The Project Gutenberg eBook of The coat without a seam, and other poems
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: The coat without a seam, and other poems
Author: Helen Gray Cone
Release date: August 28, 2023 [eBook #71508]
Language: English
Original publication: New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, 1919
Credits: The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COAT WITHOUT A SEAM, AND OTHER POEMS ***
THE
COAT WITHOUT A SEAM
_And Other Poems_
_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_
A CHANT OF LOVE FOR ENGLAND AND OTHER POEMS
A volume of miscellaneous poems containing as its title poem a reply to
the German “Hymn of Hate.”
“Firmly and finely fashioned, and unaffectedly sincere.”--_The New York
Times._
“Miss Cone’s verse shows a delicacy of imagination which is deserving
of high praise.”--_The Outlook._
_$1.50 net_
NEW YORK
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY
681 FIFTH AVENUE
THE
COAT WITHOUT A SEAM
_And Other Poems_
BY
HELEN GRAY CONE
AUTHOR OF “A CHANT OF LOVE FOR ENGLAND,
AND OTHER POEMS”
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY
681 FIFTH AVENUE
COPYRIGHT 1919, BY
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY
_All Rights Reserved_
_Printed in the United States of America_
Grateful acknowledgment is made, for permission to reprint some of the
poems in this book, to Scribner’s Magazine, The Outlook, The Sonnet,
The New York Evening Post, The New York Times, The Boston Evening
Transcript, and The Association Monthly.
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE COAT WITHOUT A SEAM 1
SONNETS OF THE GREAT PEACE 9
MOODS OF WAR:
THE SWORD 21
ALIGNED 23
EARTH-BROWN ARMIES 26
THE IMPERATIVE 27
WAR-SACRIFICE 29
THE YOUTH AND WAR 31
MOTHERS OF SOLDIERS 33
A REPRISAL 35
ON THE DEATH OF AN UNTRIED SOLDIER 39
THE AIRMAN 41
TO FRANCIS LEDWIDGE 42
THE WAY OF THE WHITE SOULS 44
RESPITE 47
HAPPY COUNTRY 49
TO FRANCE 51
TO BELGIUM 53
THE CREED OF AN AMERICAN 55
THE ULTIMATE VICTORY 58
ROOSEVELT, 1919 60
THE QUIET DAYS:
OLD BURYING HILL 65
HEARTBREAK ROAD 66
ROMANCE 67
FAITH 69
INTIMATIONS 70
ON THE SINGING OF “GAUDEAMUS IGITUR” 72
THE COUNTERSIGN 74
FAILURE TRIUMPHANT 75
THE SPARK 77
FOXGLOVES 79
THE CHRISTMAS BAGPIPES 80
WHEN ROSES GO DOWN TO THE SEA 82
RITUAL FOR SUMMER DEAD 85
RED OCTOBER 87
THE SINGER CHOOSES THE SONGS OF THE WIND 89
THE GLEAM TRAVELS 91
THE GRAY VICTORY 93
FLAGS AND THE SKY 96
THE COAT WITHOUT A
SEAM
THE COAT WITHOUT A SEAM
There was a web, ere Time began,
Woven on the loom of God,
Woven for the need of Man.
Through the web two colors ran,
Blue that is the sky of God,
Red that is the blood of Man.
The web was woven, the web was one:
The stars sang when the work was done.
God had willed it to be worn--
Fit garment for the heavenly feast--
By Man, that was to be His son.
Only God could dream that dream!
When Time began, and Man was born,
He clothed himself in the skin of the beast,
And under it beat the heart of the beast.
Not till Man be born God’s son
Shall he wear the Coat without a Seam!
(Ah, the dream, the wondrous dream
Of a World without a Seam,
Man being one, as God is one,
Brother’s brother and Father’s son,
All earth, all Heaven, without a seam!)
The Roman strode through field and flood,
Blind as Fate with battle-blood;
Victory glittered in his hand;
And when he laid him down at night
Under the stars of some strange land,
Weary of the march or fight,
He wrapped his heart in the vast dream
Of a World without a Seam;
Yet the dream was not divine;
The fierce heart beat like marching feet:
“The World is one--the World is mine!”
That was the dream of states foregone,
Of Babylon, of Macedon;
Sleeked by whatsoever art,
It is the dream of the beast’s heart.
Massive-treading Rome paced on
(As Macedon, as Babylon,)
Into the dusk of states foregone:
She left her mantle still astream
Along the wind, her purple dream--
Not the Coat without a Seam!
The eyes of emperors see it float,
They hail it for the sacred Coat:
Men follow on through field and flood,
Blind as Fate with battle-blood.
See the sworded sceptred train,
Out of the dusk they all advance:
Iron-crownéd Charlemagne,
Barbarossa flaming past,
Sombre majesties of Spain,
Pomps of old monarchic France--
Supreme Napoleon last,
Sweeping his ermine-bordered robe
And gripping fast the globe.
(Nay, who is this that follows him,
A vision helmeted and grim,
A countenance pallid and aghast?)
--Into the dusk they all are gone,
As Babylon, as Macedon.
Not till Man shall dream God’s dream
Shall he wear the Coat without a Seam!
(Ah, the dream, the wondrous dream
Of a World without a Seam!
Man being one, as God is one,
Brother’s brother and Father’s son,
All earth, all Heaven without a seam!)
“What shall we do, we simple folk
Who walk as cattle in the yoke?
Surely the vision of this Coat--
Fit garment for the heavenly feast--
Is for prophet and for priest,
Not for men of little note!
Surely the quest to find this Coat--
Woven of empyrean thread
Heaven-blue and heart-red--
This is for Kings and Chancellors,
Parliaments and Emperors,
Not for men of little note!”
--Nay, this do ye every one:
All your days to dream God’s dream,
That Man, who is to be His son,
Shall wear the Coat without a Seam!
SONNETS OF THE GREAT PEACE
“Incertainties now crown themselves assured
And peace proclaims olives of endless age.”
--SHAKESPEARE’S _Sonnet CVII_.
I
What boon is this, this fresh and crystal thing,
Perfect as snow, dropped from the deep of the sky--
This healing, shed as from the soft swift wing
Of some great mystical bird low-sweeping by?
This music suddenly thrilling through the mind
Angelic unimagined ecstasy,
As when warm fingers of the Spring unbind
Young brooks that laugh and leap, at last being free?
By what white magic, what unfathomed art,
Was this best gift secretly perfected,
This amulet, that laid against the heart
Melts all the icy weight that held it dead?
_This is that Peace we had and did not know;
This is that Peace we lost--how long ago!_
II
Shall we not now work wonders with this charm,
To the vext heart of the world benignly laid,
Fending all future golden lads from harm,
And all gray mothers, and every starry maid?
Yea, all kind beasts that ask with patient eyes
Our wisdom to forestall bewildering pain:
Yea, all kind fields, trees rippling to the skies,
Brown earth sweet-breathing under natural rain.
Shall we not now, being freed, being healed of Peace,
Retrieve all days to be from blot and blight,
Give to the chained goodwill of Man release,
And a new deed of manumission write
On a new page, made by this marvellous boon
Pure as unfooted snow under the moon?
III
How did we cast away our careless days
In that old time before we knew their worth,
Wandering with chance, even as a child that strays,
Spilling their unprized splendors on the earth!
But now we have eaten War as daily bread,
Borne it upon our souls a weary weight,
Made it the pillow to a restless head,
Breathed it as air, sick with the reek of hate:
And Peace is come a stranger, and grave-eyed,
Like a young maid turned woman; on our knees
We do her reverence as a spirit enskyed;
How should we spend such shining days as these?
They have cost great pain: needs must we hold them dear,
Counting our jewels with a heavenly fear.
IV
Ghosts of great flags that billowed in the sun
With glorious colors above the crowded street,
Lifting our hearts to know the rent world one,
Teaching the march of Man to hurrying feet,
Shall ye not haunt those skyward spaces still
With memory of your sun-illumined streaming,
Bright brother-angels heralding goodwill,
Beckoners of sordid spirits to noble dreaming?
Or shall your many beauteous blazonries
Fade out from the dulled sense and be forgot,
And intimations so august as these
Lapse into silence even as they were not,
Comrades turn rivals, and heart-fast allies
Weavers of schemes, peering with insect eyes?
V
What shame were this to those who lie asleep
Under the scarlet poppies, having bought
A clean new world with blood! Shall we not keep
Faith with our dead, and give them what they sought?
Is not a world the measure of our debt
To those whose young lives sadly we inherit,
Living them out, making them fruitful yet?
What lesser meed fits their transcendent merit?
The future was their sacrificial gift,
And joy unborn, and beauty uncreate,
And little children that should racing lift
Their torch of life, laughing at death and fate:
Shall we not make, mindful of all they gave,
A star of this old earth which is their grave?
MOODS OF WAR
THE SWORD
One of the seventy had a sword
The day that Christ was crucified:
He followed where they led his Lord,
The man that could not stand aside.
When that first hammer-stroke rang loud,
And left and right the rabble swayed,
He flashed from out the staring crowd,
He died upon the Roman blade.
His fruitless deed, his noteless name,
By careless Rome were never told.
Now shall we give him praise or blame?
Account him base, acclaim him bold?
Was he the traitor to his Lord,
Deeper than Peter that denied,
The loving soul that took the sword,
The man that would not stand aside?
Or did the glorious company
Of Michael’s sworded seraphim
With chivalrous high courtesy
Rise up to make a place for him?
ALIGNED
Why do you leap in the wind so wild,
O Star-Flag, O Sky-Flag?
And why do you ripple as if you smiled,
Flag of my heart’s delight?
“I laugh because I am loosed at last,
Free of the cords that bound me fast
Mute as a mummy, furled on the mast,
Far from the beckoning fight!
“I joy because I am aligned--
The Star-Flag, the Sky-Flag--
With these the noblest of my kind,
Flags of the soul’s desire!
And where the blended Crosses blaze,
And where the Tricolor lifts and sways
To the marching pulse of the Marseillaise,
I may be tried in the fire!”
Yea, not for gold and not for ease,
My Star-Flag, my Sky-Flag,
The Fathers launched you on the breeze,
Flag of man’s best emprise!
Yea, not for power and not for greed,
But to fly forever, follow or lead,
For the world’s hope and the world’s need,
Flower of all seas and all skies!
And better you were a riddled rag,
My Star-Flag, my Sky-Flag,
The faded ghost of a fighting-flag,
Shredded, and scorched with flame,
Than that you should now be satisfied
Over splendid cities and waters wide
To flutter and float in an idle pride,
To flaunt in a silken shame!
Then well may you leap in the wind so wild,
O Star-Flag, O Sky-Flag!
And well may you ripple as if you smiled,
Flag of our hearts’ delight!
We joy because you are aligned
With these the noblest of your kind:
We are yours and theirs with a single mind--
Let us on to the beckoning fight!
EARTH-BROWN ARMIES
Earth-brown armies, on the brown earth whither,
Ant-like swarming, rush ye in your wrath?
--We wrestle and we tug and we pull all together
To shift the giant Dead Thing that lies across the path.
Earth-brown armies, but should it roll and smother,
Log-like topple, and crush you in the clod?
--Earth would pour new armies, one behind another,
To shift the giant Dead Thing that blocks the way of God!
THE IMPERATIVE
Whether we lose the light
Of love or of the sun,
With body and blood and mind and might
Must this sole thing be done:
The world is a broken ball,
Stained red because it fell
Out of bounds, in a game of kings,
Over the wall of hell:
And now must the spirit of man
Arise and adventure all--
Leap the wall sheer down into hell
And bring up the broken ball.
Worth well, to lose the light
Of love or of the sun,
Worth endless fire or endless night,
So this sole thing were done!
WAR-SACRIFICE
On a rock-altar stern
In sacrificial fires,
A man goes up to burn
His memories and desires.
Sweet savors of the earth,
All innocence and ease,
All pleasantness and mirth,
He offers on his knees.
His trembling, star-white dreams;
His body’s secret fear;
His life--how dear it seems,
How knit with lives more dear!
Last offering, and most dread--
With blind arms thrust above
His bowed and suffering head,
He burns his brother-love:
Yet from that altar springs,
Magnificently bright,
A Love with fiery wings
To fill the world with light.
THE YOUTH AND WAR
She said, “I will hide all the brave books away from him,
With their scarlet letters that burn into the heart;
I will lock their spell and their sovereign sway from him;
I will rear him tenderly, a life apart.”
But the day came and the hour came,
And the foul deed struck him like a spur;
And he felt the shame and the swift flame,
And his eyes were strange to her.
In the dreams of the night had the old Captains come to him,
And the staunch old Admirals that died long ago;
From the old fields of fight came the roll of the drum to him,
With a call that his mother could not know;
It seemed that a Sword gleamed blinding-bright
At the dawn-edge of the sky;
And he said, “O Mother, the Right is the Right:
I must fight for it now though I die!”
MOTHERS OF SOLDIERS
What should we say to you, O glorious Mothers
Sacred and full of sorrows, we childless ones?
We kneel to you as haloed women, we others,
The slighter lives that could not give their sons.
Not ours the exquisite anguish of surrender,
The deep, still courage that day by day endures,
The rosary of memories piercing-tender,
The travail and the triumph that are yours.
The agony and the glory of creation
You have partaken; in that steep way you trod
You have made yourselves part of the world’s salvation,
You have shared the passion and the joy of God.
With splendor of sunrise and the surging morn,
Out of your pain shall Man be newly born.
A REPRISAL
At the deep midnight hour
Sleep, that makes all things whole,
Indulged my tortured soul.
In the jewel-chest of dreams
He stirred the elusive gleams,
And found the gift of power,
Round, pure, and perfect power,
And laid it in my hand.
I said: “I have command
Of the Prince of the Power of the Air;
His own wings will I wear!
I will soar as a great hell-kite
To be named The Terror-by-Night,
Over mine enemy’s land.”
At the thought, I rode the sky,
High over the sea, and high
Over field and city and spire;
I laughed; I had my desire.
For I came to mine enemy’s roof,
Safe in a valley aloof,
And I knew, as I poised above,
There lay his Hope and his Love,
The twain that he held most dear,
Nestled with cheeks together,
Roses in summer weather,
Sleeping without a fear.
Gray Memory, close beside,
Couched her old, kindly head.
It was mine to strike them dead,
Even as mine own had died.
I cried with a great voice,
To mine enemy I cried:
“Come forth, come forth, to hear!
Look up, look up, to see!
Lo, what is in my choice!
This deed of black disgrace,
This have you done to me;
This might I do to you;
Yet this I would not do,
Yea, this I could not do!
Let the knowledge smite your pride
Like a gauntlet in the face!”
Mine enemy stood in his gate:
He was sadder than I had thought.
I hated what he had wrought,
But him I could not hate.
His eyes were startled wide.
What would he have replied?
I know not. Ere he spoke,
The merciless morning broke.
Hawkers in sunny streets
Shrilled triumphs and defeats,
Sold horrors and despairs.
Bells called the world to prayers.
ON THE DEATH OF AN UNTRIED SOLDIER
“_He was likely, had he been put on,
To have proved most royally; and for his passing
The soldiers’ music and the rites of war
Speak loudly for him._”--HAMLET.
He died in armor, died with lance in rest.
The trumpet had not sounded for the charge;
Yet shall his guerdon of golden fame be large,
For he was ready; he had met his test.
No sacrifice is more complete and clean
Than that in the locked soul, secret and still.
Take for a visible deed the perfect will;
Crown with sad pride the accomplishment unseen.
Hang his bright arms undinted on the wall.
In all brave colors whereto his dreams aspired
Blazon his blank shield as his heart desired,
And write above: “_The readiness is all._”
THE AIRMAN
Splendor of chivalrous Youth, swift-soaring far
In valorous venture of eagle-battle on high
Fate of a falling star--
Nay! a new Star in the sky!
TO FRANCIS LEDWIDGE
(Killed in action, July 31, 1917)
Beauty’s boy-servant, far in Flanders dead,
There shoots across the sea a shaft of pain
To think you are gone--a memory garlanded
With wilding flowers plucked in an Irish lane.
Your songs were like sweet waters to the throat,
Or tenderness and freshness of young leaves;
Surely the blackbird checks his laughing note,
And for your loss the dripping rainbow grieves.
With Brooke you are gone, with Grenfell, on high ways
Lost to our sense, beyond the chance of wrong;
Singers fall silent in these thunderous days,
But their bright death is radiance and a song.
--God send kind sleep to those clear Irish eyes
That saw the old earth still dewy with surprise!
THE WAY OF THE WHITE SOULS
(To the Memory of JOYCE KILMER, killed in action, July 30, 1918)
I stood in the summer night, when the hosts of heaven seemed nigh,
And I saw the powdery swirl of stars, where it swept across the sky,
The wide way of the white stars, where it ran up and down,
And my heart was sad for the man who said _It was Main Street,
Heaventown_.
He chose to walk in the Main Street, in the wide ways of men;
He set wings to the common things with the kind touch of his pen;
He caught the lilt of the old tune that the hearts of the plain folk
beat;
He might have dreamed on the far faint hills--but he walked in the
Main Street.
He knelt down with his fellows, in the warm faith of the throng;
He went forth with his fellows to fight a monstrous Wrong;
He marched away to the true tune that the hearts of brave men beat,
Shoulder to brown shoulder, with the men in the Main Street.
A road runs bright through the night of Time, since ever the world
began,
The wide Way of the White Souls, the Main Street of Man,
The sky-road of the star-souls, beyond all wars and scars;
And there the singing soul of him goes on with the marching stars.
So, as I stand in the summer night, when the hosts of heaven seem
nigh,
And look at the powdery swirl of stars, where it sweeps across the
sky,
The wide way of the white stars, where it runs up and down,
My heart shall be glad for the friend who said _It was Main Street,
Heaventown_.
RESPITE
O Beauty, heal my heart! I lean to thee,
Faint, having supped with horrors: give me drink!
--Red slopes beneath tall pines, ranged tree on tree;
Long cool gray lakes, with iris round the brink
In knightly companies purple and proud;
Birches as altar-candles slender and white;
A late gold sun, traced curiously with cloud;
The spacious splendors of the moon-filled night;
Among the wild-rose crowds, the perfect one;
White sea-gulls like white lilies, on brown bars
That slant athwart blue bays; gulls in the sun
Rising as galaxies of trembling stars:
Lull me awhile, O Beauty, drug my dread!
--To-morrow morn War stands beside my bed.
HAPPY COUNTRY
Here by the bright blue creek the good ships lie
A-building, and the hammers beat and beat,
And the wood-smell is pleasant in the heat;
The strong ribs curve against the marsh and sky.
Here the old men are mowing in the sun,
And the hay-sweetness blends with the wild-rose;
At the field’s edge the scarlet lily glows;
The great clouds sail, and the swift shadows run,
And the broad undulant meadows gloom and smile;
Over the russet red-top warm winds pass,
The swallow swoops and swerves, the cattle stand
In the cool of shallow brooks--and all the while
Peace basks asleep, she dreams of some sad land
Leagues over sea, where youth is mown as grass.
TO FRANCE
Sweet France, we greet thee with our cheers, our tears,
Our tardy swords! O sternly, wanly fair
In that red martyr-aureole thou dost wear!
Even for the sake of our bright pioneers,
Chapman, and Seeger, and such dear dead peers
Of thy dead sons, joyous and swift to dare
All fiery danger of the earth and air,
Forgive us, France, our hesitating years!
Quenchless as thine own spirit is our trust
That thou shalt spring resurgent, like the brave
Pure plume of Bayard, from the blood and dust
Of this grim combat-to-the-utterance,
Fresh as the foambow of the charging wave,
O plume of Europe, proud and delicate France!
TO BELGIUM
CROWNED WITH THORNS
Thou that a brave, brief space didst keep the gate
Against the German, saving all the West
By the subjection of thy shielding breast
To the brute blows and utmost shames of Fate;
Thou that in bonds of iron dost expiate
Thy nobleness as crime! Even thus oppressed,
Is not thy spirit mystically blest,
O little Belgium, marvellously great?
Thou that hast prized the soul above the flesh,
Dost thou not, starving, eat of angels’ bread?
With every sunrise crucified afresh,
Has not this guerdon for all time sufficed--
That thou shouldst wear upon thy haggard head
The awful honor of the Crown of Christ?
THE CREED OF AN AMERICAN
In God our Father, and in all men’s Sonship;
In Brother-love and breaking down of barriers;
In Law that is the just will of the People
Shaped, and still shaping, to the People’s need;
In equal Freedom and in equal Service,
Duties and Rights: in all these I believe.
In these great States bound in a greater Union,
Many in One, the framework of the Fathers,
Nobly devised, a forecast of the future
When all the Nations gather in God’s fold;
The great Experiment, the high Adventure,
The captain Hope: in all this I believe.
In this bright Flag of Liberty and Union:
Its red, the symbol of the blood of brothers
That flows through men of every race and nation;
Its white, the symbol of the peace between them
That shall be when God’s Will has wrought as leaven;
Its stars, the symbol of many Powers that move
Clustering together without clash or conflict,
In the deep blue of the vast, tender sky
That is the all-enfolding mantle of God--
With my whole soul in all these I believe.
That I in peace must show my true allegiance
To this bright Flag, this constellated Union,
By square-done work and clean unselfish living;
That I in war must show my true allegiance--
While war shall linger in this world to threaten
Such Sanctities as these--even by my dying:
In all this I believe. Amen. Amen.
THE ULTIMATE VICTORY
As men that labor in a mountain war--
Scaling sheer cliffs, hewing out stairs of stone,
Trenching the ice, quenching the torrent’s roar
With rolling thunders in the gorges lone--
Having seized a height, might stand with dazzled stare,
Seeing, beyond, a highest heavenly peak
Hung lucent as a cloud in the bright air,
Still to be won: O thus, even thus, we seek
Peace beyond War! and thus the Vision gleams
Upon us battling, that snow-crest sublime,
That holy mountain, that pure crown of dreams,
Toward which Man’s soul has struggled up through Time.
In blood and sweat we war that War may cease;
And storming the last peak, we conquer Peace.
ROOSEVELT, 1919
How shall we say “God rest him!”
Of him who loved not rest,
But the pathless plunge in the forest
And the pauseless quest,
And the call of the billowing mountains,
Crest beyond crest?
Hope rather, God will give him
His spirit’s need--
Rapture of ceaseless motion
That is rest indeed,
As the cataract sleeps on the cliff-side
White with speed.
So shall his soul go ranging
Forever, swift and wide,
With a strong man’s rejoicing,
As he loved to ride;
But all our days are poorer
For the part of him that died.
THE QUIET DAYS
OLD BURYING HILL
This is a place that has forgotten tears.
The scythe and hour-glass and the skull and bones
Have lost their menace on the marred gray stones.
The long grass flows, still as the stream of years.
The goldenrod leans low her dreaming head.
Under the loving sun and the warm sky
These lichened letters tell an outworn lie,
A slander of good Death, discredited.
A drowsy cricket harps; and do but see!
With mystic orbs upon his dusky wing,
Here goes about his airy harvesting
Our little Brother Immortality.
Lost is their title, those gaunt Fears of yore:
Beauty has made this crown-land evermore.
HEARTBREAK ROAD
As I went up by Heartbreak Road
Before the dawn of day,
The cold mist was all about,
And the wet world was gray;
It seemed that never another soul
Had walked that weary way.
But when I came to Heartbreak Hill,
Silver touched the sea;
I knew that many and many a soul
Was climbing close to me;
I knew I walked that weary way
In a great company.
ROMANCE
“Good cheap! Good cheap! Buy my golden ware!
Sunny-afternoon-color, happy-harvest-moon-color,
Burnished bright as Beauty’s golden hair!
O come buy!
Buy my rare golden ware!”
(But they never came anigh him, they went trooping by him,
To trade at the shop of Despair--
At the dark little shop of Despair!)
“Good cheap! Good cheap! Buy my magic ware!
All your meat shall savor of it, all your drink take flavor of it,
Yea, ’twill warm ye when the hearth is bare! O come buy!
Buy my fair golden ware!”
(But they hurried past the turning, with their fixed eyes burning,
Making haste to be cheated by Despair--
Buying dear at the counter of Despair!)
FAITH
Before the rose and violet had begun
On sky and sea, while all the world was still,
Colorless, lifeless, unconsoled, and chill,
One little bird sang out about the Sun.
INTIMATIONS
“Who has seen the Wind?”--CHRISTINA ROSSETTI.
I have seen the Wind,
I have seen him plain--
The silver feet of the Wind
Racing on the rain.
I have seen Time pass:
Viewless as he sped,
The red sand in the glass
Was shaken by his tread.
Far, far the goal,
And hearts must part awhile--
But I have seen the Soul
Shining through a smile.
Dim, dim the plan,
And dumb is the clod:
But in the eyes of Man
I have seen--God.
ON THE SINGING OF “GAUDEAMUS IGITUR”
Hark, how Youth, a scholar gowned,
With the cap of Wisdom crowned,
Carols like the reckless lark,
Forgetful of the dark!
What is toil, oh, what are tears?
Time turns pale when thus he hears
Angelic insolence of sound
Scorning the beaten ground.
In the face of Fate is flung
This gage-gauntlet of the young--
Innocent brave challenge, hurled
In the teeth of the world!
Graybeard Years file solemn past;
Yet this rebel glee shall last
Long as souls at morning rise,
New larks, to the old skies.
THE COUNTERSIGN
On guard my heavy Heart did stand,
And sleep had conquered her,
Had not one cold and rigid hand
Gripped honor like a spur.
It was the starkest watch of all,
The hour before the end.
Out rang the startled challenge-call:
“Halt! Who goes there?” “A Friend.”
“The countersign?” my spent Heart cried,
And forward-peering stood.
A Voice as strange as sweet replied:
“The word is BROTHERHOOD.”
FAILURE TRIUMPHANT
How many a captain wave, since sea began,
Has lordly led the charge against the shore,
Whose crest a jewelled plume of rainbow bore,
As iris Hope arches the march of Man:
How many a wave, brave-glittering in the van,
Has melted as a cloud in spray and roar--
A flashing column prone, and next, no more!
So runs the tale, since Time’s first sand outran.
So ends the antique tale. Stay! ends it so?
Though every billow faint into a ghost,
The all-embracing ocean--that gives birth,
Receives, and recreates--in ebb and flow,
A vast sky-coupled Mystery round the coast,
Works out its will upon the face of earth.
THE SPARK
_Readers of riddles dark,
Solve me the mystery of the Spark!_
My good dog died yesternight.
His heart of love through his eyes of light
Had looked out kind his whole life long.
In all his days he had done no wrong.
Like a knight’s was his noble face.
What shall I name the inward grace
That leashed and barred him from all things base?
Selfless trust and courage high--
Dust to dust, but are these to die?
(Hate and lust and greed and lies--
Dust to dust, and are these to rise?)
_When ’tis kindled, whither it goes,
Whether it fades, or glows and grows--
Readers of riddles dark,
Solve me the mystery of the Spark!_
FOXGLOVES
Pink-purple foxgloves
Leaning to the breeze--
And all the sweet of Devon
Sweeps back across the seas:
The deep coombs of Devon
Where the tiny hamlets nest,
The golden sea of Devon
That glimmers toward the west:
The thatched roofs of Devon
To which the soft skies bend--
Now the dear God keep Devon
The same to His world’s end!
THE CHRISTMAS BAGPIPES
I heard on Christmas Eve the bonny bagpipes play;
The thin silver skirling, it sounded far away;
The yellow mellow light shone through my neighbor’s panes,
And on the starry night came the shrill dear strains.
Despite the welter of the wide cold sea,
They brought bonny Scotland across the world to me;
And my heart knew the heather that my sense had never smelt,
And my spirit drank the hill wind my brows had never felt.
From the old kind books came the old friends trooping,
And the old songs called, like the curlew swooping;
And like a sudden sup that was hot and strong and sweet,
The love of bonny Scotland, it ran from head to feet.
O blessings on the heather hills, in white mist or sun!
O blessings on the kind books that make the clans as one!
And blessings on the bagpipes whose magic spanned the sea,
And brought bonny Scotland across the world to me!
WHEN THE ROSES GO DOWN TO THE SEA
On Gloucester moors the roses
Bloom haunted of the bee;
But there comes an hour of the summer
With the ebb-tide running free,
In a blue day of the summer,
When the roses go down to the sea.
The hands of the little children
Carry them to the shore;
The folk of the City of Fishers
Come out from every door;
They remember the lost captains
That shall come to the port no more.
They remember the lost seamen
Whose names the chaplain reads;
Old English names of Gloucester
Are told like slipping beads,
And the names of the fearless Irish lads,
And Portuguese and Swedes.
They remember the lost fishers
Who shall come no more to the land,
Nor look on the broad blue harbor,
Nor see the Virgin stand,
Our Lady of Good Voyage,
With the sailing-ship in her hand.
They pray to the Friend of fishers
On the Sea of Galilee
For the souls and bodies of seamen
Wherever their voyages be;
And singing they send the roses
On the ebb-tide down to the sea.
And the lost seamen and captains,
Wherever their bodies be,
If ever the sight of a mortal rite
Can move a soul set free,
Are glad of the kindness of Gloucester,
Their old sea-city of Gloucester,
Are moved with the memory of Gloucester,
When the roses go down to the sea.
RITUAL FOR SUMMER DEAD
August turns autumnal now:
Scarlet the sudden maple-bough
At the turn of the wood-road gleams;
On the hearth the gray log sings
Sleepy songs of vanished things--
Babbling, bubbling John-a-Dreams.
August is autumn now.
Find the field where, dead and dry,
Under the broad still noontide sky,
Bleached in the flow of the bright-blue weather,
Stalks of the milkweed stand together.
Take the pale-brown pod in hand,
Packed with seeds of silvery feather;
Wander dreaming through the land.
Let each silken plumelet sift
Through the fingers, drift and drift,
Touched with the sun to rainbow light--
Float--and float--and out of sight!
So might incense drift away.
Golden Summer is dead to-day.
As a pious thurifer
Swing the censer meet for her.
RED OCTOBER
Red October, and the slow leaf sailing;
All the maples flaring scarlet splendor,
All the dogwoods glowing crimson glory,
All the oak-leaves bronze, the beech-leaves golden:
Blue, ah blue! the reaches of the river,
Blue the sky above the russet mountain,
Blue the creek among the tawny marshes,
Blue the tart wild-grape beside the hill-road:
At our feet the burnished chestnut shining;
Scent of autumn, and the brown leaves’ rustle;
Cloudy clematis among the brambles,
Orange bittersweet along the wayside.
Days too-perfect, priceless for their passing,
Colored with the light of evanescence,
Fragrant with the breath of frailest beauty--
Days ineffable of red October!
THE SINGER CHOOSES THE SONGS OF THE WIND
Henceforth I will sing no songs
But the songs that are fluent, irregular, swift, unguided:
I will turn no tunes but the tunes of the winds and the waters.
I know that the song of the bird is remembered, it changes not;
And I know that the song of the wind is unremembered;
But it stirs the ground of the heart while the song is a-singing,
And it flows from a vaster source than the song of the bird.
So I will sing the song of the wind in the long grass, by the river,
And the song of the wind in the dry and copper-brown oak-leaves,
In the autumnal season, so beautiful and sad,
And the song of the wind in the green cool ranks of the corn
As it stirs very lightly in the summer,
And the song of the wind in the pines, when the shadows are blue on
the snow,
And the song, song, song, of the wind in the flapping flag,
And the winter-night song of the wind in the chimney,
And the swelling, lulling song of the swirling wind of the sea
That is blent with the plunge of the sea.
THE GLEAM TRAVELS
It is morning, and April.
(They sleep, but I am alive and awake-- the soft warm lucent blue of
the spring heaven bathes my soul.)
There, and again there, the willow-veils hanging, golden-green,
tremulous,
Near by, the bright red-bronze of the lifted cherry-boughs, flashing
in the sun,
Far off, gray-purple of the woods warming to life;
The clouds floating--O so full of light and blessing, that I think
they live and love,
Or truly that they are beautiful veils, not all hiding that which
lives and loves!
Morning, and April,
And on the far-away road, hither leading, the road but now gray with
the cloud-shadow,
The gleam travels.
Hitherward the gleam travels;
Behind it lies the gray shadow on the hill.
O life immense! O love unspeakable! O large To-day!
O moment of utterance given to me (the shadow too travels),
O moment of joy, of trust, of song for my soul, and for those who
sleep, and for those who shall by and by wake!
Life,
Morning, and April--
Hitherward the gleam travels!
THE GRAY VICTORY
On the top of a great rock,
A rounded boulder with rust-colored stains,
Set high over the blue-green of the bay,
Braced strong with iron against the strong salt wind,
The old, gray figurehead is left.
Does any one know who set it there, so high?
Some sailor-fisherman
Who lived in a little hut beside the rock.
The hut is gone, there are the bricks of its foundation,
The old, gray figurehead is left.
A carving crude yet noble,
Of silvery, weathered wood:
A hero-woman,
Large, simple, bold and calm.
One hand is on her breast, her throat curves proudly,
Her head is thrown back proudly, she seems exulting;
There is also in her look something strangely devout,
Patient, and nobly meek.
What far-away workman made her, and what was his meaning?
Was she a Victory? or Hope, or Faith?
She looks upon the sea:
The bitter sea that cast upon these rocks
Her ship of long ago.
Who knows what agony, who knows what loss
Is in her memory? What struggle of sailors
In wild cold waves, at night?
With head thrown back
She looks upon the sea.
In every large curve of her broken body
Is trust, is triumph.
Against the sky she rises,
The light-filled, pure, ineffable azure sky;
Serene, unshaken,
Rises the Victory.
FLAGS AND THE SKY
I looked from my window:
I heard a whisper without from the rippling poplar,
I heard the wash of the river, its waves are never still;
I looked, and over the water the flag,
Alive as the river, alive as the rippling poplar,
Rippled too in the wind.
The sun was upon it.
It had the beauty of flowers.
O flag, though you were not my own, I know I should love you:
I love all flowers, all flags:
Their colors in the wind flowing, in the sun brightening:
Deep blue of the night sky, or the splendor of flame,
Or green of spring, or the daring imperious scarlet,
The color of men’s blood:
Their curious blazonry I love, heraldic, historic,
Leopard or eagle, stripe or star or raying sun,
Or the Cross of St. George and the Cross of St. Andrew,
Or whatsoever sign men have loved and followed.
For surely a flag has a soul.
It is a thing sacred as sunrise,
It is sacred as the stars.
The spirit of Man lifts it up into the sky
That holds all stars, all flags.
I believe that a flag cannot be dishonored forever
By any deed of men.
Let it but fly awhile, and the wind will winnow it,
And the fierce pure sun will purge it, will wash it clean;
For the souls of races and nations live in the sky,
And are forever better than the deeds men do.
There was a man who burned with fire
The flag that he loved best,
Because he thought that out of its dead ashes
Might rise the Flag of Man.
He would have to wait a long time for that rising,
He would have to wait forever;
For live things do not rise out of ashes,
They rise out of live loves.
That man never knew that his flag had a soul,
He never knew that the world needed the soul in his flag,
And the souls in all flags.
The Flag of Man!
What should be its colors, in the wind flowing, in the sun
brightening?
And what should be its curious blazonry?
The upper field should be blue as the sky of God:
The lower field, should be red as the blood of Man:
And there should fly forever beside it--
Always beside it, and neither above nor below it--
The one flag that a man is born to,
Born of his mother to love and not to leave,
As he loves his mother and will not leave her.
The Flag of Man!
It is long a-weaving.
God speed the weaving, and Man speed the weaving!
Let every one of us go on weaving that flag in his heart;
Perhaps, when the grass is rippling over the grave of him,
It may ripple in the sky that holds all stars, all flags,
The Flag of All Souls.
Transcriber’s Note
Page 67: “wen trooping by” changed to “went trooping by”
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COAT WITHOUT A SEAM, AND OTHER POEMS ***
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
States without permission and without paying copyright
royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may
do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
license, especially commercial redistribution.
START: FULL LICENSE
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person
or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual
works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily
comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when
you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country other than the United States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work
on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the
phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed,
performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is
derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works
posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg™ License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format
other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain
Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
provided that:
• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has
agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation.”
• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™
works.
• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
receipt of the work.
• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right
of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
without further opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.
The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread
public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state
visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.
Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.
This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
