BLACKWELL FAMILY 
ALICE STONE BLACKWELL

SUBJECT FILE

Poems by Alice S. Blackwell(Written for the Memorial Meeting to Mrs. Glendower Evans)

GREATHEART

Our greatheart has gone from us. She was brave 
To face the strongest with unfaltering breast,
But tender to the suffering and the weak,
A champion of the poor and the oppressed. 

The love and wisdom of her youth are writ
In laws and institutions of our State;
But 'tis as Greatheart we recall her best---
She who could face a storm of public hate.

Her sight was clear to pierce the darkest clouds
Of popular delusion, surging high;
Amid the blackest shadows she stood firm,
As steadfast as the stars are in the sky.

She might have lived a life of idle ease;
It had no charms her spirit to allure.
She took her place upon the picket line
At Lawrence seeking justice for the poor.

For Sacco and Vanzetti seven years
She toiled with zeal and with unshaken faith,
While prejudice, inflamed to fever heat
By guile and falsehood, clambered for their death.

Great-hearted men and women through the world
Hold dear her memory, her example bright.
Oh, let it strengthen us when fears assail,
And keep us firm, like her, to truth and right!

Alice Stone BlackwellLong gone the [eager] warrior's, dancing plume
That played o'er battle's early day;
Now must his song belaid away, -
Child-relic, no more glory's bloom, -
And man who can not sing his scars
Is done at last with wars

We hope! [Life] Love walks thee yet, O Earth!
O'er these untunable days she throws
The hue of her immortal rose,
And flushed, quivers as with birth
Yea, in thy songless shame doth see
Thyself her harp to be!

ASBThese breezy willows tell of Spring
[To] So does the robin's song.
When Mrs. [Sumpter?] comes to us
She brings the spring along.
In summer's hot or winter's cold,
Or in the autumn sere,
'Tis balmy spring [?] By
When Mrs. S [em] umptrs here.
With her sweet Southern [joy] [vage?]
she brings.
More joy to KBB
Than robin, thrush or nightingale
A [d????] minstrelsy
[Through] Although [the robust] in spring the
[merry notes] the feathered [c?]
robin's notes
Day after day are [is] heard
She [t?????] that Mrs. Sumpter's [?]
Outrival any bird
Long may there to a darkened life
Bring comfort & delighted
The lady from far Arkansas
When makes its darkness bright
May she and Marjorie enjoy
A happy Easter Day!
[If she could] Could she make rhyme, I know tis
there
That K B B would sayVery early verses by ASB

Oh foam that plashes
Oh wave that dashes
Upon the lonely shore
What do you say
As you flow away
Onward forever more

Listen to your song
As you flow along
Neath the hazels bending low
And something you say
As you glide away
Where the wild azalais grow

I may learn sometime
the mystic rhyme
That you sing as onward flows
Neath the hazels green
Where the sunbeams sheen
Falls on you as you goJock's Jingle.
Aug, 12, 1924

All hail to smell black Jocksy!
Today he's six years old.
His mistress would not part with him
For twice his weight in gold. 

His coat is black and glossy
His forelegs slim & neat;
His form a bit too portly,
'Cause he gets too much to eat.

His eyes are brown & sparkling,
His ears point towards the sky,
His little tail with vigor wags
Whenever friends go by.

His lungs are sound & healthy,
And ringing is his bark;
He always gives us notice
Of however after dark. (over)2.
And when his mistress takes a walk
With careful steps and slow,
He follows her with joyful barks
And lets the whole world know.
Among old Scotia's heathery hills
He first beheld the light;
Her mountains ground & lovely locks
Regaled his infant sight.
He travelled half around the globe
When once he got a start
But still, though far away from home
He keeps a Scottish heart.
He is reserved with strangers
But cordial with a friend,
And to the people he loves best
[Demonstr] Affectionate no end.
He worships his Aunt Florence
With ardor warm & true;

3.
He loves the sweet voiced dame from Wales
So does his mistress too,
He follows Mrs. Barlow
with faithfulness & zeal,
And she can make him
mind her, too,
And due submission feel -
He scorns his poor Aunt Alice
Nor heeds commands a white;
Because she's too indulgent
He minds her not a bit.
 He is admired by young & old,
His pretty head they praise;
If he could understand, he'd be
Conceited all his days;
The very ticks delight in him,
His flavor they adore; 
(over)4.
They fix their nippers in his hide
And feast upon his gore.
Close to his much-loved mistress
He always likes to bide,
And even in the night time
He snuggles to her side,
His mistress thinks him perfect,
The fact she cannot doubt;
She says he is "an angel dog",
And looks for wings to
sprout!
Some people call him lazy,
Because upon a chair
He'll sleep for hours together,
Coiled on his cushion there.
But if he sees me take my hat
He does not hold aloof - 

5.
He's off the chair instanter 
And barks to raise the roof.
And when I take him out to
walk,
So rapturous he feels,
He pokes his nose into my calves
And gently nips my heels.
He madly leaps into the air
With eyeballs gleaming white,
And clamors like a demondong -
And yet 'tis pure delight!
May many birthdays find
him still
Joyous free from fears!
Increasing happiness be his
With the revolving years!
(over)
6

Because he loves his mistress well,
Because he is her joy,
We wish him every sort of good
This little queer black boy!TO MRS. H. P. CROSBY
OCTOBER 1938

My Guardian Angel has no wings
But has a heart of gold
A fount of kindness in her breast
And talents manifold.

All things u on the radio
She knows from A to Z;
At making cross-word puzzles out
A very witch is she;
And she can do crotcheting work
Most wonderful to see.

Most angels have no progeny,
But hers is large and fine;
One is a lovely grand-daughter - 
- Her grace is half divine.
One a great grand-son, full of charm
The youngest of her line.

A host of reminiscence
She holds within her mind.
A knowledge, too, of medicine
In her at need you'll find.

She has one fault, I must confess,
Which somewhat mars and thickens
The membranes of her clever brain-
She does not like Charles Dickens!

She's kept me up to sorting things
And worked day after day;
Bags upon bags of useless stuff
Through her were sent away.

But she inhaled the ancient dust
From this accumulation.
And suffered in her nose and eyes
A violent inflammation.

Her powerful hands have ample strength
To lift or work, or squeeze.
Her feet run swiftly, through the rest
I've begged her on my knees.

Her sense of fun is never quenched
It shines with sunny ray;
She bubbles o´er with laughter bright
Upon the darkest day.

Her long unselfish life has been
Beneficent and free;
A guardian angel she has been
To many besides me.

If angels were in feathers dressed
Like birds with plumage gay
Her generosity would give
Her feathers all away.

Dear Guardian Angel, not Good-bye
But Aurevoir, I say
I hope to see your pleasant face
Upon some future day.To Maud Wood Park - Easter 1948.

Your good deeds all your life have been
Too many to recite.
You rendered priceless service
In our long suffrage fight.
And both before and after,
You were an aid of might.
And if all women owe you thanks,
I, more than all the rest,
Have cause to view you gratefully,
And bid your names be blest.
The comforts that surround my age
I owe to you, dear friend
I send you love and gratitude
And blessings without end.[MAHMOUD AND KASAJAS]
An Eastern Tale.

Alice Stone Blackwell

Mahmoud the great on a journey went;
His thoughts were on war and conquest bent.
Kasajas followed him, musing too,
But what his thoughts were, no man knew.
The Sultan spoke: "My wise vizier,
Marvelous things of thee I hear.
Say, is it true, as men declare,
That thou knowest the speech of the birds of the air?"
Kasajas answered, "Sire, 'tis truth;
A dervish taught me the art in youth.
Whatever by birds is chirped or sung,
I comprehend like my mother tongue."
[The] Two screech owls sat on a plane tree bare;
With notes discordant they filled the air.
The Sultan pointed: "Tell me, pray, 
What is it those birds of evil say?"
Kasajas listened. "O sire, I fear 
To tell thee plainly the thing I hear.
Those hateful screech-owls talk of thee!"
"Verily! What can they say of me?
Tell me the truth, and have no fear;
The truth is best for a monarch's ear ."
Thy servant, sire, obeys thy words.
This is the talk [l] of those evil birds:
'I am content,' [si] said the elder one, 
'Unto thy daughter to wed my son,
If twenty villages, ruined all, 
To her for her dowry portion fall.'
'Three times [twnety] twenty such instead
[Sa] Shall be her portion, ' the other said.