The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-09-01
THE sOUTH,s SWEErsIyGER
Frank l.. Stanton Sees Only the sunny
side of Life.

| young 1 Vas like the rest OF thefn
contemplated suicide in rhyme, L re-
yelled In melancholy thoughts, was
sour ana pessimistic. one day began
TO look about me at The rest OF the
| world OF poets. j found l was Singing
the same songs as themselves, addihs
my small portion 10 the already large
percentage OF depiessiHs poe'' ',s'
thoughts Then said 10 myself;
What's the use OF all this? What good
does Il do the rest OF the world? w ~
not brace up ana be cheerful
And you did soy'
Eyes, but / tell you IT was difficult at
first You see, had got so IN the hdDlt
OF melancholy, II was Ike ploWlns IN
rough new ground. My first opuinisuc
poem was written with the greatest
msntal labor. Ny mind was IKE the
spirit of bad little boy that DIDN'T
want 10 change. But the second cheer
| ful poem came easier, and the next
actually made me feel brighter and
| better FOR the writing OF il. Now, I've
| got 50 in the habit Of singing good-cheer
songs for humanity tnat can't do other
| wise
And do they help you in your own
| lifeg''
! "Oh, yes; any amount. / don't have
! many troubles, but when they come
l 4
| an encouraging rhyme about them. For
instance The other day my poem about
| When the Note Falls Due was part OF
my own experience. and found dozens
| OF fellows with me on that rhA ne.
| They came up and shook my hand
[ and thanked me for it. and said 1t had
| helped them a lot
How did you first begin writing poet
| ry?" | asked.
| 'Begin-why, / can scarcely remember.
| ! know ] was writing poetry just as
soon as | could write anything. My
! mother was a Methodist and she used
| 10 make me learn TIE verse of a hymn
| every morning Wen, ia take the same
verse; use the meter and put my own
words 10 il. These rhymes were usually
TO some little sweetheart. The sweet
heart. you know. came along with the
| talent for poetry-that IS. whatever
talent / happt ned to have. don't
consider myself a poet in the polished
sense Of the word. you know l am
Just a newspaper man who writes verses
from the memory of the life he has act
ualy seen and known
us there any better way Of writing?"
l asked.
"Wen, no. perhaps not; but / like
poetry in fine English. clear-cut. well
turned sonnets like those Of Thomas
finds in the high-class magazines. Per
haps that is because most of my stun
is dialect"
But you could write the other kind?'
eyes, but the publishers and cdI-
tors insist upon having dialect poems
that's what they want" Our talk then
drifted 10 his early life and / wanted
TO know about his family ana whether
the talent was inherited.
"Wel, my father used 10 write poetry.
fIe had taste for it. although ne never
accomplished anything IN mat way.
I've always thought perhaps l have car
ried out his ambitions by striking the
right vein. / look like my mother. but
the poetry must come from my southern
blood. My grandfather on my fathers
side was a northern man. lie had prop
erty in Cuba and during a visit there
he fell in love with beautiful Span
ish woman and married her Ny father.
the first child. was born in a cave 10
which his parents had fed during the
insurrection of the slaves on the island.
/ don't remember much Of my father.
lie vas jouTneyman printer and died
when he was 81 years Old. lie was very
handsome, perfect SpaniarG i'm APP
pearance. His sisters and brothers an
went bark North. One Of my aunts
married General Hicks, who was on
General Grants STAFF.
And where was your childhood spent?"
"Oh, all about. 1 had a pretty rough |
time. When ! was II years old / WAS
saving wood for 81 a month ia north
Georgia; saving wood. you know and
saying nothing, but / was looking all !
the time at the things about me-th1 !
wild flowers. the forest, the blue SKY |
overhead They all sank deep into my !
heart Then, TOO | followed the plow |
and learned a world about nature behind |
the handles. i Ike the notion of rural |
life now. IT all appeals 10 me- though |
Of course l don't IKE the drudgory."
"And were your poems IN ire
Smithville News the first that made |
you recognized?'"
Eyes. l think SO, though I had writ /
ten good deal for small papers IN |
other places. | set the type edited ana |
did everything on the Smithvinc News [
The Atlanta Constitution began To copy |
a lot of my rhymes, then Clark Howell /
offered me place and / came. That |
was about six years ago"
on my asking MIN if he had any |
formulated idea Of what he intended |
doing in the future he shook his head !
and smiled.
mo. ] never think OF that. I Just |
write along as things come to me- The |
two volumes Of poems ] have published /
are selling better every day, and 1 have |
orders continually for poems from papers |
magazines. Perhaps / cOuit make more /
money. IL ! pushed my work. bat I don't /
do il. ] have never offered poem 20 am /
editor yet When they send ana ask me I
for them ] do the best | can. Now
some Of them are letting me set my own {
price"
"Do you ever feel that the work Is
depicting your resource go
con. no. That question is frequently
asked me. Every new field calls forth
fresh energies and thoughts. Now. for
instance. when l was asked TO write
two columns Of verse week FOR the
Chicago Times-Herald / didn't feel sure
that i could do il. but some way the
feeling that ] had q new audience in-
spired me. and then my verse is in
western style, which makes il different
from the dialect | write for the Con-
stitution."
do you get many letters" / asked.
"Oh, quantities Of them from people
all over the country. All of them |
kindly and approciative-the writer's tell
ing me that some poem has struck
home to their own feelings and per
soral experiences. That's DeCause, ! sup
pose, that I'm just an everyday poet"
/ smiled at the modesty of this sturdy.
brown man, who has ia a. few years,
simple singing touched more heart
chords than the majority OF snvcr-son-
ting rhymsters have done in A life
time. Not a poet indeed Why then, "
that is true, the field flowers are srti.
ff..ft n 4 lna Iii III