Poem of the Week
June 7, 2004
I haven't much to offer,
But on the far hill-side
There is a pine-log cabin
Where I can take my bride.
The door is off its hinges,
The chimney too, does smoke,
It has a nice south window,
But every pane is broke.
The floor is hard and solid,
The roof in places split,
But one day's honest labor
Will make a home of it.
A table and three camp-stools,
Bedstead of undressed pine
Are all its present fixings ---
But then, there is the mine !
The North Star in Eureka
Alone will make us rich ;
The Golden Rod in Rico ---
I can hardly guess which
Will bring the most hard money,
But one thing I can tell you :
Before you cut a swell.
Your dresses shall be velvet
As rainbow colors bright,
And sewed with pearls and diamonds ---
You'll set the world alight.
Sometimes she "freezes to him,"
Sometimes "her pa's been there,"
Then she mocks at his visions,
Nor gives his suit a care ;
As often is reluctant,
Half promises to wait ---
But girls are scarce as oak trees ;
Besides, the whims of Fate !
The mines may prove a "fizzle" ---
The bare thought oils his tongue
To trill the same trite raptures
Lovers have always sung.
Original his motto,
Learned in his Western life :
"I've as good a right as any
To take and starve a wife."
--Harriet. L. Wason
From H. L. Wason. Letters from Colorado. Boston,
Cupples and Hurd, 97 Boylston Street, 1887.