Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-05-13
DANIEL CADy AND
HIS RURAL RHYMES
Writer in Vermonter Chats En-
tertainingly of Burlington's
Poet and of His Early Life
Which Provided Inspiration
for Present.day Efforts

Ills Nurdl ISHyHleSs ~AoAp'NA"
writes Interestingly in the current num-
Der of 1.-THE vermonter' about the Bur-
lngton poet whose verses, many OF
which originally appeared in the Free
Press, TO be copied by other papers and
eventually published in book FORM have
attracted wide attention. The article car
ries. also. an excellent picture of Mr..
Cady as he Ia to-day and also what Edi-
tor Cummings calls the Daniel Cady
hat portrait, showing the boy at the
age Of fve This Is likely to be examined
with much interest BY the poets many
friends. Mr.. Cummings says Of the pic
ture: zone can almost feel the cool COM
fort 10 Of the forked iron pressed against
that little head from behind to bold 1t
rigid during the interminabls period OF
exposure In tho odd-smelling studios of
those days. No wonder the patient look
! Of submission. Mr.. Cady has, as boyish
kespsakss, not those copper.toed boots,
but at his Burlington home his hrst wood
en- top. slate and pencil. the first pictures
he drew. his first knitting. magnet, little
! engine and other boyish truck and trash.
| which beyond q doubt help bring back
| the times that were"
Here are some extracts from MISS
| Horsfords article,
It 10 with plearure that many Vermont
| ers will examine q new book Of rural
poetry from tho bright pen Of Daniel L.
Cady. These poems, printed and re-
printed within and without the State.
and now collected into a volume, place
Mr.. CaEy on the intimate shelf by the
side of John G.. SAKE. Charles Carnage
Eastman and Mrs. Dorr.
The Jacket of green and white touches
our Vermont hearts even before we open
the book to enjoy the fun within; but the
, Central fhnnHht CnnnQctiOn with the
work, the ultimate judgment Of its i'm
portance, Is that It Is really a crystaliza.
ton Of the flavor Of old Vermont farm
life traditions Of which are even now be-
ing left behind in little State on the
edge Of a big. rushing. feverish Amer
lea. Country life is fast being revolu-
=. tionized by telephone. automobile, rural
delivery and farm machinery. The cry
I for a greater Vermont goes forth and
we beckon outsiders to come in to enjoy
I the scenery and to leave, incidentally,
money that shall supplement what is i'm
Q patiently gotten from the everlasting
and relentless hills.
y Younger generations have been accused,
u in their wild scramble to be "up-to date"
. of insensibility to the charms of their
. State before outsiders pitched their tents
:, in the cool shade, drank Of crystal spring
- and called weeds autumn flowers. This
|
Of the good thing that may be had with
out money and without price have been
). discovered to natives by the barbarians.
But what OF all the good things thathave
y. been lost: the poetry OF the orchard (since
. it has been cultivated), OF the evening
- milking time (since a milking machine
" has been invented)? Under modern con-
dtions farm is fast becoming as poetical
as a wooden mill. ! say nothing Of the
-, t,,p To- ;o,, otar nv,
- poetry. for such points In the argument
n are not on my side of the question only
/. insist that peace and plenty do not now
N exist, and that when one reads in Mr..
Cadys rural poems about the old kitchen,
the brass kettle. and candle dipping he
cannot doubt that they did once exist
IN certainly can add nothing to the vivid
~ ness Of pictures given in Burning Brush "
10 Boiling Sap at Night" Making Soap
IN and hundred others. when old people are
reading them and wiping away the tears
from behind their specs. with more long
ing to go back to the dear old times thar
m to 60 forward to Heaven. But in thu
Mt confessional we should all have to plead
e. guilty to liking for literary gossip. We
e. like to know the childhood environment Of
I'D an author his family life. his likes ant
s. disikes and method Of working. Mucf
of this we can get from the poems them
selves by imaginative inference. Wuen
. lady once asked him how he wrote hi
LII poems. Mr. Cady replied that he ate tive
~. pounds of prunes and stood on his heat
~, in the corner One might infer that sew
, ,s eral Of them were written in such a posi-
ton But one may also draw more seri
GUS differences: that he was an observing
"a boy on Vermont farm. that he wa
ls- blessed with wise parents. that he wa
.ts early aware of those charms of countr,
an life which so many entirely miss through
hit long years of hard toll. and that he car
ed ried in his heart into later life a Low
ed Of those charms. a love of activity an,
ny deep sympathy with everything pertain
ing to farm life He even boasts in hi
luxurious New York apartment that h
knows how to do every sort of farm
by work. excepting sheep-shearing
m The basis of friendship with farmer
eo Is a complete understanding Of their joys
&C. all Of which Mr. Cady must have learne
on In youth, and has not forgotten. He ha
% expressed this sympathy sincerely an
a" copiously in rhyme. often humorously an
.,s,, sometimes even with a bit of mischie
W. that goss straight TO Vermont Ya.kee
heart. So IN reading them you Will fin
yourself "a pendulum 'twixt smiles an
q tears
at The boy Daniel wac too meek and TOT
a life too seriously his father feared. how
ese ever Witty and pugnacious Mr. Cady ma
la now be. a fear which tho hat portrait
Try helps US to understand.
Ing During college vacations also du-in
..c- vacations n ntt!rg scho ii at Merden.
ct worked In Windsor prison as a guard |
aus various positions. When he entered tn
bod university he knew avery convict an
ons had seen three executions, a course
lay penology that gave HIM advantage whe
ers he came to practice law IN Now Yor
rye city. For upwards OF 20 years he wa
sts a member Of the law ARR: CT Powell
cry CAdy. at 206 Broadway, IN an office d
mt rectly under that formerly occupied l.
William Cullen Bryant. editor Of the Ev,
ming Post. There the poet editor mad
those ine TRANSACTIONS OF the Homer
red poems, and somo inspiration may ha,
ILL fingered In the building and descende
80 upon our Vermont poet for he Is SUI
sits ceptible to fine literary influences.
ong He says that after 20 years OF law pra
Ing tice he shut down the lid of his des
tin and started out to see the world and
be an amateur writer. and does not wis
to be compared with the masters; hoy
ever. We must grant that he has give
i'S. US verses not only pleasing but stror
'.,y and masterful. At present his rural II
poems are uppermost In his mind, al
40 most read by Vermonters.
Many of these pieces are written In Il