Contents Part One Page Pioneer Voices

Copyright McClur Co . A . C. g I91 7 em e 1 1 Published N ov b r , 9 7 M . N D L . L . A . L A R . To . M . G J , . TO OTHER FRIENDS I N SANTA BARBARA W HO TAU G HT M E T HE LOVELINESS OF CALIFORNIA CONTENTS P art One PAGE PIONEER VOICES Part T wo VOICES OF THE GREAT SING ERS Part T hree LIVI NG VOICES INTRODUCTION IN PREPARI NG this collection o f verse for publi ha two ! cation , I have d purposes first , to make an — - interesting book the ancient and ever living pur f l e —and pose o al makers O f good literatur second , to give to all who may desire it a volume of poems that sing and celebrate the traditions, the life , and the natural beauty o f one o f the greatest common n r wealths in the union . The roma ce and ha dship, the gayety an d the heroism o f the days o f the padres a and the later pioneers , the adventurous d sh and ’ o f -niners flare the forty , the rich , golden health and prosperity o f all the days that have followed the pioneer period — all these things are most vivid and colorful history an d tradition and have had no smal l part in creating for Californians that heritage o f naive and fierce affection — belligerent devotion to — their commonwealth and its life and customs by which they are known and with which they startle the quieter and cooler hearts o f men and women o f r o f mo e staid and sober states . All these things have C and as inspired alifornia poets visiting poets , read o f ers the following pages will know . But, most of C all , I think , the poets love alifornia for that unique natu ral beauty often obscured rather than suggested I! Intr o duction f f by the trite and dull e fusions in praise o it . Her mountain peaks Chiselled singly, Clean and hard sk or n e e against the y, ra g d in an august uneven lin o f power and beauty ; her lovable fo oth ills sloping to - in steep curves the coast ; her mild , sweet scented valleys with their straitly confined orchards o f n almond , ora ge and plum , with their crisp fields o f barley stubble in summertime and their riot of wild mustard in the spring ; her winding trails leading always into El Camino Real or into the desert beyond the mountains ; her gusty distances of desert o r s ea shore ; her forests born before Christ ; her hundreds o f species of wild birds ; her tawny sum mers and green winters ; her sharp , exquisite lights — no and shadows and keen colors these things poet , c an n o lover o f beauty can forget . Nowhere else o ne climb higher o r plumb deeper the depths and heights o f varied beauty . Many songs o f many singers bear witness to this o f beauty . A large anthology could be made the po ems that have been written abo ut o ne flower es cho ltz ia o r C . o f the , alifornia poppy It is the duty o f the antho logist to choose the coins best metal , f best minted in this treasury o verbal expression . And that is what I have tried to do . Critics are cer tain to tell me that I have left o ut many poems just as good as many that I have included , and they will be telling the truth . George Sterling has written Intr o ductio n many poems as good as those that I have chosen , but l c I could not choose them al . Other criti s are sure to blame me fo r including po ems with imperfections o r poems o f a type and kind not to their taste . I f I m m s a ight gently disarm such criticis I would y, first O f e all , that poems with imperf ctions , like people c e . with imperfe tions , are not necessarily valu less r A s a we we know few perfect hum n beings , know few o perfect p ems . And just as it sometimes happens that the man o r woman with no vices a man o r ” is s o e e woman with no aggressive virtues , it som tim s happens that po ems with faults and flaws are so vigo rously and sincerely written as to be superior o to creati ns more artificial and correct . Such poems — — and there are quite a number o f them are in ‘cluded in this book because they seem to me to give the real zest and flavor Of the scene o r event d o f o f escribed , in spite their faults , course , and not . s because of them It seems fair, al o , to tell critics who and others may be interested , that I have tried not to be governed Overmuch by perso nal taste a f in the m king o this book . All anthologists are h o f tempted to be autocratic . But this is t e day e o i n o r d m cracy . I have included this book two o — I al — three p ems sh l never tell which that I , no t mysel f , can read without acute mental suffering . h Let me tell w y . e o One evening , while I was delib rating ab ut one . xii In tr o duction h poem which I dislike, but which as been exceed in l g y popular, I entered the public library in New Y C . as ! ork ity And while I w standing at the desk , awaiting my turn to ask for much needed informa t t ion, a quie , plainly dressed, little woman with tired eyes turned to the attendant at the desk and asked fo r the very poem I had in mind I want to get it ” “ ’ fo r she and and copy it my sister, said , I don t know what book to find it in and I have looked and looked I read it a long time ago and never was and forgot it. !The attendant young had never heard o f the poem . ) I told her that I would find it V she for her and I did . ery gratefully thanked me . ” o u ? Then I said , Do y like that poem very much “ ” “ es es she Oh , y ; y , indeed , said humbly ; it is a — great poem a very great poem . When I left her I copied it and put it with those for this book . Perhaps a few readers will be surprised to find in this book poems by poets who have only visite d s a o n the coast . In answer I can only y that I have — felt that in a sense California belongs to us all not only to the native sons and daughters , but to the many who have been refreshed and strengthened ' n . a d healed by sojourning there And I have felt, a b C lso, that all the poems inspired y ali fornia belong to Cali fornia and may rightly be used in a book of o this kind . But whenever it has been p ssible I have given the preference to poems by western poets who Intr oducti on xiii have made their reputations in the West or wh o are now living there and definitely associated with the West. The first poem in the book is one of the old folk o f o f a songs the days the padres , a di logue folksong with much of the naive spirit o f childhoo d an d play was in it . It always sung in Spanish in the early days but has recently been translated into English M r n s . by Eleanor Hague , who learned it from Fra cisca de la Guerra Dibblee o f Santa Barbara, and has included it with a number of other Spanish Cali fornia folksongs in a book which will soo n be published by The Folklore Society . The second r l poem , The Song, is taken f om a long poem ca led ” . C Juanita, written by Lauren E rane in the very early days o f California literature and published in o f Overland M onthl one o f the early numbers the y . fo r It deserves especial mention , it is most gracefully o f written with every appearance spontaneity, and yet keeps true to a complicated rhyme scheme that f n would tax the skill o a y poet . The three long lines in each stanza are thrice rhymed , having two internal rhymes and one end rhyme each . This is surely o ne of the cleverest and most eff ective rhymed lyrics ever written by an American , for the art disguises itself and the poem loses no warmth and charm , and gains melody from the rhyming . I Saw it first in that helpful book by Ella Sterling xiv Intr o du ction Mr Mi h l s . e s The S tor o the Files Cummins ! g ) , y f , to which bo ok I recommend all readers who wish to know more of many poets whose work is found in ’ these pages . The third poem , The Days o f Forty ” o ld f f nine , is an folk ballad o the days o the gold C n rush , and no alifornia a thology is complete with it o ut .

Load more