Poems Teachers Ask For Volume II Part 69

_J.W. Foley._

Chums

If we should be s.h.i.+pwrecked together And only had water for one, And it was the hottest of weather Right out in the boiling sun, He'd tell me--no matter how bad he Might want it--to take a drink first; And then he would smile--oh, so glad he Had saved me!--and perish from thirst!

Or, if we were lost on the prairie And only had food for a day, He'd come and would give me the share he Had wrapped up and hidden away; And after I ate it with sadness He'd smile with his very last breath, And lay himself down full of gladness To save me--and starve right to death.

And if I was wounded in battle And out where great danger might be, He'd come through the roar and the rattle Of guns and of bullets to me, He'd carry me out, full of glory, No matter what trouble he had, And then he would fall down, all gory With wounds, and would die--but be glad!

We're chums--that's the reason he'd do it; And that's what a chum ought to be.

And if it was fire he'd go through it, If I should call him to me.

You see other fellows may know you, And friends that you have go and come; But a boy has one boy he can go to, For help all the time--that's his chum.

_J.W. Foley._

Jim Brady's Big Brother

Jim Brady's big brother's a wonderful lad, And wonderful, wonderful muscles he had; He swung by one arm from the limb of a tree And hung there while Jim counted up forty-three Just as slow as he could; and he leaped at a bound Across a wide creek and lit square on the ground Just as light as a deer; and the things he can do, So Jimmy told us, you would hardly think true.

Jim Brady's big brother could throw a fly ball From center to home just like nothing at all; And often while playing a game he would stand And take a high fly with just only one hand; Jim Brady showed us where he knocked a home run And won the big game when it stood three to one Against the home team, and Jim Brady, he showed The place where it lit in the old wagon road!

Jim Brady's big brother could bat up a fly That you hardly could see, for it went up so high; He'd bring up his muscle and break any string That you tied on his arm like it wasn't a thing!

He used to turn handsprings, and cartwheels, and he Could jump through his hands just as slick as could be, And circuses often would want him to go And be in the ring, but his mother said no.

Jim Brady's big brother would often make bets With boys that he'd turn two complete summersets From off of the spring-board before he would dive, And you'd hardly think he would come up alive; And n.o.body else who went there to swim Could do it, but it was just easy for him; And they'd all be scared, so Jim said, when he'd stay In under and come up a half mile away.

Jim Brady's big brother, so Jim said, could run Five miles in a race just as easy as one.

Right often he walked on his hands half a block And could have walked more if he'd wanted to walk!

And Jimmy says wait till he comes home from school, Where he is gone now, and some day, when it's cool, He'll get him to prove everything to be true That Jimmy told us his big brother could do!

_J.W. Foley._

The Gray Swan

"Oh tell me, sailor, tell me true, Is my little lad, my Elihu, A-sailing with your s.h.i.+p?"

The sailor's eyes were dim with dew,-- "Your little lad, your Elihu?"

He said with trembling lip,-- "What little lad? what s.h.i.+p?"

"What little lad! as if there could be Another such a one as he!

What little lad, do you say?

Why, Elihu, that took to the sea The moment I put him off my knee!

It was just the other day The _Gray Swan_ sailed away."

"The other day?" the sailor's eyes Stood open with a great surprise,-- "The other day? the _Swan?_"

His heart began in his throat to rise.

"Ay, ay, sir, here in the cupboard lies The jacket he had on."

"And so your lad is gone?"

"Gone with the _Swan_." "And did she stand With her anchor clutching hold of the sand, For a month, and never stir?"

"Why, to be sure! I've seen from the land, Like a lover kissing his lady's hand, The wild sea kissing her,-- A sight to remember, sir."

"But, my good mother, do you know All this was twenty years ago?

I stood on the _Gray Swan's_ deck, And to that lad I saw you throw, Taking it off, as it might be, so, The kerchief from your neck."

"Ay, and he'll bring it back!"

"And did the little lawless lad That has made you sick and made you sad, Sail with the _Gray Swan's_ crew?"

"Lawless! the man is going mad!

The best boy ever mother had,-- Be sure he sailed with the crew!

What would you have him do?"

"And he has never written line, Nor sent you word, nor made you sign To say he was alive?"

"Hold! if 'twas wrong, the wrong is mine; Besides, he may be in the brine, And could he write from the grave?

Tut, man, what would you have?"

"Gone twenty years,--a long, long cruise, 'Twas wicked thus your love to abuse; But if the lad still live, And come back home, think you you can Forgive him?"--"Miserable man, You're mad as the sea,--you rave,-- What have I to forgive?"

The sailor twitched his s.h.i.+rt so blue, And from within his bosom drew The kerchief. She was wild.

"My G.o.d! my Father! is it true My little lad, My Elihu?

My blessed boy, my child!

My dead,--my living child!"

_Alice Cary._

The Circling Year

SPRING

The joys of living wreathe my face, My heart keeps time to freshet's race; Of balmy airs I drink my fill-- Why, there's a yellow daffodil!

Along the stream a soft green tinge Gives hint of feathery willow fringe; Methinks I heard a Robin's "Cheer"-- I'm glad Spring's here!

SUMMER