Tale Of Three Cities.

A seedy young man in Savanah
    Fell in love with a rich girl named Anna,
But her papa got mad
    And swore that "By Gad,
The fellow shall never Havana!"

But the couple eloped to Caracas,
    Where the Germans kicked up such a fracas;
And he said to his wife,
    "You can bet your sweet life
That papa dear never will track us."

Edwin C. Ranck

Edwin C. Ranck was an American lyricist noted for his work in the early 20th century. He was a prolific writer and his lyrics were often characterized by their humor and wit. One of his standout works is the poem 'The Optimist', which reflects his positive outlook on life. Beyond that, little is known about his personal life or career. He remains a somewhat obscure figure in literary history.

Edwin C. Ranck

Oh Scissors!

Edwin C. Ranck, Simple Poetry

The Circus.

Edwin C. Ranck, Simple Poetry

You Couldn't Hardly Notice It At All.

Edwin C. Ranck, Simple Poetry

Genius.

Edwin C. Ranck, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

Dora Williams

    When Reuben Pantier ran away and threw me
    I went to Springfield. There I met a lush,
    Whose father just deceased left him a fortune.
    He married me when drunk.
    My life was wretched.
    A year passed and one day they found him dead.
    That made me rich. I moved on to Chicago.
    After a time met Tyler Rountree, villain.
    I moved on to New York. A gray-haired magnate
    Went mad about me - so another fortune.
    He died one night right in my arms, you know.
    (I saw his purple face for years thereafter. )
    There was almost a scandal.
    I moved on, This time to Paris. I was now a woman,
    Insidious, subtle, versed in the world and rich.
    My sweet apartment near the Champs Elysees
    Became a center for all sorts of people,<...

Edgar Lee Masters

Roscoe Purkapile

    She loved me.
    Oh! how she loved me I never had a chance to escape
    From the day she first saw me.
    But then after we were married I thought
    She might prove her mortality and let me out,
    Or she might divorce me. But few die, none resign.
    Then I ran away and was gone a year on a lark.
    But she never complained. She said all would be well
    That I would return. And I did return.
    I told her that while taking a row in a boat
    I had been captured near Van Buren Street
    By pirates on Lake Michigan,
    And kept in chains, so I could not write her.
    She cried and kissed me, and said it was cruel,
    Outrageous, inhuman! I then concluded our marriage
    Was a divine dispensation
    And could not be dissolved,
    Exce...

Edgar Lee Masters

The Return of Belisarius

So youre back from your travels, old fellow,
And you left but a twelvemonth ago;
Youve hobnobbed with Louis Napoleon,
Eugenie, and kissed the Popes toe.
By Jove, it is perfectly stunning,
Astounding, and all that, you know;
Yes, things are about as you left them
In Mud Flat a twelvemonth ago.

The boys! theyre all right, Oh! Dick Ashley,
Hes buried somewhere in the snow;
He was lost on the Summit last winter,
And Bob has a hard row to hoe.
You know that hes got the consumption?
You didnt! Well, come, thats a go;
I certainly wrote you at Baden,
Dear me! that was six months ago.

I got all your outlandish letters,
All stamped by some foreign P. O.
I handed myself to Miss Mary
That sketch of a famous chateau.
Tom Saunders is ...

Bret Harte

The Alcalde's Daughter.

The times they had kissed and parted
That night were over a score;
Each time that the cavalier started,
Each time she would swear him o'er,

"Thou art going to Barcelona!
To make Naxera thy bride!
Seduce the Lady Yöna!
And thy lips have lied! have lied!

"I love thee! I love thee, thou knowest!
And thou shalt not give away
The love to my life thou owest;
And my heart commands thee stay!

"I say thou hast lied and liest!
For where is there war in the state?
Thou goest, by Heaven the highest!
To choose thee a fairer mate.

"Wilt thou go to Barcelona
When thy queen in Toledo is?
To wait on the haughty Yöna,
When thou hast these lips to kiss?"

And they stood in the balcony over
The old Toledo square:
And weep...

Madison Julius Cawein

Sea-Adventurers' Song.

("En partant du Golfe d'Otrante.")

[Bk. XXVIII.]


We told thirty when we started
From port so taut and fine,
But soon our crew were parted,
Till now we number nine.

Tom Robbins, English, tall and straight,
Left us at Aetna light;
He left us to investigate
What made the mountain bright;
"I mean to ask Old Nick himself,
(And here his eye he rolls)
If I can't bring Newcastle pelf
By selling him some coals!"

In Calabree, a lass and cup
Drove scowling Spada wild:
She only held her finger up,
And there he drank and smiled;
And over in Gaëta Bay,
Ascanio - ashore
A fool! - must wed a widow gay
Who'd buried three or four.

At Naples, woe! poor Ned they hanged -
Hemp neckcloth he disdained -

Victor-Marie Hugo

Mrs. Purkapile

    He ran away and was gone for a year.
    When he came home he told me the silly story
    Of being kidnapped by pirates on Lake Michigan
    And kept in chains so he could not write me.
    I pretended to believe it, though I knew very well
    What he was doing, and that he met
    The milliner, Mrs. Williams, now and then
    When she went to the city to buy goods, as she said.
    But a promise is a promise
    And marriage is marriage,
    And out of respect for my own character
    I refused to be drawn into a divorce
    By the scheme of a husband who had merely grown tired
    Of his marital vow and duty.

Edgar Lee Masters