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Poets Provide Time and the Commonplace with immortality
. . . "They of Poictesme narrate that Queene Freydis thereafter did giue Lyfe to these muddie Ymages, eche at a certayne Houre, and that her sotyll scyaunce of Ergomancy sett these x to liue among Mans Kind," . . .

Poets and bottles come in different shapes and sizes, but both should be judged by their contents not their labels. The poets in these ten stories range in time from the early 13th century to that of the 20th.

In 1210, the chivalrous Raimbault de Vaquieras, a 30 year veteran of the Crusades, returned to France and made peace with a long time enemy. When he was told by Dona Biatritz, his long time friend and lover, that his enemy was planning his murder, Raimbault refused to negate his oath and take action. However, Dona B.was not restrained by any such an oath. In 1533, the beautiful Graciosa Balthazar not yet 16, attracted the attention of Duke Alessandro de Medici and Count Eglamore,the duke's hatchet man, and found herself forced to make a choice between two evils. In 1609, William Shakespeare found his talents waning, but found new inspiration in the creed of Judith, his unlettered daughter. In 1674, Robert Herrick, the eccentric clergyman and poet, disappeared. His friends Sir Thomas Browne and Philip Borsdale learned that RH had dabbled in magic with tragic consequences. In May of 1680, Robert Wycherley, poet, fop and social gadfly, failed to make a remunerative marriage and was saved from drowning by an unexpected turn of events. In 1718, Alexander Pope, the small, disfigured poet and satirist, tried to bestow a generous gift on a young couple, but failed to do so. In 1681, Robert Calverley resigned an important state position to save the life of his wife Honoria who he had literally stolen from the Marquis of Umfraville before their expected marriage. He returned to England despite warnings from friends that his actions had outraged many in high places and now,they wanted revenge. He was saved from ruin by an unselfish act of a scheming relative. In 1795, Richard Sheridan, poet-politician, married Miss Esther Jane Ogle known as "the irresistible Ogle," after being rebuffed by her many, many times. On Sheridan's turf, Miss Ogle proved to be no match for the wily politician. In 1803, Crown Prince Hilary of Saxe-Kesselberg, staged his funeral, changed his name to Paul Vanderhoffen and fled to England to become a poet and writer. After a series of events, one of which almost ended in his death, he married Mildred Claridge and became a writer on Grub Street. John Charteris, a distinguised writer and lecturer, gave a Commencement Speech at his alma mater and thought he had a chance to rekindle a relationship with Pauline Romeyne, a former lover, until his friend Rudolph Musgrave ruined his plan with a dose of reality.

The 21 page "Auctorial Induction" should be read both before and after reading the ten tales. In it, JBC makes a number of penetrating observations about the 1916 literary scene in the USA. The ballad at the beginning of the book and the one at its end, both bear rereading.