The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-06-26
An Jest when lie begins to nod
Longsice his empty cup.
A fish coAaes 5erkin' at his rod
An aIWavs ruaIrne- hin, nm

An always wakes him up.
There could hardly be a more ilIuminative
commentary on American rural life than
some of these poems in the same humorous
strain. The sleepy fisherman is the type to
be found on the old pine box of the gro
Gerry store, which Mr.. stanton celebrates in
his best manIier. concluding:
1t seems to me, IL my race was run.
An was there, where it's always sun,
With a crown to wear an a harp to hold
Loahn' roun' on the streets o. gold,
While the saints was singin and sayin' grace.
I'd kinder look fer q shady place.
An dream furever an evernore
OF the old pine box by the grocery store!
Akin to such pieces as these are the half
earnest, half-humorous protests against the
new and untried things of the cities. The
country philosopher is intensely skeptical
when the schools have left him fallow
quantity. He marvels at the electric light
and at the telephone, and is amazed to see
'All the street cars skimmin' long without
mule or boss"
And the poet like the good artist he is,
holds in store climax as preposterous as
can be imagined
'Lordl how the world is movin' on, beneath the
and moon!
i u
too soon;
But when go-praise be to God!-it won't be in
the night,
Fer my grave'll shine like glory in bright
electric light"
OF piece with this is plant called
1.-THE Old School Exhibitions
Oh, the old school exhibitions! will they ever
come again,
With the good old-fashioned speaking from the
girls and boys so plain?
Will we ever hear old ''Iser' with its rapid roll
and sweep.
And pilot. tits fearful night there's danger
the deep?"
Sweet Mary doesn't raise her lambs like Mary
did OF old;
Their fleece is not "as white snow they're
wandering from the fold;
The boy upon "the burning deck is not one-half
as fine
Rhine!'
The girls don't speak In calico. the boys in cotton
jeans;
They've changed the old-time dresses long with
the od-time scenes;
They smile and speak in crooked Creek in broad
cloth and in lace;
round the facet
oh. the old school exhibitions! They are gone
forevermore!
The old schoolhouse is deserted and the grass has
choked the door;
And the wind sweeps round the gables with a
low and mournful whine
For the old boys born at Bingen-at Bingen on
the Rhinel"
There are poems in which the sorrows of
life are touched upon with true pathos but
always with fine restraint. And lest the i'm
preston should be given that Mr.. Stanton's
perspective is short, attention must be di-
rected to 1.-THE Parting of Poor Jack"
which shows him to have an alert and keen
literary appreciation. 1t would be difficult
to find better footnote to Shakspeare's
Falstaff than is afforded in this poem. Yer
lily, Mr.. Stanton's infinite variety is aston
ishing, and this poem is the chief of his
surprises.
Is such verse as this ephemeral? Is it to
be cast "as rubbish to the void after it
has served to head" a newspaper column?
''Time who soones. drops the heaviest things
That weight his pack, will carry diamonds long"
And the world holds fast to all that it can
of the increasing fund of good literature.
Even were it true that such poems as these
are impermanent they still have their place
and an important place it is-in quickening
the imaginations OF those who read them.
1t is significant thing that in these busy
times a representative American newspaper
prints daily at least one poem by a writer
who appeals SO directly to mans sense OF
things that are lovely and of good report.
A poet like Mr.. Stanton, who is so quick.
to catch current thought and feeling-a
poet-reporter if you please-~becomes uncon-
sciously an assistant to the future historian
In this little book, which contains only
a small selection from Mr.. Stanton's writ
ings, are many illusions which throw light
on the thought of the day or year in which
the poet set them down. 1t strikes the sense
ence to the efforts made few years ago
to make" rain. Even the barbecue is pass
ing out, and in bits of verse such as The
Old Postmaster" and "A Sharp Politician"
are interesting political touches that will be
welcomed by students who will presently
look back to this period. So Mr.. Stanton
may not unfairly be called one of the most
interesting figures in American literature.
With a wide and growing audience he is
nigh on the list of poets worth reading"
and certainly no American writer is spread
ing more broadly the gospel of whole
some living, of faith and hope. Ii must be
with feeling of gratitude for his great gift
That writer whose productive power is so
prod1gious, and whose sympathies and in
terests are so boundlesS, sees his messages
finding the cordial acceptance that is now
Mr.. Stanton's in every part of the country,
and even among our kinsmen beyond the