man who
reads too much is never original.
You must read San Francisco as q
whole. Don't take it up in parts. You
lose The effect and 1t amt so strong. I've
smoothed that poem out very carefully
tried to get all the thiDgamums out Of 1t.
you know. and it reads splendidly IL you
take 1t all together.
When did j first begin to write poetry
Well, it's funny. One day. about four years
ago, sat down to write the firm letter.
When got the second line down | found it
rhymed with the first line. That set me to
thinking, aud before long. without any
practice. l began to write poetry right along
without any trouble.
Queer, wasn't 1t, with man past 40
years old, too? | was born in East Hart
ford. Conn. and my father and all my folks
| are scientific, you know. You might call
/ my father scientist. He was heavy on
| astronomy. All the family kinder took to
| science naturally like. you know. My sister
| was an elocutionist. She married a min-
| lister.
"Yes; i went to school at East Hartford,
| for u while. but / didn't graduate from no
! college, you can put that down. took sew
| eral very high and very costly degrees from
| the school Of human nature and experience