Mountain Idylls, and Other Poems
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About This Book
The rugged beauty of the San Juan Mountain Range and some captivating experiences of miners who rushed to Southwestern Colorado in the late 1800s, are again made available to the public in this Western Reflections Publishing reprint of Alfred Castner King's Mountain Idylls and Other Poems. Known as the "Blind Poet of the San Juans," Castner wrote his poems after losing his eyesight in a mining accident. His poetry came from his vivid memories of the San Juans, allowing him to publically recite his verse -- some more than 100 pages long -- from mind only.
Chapters (81)
- A.C. KING
- Mountain Idylls and Other Poems
- ALFRED CASTNER KING
- TO THE MANY FRIENDS WHO HAVE SO KINDLY ASSISTED IN THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE MANUSCRIPTS FOR PUBLICATION, AFTER THE SHADOWS OF HOPELESS BLINDNESS DESCENDED UPON ME FOREVER, THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
- List of Illustrations.
- "A wilderness of weird fantastic shapes."
- PREFACE
- "I stood at sunrise on the topmost part, Of lofty mountain, massively sublime." MOUNT WILSON, SAN MIGUEL COUNTY, COLORADO.
- Mountain Idylls and Other Poems
- Grandeur.
- "Majestic turrets and the stately dome." MOUNTAIN VIEW, SAN JUAN, COLORADO.
- "The trachyte wall beseamed and battle scarred." SCENE IN OURAY COUNTY, COLORADO.
- "Would seem in more accord and harmony, With such surroundings than the puny form Of insignificant, conceited man." UNCOMPAHGRE CAÑON, NEAR OURAY, COLORADO.
- "Both solitary and in straggling groups; In solid phalanx, rigid and compact." MOUNTAIN SCENE, SAN JUAN COUNTY, COLORADO.
- Nature's Child.
- To the Pines.
- "Inverted in fantastic form, Below the water line." EMERALD LAKE, SAN MIGUEL COUNTY, COLORADO.
- Reflections.
- Life's Mystery.
- The Fallen Tree.
- There is an Air of Majesty.
- Think Not that the Heart is Devoid of Emotion.
- "Where nature's chemistry distills, The fountain and the laughing rills." SCENE NEAR TELLURIDE, SAN MIGUEL COUNTY, COLORADO.
- Humanity's Stream.
- Nature's Lullaby.
- "Where the torrent falls o'er the mountain wall." BRIDAL VEIL FALLS, NEAR TELLURIDE, SAN MIGUEL COUNTY, COLORADO.
- The Spirit of freedom is Born of the Mountains.
- The Valley of the San Miguel.
- "Where the mountains high, cleave the azure sky, With their turrets so bleak and gray." LIZARD HEAD, SAN MIGUEL COUNTY, COLORADO.
- To Mother Huberta.
- Suggested by a Mountain Eagle.
- "And by the mountain crystal lake A rustic habitation make." TROUT LAKE, SAN MIGUEL COUNTY, COLORADO.
- The Silvery San Juan.
- "Where the ceaseless erosions of measureless time, Have chiseled the grotto and canon sublime." BOX CAÑON, LOOKING INWARD, OURAY, COLORADO.
- As the Shifting Sands of the Desert.
- "Which smile from their heights on the town of Ouray." OURAY, COLORADO.
- Missed.
- If I Have Lived Before.
- The Darker Side.
- The Miner.
- Life's Undercurrent.
- "Have cut the deep gorge with its wonderful curves." BOX CAÑON, LOOKING OUTWARD, OURAY, COLORADO.
- They Cannot See the Wreaths We Place.
- Mother.—Alpha and Omega.
- Empty are the Mother's Arms.
- In Deo Fides.
- Shall Love, as the Bridal Wreath, Whither and Die?
- Shall Our Memories Live When the Sod Rolls Above Us?
- A Reverie.
- Love's Plea.
- Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust.
- Despair.
- "Its noble form magnificent and proud, Doth prostrate lie, nor ever riseth more." IRONTON PARK, OURAY COUNTY, COLORADO.
- Hidden Sorrows.
- O, a Beautiful Thing Is the Flower That Fadeth!
- Smiles.
- A Request.
- Battle Hymn.
- The Nations Peril.
- Echoes from Galilee.
- Go, And Sin No More.
- Gently Lead Me, Star Divine.
- "Wherever I wander my ears hear the sound, Of thy waters which plunge with a turbulent sound." BEAR CREEK FALLS, UNCOMPAHGRE CAÑON, NEAR OURAY, COLORADO.
- Dying Hymn.
- In Mortem Meditare.
- Deprive This Strange and Complex World.
- The Legend of St. Regimund.
- As The Indian.
- The Fragrant Perfume of the Flowers.
- An Answer.
- Fame.
- The First Storm.
- Thoughts.
- From A Saxon Legend.
- Christmas Chimes.
- The Unknowable.
- The Suicide.
- I Think When I Stand in the Presence of Death.
- Hope.
- Metabole.
- FINIS.
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