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Brandon Ray Kirk

~ This site is dedicated to the collection, preservation, and promotion of history and culture in my section of Appalachia.

Brandon Ray Kirk

Tag Archives: poet

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Poem: “Old Abraham” (1996)

05 Monday Dec 2022

Tags

Appalachia, Barboursville, Bill Herndon, Cabell County, civil war, Huntington, Main Street, Maurice E. Beckett, Morris Harvey College, Old Abraham, poems, poet, poetry, Tanyard Branch, Union Cavalry, West Virginia, writers

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk | Filed under Barboursville, Civil War, Poetry

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The Wanderer: A Poem (1928)

16 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Man, Poetry

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Appalachia, Harry Durham, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, poems, poet, poetry, Taplin, West Virginia, writers, writing

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this poem written by Harry Durham of Taplin titled “The Wanderer,” published November 20, 1928:

THE WANDERER

I have been in sunny Italy.

I have been in flowery France.

I have seen the silvery moonbeams

On the Alpine mountains dance.

I have been in quaint old China.

I have trod Great Britain’s land.

I have seen the heat elfs dancing

On Sahara’s burning sand.

I have rode the rattling rikas

Thru far Yokohama’s street.

I’ve eaten in snow-clad Igloos

Strips of frozen walrus meat.

I have sailed the broad Atlantic.

I have whaled in Arctic ice.

Steered a bastard thru Magellan.

Rounded bleak Cape Horn twice.

And the wanderlust keepings calling,

Mocking, just around the bend,

Leering me by empty promise

To a homeless, friendless end.

But its call is fainter growing

And its beck no longer thrills

For I’ve found a golden milestone

In the West Virginia hills.

For no matter where I’ve wandered

On a vain and empty quest,

I have left my heart behind me

In the land I love the best.

And when I sign articles

On that last and endless trip,

Let me sail thru-out the ages

On this rugged square rigged ship.

For I ask no sweeter nectar

Than to quaff its crystal rills.

For I’ve known a golden milestone

In the West Virginia hills.

Faithful Rover: A Poem (1915)

09 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Logan, Poetry

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Tags

Appalachia, hunting, Logan, Logan Democrat, poet, poetry, poets, West Virginia, writers, writing

From the Logan Democrat of Logan, WV, comes this poem written by J. Rush Cook titled “Faithful Rover,” published January 21, 1915:

FAITHFUL ROVER

Old Rover was a faithful dog,

He stuck through thick and thin;

With me he crossed a thousand logs,

We’ve waded a hundred bogs

With the mud up to his chin.

We’ve hunted together, day and night,

He’s treed ten thousand mice;

He never retreated in a fight

Whether in darkness or in light,

And never barked but thrice.

One on the scent, one at the tree–

His gait was swift and strong;

Third, a long–that was for me,

Where e’er I might be,

To hustle and hurry along.

And when I’d reach the long sought spot,

Always on top of the hill,

A lookin’ wise there Rover sot,

Jump up and round he’d hop–

Could never keep him still.

And then, of course, the tree I’d cut

Old Rover sitting night;

Perhaps three, four feet at the butt

Pretty hard to crack such a nut!

But I did it without a sigh.

Down in the top old Rover would go,

To catch the game, you see;

But always in the tree below,

Old Rover would try to show,

Was the game for him and me.

With this repeated till at the foot,

He’d start up t’other side,

And then to me it began to look

As plain as an open book,

That Rover had surely lied.

I don’t think he meant to lie,

His guilt I could not own;

But in his eagerness to try

He always looked too high,

As others I have known.

Old Rover was built for strength,

Was deep across the chest–

His hips didn’t lack for breadth,

Neither his legs for length–

‘Tis needless to tell the rest.

He had a curl in his tail

As nearly all dogs do,

But he straightened it out on the trail–

It might hook on a briar or rail

And get to bleeding, too.

The scent of the game be lost–

The smell of blood is strong,

This he knew at any cost,

If this trail he happened to cross

The game would surely be gone.

Old Rover has passed away

To the happy hunting ground;

And there I hope he’ll stay

And tree his game each day,

And do his own cutting down.

Thomas Dunn English (1846-1861)

10 Sunday Jun 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Logan, Poetry

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Tags

abolitionists, Appalachia, Aracoma, Ben Bolt, Bergen County, Columbian Fountain, Daily Dispatch, Democrat, Democratic Party, history, Logan, Logan County, Lucretia Mott, New Jersey, New York, New York Daily Tribune, poet, politics, Thomas Dunn English, U.S. Congress, Virginia, West Virginia, William and Mary College, writers

From various newspapers come these items relating to Thomas Dunn English, the famous poet who once lived in Logan County, (West) Virginia:

The Columbian Fountain (Washington, DC), 19 September 1846

Thomas Dunn English is to be the Democratic candidate for Congress in the fifth district, New York.

***

New York (NY) Daily Tribune, 27 December 1850

Doctor Thomas Dunn English will lecture concerning Hungarian matters on Sunday the 22d inst. and Lucretia Mott concerning Woman’s Rights upon the 29th of December, Sabbath evening.

***

Daily Dispatch (Richmond, VA), 29 July 1853

Dr. Thomas Dunn English is engaged in making geological exploration for some New York capitalists in Western Virginia.

***

Richmond (VA) Enquirer, 6 March 1855

We have seen the proof-sheets of a selection of the poems of Thomas Dunn English, the author of “Ben Bolt.” The same author is collating and arranging materials for an illustrated history of South-western Virginia.

***

Nashville (TN) Union and American via Richmond (VA) Enquirer, 6 September 1861

THOMAS DUNN ENGLISH MOBBED.–This gentleman was mobbed in Bergen county, New Jersey, on Friday, while on his way to speak at a peace meeting. He was severely maltreated by the Abolitionists, and, though he fought his way boldly, was with difficulty saved from assassination by the sheriff of the county. Dr. English resided in Logan county, Va., for several years. He represented Logan county in the legislature several years ago, and last year he delivered the poem at the commencement of William and Mary College. He is a genial poet and eloquent speaker. Since 1855 he has resided in New Jersey.

Thomas Dunn English obituary (1902)

25 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Logan

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Tags

Appalachia, Aracoma, author, Ben Bolt, Henry Clay Ragland, history, lawyer, Logan, Logan County, Logan County Banner, New Jersey, Newark, physician, poet, statesman, Thomas Dunn English, West Virginia, writer

Thomas Dunn English obit LCB 3.13.02

Thomas Dunn English obituary, Logan County (WV) Banner, 13 March 1902

Feud Poll 1

If you had lived in the Harts Creek community during the 1880s, to which faction of feudists might you have given your loyalty?

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Do you think Milt Haley and Green McCoy committed the ambush on Al and Hollene Brumfield in 1889?

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Who do you think organized the ambush of Al and Hollene Brumfield in 1889?

Recent Posts

  • Sheriff Joe D. Hatfield, Son of Devil Anse (1962)
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Ed Haley Poll 1

What do you think caused Ed Haley to lose his sight when he was three years old?

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© Brandon Ray Kirk and brandonraykirk.wordpress.com, 1987-2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Brandon Ray Kirk and brandonraykirk.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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Tags

Appalachia Ashland Big Creek Big Ugly Creek Blood in West Virginia Brandon Kirk Cabell County cemeteries Chapmanville Charleston civil war coal Confederate Army crime culture Ed Haley Ella Haley Ferrellsburg feud fiddler fiddling genealogy Green McCoy Guyandotte River Harts Harts Creek Hatfield-McCoy Feud history Huntington John Hartford Kentucky Lawrence Haley life Lincoln County Lincoln County Feud Logan Logan Banner Logan County Milt Haley Mingo County music Ohio photos timbering U.S. South Virginia Wayne County West Virginia Whirlwind writing

Blogs I Follow

  • OtterTales
  • Our Appalachia: A Blog Created by Students of Southern West Virginia CTC
  • Piedmont Trails
  • Truman Capote
  • Appalachian Diaspora

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OtterTales

Writings from my travels and experiences. High and fine literature is wine, and mine is only water; but everybody likes water. Mark Twain

Our Appalachia: A Blog Created by Students of Southern West Virginia CTC

This site is dedicated to the collection, preservation, and promotion of history and culture in Appalachia.

Piedmont Trails

Genealogy and History in North Carolina and Beyond

Truman Capote

A site about one of the most beautiful, interesting, tallented, outrageous and colorful personalities of the 20th Century

Appalachian Diaspora

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