To strow great thoughts through the world as I went,

As God sows stars through the firmament.

Venice, 1874.

—Copyright by Harr Wagner Co., San Francisco, and used by kind permission of author and publisher.

WHEN THE OLD MAN SMOKES

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

In the forenoon’s restful quiet,

When the boys are off at school,

When the window lights are shaded

And the chimney corner cool,