“ To feign a cheery aspect and recount in accents gay How the biggest fish that I had caught had somehow got away. And, really, fish look bigger than they are before they're caught— When the pole is bent into a bow and the slender line is taut, When a fellow feels his heart rise up like a doughnut in his throat And he lunges in a frenzy up and down the leaky boat! Oh, you who've been a-fishing will indorse me when I say That it always is the biggest fish you catch that gets away! 'Tis even so in other things—yes, in our greedy eyes The biggest boon is some elusive, never-captured prize ”
Summary
“Hoosier Lyrics”, is a work by Eugene Field. It explores elements such as uv, Pettibone and nd.
Quotes from Hoosier Lyrics (Eugene Field)
“ For more than half a century unterrified has stood, Where nod the black-eyed Susans to the prattle of the rill— There—there befell the wooing of Penn-Yan Bill. II. Down yonder in the cottage that is nestling in the shade Of the walnut trees that seem to love that quiet little glade Abides a pretty maiden of the bonny name of Sue— As pretty as the black-eyed flow'rs and quite as modest, too; And [26] lovers came there by the score, of every age and kind, But not a one (the story goes) was quite to Susie's mind. ”
“ HORACE I, 11. Seek not, Lucome, to know how long you're going to live yet— What boons the gods will yet withhold, or what they're going to give yet; For Jupiter will have his way, despite how much we worry— Some will hang on for many a day and some die in a hurry, The wisest thing for you to do is to embark this diem Upon a merry escapade with some such bard as I am ”
“ William J. Florence, the comedian, takes to verses as naturally as a canvas-back duck takes to celery sauce. As a balladist he has few equals and no superiors, and when it comes to weaving compliments to the gentler sex he is without a peer. ”
“ The world is full of roses, and the roses full of dew (Which is another word for soup) that drips for me and you. "Little Benjy! Little Benjy!" chirps the robin in the tree; "Little Benjy!" sighs the clover, "Little Benjy!" moans the bee; "Little Benjy! Little Benjy!" murmurs John C. New, A-stroking down the whiskers which the winds have whistled through. Looks jest like his grampa, who's dead these many years— He wears the hat his grampa wore, pulled down below his ears ”
“ Wheresoever she bides, whether nestling in lanes Or gracing the proud urban bowers, The red, royal rose her distinction maintains As the one regnant queen among flowers. How joyous are we of the west when we find That Fate, with her gifts ever chary, Has decreed that the Rose, who is queen of her kind Shall bloom on our wild western prairie. ”
“ HORACE'S SPRING POEM. (Odes I, 4.) The western breeze is springing up, the ships are in the bay, And Spring has brought a happy change as Winter melts away; No more in stall or fire the herd or plowman finds delight, No longer with the biting frosts the open fields are white. ”
“ IV. We wonder that the ivy seeks out the oaken tree, And twines her tendrils round him, though scarred and gnarled he be; We [27] wonder that a gentle girl, unused to worldly cares, Should choose a man whose life has been a constant scrap with bears; Ah, 'tis the nature of the vine, and of the maiden, too— So when the bold Montana boy came from his lair to woo, The fair Kentucky blossom felt all her heartstrings thrill Responsive to the purring of Penn-Yan Bill. V. He told her of his cabin in the mountains far away, Of the catamount that howls by night, the wolf that yawps by day ”
“ Well, when at last he up 'nd died—long past his ninetieth year— The strangest and the most luguberous funeral he had, For women came in multitudes to weep upon his bier— The men all wond'ring why on earth the women had gone mad! ”
“ Or wheresoever you please, You shall not find what's here combined— Equality and ease! "How tidy are these honest homes In every part and nook— The men folk wear a prosperous air, The women happy look. ”
“ How we miss our Minnie Lee! But her work on earth is over And her spirit now is free She has gone to live in heaven— Shall we weep for Minnie Lee? Would we call our angel darling Back again across the sea? No! but sometime up in heaven We will meet loved Minnie Lee. To [17] the question as to whether this poem is worth anything we chose to answer in verse as follows: Sweet poetess, your poetry Is bad as bad can be, And yet we heartily deplore The death of Minnie Lee. ”
“ For, as one, those women squalled: "We doted on deceased for being bald—bald—bald!" He was bald because his genius burnt that shock of hair away, Which, elsewise, clogs one's keenness and activity of mind, And (barring present company, of course,) I'm free to say That, after all, it's intellect that captures woman-kind. At any rate, since then (With a precedent in Ben) , The women-folk have been in love with us bald-headed men! ”
“ From whatever point of view the character of Eugene Field is seen, genius—rare and quaint presents itself in childlike simplicity. That he was a poet of keen perception, of rare discrimination, all will admit. He was a humorist as delicate and fanciful as Artemus Ward, Mark Twain, Bill Nye, James Whitcomb Riley, Opie Read, or Bret Harte in their happiest moods. ”
“ So sing your songs of women folks— We'll read without the least abhorrence, Because we know Through weal and woe Your queen is Mrs. Billy Florence! [38] ALASKAN BALLADRY.—III. (Skans in Love.) I am like the wretched seal Wounded by a barbed device— Helpless fellow! how I bellow, Floundering on the jagged ice! Sitka's beauty is the steel That hath wrought this piteous woe: Yet would I rather die Than recover from the blow! Still I'd rather live than die, Grievous though my torment be; Smite away, but, I pray, Smite no victim else than me! [39] THE BIGGEST FISH. ”
“ But no such face he'll paint again as at old Blue Horizon, For I'll allow no sweeter face no human soul sot eyes on; And when the critics talk so grand uv Paris 'nd the loover, I say: "Oh, but you orter seen the Pettibone shef doover!" [25] PENN-YAN BILL. I. In gallus old Kentucky, where the grass is very blue, Where the liquor is the smoothest and the girls are fair and true, Where the crop of he-gawd gentlemen is full of heart and sand, And the stock of four-time winners is the finest in the land ”
“ So tenderlike 'nd low That it almost seemed like a dream I dreamed, Or an echo of long ago; An' sometimes on my forehead There falls a soft caress, Or the touch of a hand—you understand— I'm gettin' on, I guess. [16] MINNIE LEE.Writing from an Indiana town a young woman asks: "Is the enclosed poem worth anything?"We find that the poem is as follows: She has left us, our own darling— And we never more shall see Here on earth our dearly loved one— God has taken Minnie Lee. ”
“ That luck's a kind uv science—same as any other game; It happened out in Denver in the spring uv '80, when Salty teched a humpback an' win out ten. Salty wuz a printer in the good ol' Tribune days, An', natural-like, he fell in love with the good ol' Tribune ways; So, every Sunday evenin' he would sit into the game Which in this crowd uv thoroughbreds I think I need not name; An' there he'd sit until he rose, an', when he rose he wore Invariably less wealth about his person than before. But [34] once there come a powerful change ”
“ And miners come a-flockin' in like honey bees to clover; It kind uv did 'em good they said, to feast their hungry eyes on That picture uv Our Lady in the camp uv Blue Horizon. But one mean cuss from Nigger Crick passed criticisms on 'er— Leastwise we overheerd him call her Pettibone's madonner, The which we did not take to be respectful to a lady— So [24] we hung him in a quiet spot that wuz cool 'nd dry 'nd shady; Which same might not have been good law, but it wuz the right maneuver To give the critics due respect for Pettibone's shef doover. ”
“ An' little boys get grass-stains on their go-to-meetin' pants. It's June agin, an' with it all what happiness is mine— There's goin' to be a picnic an' I'm goin' to jine! One year I jined the Baptists, an' goodness! how it rained! (But grampa says that that's the way "Baptizo" is explained.) And once I jined the 'piscopils an' had a heap o' fun— But the boss of all the picnics was the Presbyterium! They had so many puddin's, sallids, sandwidges an' pies, That [102] a feller wisht his stummick was as hungry as his eyes! ”
“ An' smelt fur all the world like rags instead uv like terbacker; Recoverin' from our first surprise, us fellows fell to pokin' [32] A heap uv fun at "folks uz said how they had gin up smokin'." But Ed—sez he: "I found my work cud not be done without it— Jes' try the scheme yourself, my friends, ef any uv you doubt it! It's hard, I know, upon one's health, but there's a certain beauty In makin' sackerfices to the stern demand uv duty! So, wholly in a sperrit uv denial 'nd concession I mortify the flesh 'nd fur the sake uv my perfession!" ”
“ We own the biggest fish we've caught are those that get away. I would not have it otherwise; 'tis better there should be Much bigger fish than I have caught a-swimming in the sea; For now some worthier one than I may angle for that game— May by his arts entice, entrap, and comprehend the same; Which, having done, perchance he'll bless the man who's proud to say That the biggest fish he ever caught were those that got away. [42] BONNIE JIM CAMPBELL: A LEGISLATIVE MEMORY. Bonnie Jim Campbell rode up the glen, But it wasn't to meet the butterine men ”
“ THE "ARS POETICA" OF HORACE—I. (Lines 1-23.) Should painters attach to a fair human head The thick, turgid neck of a stallion, Or depict a spruce lass with the tail of a bass— I am sure you would guy the rapscallion! Believe me, dear Pisos, that such a freak Is the crude and preposterous poem Which merely abounds in a torrent of sounds With no depth of reason below 'em. 'Tis all very well to give license to art— The wisdom of license defend I ”
“ Whenas come lovers with theyre pityse chiding, Sothly it ben faire to give up your moder For to beare swete company with some oder; Your moder ben well enow so farre shee goeth, But that ben not farre enow, God knoweth; Wherefore it ben sayed that foolysh ladyes That marrye not shall leade an aype in Hayde; But all that do with gode men wed full quicklye When that they be on dead go to ye seints full sickerly. [77] HORACE I, 5. ”
“ My Uncle Eph, a duller man, was so revered of men! When Uncle Eph was dying he called me to his bed, And in a tone of confidence inviolate he said: "Dear Willyum, ere I seek repose in yonder blissful sphere I fain would breathe a secret in your adolescent ear; Strive [137] not to hew your way through life—it really doesn't pay ”
“ With whiskers 'at reach f'om his eyes to his throat. He knows how to wheedle and rivet a vote; He wunst wuz a consul 'way over the sea— But never again a consul he'll be! He come back f'om Lon'on one mornin' in May— He come back for bizness, an' here he will stay— Ain't he a awful slick newspaper man? A newspaper, newspaper, newspaper man! You kin talk about yer cities where the politicians meet— You kin talk about yer cities where a decent man gits beat; With the general run o' human kind I beg to disagree— The little town of Tailholt is good enough f'r me! ”
“ Cliff Bill allowed the like uv how he win wuz never seen! An' how he done it wuz revealed to all us fellers when He said he teched a humpback to win out ten. There must be somethin' in it for he never win afore, An' when he tole the crowd about the humpback, how they swore! For every sport allows it is a losin' game to buck Agin the science of a man who's teched a hump f'r luck ”
“ That when they have a picnic, you bet I'm goin' to jine! But at this time the Methodists have special claims on me, For they're goin' to give a picnic on the 21st, D. V.; Why should a liberal Universalist like me object To share the joys of fellowship with every friendly sect? ”
“ That [21] everlastin' book uv his with spider lines all through it— Three-Fingered Hoover used to say there warn't no meanin' to it— "God durn a man," sez he to him, "whose shif'less hand is sot at A-drawin' hills that's full of quartz that's pinin' to be got at!" "Go on," sez Pettibone, "go on, if joshin' gratifies ye, But one uv these fine times, I'll show ye sumthin' will surprise ye!" The which remark led us to think—although he didn't say it— That Pettibone wuz owin' us a gredge 'nd meant to pay it. ”
“ She kind uv fidgets at my side, An' every now and then; "I wonder ef the baby cried?" Seems like she seen two little eyes A-pinin' f'r their mother's smile— Seems like she heern the pleadin' cries Uv one she thinks uv all the while; An' [19] she's sorry that she come, 'An' though she allus tries to hide The truth, she'd ruther stay to hum Than wonder ef the baby cried. ”
“ Gone is the camp—yes, years ago, the Blue Horizon busted, And every mother's son uv us got up one day 'nd dusted, While Pettibone perceeded east with wealth in his possession And went to Yurrup, as I heerd, to study his perfession ”
“ And then he gives her one big kiss, does Penn-Yan Bill. VII. Avaunt, ye poet lovers, with your wishywashy lays! Avaunt, ye solemn pedants, with your musty, bookish ways! Avaunt, ye smurking dandies who air your etiquette Upon the gold your fathers worked so long and hard to get! How empty is your nothingness beside the sturdy tales Which mountaineers delight to tell of border hills and vales— Of [29] snaix that crawl, of beasts that yowl, of birds that flap and trill In the wild egregious altitude of Penn-Yan Bill. ”
“ She saw the face she longed to see and heerd his voice a-callin'; "Hooray!" we cried; "a woman in the camp uv Blue Horizon— Step right up, Colonel Pettibone, 'nd nominate your pizen!" A curious situation—one deservin' uv your pity— No human, livin' female thing this side of Denver City! But [23] jest a lot uv husky men that lived on sand 'nd bitters— Do you wonder that that woman's face consoled the lonesome critters? ”
“ Florence, and it grieves us to see her husband dribbling away his superb intellect in [37] penning verses to other women. Yet we think we understand it all; these poets have a pretty way of hymning the virtues of their wives under divers aliases. ”
“ New assured us (in that noospaper o' his) That we cud hev the airth, if we'd only tend to biz. But here we've been a-slavin' more like bosses than like men To diskiver that the people do not hanker arter Ben ”
“ And [22] f'r a likely spell the charm uv silence wuz unbroken— Till presently, as in a dream, remarked Three-Fingered Hoover: "Onless I am mistaken, this is Pettibone's shef doover!" It wuz a face, a human face—a woman's, fair 'nd tender, Sot gracefully upon a neck white as a swan's, and slender; The hair wuz kind of sunny, 'nd the eyes wuz sort uv dreamy, The mouth wuz half a-smilin', 'nd the cheeks wuz soft 'nd creamy ”
“ PAGE. Hoosier Lyrics Paraphrased 9 Gettin' On 14 Minnie Lee 16 Answer to Minnie Lee 17 Lizzie 18 Our Lady of the Mine 20 Penn-Yan Bill 25 Ed 31 How Salty Win Out 33 His Queen 36 Answer to His Queen 37 Alaskan Balladry—Skans in Love 38 The Biggest Fish 39 Bonnie Jim Campbell 42 Lyman, Frederick and Jim 44 A Wail 46 Clendenin's Lament 48 On the Wedding of G. C. 49 To G. C. 51 To Dr. F. W. R. 52 Horace's Ode to "Lydia" Roche 54 A Paraphrase, Circa 1715 56 A Paraphrase, Ostensibly by Dr. ”
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