Charles Frederick Johnson

  • Then and Now

    To me the earth once seemed to be
        Most beautiful and fair;
    All living creatures were to me,
        In wood or air,
    But kindred of a freer class;
        I thrilled with keenest joy
    To find the young quail in the grass:—
        I was a boy.

    ...

  • The Modern Romans

    Under the slanting light of the yellow sun of October,
    A “gang of Dagos” were working close by the side of the car track.
    Pausing a moment to catch a note of their liquid Italian,
    Faintly I heard an echo of Rome’s imperial accents,
    Broken-down forms of Latin words...