Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-01-02
A SONG OF SMOKE.
AS Sung by the Gnome of HaIicar-
nasSuS.

III smoke ike Aetna OF htSuNl uS.
Whatever we see is but vapor
In greater or less condensation;
Or the srectroscope cuts a queer
caper,
And the crown of the suns an illusion,
And the ultimate atom a weevil
That affects the gray matters conclu-
sion.
Excepting that curious fluid,
Which permeates space like a thrln,-
Now shatt'ring the tree Of Druid,
Now lending itself to the skill
That can furnish suitable traverse.
And that vital spark so elusive,
Which flashes and fades through all
being:
Today shining forth most conclusive,
Tomorrow gone past human SEEING
l conjure with the nymph Nicotine,
Who can soothe the veXed spirit to
slumber,
And inspire by a vision or dream
With music as sweet n its number.
AS thrills in the throat Of throstle.
i HSiS IL "A1tICi L AO SbAoiNN ~ @AAo~A
torment"
But that's a place called Gehenna,
Where the worm that consumes is not
dormant.
From nebulous haze in far space,
Come the planets that whirl in their
orbits,
And the thinnest of all we can place,
Is that gas which extends interstellar,
Through the Infnite's boundless do
main,
So dimly revealed to earth-dweller.
The comets, those scouts of creation,
Trail the gaseous fumes of their tails
Through miles which defy computa-
tons,
Though we sometimes establish their
trails,
And claim them for earth's own rela-
tons.
But, to come back to things more di-
urnal,
And dwell in the smoke Of the mum
dane;
The prairies are smoking, though YER
nal,
The Polar seas, smoking-with frost:
While the clouds of the sky, so SUI
pernal,
Are but smoke which the waters have
lost.
think of the martyrs who suffered,
For a faith that was stronger than
death,
As the smoke of the AutO-da-Fe
Clicked the prayer that depended on
breath;
And inscribe here in Teverent wonder
OF the smoke Of the blood on the
Cross,
Spread through nations so worldwide
asunder,
The lessons Of earth's sordid dross.
The lawyer will smoke at the bar
While his clients will smoke as they
pay,
With the SCOT Of the suit spread afar,
And the verdict returned the wrong
way,
And the case fattened out like
wafer,
Though it looked so important and ro-
bust
That nothing could seem to be safer
(Though far safer would have been no
trust)
When they trundled it into the court,
Where the owls and the hawks and
the eagles
Stand ready with talent-or noise
Aided by retrievers and beagles,
On the heels of the helpless aff1ant
To see justice down on the client
Who the other attorney employs.
The banker smokes in his office.
Whilst the borrower smokes at the
rail
AS the discount is being debated,
And his fates in the turn Of the scale.
The bon vivant smokes with delig2t
AS his rich-laden table diffuses
It's redolent vapor around;
Whilst the mendicant smokes in af-
fright,
AS the grim foes of life, cold and hun
ger,
Are smoking him into the ground.
The millionaire smokes a regalia-
If his taste quite accords with his
means;
Whilst the proletaire smoketh a
stogie
To tone down his dinner of beans.
The Vulcan-like blacksmith, so stall
wart,
Looks grim in the smoke of his forge,
Whilst the iron meath his ponderous
hammer
BecOmeth a blessing or scOurge.
The husbandman smokes as he
swings
The blade of his scythe through the
sWale
Of the fruitful prairie's broad acres;
And the smoke of the oven will spring
When the products in hands of the
bakers.
War smokes on the battlefield CORY,
Or out on the deep, where the guns
are
That can send a stout ship quick to
glory
With a puff of their terrible breath.
And peace smokes her sweet calumet,
In exchange for the red battle wreath.
The steamer smokes on the ocean;
The iron horse smokes on the rails,
And each for the speed of it's motion
Depends on the smoke it exhales.