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Chimneysmoke

Chapter 3: Illustrated by Thomas Fogarty
By Christopher Morley
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Poetry

About This Book

The collection gathers short lyrical and comic poems that celebrate home life, childhood, and small urban‑suburban scenes, turning ordinary moments—fireside evenings, nursery play, commutes, house chores—into quiet meditations and light humor. Forms range from brief nursery rhymes and playful parodies to sonnets, elegies, and epigrams, mixing sentimentality, wry observation, and mild satire. Recurring subjects include hearth and house‑making, memory and domestic affection, seasonal details, and the poet’s amused eye for everyday characters. The tone moves between tenderness and ironic wit, presenting an intimate, varied portrait of domestic comfort and ordinary human oddities.

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Title: Chimneysmoke

Author: Christopher Morley

Illustrator: Thomas Fogarty

Release date: October 26, 2011 [eBook #37852]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Steven Brown and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHIMNEYSMOKE ***

Chimneysmoke

By Christopher Morley

CHIMNEYSMOKE
HIDE AND SEEK
THE ROCKING HORSE
SONGS FOR A LITTLE HOUSE
MINCE PIE

New York: George H. Doran Company

This hearth was built for thy delight,
For thee the logs were sawn,
For thee the largest chair, at night,
Is to the chimney drawn.

For thee, dear lass, the match was lit,
To yield the ruddy blaze—
May Jack Frost give us joy of it
For many, many days.

Chimneysmoke

by

Christopher Morley

Illustrated by

Thomas Fogarty

Garden City, New York
Doubleday, Page & Co.
1927

COPYRIGHT, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921
BY DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN
THE UNITED STATES AT THE COUNTRY
LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y.

"How can I turn from any fire
On any man's hearthstone?
I know the wonder and desire
That went to build my own."

—Rudyard Kipling; "The Fires"

Author's Note

There are a number of poems in this collection that have not previously appeared in book form. But, as a few readers may discern, many of the verses are reprinted from Songs for a Little House (1917), The Rocking Horse (1919) and Hide and Seek (1920). There is also one piece revived from the judicious obscurity of an early escapade, The Eighth Sin, published in Oxford in 1912. It is on Mr. Thomas Fogarty's delightful and sympathetic drawings that this book rests its real claim to be considered a new venture. To Mr. Fogarty, and to Mr. George H. Doran, whose constant kindness and generosity contradict all the traditions about publishers and minor poets, the author expresses his permanent gratitude.

Roslyn, Long Island.

Contents

PAGE
TO THE LITTLE HOUSE 19
A GRACE BEFORE WRITING 20
DEDICATION FOR A FIREPLACE 21
TAKING TITLE 22
THE SECRET 25
ONLY A MATTER OF TIME 26
AT THE MERMAID CAFETERIA 28
OUR HOUSE 29
ON NAMING A HOUSE 31
A HALLOWE'EN MEMORY 32
REFUSING YOU IMMORTALITY 35
BAYBERRY CANDLES 36
SECRET LAUGHTER 37
SIX WEEKS OLD 38
A CHARM 41
MY PIPE 42
THE 5:42 44
PETER PAN 48
IN HONOR OF TAFFY TOPAZ 49
THE CEDAR CHEST 50
READING ALOUD 51
ANIMAL CRACKERS 52
THE MILKMAN 55
LIGHT VERSE 56
THE FURNACE 57
WASHING THE DISHES 58
THE CHURCH OF UNBENT KNEES 61
ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY COAL-BIN 62
THE OLD SWIMMER 66
THE MOON-SHEEP 70
SMELLS 71
SMELLS (JUNIOR) 72
MAR QUONG, CHINESE LAUNDRYMAN 75
THE FAT LITTLE PURSE 76
THE REFLECTION 80
THE BALLOON PEDDLER 82
LINES FOR AN ECCENTRIC'S BOOK PLATE 86
TO A POST-OFFICE INKWELL 89
THE CRIB 90
THE POET 94
TO A DISCARDED MIRROR 97
TO A CHILD 98
TO A VERY YOUNG GENTLEMAN 100
TO AN OLD-FASHIONED POET 104
BURNING LEAVES IN SPRING 105
BURNING LEAVES, NOVEMBER 106
A VALENTINE GAME 107
FOR A BIRTHDAY 108
KEATS 111
TO H. F. M., A SONNET IN SUNLIGHT 113
QUICKENING 114
AT A WINDOW SILL 115
THE RIVER OF LIGHT 116
OF HER GLORIOUS MADNESS 118
IN AN AUCTION ROOM 119
EPITAPH FOR A POET WHO WROTE NO POETRY 120
SONNET BY A GEOMETER 121
TO A VAUDEVILLE TERRIER 122
TO AN OLD FRIEND 125
TO A BURLESQUE SOUBRETTE 126
THOUGHTS WHILE PACKING A TRUNK 129
STREETS 130
TO THE ONLY BEGETTER 131
PEDOMETER 133
HOSTAGES 134
ARS DURA 137
O. HENRY—APOTHECARY 138
FOR THE CENTENARY OF KEATS'S SONNET 139
TWO O'CLOCK 140
THE COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 141
THE WEDDED LOVER 142
TO YOU, REMEMBERING THE PAST 143
CHARLES AND MARY 144
TO A GRANDMOTHER 145
DIARISTS 146
THE LAST SONNET 147
THE SAVAGE 148
ST. PAUL'S AND WOOLWORTH 149
ADVICE TO A CITY 150
THE TELEPHONE DIRECTORY 151
GREEN ESCAPE 153
VESPER SONG FOR COMMUTERS 157
THE ICE WAGON 158
AT A MOVIE THEATRE 161
SONNETS IN A LODGING HOUSE 163
THE MAN WITH THE HOE (PRESS) 167
DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE GOD? 168
RAPID TRANSIT 170
CAUGHT IN THE UNDERTOW 171
TO HIS BROWN-EYED MISTRESS 172
PEACE 173
SONG, IN DEPRECATION OF PULCHRITUDE 175
MOUNTED POLICE 176
TO HIS MISTRESS, DEPLORING THAT HE IS NOT AN ELIZABETHAN GALAXY 179
THE INTRUDER 181
TIT FOR TAT 182
SONG FOR A LITTLE HOUSE 185
THE PLUMPUPPETS 186
DANDY DANDELION 190
THE HIGH CHAIR 192
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT 193
AUTUMN COLORS 197
THE LAST CRICKET 198
TO LOUISE 199
CHRISTMAS EVE 203
EPITAPH ON THE PROOFREADER OF THE ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA 204
THE MUSIC BOX 205
TO LUATH 209
THOUGHTS ON REACHING LAND 212
A SYMPOSIUM 214
TO A TELEPHONE OPERATOR WHO HAS A BAD COLD 218
NURSERY RHYMES FOR THE TENDER-HEARTED 219
THE TWINS 227
A PRINTER'S MADRIGAL 228
THE POET ON THE HEARTH 230
O PRAISE ME NOT THE COUNTRY 231
A STONE IN ST. PAUL'S GRAVEYARD 235
THE MADONNA OF THE CURB 236
THE ISLAND 240
SUNDAY NIGHT 242
ENGLAND, JULY, 1913 246
CASUALTY 250
A GRUB STREET RECESSIONAL 251
PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTIONS FOR A FUNERAL SERVICE 253

Illustrations
PAGE
This hearth was built for thy delight— Frontispiece
And by a friend's bright gift of wine,
I dedicate this house of mine		 23
And of all man's felicities— 33
A little world he feels and sees:
His mother's arms, his mother's knees—		 39
The 5:42 47
And Daddy once said he would like to be me
Having cocoa and animals once more for tea!		 53
But heavy feeding complicates
The task by soiling many plates		 59
How ill avail, on such a frosty night 65
The old swimmer 69
But Katie, the cook, is more splendid than all— 73
Perhaps it's a ragged child crying 79
The Balloon Peddler 85
If you appreciate it more
Than I—why don't return it!		 87
And then one night— 93
The human cadence and the subtle chime
Of little laughters—		 95
What years of youthful ills and pangs and bumps— 103
A Birthday 109
You must be rigid servant of your art! 123
You came, and impudent and deuce-may-care
Danced where the gutter flamed with footlight fire 		127
Hostages 135
My eyes still pine for the comely line
Of an outbound vessel's hull 		155
A man ain't so secretive, never cares
What kind of private papers he leaves lay— 		165
Mounted Police 177
Courtesy 183
The Plumpuppets 189
... It's hard to have to tell
How unresponsive I have found her		 195
... When you see, this Great First Time,
Lit candles on a Christmas Tree!		 201
The music box 207
Solugubrious 217
In the midnight, like yourself,
I explore the pantry shelf!		 221
The Twins 227
O praise me not the country 233
The wail of sickly children— 239
Ah, does the butcher—heartless clown—
Beget that shadow on her brow?		 245