Melvilliana: Not Mary Elizabeth Frye

Melvilliana: Not Mary Elizabeth Frye

Let the Surging Waters . . .

From "Choir Practice" (a monthly column of contemporary poetry selected by Ellen M. Carroll) in the Charleston Evening Post (Charleston, South Carolina), February 15, 1936:

Charleston, SC Evening Post - February 15, 1936
via GenealogyBank

LET THE SURGING WATERS . . .
Give him a rugged voyage, Lord,
As he comes to Death's uncharted fiord.

In Life, he loved the rampant gale
   And laughed to watch the jagged dart
   Of lightning tear the clouds apart,
And shouted with joy at the wind and hail.

He never thought that calm was right . . .
   Quarter was given but never sought,
   Nor peace desired by him, who fought
And thrilled to feel the urge to fight.
Lord, give him a plunging ship—
He would not rest on a quiet trip.
—Clare Harner, Kansas.

And There Was Light by Clare Harner

From "Choir Practice" (a monthly column of contemporary poetry selected by Charleston poet Ellen M. Carroll) in the Charleston, South Carolina Evening Post, August 14, 1936:

Charleston, SC Evening Post - August 14, 1936
via GenealogyBank

AND THERE WAS LIGHT
Because I knew the day had passed,
I did not see that the shades were fast:
   For there was no light within
      To keep from shining out.
   Nor light outside coming in—
      And my heart was filled with doubt.

And then one tiny ray, from where
It came, and how, I do not care:
   In whirling, brave advance
      It marched across the floor.
   By some uncanny chance
      My room was dark no more.

Then I lit a candle, pulled the shades
And practiced some lilting serenades.
All at once, my heart was light.
Queer to have been afraid of night!
—Clare Harner, Kansas.

Where You Go

Sat, Aug 8, 1936 – 4 · The Central New Jersey Home News (New Brunswick, New Jersey) · Newspapers.com

WHERE YOU GO
By Clare Harner

I am tired of wandering;
I would have a fire
And I would have a window
Where I could view a spire.

I would have a cottage,
A dog, a Persian cat;
And I would have some chickens
And sparrows' friendly chat.

But I love your restless spirit . . .
You shall never know
That I would want a garden
Where yellow asters grow.

—From The Gypsy
Reprinted from The Gypsy poetry magazine, volume 12 (June 1936) page 15. This is the second of two poems by Clare Harner in The Gypsy. The first was Clare Harner's Immortality, published in the December 1934 issue.

Sigma Delta Chi award

Thu, Apr 16, 1931 – 8 · Manhattan Republic (Manhattan, Kansas) · Newspapers.com

"Esther Rockey, Manhattan, and Clare Harner, Howard, are winners of the Sigma Delta Chi award, announced recently, given to the seniors in the department of journalism at Kansas State, with the highest scholastic standing. Miss Rockey's (left) average is 2.43 points and Miss Harner's 2.27 points." --Manhattan Republic (Manhattan, Kansas), April 16, 1931.

Thu, Jan 15, 1931 – 1 · The Manhattan Mercury (Manhattan, Kansas) · Newspapers.com

WIN JOURNALISM AWARDS.
Sigma Delta Chi Scholarships to Esther Rockey, Clare Harner.

"Miss Esther Rockey, Manhattan, and Miss Clare Harner, Howard, seniors in industrial journalism at the college, have been announced winners of scholarships awarded by Sigma Delta Chi, national journalistic fraternity. The award is made to students having best scholarship record in the highest ten percent of the journalism graduating class." --The Manhattan Mercury (Manhattan, Kansas), January 15, 1931.

Clare Harner in the 1931 Royal Purple

Clare Harner - 1931 Royal Purple

Clare Harner graduated in 1931 from Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science, now Kansas Sate University. As shown in her college yearbook, she majored in Journalism and wrote for the student newspaper (Collegian) as a Junior. In her Senior year Clare Harner worked on the college humor magazine (Brown Bull) and the "Humor" department of the Royal Purple.

CLARE HARNER - - - - - - Howard
Industrial Journalism

Kappa Kappa Gamma, Sigma Delta Chi Scholarship Award,

Quill Club (2, 3, 4), Glee Club (3), Brown Bull Staff (4),
Collegian Staff (3), Royal Purple (4).

--1931 Royal Purple

Immortality in Kansas City

Found this item too late for inclusion in my Notes and Queries article (forthcoming September 2018 but published online now). As explained therein, the reprinting of "Immortality" in the Kansas City Bar Bulletin Volume 15, Number 2 (December 1938) gave due credit on page 18 to

Clare Harner, in 'The Gypsy.' 

I did not guess how KC lawyer Samuel L. Trusty, the eulogist who recited "Clare Harner's beautiful little poem of 'Immortality'" at the funeral service for Benjamin D. Pugh, knew about The Gypsy: all poetry magazine where "Immortality" had appeared in the December 1934 issue. Turns out, Trusty could have copied or clipped it from the local newspaper. The entire poem was reprinted in the Kansas City Times (morning edition of the Kansas City Star) on Friday, February 8, 1935 and attributed, just as in the Kansas City Bar Bulletin more than three years later, to

Clare Harner, in "The Gypsy."

Kansas City Times (Kansas City, Missouri) - February 8, 1935
via GenealogyBank

IMMORTALITY. 

Do not stand
   By my grave, and weep.
I am not there,
   I do not sleep—

I am the thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints in snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle, autumn rain,
As you awake with morning's hush,
I am the swift, up-flinging rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight,
I am the day transcending night.

Do not stand
   By my grave, and cry—
I am not there,
   I did not die.
—Clare Harner, in "The Gypsy."
[As reprinted in the Kansas City Times on February 8, 1935.]