Thomas Nelson Page

Name: The Coast of Bohemia
Author: Thomas Nelson Page

The Coast of Bohemia

Summary

“The Coast of Bohemia”, is a work by Thomas Nelson Page. It explores elements such as Marse Phil, Marster and nigger.

Quotes from The Coast of Bohemia (Thomas Nelson Page)

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ And in whose dust thine own must melt again,
Was agèd cycles ere thine earliest dawn;—
But they to me are young: I gave them birth.
Climb up those heaven-tipt peaks thy dizziest height,
Thou there shalt read, graved deep, my name and age;
Dig down thy deepest depth, shalt read them still.
Before the mountains sprang, before the Earth,
Thy cradle and thy tomb, was made, I was:
God called them forth from me, as thee from Earth.
Thou burrow'st through a mountain, here and there,
Work'st all thine engines, cutting off a speck ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ Their inspiration,
They hymn their jubilation
That Spring again is here;
And all together sing
The Goddess of the Year,
The Spring: the gracious Spring.
YOUTH
I once might hear the fairies sing
Upon the feathery grass a-swing,
Or in the orchard's blossoming:
Their melody so fine and clear,
One had to bend his ear to hear,
Or else the music well might pass
For zephyrs whispering in the grass.
I once might see the fairies dance
A-circle in their meadow-haunts,
Soft-tapered by the new-moon's glance:
Their airy feet in crystal shoon
Made twinklings neath the silver moon. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ The shepherd mirrored in his upland spring,
Drink of my cup in one great brotherhood.
'T is, nay, not man alone—thou art but one
Of all the myriads of life-holding things,—
Brute, beast, bird, reptile, insect, thing unnamed,
Whose souls find recreation in my breath:
Nay, not a tree, flower, sprig of grass or weed,
But lives through me and hymns my praise to God:
I feed, sustain, refresh and keep them all:
Mirror and type of God that giveth life. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ Aspiring souls who loving Honor most,
Have sought the crystal mountain-tops beyond,
And striven upward, heedless of their scars,
To where all paths lead ever to the shining stars.
THE VOICE OF THE SEA
Thus spake to Man the thousand-throated Sea;
Words which the stealing winds caught from its lips:
Thou thinkest thee and thine, God's topmost crown. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ Like Mary's precious spikenard sweetening Life.
MATTHEW ARNOLD
He challenged all that came within his ken,
And Error held with steadfast mind aloof.
E'en Truth itself he put upon the proof:
Holding that Light was God's first gift to men.
THE STRANGER
Straying one day amid the leafy bowers,
A Presence passed, masked in a sunny ray,
Tossing behind him carelessly the hours,
As one shakes blossoms from a ravished spray,—
Strewing them far and wide. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ Hearing thy tranquil footsteps, bless thy name;
Anguish is soothed, Sorrow forgets to weep.
Thou ope'st the captive's cell and bid'st him roam;
Thou giv'st the hunted refuge, free'st the slave,
Show'st the outcast pity, call'st the exile home;
Beggar and king thine equal blessings reap.
We for our loved ones Wealth, Joy, Honors crave;
But God, He giveth his beloved—Sleep.
TO A LADY AT A SPRING
Long æons since, in leafy woodlands sweet,
Diana, weary with the eager chase,
Was wont to seek full oft some trysting-place
Loved of her rosy train ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ Since Horace, secure in the double endowment of genius and of an Emperor's favor, wrote scornfully how hated of gods and men was middling verse, no one has ever doubted the fact—perhaps, not even one of all the myriads who have dared to brave that bitter scorn. The explanation then for the production of so much of the despised matter must be that there is for the minor poet also a music that the outer world does not catch—an inner day which the outer world does not see. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ One voyager charted it for every age,
From azure rim to starry mountain core.
A nameless player on the World's great stage,
He spread his sails, adventured to that shore
And reared a pharos with his art sublime,
Like Ilion's song-wrought towers, to beacon every clime.
The great adventurers reached it when they brake
Columbus-led into the unknown West,
And those who followed in their shining wake,
But left no trace of where their keels have pressed;
Yet have through stress of storm and tempests' rage
Won by his quenchless light a happy anchorage. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ Like a dowie auld cat blinkin' by the hearth-stane.
Yet Davie, belyve, should you mind in your joy
The puir lonely carlies you lo'ed as a boy,
The memories of canty auld days we have spent
Will come like the harp-tones o'er still waters sent.
Then come to me, Davie, auld days we 'll renew;
We 'll heap the bit-ingle and bouse the auld brew;
We 'll smoke the auld pipe, till we freshen your life,
And send you back young as a boy to your wife. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ Strew field and forest with bee-haunted stars;
I give the Morn pearl for her radiant roof,
And Eve lend glory for her rosy dome;
I build the purple towers that hold the West
And guard the passage of Retiring Day.
Thy frailest fabric far outlasts thyself:
The pyramids rise from the desert sands,
Their builders blown in dust about their feet.
The winged bull looms mid an alien race,
Grim, silent, lone. But whither went the King? ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ One who after writing prose all his life suddenly essays to launch a volume of verse, must know something of the feeling with which an old-time sailor after coasting only his native shores found himself setting sail into an unknown sea. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ So, Davie, you 're gaeing to tak yo' a wife
To halve a' yo' sorrows, an' sweeten yo' life;
An' Davie, my laddie, I wish you enow
Of joy and content on your shiny auld pow.
She 's feat and she 's brightsome, I ken, as the day
When sinshine is whispering its luve to the May;
Her cheeks are like blossoms, her mouth is a rose,
And her teeth are the pearlies its petals enclose.
Of her voice, her ain music, I dinna' say mair,
Than that 'tis a strain might a bogle ensnare,
And her een they are stars beaming forth a bright flame
To cheer a puir wanderer and lead him safe hame. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ The charmèd music of her voice might hear.
She may not come to me, Alas! I know,
Else had she surely come, long, long ago.
The Conqueror Death, who save One conquers all,
Had never power to hold that soul in thrall ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ But you carn't onchange a po'-white-folks' nigger.
When you 's dwellin' on golden harps an' chunes,
A po-white-foiks' nigger's thinkin' bout coons;
An' when you 's snifflin' de heaven'y blossoms,
A po'-white-folks' nigger 's studyin' 'bout possums.
MARSE PHIL
Yes, yes, you is Marse Phil's son; you favor 'm might'ly, too.
We wuz like brothers, we wuz, me an' him.
You tried to fool d' ole nigger, but, Marster, 'twouldn' do;
Not do yo' is done growed so tall an' slim.
Hi! Lord! Ise knowed yo', honey, sence long befo' yo' born—
I mean, Ise knowed de family dat long ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ Says 'tain' no better 'n 'arf-strainer;
An' dat his master 'll git
Good place in Heaven—po'-white-folks, mark!—
As y' all whar come right out de ark;
An' dat—now jes' heah dis!—dat he,
A po'-white-folks' nigger 's good as me!
He 's gwine straight to de deble!
An' sarve him jes' right, too!
He 's a outdacious rebel,
Arter all Ise done do!—
Ise sweat an' arguified an' blowed
Over dat black nigger mo'
'N would 'a' teck a c'nal-boat load
Over to Canyan sho'!
Ise tried refection—'t warn' no whar!
Ise wrastled wid de Lord in pra'r ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ An' dees been white folks, Marster—dee han 's white ez young corn—
An', ef dee want to, couldn' do no wrong.
You' gran'pa bought my mammy at Gen'l Nelson's sale,
An' Deely she come out de same estate;
An' blood is jes' like pra'r is—hit tain' gwine nuver fail;
Hit 's sutney gwine to come out, soon or late.
When I wuz born, yo' gran'pa gi' me to young Marse Phil,
To be his body-servant—like, you know;
An' we growed up together like two stalks in a hill—
Bofe tarslin' an' den shootin' in de row.
Marse Phil wuz born in harves', an' I dat Christmas come ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ One night, he comes, an' seys he, "Sam, I needs new clo'es";
An' seys I, "Marse Phil, yes, suh, so yo' does."
Well, suh, he made de tailor meek ev'y thing bran' new;
He would n' w'ar one stitch he had on han'—
Jes' throwed 'em in de chip box, an' seys, "Sam, dem 's fur you."
Marse Phil, I tell yo', wuz a gentleman.
So Marse Phil co'tes de Mistis, an' Sam he co'tes de maid—
We always sot our traps upon one parf;
An' when we tole ole Marster we bofe wuz gwine, he seyd,
"All right, we 'll have to kill de fatted calf." ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ One evelin' nigh de grave-yard gate,
Warn't nuttin' sep some ole cat whar
Wuz sot on suppin' off old hyah.
He 'oont allow a rooster
By crowin' in folks' do',
Kin bring death dyah; and useter
Say, he wish mine would crow.
An' he even say, a hin mout try,
Sep woman-folks would git so spry,
An' want to stick deeselves up den,
An' try to crow over de men.
'E say 't ain' no good in preachin';
Dat niggers is sich fools—
Don' know no mo' 'bout teachin'
'N white-folks does 'bout mules ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ What sey, young Marster? Yes, suh: you sey, "It 's five—not one—"
Yo' favors, honey, bofe yo' pa an' ma!
ONE MOURNER
(FOR IRWIN RUSSELL, WHO DIED IN NEW ORLEANS IN
GREAT DESTITUTION, ON CHRISTMAS EVE, 1879) Well, well, I declar'! I is sorry.
He 's 'ceasted, yo' say, Marse Joe?—
Dat gent'man down in New Orleans,
Whar writ 'bout'n niggers so,
An' tole, in all dat poetry
You read some time lars' year,
'Bout niggers, an' 'coons, an' 'possums,
An' ole times, an' mules an' gear?
Jes' name dat ag'in, seh, please, seh;
Destricution 's de word yo' said? ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ Some nigh him mout 'a' acted de ravins
An' gin him a mouf-ful to eat,
An' not let him starve at Christmas,
When things ain't sca'ce nowhar—
Ef he hed been a dog, young Marster,
I 'd 'a feeded him den, I 'clar'!
But wait! Maybe Gord, when thinkin'
How po' he 'd been himself,
Cotch sight dat gent'man scufflin',
An' 'lowed fur to see what wealf
Hit mout be de bes' to gin him,
Ez a Christmas-gif', yo' know;
So he jes' took him up to heaven,
Whar he earn' be po' no mo'.
An' jes' call his name ag'in, seh. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ Say you kin work an' don't need none,
An' he carn't, son.
"He ain' been use ter diggin'
His livin' out de dirt;
He carn't drink out a piggin,
Like you; an' it 'ud hurt
Ole Marster's pride, an' make him sw'ar,
In glory dyar!"
Den all his strength seemed fallin';
He shet his eyes awhile,
An' den said: "Heish! he 's callin'!
Dyar he! Now watch him smile!
Yes, suh— You niggers jes' stan' back!
Marster, here 's Jack!"
ASHCAKE
Well, yes, suh, dat am a comical name
It are so, an' for a fac'—
But I knowed one, down in Ferginyer,
Could 'a' toted dat on its back. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ No matter what one got, suh, de oder gwine git some—
We wuz two fibe-cent pieces in one dime.
We cotch ole hyahs together, an' possums, him an' me;
We fished dat mill-pon' over, night an' day;
Rid horses to de water; treed coons up de same tree;
An' when you see one, turr warn' fur away.
When Marse Phil went to College, 't wuz, "Sam—Sam 's got to go." ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ What say, Marster? Yo' say, you knows—?
He 's young an' slender-like an' fyah;
Better-lookin' 'n you, of co'se!
Hi! you 's he? 'Fo' Gord! 't is him!
'T is de very voice an' eyes an' hyah,
An' mouf an' smile, on'y yo' ain' so slim—
I wonder whah—whah is de ole 'ooman? ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ Yes, Marster, yes;
D' cut 'n' onroyal 'n' gordly dash;
Eat an' drink till you could n' res'.
My folks war n' none o' yo' po'-white-trash;
Nor, suh, dey was of high degree—
Dis heah nigger am quality!
"Tell you 'bout 'em?" You mus' 'a' hearn
'Bout my ole white folks, sho'!
I tell you, suh, dey was gre't an' stern;
D' didn' have nuttin' at all to learn;
D' knowed all dar was to know;
Gol' over dey head an' onder dey feet;
An' silber! dey sowed 't like folks sows wheat.
"Use' ter be rich?" Dat warn' de wud!
D' jes' wallowed an' roll' in wealf. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ FÉLICE
LOVE SONG
THE HARBOUR LIGHT
FADED SPRAY OF MIGNONETTE
LOST ROSES
DE NAME OF OLE VIRGINIA
THE DANCER
THE APRIL-FACE
COME BACK TO US, DAVIE
THE WITCH
HUMANITY
ASPIRATION
REALITY
LITTLE DOLLY DIMPLE
A VALENTINE
DIALECT POEMS (FROM "BEFO' DE WAR") UNCLE GABE'S WHITE FOLKS
LITTLE JACK
ASHCAKE
ZEKYL'S INFIDELITY
MARSE PHIL
ONE MOURNER
THE COAST OF BOHEMIA
.... ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Thomas Nelson Page, The Coast of Bohemia

“ Yo' 's "done come back an' buy de place?
Oh, bless de Lord for all his grace!
De ravins shell hunger, an' shell not lack
De Marster, de young Marster is done come back!
LITTLE JACK [1]
[1] In memory of John Dalmey, of Richmond, Virginia: a man faithful to all trusts.
Yes, suh. 'T was jes' 'bout sundown
Dad went—two months ago;
I always used ter run down
Dat time, bec'us', you know,
I wudden like ter had him die,
An' no one nigh. ”

Thomas Nelson Page

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