Cap and Gown - Selected by Frederic Knowles
CAP AND GOWN
A Treasury of College Verse
Selected by
Frederic Lawrence Knowles
_Editor of "The Golden Treasury of American Songs and Lyrics," etc.
_1897_
TO THE
REVERED MEMORY
OF A
GREAT SCHOLAR AND GREAT TEACHER
WHOM I WAS ONCE PROUD
TO CALL MY FRIEND,
Frances James Child,
THIS LITTLE BOOK
IS GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED.
_In "Cap and Gown" you look in vain
For epic or heroic strain.
Not ours to scale the heights sublime,
Which hardly masters dare to climb;
We only sing of youth and joy,
And love,--the credo of the boy!_
PREFATORY NOTE
The gay verses which celebrate undergraduate life must not be taken too
seriously. They seldom pretend to the dignity of poetry. College verse,
if I understand it, is verse suited to the period and point of view of
undergraduate days. Light, graceful, humorous, sparkling,--this it
should be for the most part; serious sometimes, it is true,--for young
men and women about to take upon themselves the responsibilities of
mature life are at heart by no means frivolous, but touching the note of
grief, if at all, almost as though by accident. Life is often sad enough
in the after-years, and for the period of sorrow, sad verse may be in
place. Happy they who have not yet traded cap and bells (never far
hidden under cap and gown) for the
"Sable stole of cypress lawn."
Happier still if they never need make such a sorry exchange.
Yes, like all sound art, college verse must, above all else, be honest.
Let us not say, however, that the thoughtful moods of young men and
women may not sincerely be set to the music of verse. One department in
this collection bears the name "In Serious Mood," and its sentiment
rings as true as that of any other.
In looking over very many undergraduate papers, I have been struck with
several facts. I will give them for what they are worth, leaving their
explanation to others. First, there seems to be a general fondness for
the sonnet, and a very general lack of success in writing it. Second,
the French forms of light verse are exceedingly popular--particularly
the rondeau, ballade, and triolet. These, more easily lending themselves
to gay moods than does the sonnet, are written with much greater
success. Triolets are perhaps least often, rondeaus most often,
successful. Third, purely sentimental verse is little written in women's
colleges, its place being taken by poetry of nature or of reflection.
Oddly enough, when it _is_ attempted, the writer usually fancies herself
the lover, and describes feminine, not masculine, beauty. College girls
show possibly more maturity of reflective power than do their brothers,
but they are notably weaker in the sense of humor. Fourth, amongst so
much merely graceful verse, there are not wanting touches here and there
of genuine poetry. I shall be disappointed if the reader does not
discover many such in this little book.
While I have confined myself, for the most part, to verse printed in the
college publications of the past five years, I have overstepped this
limit in a few instances. None of the poems in the present book,
however, were included in the first series published in 1892.
Thanks are due Messrs. Andrus & Church, of Ithaca, N.Y., for their
generous loan of bound files of the _Cornell Era_, to the assistant
librarian of Harvard University for numerous courtesies, and to the
editors of many college papers, without whose kind cooperation the
second series of "Cap and Gown" would have been impossible.
F.L.K.
COLLEGE PUBLICATIONS REPRESENTED.
AMHERST COLLEGE _Amherst Literary Monthly, The_.
BALTIMORE, WOMAN'S COLLEGE OF _Kalends, The_.
BOWDOIN COLLEGE _Bowdoin Orient, The._
_Bowdoin Quill, The_.
BROWN UNIVERSITY _Brown Magazine, The_.
_Brunonian, The_.
BRYN MAWR COLLEGE _Bryn Mawr Lantern, The_.
CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY _University of California Magazine._
CHICAGO UNIVERSITY _University of Chicago Weekly, The_.
COLGATE UNIVERSITY _Madisonensis_.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY _Columbia Literary Monthly, The._
_Columbia Spectator, The._
_Morningside, The_.
CORNELL UNIVERSITY _Cornell Era, The_.
_Cornell Magazine, The_.
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE _Dartmouth Literary Monthly, The._
_Dartmouth Lyrics, 16mo, 1893_.
HAMILTON COLLEGE _Hamilton Literary Monthly, The_.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY _Harvard Advocate, The_.
_Harvard Lampoon, The_.
_Harvard Monthly, The_.
KANSAS, UNIVERSITY OF _Kansas University Weekly_.
LEHIGH UNIVERSITY _Lehigh Burr, The_.
LELAND STANFORD UNIVERSITY _Palo Alto, The_.
_Sequoia_.
_Stanford Quad, The_
_Four-Leaved Clover: Stanford Rhymes,
16mo, 1896_.
MASS. INSTITUTE OF
TECHNOLOGY _Tech, The_.
MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY _Inlander, The._
_Wrinkle, The_
MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE _Mount Holyoke, The_
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY _Syllabus, The_.
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY _Makio, The_.
PENNSYLVANIA, UNIVERSITY OF _Red and Blue_.
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY _Nassau Literary Monthly_.
ROCHESTER, UNIVERSITY OF _Campus, The_.
SMITH COLLEGE _Smith College Monthly_.
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY _University Herald_.
TEXAS, UNIVERSITY OF _University of Texas Magazine_.
TRINITY COLLEGE _Trinity Tablet, The_.
TUFTS COLLEGE _Tuftonian, The_.
UNION COLLEGE _Concordiensis, The_.
_Garnet, The_.
_Parthenon, The_.
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY _Vanderbilt Observer, The_.
VASSAR COLLEGE _Vassar Miscellany, The_.
VIRGINIA, UNIVERSITY OF _Virginia University Magazine_.
WELLESLEY COLLEGE _Wellesley Magazine, The_.
_Wellesley Lyrics, 16mo, 1894_.
WELLS COLLEGE _Cardinal, The_.
WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY _Wesleyan Argus, The_.
_Wesleyan Literary Monthly, The_.
_Olla Podrida, The_.
_Wesleyan Verse, 16mo, 1894_.
WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY _College Folio, The_.
WILLIAMS COLLEGE _Williams Literary Monthly, The_.
_Williams Weekly, The_.
WISCONSIN, UNIVERSITY OF _Badger, The_.
_Wisconsin Aegis_.
YALE UNIVERSITY _Yale Courant, The_.
_Yale Literary Magazine, The._
_Yale Record, The_.
* * * * *
~Soap-Bubbles.~
As a little child at play
Blows upon a pipe of clay
Bubbles, evanescent, bright,
With their iridescent light,
So I fling upon the wind
Verses of the bubble kind.
And my friend with eyes of blue
Looks my dainty verses through,
Pauses from his books awhile,
With an intellectual smile;
For my fancy seems as naught
To this man of deeper thought.
Still I plead as my excuse:
"Even bubbles have their use.
They are perfect while they live,
And their short career may give,
As they shimmer, and are flown,
Some suggestion for our own.
"Let their beauty, pure and glad,
Make another soul less sad,
And, as upward they are whirled,
Let them show their little world,
Floating clouds and perfect sky,
Warmly mirrored, ere they die."
HERBERT MULLER HOPKINS.
_Columbia Literary Monthly._
I. LOVE AND SENTIMENT
~Love Laughs.~
"Love laughs at locksmiths," laughs ho! ho!
Still Thisbe steals to meet a beau,
Naught recks of bolt and bar and night,
And father's frown and word despite.
As in the days of long ago,
In southern heat and northern snow
Still twangs the archer's potent bow,
And as his flying arrows smite,
Love laughs.
_Trinity Tablet_.
~Where Cupid Dwells.~
Way over the seas, is a far, far land,
Where skies are blue and gold;
Where ripples break on a silver sand,
And sunbeams ne'er grow old;
There's a dale where Cupid dwells, they say,
And 'tis there that he rests from his frolic play.
Oh, there's many a lass and many a swain
That knows of his shafts made there;
For Cupid spares naught of a deep heart-pain.
Though love be all his care.
And I think he should make a reflection or two,
When he rests over there from his play. Don't you?
ROBERT L. MUNGER.
_Yale Courant_.
~To Ruby Lips.~
Two ruby lips are hers; a pair
Of eyes a cynic to ensnare,
A tinted cheek, a perfect nose,
A throat as white as winter's snows,
And o'er her brow bright golden hair.
But, though she's everything that's fair,
My captured fancy's focused where
A saucy smile suffuses those
Two ruby lips.
Why longer wait their sweets to share?
We're safe behind the portiere.
A moment, then, that no one knows--
Ah! now she's flown, _couleur de rose_,
With, one might hint (but who would dare?)
_Too_ ruby lips.
H.A. RICHMOND.
_The Tech._
~A Gift.~
My friend holds careless in his palm
A glittering stone.
He does not know a jewel rare
Is all his own.
But in its flashing lights I see
A diamond shine,
And though he holds it in his hand,
The gem is mine.
ELIZABETH REEVE CUTTER.
_Smith College Monthly_.
~Jacqueminot.~
Are you filled with wonder, Jacqueminot,
Do you think me mad that I kiss you so?
If a rose could only its thoughts express,
I'd find you mocking, I more than guess;
And yet if you vow me a fond old fool,
Just think if your own fine pulse was cool
When you lay in her tresses an hour ago,
Jacqueminot.
This pale, proud girl, you must understand,
Held all my fate in her small white hand,
And when I asked her to be my bride,
She wanted a day to think--decide;
And I asked, if her answer were _no_, she'd wear
A Marshal Niel to the ball in her hair,
But if 'twere _yes_, she would tell me so
By a Jacqueminot.
My heart found heaven, I had seen my sign,
And after the dance I knew her mine,
And I plucked you out of her warm, soft hair,
As her stately pride stood trembling there,
And I felt in the dark for her lips to kiss,
And I pressed them close to my own like _this_,
And I held her cheek to my own cheek--_so_,
Jacqueminot!
FREDERIC LAWRENCE KNOWLES.
_Wesleyan Literary Monthly._
~Don't You Wish You Knew!~
Glancing in the moonlight,
Gliding in the dark,
Down the river slowly,
Floats our dainty bark.
Sweetly sound two voices,
Shadows hide the view;
Heard the rushes something?
Don't you wish you knew!
Gently sigh the zephyrs,
Shine the stars above,
Eyes of brighter lustre
Speak of lasting love.
Quickly pass the hours,
Glides the bark canoe;
Heard the rushes something?
Don't you wish you knew!
A.H.B.
_Brunonian._
~Prom-Roses.~
Only a bunch of roses fair,
A duster of pink and white,
Roses that nod to the music low,
The flowers she wore that night.
She tenderly lifts each drooping head
That gracefully tosses there,
And the dainty flowers, nestling close,
Smile back at the maiden fair.
"How beautiful they are," she said,
As she pressed them to her cheek,
"Why, the opened petals almost seem
As if they were trying to speak."
I wonder why she cannot hear
The song that the flowers sing,
I wonder if she knows or cares
For the message the roses bring.
JAMES P. SAWYER.
_Yale Record_.
~A Lyric.~
Beneath the lilac-tree,
With its breathing blooms of white,
You waved a parting kiss to me
In the deepening amber light.
Your face is always near,
Your tender eyes of brown.
I see your form in dreams; I hear
The whisper of your gown.
Once more the lilac-tree
With twilight dew is wet;
But, oh, I would that you might be
Alive to love me yet.
EDWARD M. HULME.
_The Palo Alto._
Pallas
You say there's a sameness in my style,
You long for the savor of something new,
You tell me that love is not worth while,
You wish for verse that is strong and true.
Well, I will leave the choice to you--
Prose or poetry, short or long,
Only we'll let this be the cue--
Love is excluded from the song.
I'll sing of some old cathedral pile,
Where, as we sit in a carved oak pew,
The sunlight illumines nave and aisle,
And peace seems thrilling us through and through.
No? you don't think that will do?
How would you like a busy throng,
A battle, Elizabeth's retinue?
But love is excluded from the song.
A journey, a voyage, a tropic isle,
The hush of the forest, the ocean blue,
A lament for all that is false and vile,
A paean for all that is good and true.
Pompadour's fan, or Louis's queue,
Mournful or merry, right or wrong.
Subjects, you'll find, are not so few,
But love is excluded from the song.
Oh! for a song of yourself you sue!
Do you think you can trap me? You are wrong.
Sing of your eyes and your smile and--Pooh!
Love is excluded from the song.
GUY WETMORE CARRYL.
_Columbia Spectator._
~How I Love Her.~
Dear, I'll tell you how I love you--
Not by singing sweetly of you--
Oh, I love you far too much,
For the daintiest rhyme's light touch;
No, it needs no language signs,
It's written here between the lines,
How I love you! You will see
If you look there, loving me.
C.B. NEWTON.
_Nassau Literary Monthly._
~Polly.~
She fluttered gaily down the hill--
That merry, dimpled lass--
She hurried singing down the hill,
And then she loitered by the mill,
And saw the bubbles pass,
Made double in the glass
Of the mirror of the water, greeny still.
She heard a sparrow pertly cry,
She smelt the new-mown hay,
She felt the sunshine in the sky,
As lightly she went skipping by,
A-down the sunny way--
'Twas like a holiday,
The keen, expectant sparkle in her eye.
And Cupid's wings were on her feet,
As nimbly she ran down;
And Cupid's wings were on her feet:
For pretty Polly went to meet
Her lover in the town.
She wore that lilac gown
That made him say--oh, nothing to repeat!
CHARLES W. SHOPE.
_Harvard Advocate_.
~Under the Rose.~
Last night the blush rose clustered,--
To-day the rough wind blows
In showers her broken petals;
Last night,--yet no one knows,--
I kissed thee, sweetheart, sweetheart,
Under the rose!
Last night my fond hope blossomed,--
To-day December snows
Drift deep and cold above it;
To-day,--ah! no one knows,--
My heart breaks, sweetheart, sweetheart,
Under the rose!
CATHERINE Y. GLEN.
_Mount Holyoke._
[Illustration: MT. HOLYOKE GIRL.]
~A Bit of Human Nature.~
'Tis only a pair of woman's eyes,
So long-lashed, soft, and brown,
Half hiding the light that in them lies,
As dreamily looking down.
'Tis only the dainty curve of a lip,
Half full, half clear defined,
And the shell-like pink of a finger-tip,
And a figure half reclined.
'Tis only a coil of rich, dark hair,
With sunlight sifted through,
And a truant curl just here and there,
And a knot of ribbon blue.
'Tis only the wave of a feather fan,
That ruffles the creamy lace,
Loose gathered about the bosom fair,
By rhinestones held in place.
'Tis only the toe of a high-heeled shoe,
With the glimpse of a color above--
A stocking tinted a faint sky-blue,
The shade that lovers love.
'Tis only a woman--a woman, that's all,
And, as only a woman can,
Bringing a heart to her beck and call
By waving her feather fan.
'Tis only a woman, and I--'twere best
To forget that waving fan.
She only a woman--you know the rest?
But I am only a man.
CHARLES WASHINGTON COLEMAN.
_Virginia University Magazine._
~Her Little Glove.~
Her little glove, I dare aver,
Would set your pulses all astir;
It hides a something safe from sight
So soft and warm, so small and white,
A cynic would turn flatterer!
Could Pegasus have better spur?
'Twould almost cause a saint to err--
A Puritan to grow polite--
Her little glove.
'Twill satisfy a connoisseur,
This dainty thing of lavender;
And when it clasps her fingers tight
I think--I wonder if it's right--
That somehow--well--I wish _I_ were
Her little glove.
FREDERIC LAWRENCE KNOWLES.
_Wesleyan Verse_.
~Skating Hath Charms.~
So cold was the night,
And her cheeks were cold, too,
Though it wasn't quite right,
So cold was the night,
And so sad was her plight,
That I--well, wouldn't you?
So cold was the night,
And her cheeks were cold, too.
H.H.
_Amherst Literary Monthly._
~The Portrait.~
Pearls and patches, powder and paint,
This was her grandmother years ago.
Gown and coiffure so strange and quaint,
Features just lacking the prim of the saint,
From the mischievous dimple that lurks below;
High-heeled slippers and satin bow,
Red lips mocking the heart's constraint,
Free from passion, devoid of taint--
This was her grandmother years ago.
Straight and slender, gallant and tall.
Ah, how he loved her, years ago!
Just so she looked at that last dim ball,
When, in a niche of the dusk old hall,
They whispered together soft and low.
She whispered "yes," but fate answered "no:"
Some one listened and told it all,
And the horses might wait by the garden wall,
But none came to answer him, years ago.
So, standing, fresh as the rose on her breast,
Smiling down on me here below,
Never a care on her brow impressed,
Never the dream of a thought confessed
Of all the weariness and the woe,
Hearts would break were time not so slow.
Swept are life's chambers; comes the new guest.
Old love, or new love--which was the best?
For this was her grandmother years ago.
_Southern Collegian_.
~The Convert.~
I wrote lots of trash about Cupid,
And the telling bewitchment of curls,
And that men were excessively stupid
To be madly devoted to girls.
I remarked that true love was unstable,
As compared with position or pelf,
'Till one day I met you, little Mabel,
And learned what it felt like, myself!
Don't read all the things I have written
When I knew that my heart was my own,
But since I confess I am smitten,
Read these little verses alone.
And sincerely I trust I'll be able
To convince you, you sly little elf,
To grant me your heart, little Mabel,
And learn what it feels like yourself!
GUY WETMORE CARRYL.
_Columbia Literary Monthly_.
~A Thief's Apology.~
I stole a kiss!--What could I do?
Before the door we stood, we two,
About to say a plain good-by;
She seemed so innocent and shy,
But what she thought, I thought I knew.
Ah, swift the blissful moments flew,
And when at last I said adieu
(Perhaps you think me bold), but I--
I stole a kiss.
The tale is told; perhaps it's true,
Perhaps it was a deed to rue;
But when that look came in her eye
I thought she wished to have me try--
I don't know how 'twould been with you--
_I_ stole a kiss.
ROBERT PORTER ST. JOHN.
_Amherst Literary Monthly._
~A Ballad of Dorothy.~
It's "Dorothy! Where's Dorothy?"
From morn to even fall,
There's not a lad on Cowslip Farm
Who joins not in the call.
It's Dolly here and Dolly there,
Where can the maiden be?
No wench in all the countryside's
So fine as Dorothy.
With tucked-up gown and shining pail,
Before the day is bright,
Down dewy lanes she singing goes
Among the hawthorns white.
Perchance her roses need her care,
She tends them faithfully.
There's not a rose in all the world
As fresh and sweet as she!
With morning sunshine in her hair
A-churning Dolly stands:
Oh, happy chum, I envy it,
Held close between her hands;
And when the crescent moon hangs bright
Athwart the soft night sky,
Down shady paths we strolling go,
Just Dorothy and I.
As true of heart as sweet of face,
With gay and girlish air,
The painted belles of citydom
Are not a whit as fair.
Come Michaelmas the parish chimes
Will ring out merrily.
Who is the bride I lead to church?
Why, who but Dorothy?
ARTHUR KETCHUM.
_Williams Literary Monthly_.
~A Cup and Saucer Episode.~
'Twas only coffee, yet we both drank deep,
I won't deny I felt intoxication;
For just to see those roguish moon-eyes peep
Over the cup, I plunged in dissipation.
She raised her cup, and I raised also mine;
She gave a look, as if "Now are you ready?"
Our eyes met o'er the rims--it seemed like wine,
So sweet, divine, bewitching, almost "heady."
So cup on cup! The salad, too, was good.
I had of that far more than my fair rations.
Yet served it merely as an interlude
Between the music of the cup flirtations.
And then to have her say 'twas all my fault!
I fairly blushed, and gazed down at my cup.
I noticed, though, she had not called the halt
Until the pot was empty, every sup.
BERT ROSS.
_Harvard Advocate_.
~Faint Heart Ne'er Won Fair Lady.~
"The burn runs swiftly, my dainty lass,
And its foam-wreathed stones are mossy,
An I carry ye ower to yonder shore
Ye will na think me saucy?"
"I thank ye, sir, but a Scottish lass
Recks not of a little wetting.
Will ye stand aside, sir? I can na bide, sir.
The sun o' the gloamin's setting."
"Yet stay, my pretty, the stepping-stones
Are a bridge o' my are hands' making.
An ye pay no toll I maun be so bold--
The sweeter a kiss for taking."
"Farewell, ye braw young Highlander.
Tho' first ye sought to mask it:
Unceevil 'tis to steal a kiss.
But muckle waur to ask it."
CHARLES POTTER HINE.
_Yale Literary Magazine_.
~A Foreign Tongue.~
When lovers talk, they talk a foreign tongue,
Their words are not like ours,
But full of meanings like the throb of flowers
Yet in the earth, unborn. I think the snow
Feels the mysterious passage and the flow
Of inarticulate streams that surge below.
And it is easy learning for the young;
When lovers talk, they talk a foreign tongue.
ANNA HEMPSTEAD BRANCH.
_Smith College Monthly_.
~Ye Gold-Headed Cane.~
It stands in the corner yet, stately and tall,
With a top that once shone like the sun.
It whispers of muster-field, playhouse, and ball,
Of gallantries, courtship, and fun.
It is hardly the stick for the dude of to-day,
He would swear it was deucedly plain,
But the halos of memory crown its decay--
My grandfather's gold-headed cane.
It could tell how a face in a circling calash
Grew red as the poppies she wore,
When a dandy stepped up with a swagger and dash.
And escorted her home to her door.
How the beaux cried with jealousy, "Jove! what a buck!"
As they glared at the fortunate swain,
And the wand which appeared to have fetched him his luck--
My grandfather's gold-headed cane.
It could tell of the rides in the grand yellow gig,
When, from under a broad scuttle hat,
The eyes of fair Polly were lustrous and big,
And--but no! would it dare tell of _that_?
Ah me! by those wiles that bespoke the coquette
How many a suitor was slain!
There was one, though, who conquered the foe when they met
With the gleam of his gold-headed cane.
Oh, the odors of lavender, lilac, and musk!
They scent these old halls even yet;
I can still see the dancers as down through the dusk
They glide in the grave minuet.
The small satin slippers, my grandmamma's pride,
Long, long in the chest have they lain;
Let us shake out the camphor and place them beside
My grandfather's gold-headed cane.
FREDERIC LAWRENCE KNOWLES.
_Wesleyan Literary Monthly._
~Hours.~
Matchless, melting eyes of brown,
This is but a cheerless town;
You should beam 'neath warmer skies,
Matchless, melting, dark brown eyes.
Yours should be a land of flowers,
Perfumed air and sunny hours;
Eastern fires within you rise,
Matchless, melting, dark brown eyes.
Eyes of beauty, eyes of light,
Burning mystically bright,
Prithee here no longer stay,
You will burn my heart away.
W.
_Hamilton Literary Monthly_.
~A Fickle Heart.~
A fickle heart! Let subtler poets sing
Of changeless love and all that kind of thing,
Of hearts in which a passion never dies--
_My_ heart's as fickle as the summer skies
Across whose face the changing cloud-forms wing.
Unfailing loves unfailing troubles bring.
I love to touch on Cupid's harp each string,
Though each unto my questioning touch replies
A fickle heart.
So, 'twixt some thirty loves I'm wavering,
To each the same unstable vows I fling,
Reading the first glad gleam of love's surprise
In thirty pair of brown and azure eyes,
Finding in all the same thought answering;
A fickle heart.
GUY WETMORE CARRYL.
_Columbia Spectator._
~My Lady goes to the Play.~
With the link-boys running on before
To light her on her way,
A-lounging in her sedan goes
Belinda to the play.
In patch and powder, puff and frill,
From satin shoe to hair,
Of all the maids in London town
I wot there's none so fair!
From Mayfair down along the Strand
To Covent Garden's light,
Where Master David Garrick acts
In a new role to-night,
The swinging sedan takes its way,
And with expectant air
Belinda fans, and wonders who
To-night there will be there.