Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1902-01-02
a SONG OF SMOKE.
AS Sung by the Gnome of Haiicar-
nasSuS.

y
And the ultimate atom weeyi,
That affects the gray matters conclu
sion.
Excepting that curious fluid,
Which permeates space like thrln,-
Now shatt'ring the tree Of Druid,
Now lending itself to the skill
| That can furnish a suitable traverse
And that vital spark so elusive,
Which flashes and fades through al
| being:
Today shining forth most conclusive
Tomorrow gone past human SEEING
I coniure with the nymph Nicotine,
Who can soOthe the veXed spirit to
! slumbeT,
| And inspire by a vision or dream
With music as sweet in its number.
AS thrills in the throat OF throstie,
There is written The smoke of their
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 Infinites 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 earths own rela-
lions.
But 10 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.
I think of the martyrs who suffered,
For faith that was stronger than
death,
AS the smoke of the Auto-daFe
Choked the prayer that depended on
breath;
And inscribe here in reverent wonder
OF the smoke of the blood on the
Cross,
Spread through nations so worldwide
asunder,
The lessons of eartb'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 affiant,
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 fate's in the turn of the scale.
The bon vivant smokes with delight
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
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 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 exhaIes.