The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-09-06
A TOAST TO. A LADY

John Ames Mitchell, the author of these
verses, Is the founder and editor of the
cleverest of periodicals, t'Life.' He stud
led at Lawrence Scientific school, Har-
ward: and after studying architecture in
Boston and Paris, he practiced that pro-
fession for some years in Boston. =. He
then took to!drawiEgr and became an illus-
traitor; and writer Hes has written a num-
ber of books = Among fthe best. known of
them .are:z The Rep}aneeT Of tthe{ Moon, .
THE !. Last AttEmerissan, q 700 I.ife,s Fairy
Tales,i;,s Amos Judd IFF '.."The First AZ
fair .'Gloria Yictis3' t.'The Pines of
Lory." .. 49, 1870. ~ -"
When you were a tadpole and 1 was fish,
. In the Paleozoic time. wv
And side by side on the sluggish tide q
We sDrawled thru the ooze and slime, 81
Or skftted with many. cauda1 flip H. =, ,
Thru the depths Of the Cambrian fen, -.
My heart was rife with the joy of life, :
For loved you even then -.
Mindless we lived. mindless we loved,
And mindless at last we died. 4.,r
And deep ia the rift of the Caradock drift
We slulnbered side by side. So. f
THE world turned on in the lathe Of time :
The hot lands heaveis amain. - .:-s -
Till we caught our breath in. the womb Of
49,. DEATH. - go. .-- .%~. $3.50
And crept into life again: &c.,. .~' H., ~
Then we were amphibians, scaled and tailed
| And deaf dead mans head, 49,.
Or scrawled thru the mud and sand
Cracking and blind with our three clawed feet
Writing a language dumb,
With never spark in the empty dark
TO hint of life to come. ..
Yet happy we lived. happy we loved, -.
/ And happy we died once more,
And forms were rolled in the clingine
- mould = 81" 20 .-'
Of a Necromean shore, ... t.. 49,.
And the Aeons came and the Aeons fed
Till the sleep that bound us fast
Was driven away by the dawn Of the day
l. And the night Of death was past.
Then light and swift thru the Jungle trees -
r. We swung in our airy flights, 80. ,s - ,--. .
! Or dreamed in the balm of the fronded palm
| In the hush of those moonlit nights; -.
And. oh. what beautiful years were these,
|, Where our hearts chung each to each.
And life was frilled and the senses thrilled
| = With the first faint dawn of speech. =
| Thus life by life, and death. by death, -
i We passed thru the cycles strange.
i And love by love, and breath by breath
j We followed the chain of change.
/ Till there time in the law OF i.
| X And DER the ~reehing sod, .:s -.+sa
| The shadows broke and the soul awoke
i In the first dim dream of God 80. -.,---' '.
1 Then was thewed like an Auroc bull.
And tusked like the great cave bear.
And YOU, my sweet, from, head to feet,
j :. Were gowned in your glorious hair, .,e
1sDeep In the gloom OF q 1releSS cave 49,
l. When the night fell Ger the main.
And the moon hung red Ger the river bed
We numbered the bones of the slain.
For we lived by blood and the right of might,
Ere human laws were drawn. ....s
! For the age OF sin did not begin
l. Till our british tusks were gone.
4 And that million years ago.,
4 In time when no man knows Ia fa
i Yet here tonight in the mellow light.
Il We sit at Delmonicos. >r~ '@:. - ss.s
/ Your eyes are as deep as the Devon Springs,
1 Your hair IS as black as Jet.
4 Your eyes are few your life is new.
:: Your soul untried and yet.
4 Our trail is on the Kimeradge clay,
4 III the scrap Of the Burbeck flags
We have left our bones in the Bagshot stones
/ And deep in the Coraline crags.
1 Our love is old. life is old,
And death shall come anain.
3 Should he come today what man may
8 That we shall not meet again?
Then as we sit at our dinner here,
& Ger many dainty dish
Il Let Us drink anew to the fine when you
!. Wers 4 tadpole and l fish.