Complete Poetical Works by Bret Harte Part 39

And now as the night was senescent, And star-dials pointed to morn, And car-drivers hinted of morn, At the end of the path a liquescent And bibulous l.u.s.tre was born; 'Twas made by the bar-keeper present, Who mixed a duplicate horn,-- His two hands describing a crescent Distinct with a duplicate horn.

And I said: "This looks perfectly regal, For it's warm, and I know I feel dry,-- I am confident that I feel dry.

We have come past the emeu and eagle, And watched the gay monkey on high; Let us drink to the emeu and eagle, To the swan and the monkey on high,-- To the eagle and monkey on high; For this bar-keeper will not inveigle, Bully boy with the vitreous eye,-- He surely would never inveigle, Sweet youth with the crystalline eye."

But Mary, uplifting her finger, Said: "Sadly this bar I mistrust,-- I fear that this bar does not trust.

Oh, hasten! oh, let us not linger!

Oh, fly,--let us fly,--are we must!"

In terror she cried, letting sink her Parasol till it trailed in the dust; In agony sobbed, letting sink her Parasol till it trailed in the dust,-- Till it sorrowfully trailed in the dust.

Then I pacified Mary and kissed her, And tempted her into the room, And conquered her scruples and gloom; And we pa.s.sed to the end of the vista, But were stopped by the warning of doom,-- By some words that were warning of doom.

And I said, "What is written, sweet sister, At the opposite end of the room?"

She sobbed, as she answered, "All liquors Must be paid for ere leaving the room."

Then my heart it grew ashen and sober, As the streets were deserted and drear, For my pockets were empty and drear; And I cried: "It was surely October, On this very night of last year, That I journeyed, I journeyed down here,-- That I brought a fair maiden down here, On this night of all nights in the year!

Ah! to me that inscription is clear; Well I know now, I'm perfectly sober, Why no longer they credit me here,-- Well I know now that music of Auber, And this Nightingale, kept by one Shear."

NORTH BEACH

(AFTER SPENSER)

Lo! where the castle of bold Pfeiffer throws Its sullen shadow on the rolling tide,-- No more the home where joy and wealth repose, But now where wa.s.sailers in cells abide; See yon long quay that stretches far and wide, Well known to citizens as wharf of Meiggs: There each sweet Sabbath walks in maiden pride The pensive Margaret, and brave Pat, whose legs Encased in broadcloth oft keep time with Peg's.

Here cometh oft the tender nursery-maid, While in her ear her love his tale doth pour; Meantime her infant doth her charge evade, And rambleth sagely on the sandy sh.o.r.e, Till the sly sea-crab, low in ambush laid, Seizeth his leg and biteth him full sore.

Ah me! what sounds the shuddering echoes bore When his small treble mixed with Ocean's roar!

Hard by there stands an ancient hostelrie, And at its side a garden, where the bear, The stealthy catamount, and c.o.o.n agree To work deceit on all who gather there; And when Augusta--that unconscious fair-- With nuts and apples plieth Bruin free, Lo! the green parrot claweth her back hair, And the gray monkey grabbeth fruits that she On her gay bonnet wears, and laugheth loud in glee!

THE LOST TAILS OF MILETUS

High on the Thracian hills, half hid in the billows of clover, Thyme, and the asphodel blooms, and lulled by Pactolian streamlet, She of Miletus lay, and beside her an aged satyr Scratched his ear with his hoof, and playfully mumbled his chestnuts.

Vainly the Maenid and the Ba.s.sarid gamboled about her, The free-eyed Bacchante sang, and Pan--the renowned, the accomplished--Executed his difficult solo. In vain were their gambols and dances; High o'er the Thracian hills rose the voice of the shepherdess, wailing:

"Ai! for the fleecy flocks, the meek-nosed, the pa.s.sionless faces; Ai! for the tallow-scented, the straight-tailed, the high-stepping; Ai! for the timid glance, which is that which the rustic, sagacious, Applies to him who loves but may not declare his pa.s.sion!"

Her then Zeus answered slow: "O daughter of song and sorrow, Hapless tender of sheep, arise from thy long lamentation!

Since thou canst not trust fate, nor behave as becomes a Greek maiden, Look and behold thy sheep." And lo! they returned to her tailless!

THE RITUALIST

(BY A COMMUNICANT OF "ST. JAMES'S")

He wore, I think, a chasuble, the day when first we met; A stole and snowy alb likewise,--I recollect it yet.

He called me "daughter," as he raised his jeweled hand to bless; And then, in thrilling undertones, he asked, "Would I confess?"

O mother dear! blame not your child, if then on bended knees I dropped, and thought of Abelard, and also Eloise; Or when, beside the altar high, he bowed before the pyx, I envied that seraphic kiss he gave the crucifix.

The cruel world may think it wrong, perhaps may deem me weak, And, speaking of that sainted man, may call his conduct "cheek;"

And, like that wicked barrister whom Cousin Harry quotes, May term his mixed chalice "grog," his vestments "petticoats;"

But, whatsoe'er they do or say, I'll build a Christian's hope On incense and on altar-lights, on chasuble and cope.

Let others prove, by precedent, the faith that they profess: "His can't be wrong" that's symbolized by such becoming dress.

A MORAL VINDICATOR

If Mr. Jones, Lycurgus B., Had one peculiar quality, 'Twas his severe advocacy Of conjugal fidelity.

His views of heaven were very free; His views of life were painfully Ridiculous; but fervently He dwelt on marriage sanct.i.ty.

He frequently went on a spree; But in his wildest revelry, On this especial subject he Betrayed no ambiguity.

And though at times Lycurgus B.

Did lay his hands not lovingly Upon his wife, the sanct.i.ty Of wedlock was his guaranty.

But Mrs. Jones declined to see Affairs in the same light as he, And quietly got a decree Divorcing her from that L. B.

And what did Jones, Lycurgus B., With his known idiosyncrasy?

He smiled,--a bitter smile to see,-- And drew the weapon of Bowie.

He did what Sickles did to Key,-- What Cole on Hisc.o.c.k wrought, did he; In fact, on persons twenty-three He proved the marriage sanct.i.ty.

The counselor who took the fee, The witnesses and referee, The judge who granted the decree, Died in that wholesale butchery.

And then when Jones, Lycurgus B., Had wiped the weapon of Bowie, Twelve jurymen did instantly Acquit and set Lycurgus free.

CALIFORNIA MADRIGAL

(ON THE APPROACH OF SPRING)

Oh, come, my beloved, from thy winter abode, From thy home on the Yuba, thy ranch overflowed; For the waters have fallen, the winter has fled, And the river once more has returned to its bed.

Oh, mark how the spring in its beauty is near!

How the fences and tules once more reappear!