Song Of The Five Hunters

Three Cambridge hunters went into Maine,

     The woods of Maine,

     Way down in Maine.

And two nutmeggers they took the train,

     The self-same train,

     And went to Maine;

And five bold hunters went into Maine

     For caribou, buck and bruin.

And five bold hunters to Kingfield came,

     In search of game,

     To kill the same;

And five bold hunters I’ll keep their name,

     To save their fame,

     And their good name;

For if I ever their name proclaim,

     These hunters would go to ruin.

These fine bold hunters who went to Maine,

     They tramped in vain

     All over Maine;

The Cambridge hunters and Nutmeg twain,

     The self-same twain,

     All tramped in rain;

And with their spirits upon the wane

     They wept, but did not show it.

These five bold hunters they homeward came.

     They got no game,

     And lost their fame;

Although they “frightened” big droves of game,

     That’s what they claim,

     An old, old game;

And now they’re trying to place the blame

     Upon a blameless poet.

Oct. 8, ‘95

“Phillips Phonograph”

  Oct. 18, 1895