The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-29
Sambo ON Skees.

BowLEs, the greatest living New Eng
land poet. in his astrological excursions
to Agawam. We have watched him
revcrently as he chased the butterfly
or was chased by the hornet. We have
watched him, in his raincoat and his
sneakers. gliding gently through the
spring rains and muds. We have
watched him in his corduroys and shoot
ing coat. his poetic feet bound in half
leather. his red tam-o' -shanter caressed
by the fall winds and his basket full Of
autumn leaves not half 30 bright as his
bucolics. We have heard him in the
August nights, singing to the crickets and
the katydids. But not till last Saturday
have we had a satisfactory view Of him
as winter scene. The Hon. WILLIAM
LLOYD GARRISON made him Christmas
present of pair Of skees, accompanying
the gift with these lines:
"o'er brooks and ponds. DER hills and knobs
Sof, speed your flying feet. o BowLss
Whose strong, sweet song makes glad our souls"
Friday the Agawam THEocRITUs took
the skecs out for a trial trip. The poem
which leaps and yells for joy in the
Springfield Republican Of Saturday re-
cords the emotion generated by the
skee ride. At first the poets ears are a
little cold:
stern. indeed. has been the face Of Nature:
Chill and cruel Its steel hands
In the December We have nearly done with
Before he warns up by his own caloric
and the rush and friction Of the skees,
he dwells upon the temperature and the
want Of coal. Empty is the bin and
SAMBo's cold, so to speak. To be sure,
in the days Of the grandfathers, there
was no such thing as a warm house, +"
but that reflection won't keep warm the
city folk Of to-day who were born in
warm houses. Besides, although the
bard on skees doesn't mention it, our
ancestors were much heated by buttered
rum and other mellow installations, the
very name OF which Is warming. But
the Springfield people are shivering'
what to them Is the fact that the farmers
On the hills now gather by the kitchen
Stove and all the rest OF the house Is given
over to frost'"
Creature comforts grow more i'm
perative;" hardihood is vanished
virtue laundering over the hum
muxes, the Hampden WILLIAM BARNES
opens his REFER defantly. He is a
Spartan from Wayback. To save space
We print this dithyramb as prose:
| Pace the north wind says Nature, face II,
and be strong. give you life. give you hastlnr
pulses..I give you clear air OF the SHOWS and shsrp
tang OF the frosts. and these are GOOD for you II
| you are stout enough 10 welcome and fare forth
with them. You viii be the better for the com
| panonshp OF my cold, pure breath and my forth
right purpose. lap you In no choice lotus atmos.
phere; you cannot sleep In this cline: It Is the
abode and magic house OF sturdy nfe.'"
Follow the skees IL you can:
| "Dashing down the predpices
OF trap with glorious vigor
OF movement. splendors OF silvery
CLEAN and foamy spray and with q music
OF brilliant and sombre harmony"
The song of SAMBo and the cru nch OF
the crust under the skees; the gay
ETY. of the outer dash, blended with the
deep tones OF the plunge. Out OF the
hleher atmosphere; II descends, laden
Win piesslhg' we can't help applying
10 zen, bo~LEss poem his remarks
about the snow.
But neither SNOW nor snow pudding
can compare with this nature picture:
AFTER the rains were a, an END and the brisk
northwestern
the valley
inside Of the mountain !, was With wouder the
rambler
Bcheid. In one OF the watercoursss which the u. a
had cleared Of the
Snow. the bright eye Of the hous,ouia cleaning,
As sweet and fresh a. II there were no winter.
| ,,.u.,,.. h.. 80. e. ,,,., .......,,.