The Passing of the Storm and Other Poems

1907. From the Preface: Aside from motives common to all who with reverent steps humbly strive to follow where the great lights of poesy have led, the author of these unpretentious pages has been actuated by a desire to portray, in his correct light, a very frequently misrepresented character, viz.: the pioneer prospector. It has long been customary for writers of western fiction to picture this character as a large-hearted but rough and untutored individual, expressing himself in a vernacular consisting of equal parts of slang, profanity and questionable grammar, possessing no ambitions above the card table or the strong waters which cause all men to err who drink them. An intimate acquaintance with this class extending from the years of infancy to middle age, convinces the writer that the common description is manifestly unjust and misleading. Contents: The Passing of the Storm; Dolores; Great Shepherd of the Countless Flocks of Stars; The Ruined Cabin; An Idyll; The Borderland of Sleep; Stellar Nocturne; Father, at Thy Altar Kneeling; Dreams; Nocturne; The True Faith; A Fragment; and Mortality.