Beyond the Store Light and Other Poems

by Benjamin Franklin Woodcox

A collection of lyrics, mostly on moral themes, by this apparently self-trained Indiana poet. Though rife with misspellings and grammatical lapses, these poems have a distinct charm, stemming mostly from their apparently innocent preoccupation with the ephemerality of womanly virtue. Beginning with the title poem -- a narrative meditation upon the potentially dire consequences of a young woman walking the streets alone after dark -- and continuing through such compositions as "To a Deflourer" [sic], "Weakness Is Sin," "Alas, For My Fallen Friend!," and "A Social Law Exposed," the repeated theme (indeed, to the point of obsession) is the fragility of woman's honor.

63 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1901