Complete Works of Robert Louis Stevenson (Illustrated) (886 page)

321

The careful angler chose his nook

At morning by the lilied brook,

And all the noon his rod he plied

By that romantic riverside.

Soon as the evening hours decline

Tranquilly he’ll return to dine,

And breathing forth a pious wish,

Will cram his belly full of fish.

323

The Abbot for a walk went out

A wealthy cleric, very stout,

And Robin has that Abbot stuck

As the red hunter spears the buck.

The djavel or the javelin

Has, you observe, gone bravely in,

And you may hear that weapon whack

Bang through the middle of his back.

Hence we may learn that abbots should

Never go walking in a wood.

The frozen peaks he once explored,

But now he’s dead and by the board.

How better far at home to have stayed

Attended by the parlour maid,

And warmed his knees before the fire

Until the hour when folks retire!

So, if you would be spared to friends.

Do nothing but for business ends.

Industrious pirate! see him sweep

The lonely bosom of the deep,

And daily the horizon scan

From Hatteras or Matapan.

Be sure, before that pirate’s old,

He will have made a pot of gold,

And will retire from all his labours

And be respected by his neighbors.

You also scan your life’s horizon

For all that you can clap your eyes on.

Works recently issued by

SAMUEL OSBOURNE & Co.
DAVOS.

NOT I and other poems, by Robert Louis Stevenson.

A volume of enchanting poetry.

BLACK CANYON or wild adventures in the Far West, by S. L. Osbourne.

A beautiful gift-book.

MORAL EMBLEMS, (first Series.) by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Has only to be seen to be admired.

To be obtained from the Publishers and all respectable Book-sellers.

329

A Martial Elegy for some lead Soldiers.

For certain soldiers lately dead

Our-reverent dirge shall here be said.

Them, when their martial leader called,

No dread preparative appalled;

But leaden hearted, leaden heeled,

I marked them steadfast in the field

Death grimly sided with the foe,

And smote each leaden hero low.

Proudly they perished one by one:

The dread Pea-cannon’s work was done

O not for them the tears we shed,

Consigned to their congenial lead;

But while unmoved their sleep they take,

We mourn for their dear Captain’s sake,

For their dear Captain, who shall smart

Both in his pocket and his heart,

Who saw his heros shed their gore

And lacked a shilling to buy more!

Price 1 penny. (1st Edition.)

Today is published by SAMUEL OSBOURNE & Co.
THE

GRAVER and the PEN

OR

Scenes from Nature with Ap-

propriate Verses
by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON author of the ‘EMBLEMS.’

‘The Graver and the Pen’ is a most strikingly illustrated little work and the poetry so pleasing that when it is taken up to be read is finished before it is set down.

It contains 5 full-page illustrations (all of the first class) and 11 pages of poetry finely printed on superb paper (especially obtained from C. G. Squintani & Co. London) with the title on the cover in red letters.

Small 8vo. Granite paper cover with coloured title

Price Ninepence per Copy
.

Splendid chance for an energetic publisher!!!

For Sale — Copyright of ‘Black Canyon’ price 1 / 3/4

Autograph of Mr. R. L. Stevenson price -/3, ditto of Mr. S. L. Osbourne price 1/- each.

If copies of the ‘Graver,’ ‘Emblems,’ or ‘Black Canyon’ are wanted apply to the publisher, 17 Harlot Row Edinburgh. 

THE GRAVER & THE PEN.

THE

GRAVER & THE PEN
,

or

Scenes from Nature with

Appropriate Verses
BY
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

author
of

‘The New Arabian Nights,’ ‘Moral Emblems,’ ‘Not I,’ ‘Treasure Island,’ etc.

Illustrated.

Edinburgh

S. L. Osbourne & Company

No. 17 Heriot Row.

[It was only by the kindness of Mr. Crerar of Kingussie that we are able to issue this little work — having allowed us to print with his own press when ours was broken.] Proem.

Unlike the common run of men,

I wield a double power to please,

And use the Graver and the Pen

With equal aptitude and ease.

I move with that illustrious crew,

The ambidextrous Kings of Art;

And every mortal thing I do

Brings ringing money in the mart.

Hence, to the morning hour, the mead,

The forest and the stream perceive

Me wandering as the muses lead —  —

Or back returning in the eve.Two muses like two maiden aunts,

The engraving and the singing muse,

Follow, through all my favorite haunts,

My devious traces in the dews.

To guide and cheer me, each attends;

Each speeds my rapid task along;

One to my cuts her ardour lends,

One breathes her magic in my song.
 
The Precarious Mill.

Alone above the stream it stands,

Above the iron hill,

The topsy-turvy, tumble-down,

Yet habitable mill.

Still as the ringing saws advance

To slice the humming deal,

All day the pallid miller hears

The thunder of the wheel.

He hears the river plunge and roar

As roars the angry mob;

He feels the solid building quake,

The trusty timbers throb.All night beside the fire he cowers:

He hears the rafters jar:

O why is he not in a proper house

As decent people are!

The floors are all aslant, he sees,

The doors are all a-jam;

And from the hook above his head

All crooked swings the ham.

“Alas,” he cries and shakes his head,

“I see by every sign,

There soon will be the deuce to pay,

With this estate of mine.”

 
The Disputatious Pines.

The first pine to the second said:

“My leaves are black, my branches red;

I stand upon this moor of mine,

A hoar,
unconquerable pine
.”

The second sniffed and answered: “Pooh,

I am as good a pine as you.”

“Discourteous tree” the first replied,

“The tempest in my boughs had cried,

The hunter slumbered in my shade,

A hundred years ere you were made.”The second smiled as he returned:

“I shall be here when you are burned.”

So far dissension ruled the pair,

Each turned on each a frowning air,

When flickering from the bank anigh,

A flight of martens met their eye.

Sometime their course they watched; and then

They nodded off to sleep again.

 
The Tramps
.