Front matter

THE DYAK CHIEF AND OTHER VERSES

The Dyak Chief and Other Verses

BY ERWIN CLARKSON GARRETT Author of “My Bunkie and Other Ballads” NEW YORK BARSE & HOPKINS PUBLISHERS Copyright, 1914 By BARSE & HOPKINS

To My Mother

PREFACE

Neither desiring to plagiarize Cæsar nor to compare my book to Gaul, I wish to mention briefly that this volume as a whole is divided into three parts, of which one is occupied by the single poem, “The Dyak Chief,” the verses that give title to the book; another, the second, is occupied by American army ballads, and yet another, the third, is occupied by various verses on miscellaneous subjects.

However, if recollections of my personal campaigns against Cæsar—armed only with a Latin vocabulary and grammar—serve me rightly, the old Roman was not merely a worthy foe, but one who might well be held up as a worthy example; who dealt with his chronicles as he dealt with his enemies on the field, in a simple, direct, forcible manner, bare of circumlocution, tautology or ambiguity—that he who runs may read—and reading, know his Gaul and Gallic chieftains, his Cæsar and his Cæsar’s legionaries, even as Cæsar knew them.

The initial poem, “The Dyak Chief,” forming Part One, is a romance of Central Borneo, that I visited in July, 1908, during a little trip around the World.

Coming over from Java, which I had just finished touring, I arrived at Bandjermasin, in southeastern Borneo, near the coast, and from whence I took a small steamer up the Barito River to Poeroek Tjahoe, pronounced “Poorook Jow,” deep in the interior of the island.

Poeroek Tjahoe was the last white (Dutch) settlement, and from there I went with three Malay coolies five days tramp on foot through the jungle, northwest, penetrating the very heart of Borneo, sleeping the first three nights in the houses of the Dyaks, some nomadic tribes of whom still roam the jungle as head-hunters, and the last two nights upon improvised platforms out in the open, till I reached Batoe Paoe, a town or kampong in the geographical center of the island.

I also visited a nearby village, Olong Liko, afterwards returning by the Moeroeng and Barito Rivers to Poeroek Tjahoe, and from thence back to Bandjermasin on the little river-steamer and then by boat to Singapore, which was the radiating headquarters for my trips to Sumatra, Java, Borneo and Siam.

Having thus reached the very center of Borneo on foot, I had an excellent opportunity to study the country, the people and the general conditions, so that the reader of “The Dyak Chief” need feel no hesitancy in accepting as accurate and authentic, all descriptions, details and touches of “local color” or “atmosphere” contained in the poem.

Full notes on “The Dyak Chief” will be found at the end of the volume.

Part Two contains a number of new American army ballads, gathered mostly as a result of my personal observations and experiences when serving as a private in Companies “L” and “G,” 23rd U. S. Infantry (Regulars) and Troop “I,” 5th U. S. Cavalry (Regulars), during the Philippine Insurrection of 1899-1902.

As I have just mentioned, the army verses are all new ones, and consequently not to be found among those contained in my previous volume, “My Bunkie and Other Ballads.”

Part Three consists of individual poems on various subjects without any interrelation.

It is sincerely hoped that the reader will make full use of the notes appended at the end of the book, which addenda I have endeavored to treat with as much brevity as may be compatible with succinctness.

E. C. G.

Philadelphia, February 1st, 1914.

CONTENTS

PART ONE

PAGE

The Dyak Chief13

PART TWO—AMERICAN ARMY BALLADS

On the Water-Wagon33

Army of Pacification35

Solitary38

The Sultan Comes to Town40

Philippine Rankers45

Dobie Itch48

The Service Arms50

PART THREE—OTHER VERSES

Shah Jehan55

The Omnipotent59

The Outbound Trail62

The Fool64

The Ships67

The First Poet68

The Test70

The Port o’ Lost Delight72

William Cullen Bryant76

King Bamboo77

Mark Twain79

The Summit80

The Little Bronze Cross81

Keats83

Christmas84

Tuck Away—Little Dreams85

Bloody Angle87

The Microbe89

The Seas90

God’s Acre92

Gold94

The Legion95

The Altar97

The Song of the Aeroplane99

Pack Your Trunk and Go101

Woman103

Nippon105

The New Bard107

Father Time110

My Loves112

The Forum114

The Masterpiece116

The Heritage118

The Adjusting Hour120

The Outposters121

Wondering124

Lines to an Elderly Friend126

Battleships127

The American Flag131

The Great Doctors133

The Dreamer and the Doer134

Spain135

C. Q. D.138

The Lights140

The Chosen141

The Fairest Moon144

The Striver146

The Old Men148

The Four-Roads Post150

The Days of Chivalry152

Phantom-land154

The Rose156

Patriotism157

Kelvin159

Notes160