The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-12-01
PROOF OF REINCAR-
NATION IN POETRY

In the same class with the seven orig
NAL jokes.
No patriotic American viii admit
that Longfellow could have plagial.-
lied .Hiawatha," even if he would
have done so. Yet some unlind per-
son has unearthed Norwegian saga,
which fits into "Hiawatha7 like No.
Is foot into No. 9 shoe. It wobbIes
around some, but the outlines are
there.
All of us have heard of and some
of US have read when we couldn't
find anything else to dol Meredith's 5
verse story of Lucille. It contains
one great fundamental truth, namely,
that "civilized man cannot live with
out cooks" is as smooth in rhythm
as molasses pouring out OF a jug, Is
as long as well rope and much dry.
er. But it made Meredith great
rep. Strange to say, an American
poet, a couple Of years before "Lu-
cille'' came out, perpetrated poem
so similar to Meredith's offense that
they should have been confined IN the
same cell. Had the American been u
wise guy, he would have taken his
poems to Europe, and printed then
in book with a tommyhawk and a
scalping knife on the cover. Poets,
like prophets, being without honor in
their own country, the Americans
poem was not read in America, while
Meredith's sometimes is, or rather
was.
Some people claim that Rider Hag-
gard obtained his idea for "Shev
from Moore's Fire Worshippers."
Both works have their merits
Moore's poem is short, while if q
wicked man whose conscience wasn't
dead could read Haggard's book and
eat Welsh rarebit before going to
bed, he might have a dream that
would scare him into being good be-
fore he woke up. The principle OBJ
stacle in the way is that man with
conscience never eats Welsh rare
bit.
Now comes friend to Us all, Mr..
G. w. Wimpy, from the great state
of Georgia, who is so enraptured
with Ocala that he hands to it, thru
the medium of our esteemed contem-
rorary the Banner beautiful poem,
commencing with the following verse:
Ocala-angels named, her,
And they took the light
Of the laughing stars, and framed her
In suite of white;
And they made her hair of gloomy
Midnight, and her eyes of glowing
Moonshine, and they brought her to
me
In the silent night.
Very pretty. True that the muse
linps somewhat in the first line, as
tho she had stumped her toe, or cast
it for a four syllable name. If Fate
had only named our town Tuskawilla
or Tuscaloosa or Tsalapopka It would
have fitted like . glove.
| To resume:
In solemn night of summer,
When my Eeart of gloom
Blossomed up to meet the conner
j Like rose IN bloom;
i All forebodings that distressed me,
| / forgot as JOY caressed me,
Living Joy that caught and pressed me
i In the arms of doom.
Only spake the little 1isper,
In the angels tongue,
i Yet /, listening, heard her whisper:
Songs are only sung
i Here below, that they may grieve you
Tales are told you to deceive you,
! So must Ocala leave you
| While her, love is young.
/ Then God smiled, and it was morning
Matchless and supreme,
Heavens glory seemed adjoining
Earth with its esteem.
/ Every heart hut mine seemed gifted
4 With the voice of prayer, and lifted
Where my Oca1a drifted
i From me like dreaml
4 As we meander along thru thi:
\ classic effort, and pause doubtfu1ly
between sad smiles and joyful tears
we wonder only at one thing. WHY
! should Ocala leave us? Why cam
she stay on the job? Or why SHOULD
she leave Mr.. Wimpy, or why SHOULD
Mr. Wimpy leave Ocala? Ocala loves
. any man who can put the simoleon,
up for his board bill.
j We would ike to have this beau
! tiful poem Incorporated into an,
! adopted as ''The Song of Ocala" bu
: for three things. One is, the afore
} said limp in the rhythm makes it rea.
like it might have been written TO
something else. Another is, that
person in far country reading i
two or three years from now Nigh
: think that Ocala was no longer her
: had gone away, as foreshadowe,
: IN the poem; therefore It would be n