Produced by David Garcia, Carla Foust and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Kentuckiana Digital Library) Transcriber's note Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice. Printer errors have been changed and are listed at the end. All other inconsistencies are as in the original. IDYLLIC MONOLOGUES Poems by Madison Cawein OLD AND NEW WORLD VERSES BY THE AUTHOR OF "Undertones" "Garden of Dreams" JOHN P. MORTON AND COMPANY Publishers--Louisville, Kentucky Copyrighted 1898 BY MADISON CAWEIN TO MY FRIEND: R. E. LEE GIBSON This collection of poems is entirely new with the exception of three or four which appeared in two earlier volumes, published some ten years ago. The reprinted poems have been carefully re-written, and so changed throughout as to hardly bear any resemblance, except that of subject, to the original. CONTENTS PAGE The Brothers 1 Geraldine 15 The Moated Manse 20 The Forester 35 My Lady of Verne 48 An Old Tale Re-told 55 The Water Witch 65 At Nineveh 70 How They Brought Aid to Bryan's Station 72 On the Jellico Spur of the Cumberlands 77 A Confession 83 Lilith 84 Content 86 Berrying 88 To a Pansy-Violet 90 Heart of my Heart 93 Witnesses 94 Wherefore 95 Pagan 96 "The Fathers of our Fathers" 97 "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin" 99 Her Vivien Eyes 101 There was a Rose 102 The Artist 103 Poetry and Philosophy 103 "Quo Vadis" 104 To a Critic 105 FOREWORD. _And one, perchance, will read and sigh: "What aimless songs! Why will he sing Of nature that drags out her woe Through wind and rain, and sun, and snow, From miserable spring to spring?" Then put me by._ _And one, perhaps, will read and say: "Why write of things across the sea; Of men and women, far and near, When we of things at home would hear-- Well, who would call this poetry?" Then toss away._