Songs from Vagabondia

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <h1><span class="giant">SONGS</span><br/> <span class="larger">FROM</span><br/> <span class="giant">VAGABONDIA</span></h1> <h2> by Bliss Carman<br/> Richard Hovey </h2> <h3><SPAN name="VAGABONDIA" name="VAGABONDIA"></SPAN>VAGABONDIA.</h3> <p>Off with the fetters <br/>That chafe and restrain! <br/>Off with the chain! <br/>Here Art and Letters, <br/>Music and wine, <br/>And Myrtle and Wanda, <br/>The winsome witches, <br/>Blithely combine. <br/>Here are true riches, <br/>Here is Golconda, <br/>Here are the Indies, <br/>Here we are free&mdash; <br/>Free as the wind is, <br/>Free, as the sea. <br/>Free! <br/> <br/>Houp-la! <br/> <br/>What have we <br/>To do with the way <br/>Of the Pharisee? <br/>We go or we stay <br/>At our own sweet will; <br/>We think as we say, <br/>And we say or keep still <br/>At our own sweet will, <br/>At our own sweet will. <br/> <br/>Here we are free <br/>To be good or bad, <br/>Sane or mad, <br/>Merry or grim <br/>As the mood may be,&mdash; <br/>Free as the whim <br/>Of a spook on a spree,&mdash; <br/>Free to be oddities, <br/>Not mere commodities, <br/>Stupid and salable, <br/>Wholly available, <br/>Ranged upon shelves; <br/>Each with his puny form <br/>In the same uniform, <br/>Cramped and disabled; <br/>We are not labelled, <br/>We are ourselves. <br/> <br/>Here is the real, <br/>Here the ideal; <br/>Laughable hardship <br/>Met and forgot, <br/>Glory of bardship&mdash; <br/>World's bloom and world's blot; <br/>The shock and the jostle, <br/>The mock and the push, <br/>But hearts like the throstle <br/>A-joy in the bush; <br/>Wits that would merrily <br/>Laugh away wrong, <br/>Throats that would verily <br/>Melt Hell in Song. <br/> <br/>What though the dimes be <br/>Elusive as rhymes be, <br/>And Bessie, with finger <br/>Uplifted, is warning <br/>That breakfast next morning <br/>(A subject she's scorning) <br/>Is mighty uncertain! <br/> <br/>What care we? Linger <br/>A moment to kiss&mdash; <br/>No time's amiss <br/>To a vagabond's ardor&mdash; <br/>Thee finish the larder <br/>And pull down the curtain. <br/> <br/>Unless ere the kiss come, <br/>Black Richard or Bliss come, <br/>Or Tom with a flagon, <br/>Or Karl with a jag on&mdash; <br/>Then up and after <br/>The joy of the night <br/>With the hounds of laughter <br/>To follow the flight <br/>Of the fox-foot hours <br/>That double and run <br/>Through brakes and bowers <br/>Of folly and fun. <br/> <br/>With the comrade heart <br/>For a moment's play, <br/>And the comrade heart <br/>For a heavier day, <br/>And the comrade heart <br/>Forever and aye. <br/> <br/>For the joy of wine <br/>Is not for long; <br/>And the joy of song <br/>Is a dream of shine; <br/>But the comrade heart <br/>Shall outlast art <br/>And a woman's love <br/>The fame thereof. <br/> <br/>But wine for a sign <br/>Of the love we bring! <br/>And song for an oath <br/>That Love is king! <br/>And both, and both <br/>For his worshipping! <br/> <br/>Then up and away <br/>Till the break of day, <br/>With a heart that's merry, <br/>And a Tom-and-Jerry, <br/>And a derry-down-derry&mdash; <br/>What's that you say. <br/>You highly respectable <br/>Buyers and sellers? <br/>We should be decenter? <br/>Not as we please inter <br/>Custom, frugality, <br/>Use and morality <br/>In the delectable <br/>Depths of wine-cellars? <br/> <br/>Midnights of revel, <br/>And noondays of song! <br/>Is it so wrong? <br/>Go to the Devil! <br/> <br/>I tell you that we, <br/>While you are smirking <br/>And lying and shirking <br/>life's duty of duties, <br/>Honest sincerity, <br/>We are in verity <br/>Free! <br/>Free to rejoice <br/> <br/>In blisses and beauties! <br/>Free as the voice <br/>Of the wind as it passes! <br/>Free as the bird <br/>In the weft of the grasses! <br/>Free as the word <br/>Of the sun to the sea&mdash; <br/>Free!</p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />