The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cap and Gown, Selected by Frederic Knowles

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Title: Cap and Gown
A Treasury of College Verse

Author: Selected by Frederic Knowles

Release Date: January 4, 2004 [EBook #10596]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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CAP AND GOWN

A Treasury of College Verse

Selected by

Frederic Lawrence Knowles

_Editor of "The Golden Treasury of American Songs and Lyrics," etc.

_1897_

TO THE
REVERED MEMORY
OF A
GREAT SCHOLAR AND GREAT TEACHER
WHOM I WAS ONCE PROUD
TO CALL MY FRIEND,

Frances James Child,

THIS LITTLE BOOK
IS GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED.

_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!_

PREFATORY NOTE

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.

In looking over very many undergraduate papers