If I could offer another of my favorites, his contract with Mrs. T.K. Beecher, memorializing their bet over the existence of heaven: If you prove right and I prove wrong, A million years from now, In language plain and frank and strong My error I'll avow To your dear waking face If I prove right, by God His grace, Full sorry I shall be, For in that solitude no trace There'll be of you and me. A million years, O patient stone, You've waited for this message. Deliver it a million hence; (Survivor pays expressage.) Published in _Munsey's Magazine_ in 1895. GC -----Original Message----- From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jerry Vorpahl Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 8:21 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Poetry by Mark Twain Camfield does a nice job exploring Twain's Poetry in The Oxford Companion, including the most "Twainian" of all poems, "Love Song." First verse: I ask not, "Is thy hope still sure, They love still warm, thy faith secure." I ask not, "Dream'st though still of me? - Long'st always to fly to me? - Ah, no - but as the sun includeth all The good gifts of the Giver, I sum all these in asking thee, "Oh Sweetheart, how's your liver?" JERRY VORPAHL Sacramento On Apr 14, 2010, at 7:44 AM, Harris, Susan Kumin wrote: Scott's book has Twain's poem after Jose Rizal, "My Last Thought." I = think it's the best of his efforts at poetry, and because it's about the = U.S. and imperialism--and because it shows that Twain read at least one = translation of Rizal's Noli Me Tangere--there's a lot of meat there for = a student project, if that's what you are looking for. Kevin Bochynski = was kind enough to alert me to it through this forum last year, and I'm = really grateful. It deserves more attention than it's been given. =20 =20 I'm going to be giving a short presentation on it at ALA. --skh =20 Susan K. Harris Hall Professor of American Literature & Culture Department of English University of Kansas Lawrence, KS 66042 ________________________________ From: Mark Twain Forum on behalf of Alan Gribben Sent: Wed 4/14/2010 9:22 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Poetry by Mark Twain John, If you can obtain a copy of Arthur L. Scott's ON THE POETRY OF MARK = TWAIN, =3D WITH SELECTIONS FROM HIS VERSE (Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1966), this = would=3D be a good starting-point for choosing a poem. Regards, Alan Gribben -----Original Message----- From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John = Greenman Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 6:47 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Poem by Mark Twain Librivox.org, in its desire to commemorate Mark Twain, asks: Did he write a poem that could be used as a weekly poetry project? Anyone have a suggestion? -John