Chapter I: Front Matter

[Transcriber's Note:

Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained
except in obvious cases of typographical error:

Page 012, Line 292: "sprits" --> "spirits"
Line 295: "evermore" --> "evermore."
Page 028, Line 981: "decendeth" --> "descendeth"
Line 1001: "Autnmn" --> "Autumn"
Page 033, Line 1224: "thé" --> "the"

Tags of decorative illustrations have been removed.

Italic printed text has been formatted as _text_.]

_The_ Comet
and
Other Verses

By Irving Sidney Dix

COPYRIGHT 1910 PRICE 15 CENTS

THE COMET
and
OTHER VERSES

By IRVING SIDNEY DIX

DEDICATION

To the Memory of my school mate
William Morgan who was drowned in
the Delaware.

_Press of Munn's Review_ _Carbondale, Penna._

With the Reader

It should be stated that some of these verses, in a slightly different form, have previously appeared in various periodicals in Binghamton, Scranton, Philadelphia and New York City, but most of them appear here for the first time, and also, perhaps it should be mentioned that some of these stanzas were written during my school days. However, the majority of the following verses have been composed since the former booklet was published.

And if in any way you have been helped to see, that even here in this rugged country "the poetry of earth is never ceasing," however rude my interpretation of it may seem to the critical, the labor and expense of publishing this little volume will be fully justified.

IRVING DIX.

Contents

_Page_
The Comet 7
Washington 8
The Storm 10
Jim, the Newsboy 11
March Wind Blow 12
The Rime of the Raftmen 13
A Child's Elegy 16
Dreaming of the Delaware 17
Norma 18
Plant a Tree 21
Maid of Shehawken 21
To the Delaware 22
Starlight Lake 24
An Inquiry 25
Twin Lake 26
The Man Who Swears 27
The Glen 28
Hope 30
Lines to Liars 31
Fooling 32

ADVERTISEMENT

The Comet--15 cents
The Silent Life--15 cents
Both Booklets--25 cents

These booklets are not published as a financial venture--they are likely to be a failure in this direction, for the cost of printing alone equals the selling price, on account of the small number issued, only 250 copies, and fifty copies are not for sale. Five hundred copies of the Silent Life were printed in 1907, and I have left only 160 copies for sale. I desire to dispose of these and the small edition of "The Comet" during the present year, so that another booklet (containing, I hope still better material) may be issued during the year of 1911.

To those who may wish to send copies of either of these booklets to their friends, thereby assisting in the disposal of this edition, the following offer will be of interest.

Ten copies, assorted to suit--$1.00.

Address:
IRVING DIX,
Shehawken,
Wayne Co.,
Penna.

Foreword

A few years ago, while recovering from an illness, I conceived the idea of writing some reminiscent lines on country life in the Wayne Highlands. And during the interval of a few days I produced some five hundred couplets,--a few good, some bad and many indifferent--and such speed would of necessity invite the indifferent. A portion of these lines were published in 1907. However, I had hoped to revise and republish them, with additions of the same type, at a later date as a souvenir volume of verses for those who spend the summer months among these hills--as well as for the home-fast inhabitants. But in substituting the following collection of verses I hope my judgment will be confirmed by those who chance to read these simple stanzas of one, who--

"Loves not man the less, but Nature more
From those our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal."