Poems

Jack London

• Publisher: Passerino
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9791220247139
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Poetry
• Index: Literature

John Griffith London (born John Griffith Chaney; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916) was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction. His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay", and "The Heathen". London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of unionization, workers' rights, socialism, and eugenics. He wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, War of the Classes, and Before Adam.

The Sea Sprite And The Shooting Star

1916

A little sea sprite,

on the sea one night,

Cried "Now is the time for me,"

And he looked above,

And he looked for his love;

For he was in love, you see.

But his love was a star

In the sky a-far,

And she knew not his love so true;

So he tried to think

Of a magic link

'Twixt the sea and the sky so blue.

Then out of the sky,

From the moon on high,

A silvery moonbeam fell;

And it fell on the brine,

With its wonderful shine,

On the brine where the sea sprites dwell.

Though the siren sing

Where the sea bells ring

And the sleepy poppies dream -

Though the sea sprite knew

Their songs untrue,

He knew not the false moonbeam.

For the way seemed clear

To his love so dear,

And he needn't have wings to fly;

Up its silvery stream

He would climb by the beam,

He would climb right into the sky.

Up the glittering step

He carefully crept,

While his heart beat a merry tune;

But O what a fright

To the poor little sprite,

When he came to the crescent moon.

Alas! and A-lack!

He couldn't get back,

For the moonbeams flew away;

And the stars in the sky

Knew not he was nigh,

Or that he had lost his way.

There he sat forlorn,

On the crescent horn,

And thought of his home in the sea

Of his brothers at play

All the livelong day

On the foam so fresh and free.

Then he saw his star,

In her golden car,

As she twinkled above his head;

And he sobbed and sighed,

And woefully cried

That he wished - he wished he was dead.

But the little the star heard

His every word,

And thrilled at his musical voice

Like the tinkling of bells,

Or the songs of shells,

And it bade her heart rejoice,

For she was lonely and sad,

And no lover had;

And she'd twinkled so long up there,

It had often been said

That she never would wed -

And yet she was wonderous fair,

But often she'd seen,

On the ocean green,

The sea sprite who had loved her so;

Though he came not to woo,

She had loved him too,

Yet she never would tell him - oh no.

But as she looked down

On the lover she'd found -

The story is strange to relate -

She sprang from her car,

For the height was no bar,

And hurried to join her mate.

Oh how her heart beat,

As she leaped from her seat,

And fell to the moon below;

And the stars were aghast,

As she darted past,

And they all said "I told you so."

And her golden hair,

As she fell through the air,

Shown bright like a comet's tail;

While the people on earth,

All ceased from their mirth

As they watched her fiery trail.

Not a bit too soon,

She came to the moon,

Where she grasped her lover's hand;

And they sang with glee,

As they splashed in the sea,

Right into the sea sprite's land.

And the sea o' nights

Is bright with lights,

Whenever they're out to play

For the white sea foam

Is their beautiful home,

Where they live forever and aye.

Credo

1916

I would rather be ashes than dust!

I would rather that my spark

should burn out in a brilliant bla...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Poems
• Table of contents
• Daybreak
• In A Year
• Sonnet
• Where The Rainbow Fell
• The Song of the Flames
• The Gift Of God
• The Way of War
• The Worker and the Tramp
• The Lover's Liturgy
• George Sterling
• Weasel Thieves
• Moods
• The Klondyker's Dream
• The Sea Sprite And The Shooting Star
• Credo