Poetry of Kansas
 

My Pastime.

I begin my hour with reading,
   Thinking deeply as I read,
Over what the author teaches
   And his theme;
Till my thoughts o'erflow my vision,
   And I grasp my pen with speed,
To assay the truth in prose
   As it does seem
 
Reading on and thinking deeply,
   Half unwittingly I scrawl
Thoughts __ additions__ oppositions__
   Till my prose,
Moving slowly and in rhythm,
   Is no longer prose at alt;
But unconsciously in blank verse
   Freely flows.
 
Then the rhythm moves more freely,
Pulsing measures chance to chime;
Themes more beautiful and brighter thoughts
   Appear.
Then I leave my good philosophy
   And lilt along on rhyme
Thro' the sunshine, while my muses
   Dally near.

__Colfax B. Harmon.

Poets and Poetry of Kansas
Edited by Thomas W. Herringshaw
(Chicago: American Publishers' Association. 1894)
Page 122

 
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