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DON BLANDING
"Vagabond's House"

Dodd, Mead & Company, New York, 1928
Hardback, 114 pages

Poetry, Illustrations & Decorations by Don Blanding

Dedication:
To the restless ones
To all the gallant frantic fools
Who follow the path of the sun
Across blue waters
To distant mountains
I dedicate my book

Acknowledgements to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, The Honolulu Advertiser, M. Kawahara, Henry Inn,
Ching Chong the Candlemaker and Patten Co., Ltd., for use of many of my verses.

Contents:

To the Restless Ones... (dedication)
Vagabond's Road (preface)
Some Lines Scrawled on the Door of Vagabond's House
Vagabond's House
Gold
Names are Ships
Driftwood
Wild Geese
Centaur
Song of the Senses
The Poet and the Woman
Drifter
Dream Island
A Response
Dreamer
The Candlemaker
Chinese Music
Jewel-Trees
Chinese Store
Chinese Shawls
Leaves from My Grass House
Poi
Purple Bougainvillea Vine
Poinciana Regia Tree
Footsteps
Glamour's Gone
Koa Trees in a Mist
Rising Moon
Sunset over Waianae Mountains
Baby Street
Sea Butterflies
Honolulu Curry
Diamond Head
Kilauea, the Volcano
Somewhere on Punchbowl Hill
Clearing of a Kona Storm
Palm Trees
Luau, an Hawaiian Feast
Hula Dancers
Ala Moana
My Hawaiian Garden
Night-Blooming Cereus
How To Know Hawaii
Leis... For Remembrance
Vagabond's Loot
To Don May
Twilight
From a Javanese Batik
Hawaiian Driftwood
Someday
Icarus
Two Who Followed the Path of the Sun
Mother
Foreboding
Hollywood
Fire In Ice
Philanderer
Prodigal's Song
Aftermath
At a Luau, Hawaiian Feast
To Leilehua
Homesick for the Fair Islands
Dawn in the Islands
Secret Place
Brocade
Fragment
What is Hawaii?
To One Hour of One Night
Dwellers in Far Islands
Aloha Oe, It's Meaning
Pau

Illustrations:

Vagabond's House
Vagabondage
To the Restless Sea
The Poet and the Woman
Dream Island
Joss and Jade
Coral and Lava
Sea Butterflies
Hula Moons
Vagabond's Loot

Notes:
Some Lines Scrawled on the Door of Vagabond's House and Vagabond's House first appeared only in the 1st edition of Leaves from a Grass-House published by Cross-Roads Studios. Leis... For Remembrance was first published in the 2nd edition of Leaves from a Grass-House by Patten Co. The following poems first appeared in both versions of Leaves from a Grass-House: Gold, Chinese Music, Jewel-Trees, Chinese Store, Chinese Shawls, Leaves from My Grass House, Poi, Purple Bougainvillea Vine, Poinciana Regia Tree, Footsteps, Glamour's Gone, Koa Trees in a Mist, Somewhere on Punchbowl Hill, Clearing of a Kona Storm, Luau, Hula Dancers, Ala Moana, My Hawaiian Garden, Night-Blooming Cereus, Foreboding, To Leilehua, and Aloha Oe. The beginning of To One Hour of One Night was the dedication of Leaves from a Grass-House. The following poems first appeared in the book Paradise Loot: Diamond Head, The Candlemaker, From a Javanese Batik, Baby Street, Sea Butterflies, Honolulu Curry, Brocade, At a Luau, To Don May, Secret Place, A Response, Dawn in the Islands, Twilight, and Homesick for the Fair Islands. Someday was first published in the book Flowers of the Rainbow.
Night-Blooming Cereus
was written for Lillian Wilder.
Leis... For Remembrance
was written for Leatrice Joy.
To Don May is written for Donald May, a friend from Bend, Oregon who went climbing with Blanding in the Cascades.
Someday was written for Earl Cohan, but in later editions was changed to Earl Challenger.
Icarus was written for a good friend and gallant flier who crashed.
Two Who Followed the Path of the Sun was written for the pilots Maitland and Hegenberger.
Mother was written for Ida Kimble Blanding, the author's mother.
Fire in Ice was written for Fanny Heaslip Lea.

Special Printings:
21st edition, red leather in slipcase, 1937
25th edition, blue leather in slipcase, 1940
(25th and later editions have extra illustrations added)

Modern Printings:
Buccaneer Books, Incorporated, Jan 1992
Applewood Books, April 2002

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Copyright ©2007 by Keith Emmons Design.  All rights reserved.