so far
But she is there to kneel;
But--
Her favorite line of reading
Is O. Meredith's "Lucille."

Of course she's up on pictures--
Passes for a connoisseur.
On free days at the Institute
You'll always notice her.
She qualifies approval
Of a Titian or Corot;
But--
She throws a fit of rapture
When she comes to Bouguereau.

And when you talk of music,
She is Music's devotee.
She will tell you that Beethoven
Always makes her wish to pray;
And "dear old Bach!" His very name
She says, her ear enchants;
But--
Her favorite piece is Weber's
"Invitation to the Dance."

A BALLADE OF DEATH AND TIME

I hold it truth with him who sweetly sings--
The weekly music of the _London Sphere_--
That deathless tomes the living present brings:
Great literature is with us year on year.
Books of the mighty dead, whom men revere,
Remind me I can make _my_ books sublime.
But prithee, bay my brow while I am here:
Why do we always wait for Death and Time?

Shakespeare, great spirit, beat his mighty wings,
As I beat mine, for the occasion near.
He knew, as I, the worth of present things:
Great literature is with us year on year.
Methinks I meet across the gulf his clear
And tranquil eye; his calm reflections chime
With mine: "Why do we at the present fleer?
Why do we always wait for Death and Time?"

The reading world with acclamation rings
For my last book. It led the list at Weir,
Altoona, Rahway, Painted Post, Hot Springs:
Great literature is with us year on year.
The _Bookman_ gives me a vociferous cheer.
Howells approves! I can no higher climb.
Bring then the laurel, crown my bright career.
Why do we always wait for Death and Time?

_L'Envoi_

Critics, who pastward, ever pastward peer,
Great literature is with us year on year.
Trumpet my fame while I am in my prime.
Why do we always wait for Death and Time?

THE KAISER'S FAREWELL TO PRINCE HENRY

Aufwiedersehen, brother mine!
Farewells will soon be kissed;
And ere you leave to breast the brine
Give me once more your fist;

That mailed fist, clenched high in air
On many a foreign shore,
Enforcing coaling stations where
No stations were before;