Cap and Gown / A Treasury of College Verse

Produced by Afra Ullah, Carol David and PG Distributed Proofreaders
A Treasury of College Verse
Selected by
Frederic Lawrence Knowles
_Editor of The Golden Treasury of American Songs and Lyrics, etc.
1897
Frances James Child,
In Cap and Gown you look in vain For epic or heroic strain. Not ours to scale the heights sublime, Which hardly masters dare to climb; We only sing of youth and joy, And love,—the credo of the boy!
The gay verses which celebrate undergraduate life must not be taken too seriously. They seldom pretend to the dignity of poetry. College verse, if I understand it, is verse suited to the period and point of view of undergraduate days. Light, graceful, humorous, sparkling,—this it should be for the most part; serious sometimes, it is true,—for young men and women about to take upon themselves the responsibilities of mature life are at heart by no means frivolous, but touching the note of grief, if at all, almost as though by accident. Life is often sad enough in the after-years, and for the period of sorrow, sad verse may be in place. Happy they who have not yet traded cap and bells (never far hidden under cap and gown) for the
Sable stole of cypress lawn.
Happier still if they never need make such a sorry exchange.
Yes, like all sound art, college verse must, above all else, be honest. Let us not say, however, that the thoughtful moods of young men and women may not sincerely be set to the music of verse. One department in this collection bears the name In Serious Mood, and its sentiment rings as true as that of any other.