n document, as all poems must be, of an individual who speaks
universally. I emphasize this quality first because art registers its
worth by the vitality of its substance. If the substance be vital,
then its embodiment is artistically successful to the degree in which
the maker has felt his experiences. These poems, then, will come to
many readers with a freshness, with the appeal for a certain sympathy
that will compel attention. The opening poem which celebrates the
centenary of Lincoln's birth, with its fine imaginative sweep, is as
good as any poem I have seen which that occasion called forth. In it
is poetry that ought to assure Mr. Jones' future if circumstances
permit him to cultivate an art for which nature has so obviously
endowed him. "The Sylvan Cabin" in spirit may be said to characterize
the author's book; that upward striving toward the ideal, which taking
a personal expression in his own experience, in his own hopes, has
also a larger significance in voicing the aspirations of those for
whom, as is shown in many other poems, he becomes a voice, a
representative.

Mr. Jones' work has already won for him the approbation of many
literary people, his poems having appeared from time to time in
various publications; this fact not only justifies his gathering them
together in this volume, but being so recognized must fill him with a
certain assurance for the future. To this I can only add that, good as
these are, they give us the hope for better from one who ought
certainly to go on and upward.

WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE.

_Boston, April 5, 1911._

CONTENTS

PAGE

THE SYLVAN CABIN 9

LIFE IN A DREAM 22

THE MORNING STAR 24

TO ESTELLE 25

A SONG OF THANKS 27

NOT YET A POET 32

A BOUQUET 33

AN ODE TO THE SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' MONUMENT 34

TO A FADED FLOWER 37

DAINTY DORA 39

THE VIOLIN 40

WOMAN 41

THE BACHELOR'S SONG 45

PUT NOTHING IN ANOTHER'S WAY 47