Excerpt from The Skeleton's Message (and Other Poems) From the period when poetry was the blossom and flower of our literature we have passed to an era of matured fruit. By and by we may have only the dry husks. Then, perhaps, we shall be glad to return to the fresher, primeval gardens, or we may elect to tread the barren and rocky expanse of positiveness in literature. But whatever the tendency of our literary movement, the fact is distinctly recognized that the present is essentially a prose age. Nevertheless, the author ventures to hope that the verses here collected may find, now and then, an interested reader. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.