THE CHILD OF 
 THE NATIONS 
 
 LUCY McDowell milburn 
 
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 COPYRIGHT DEPOSnV 
 
THE CHILD OF 
 THE NATIONS 
 
 By Lucy McDowell Milburn 
 
 1914 
 
 R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY 
 CHICAGO 
 

 COPYMGHT IOI4 
 BY 
 
 LUCY Mcdowell melburn 
 
 NOV 28 1914 
 
 ©CIA388608 
 

 TO MY HUSBAND, 
 JOSEPH ANTHONY MILBURN 
 
 
PROLOGUE 
 
 Great priest of the moon-god, Ptah-Hotep called, 
 
 Whose earthly body lies beside the stream 
 
 Of Nile, near Memphis, but whose words of wisdom 
 
 Live and find their way to many lands; 
 
 Who after various incarnations here 
 
 And elsewhere clos'd th' circuit as the poet 
 
 Homer, who from Chian isle did wander 
 
 To Asiatic shores, where 'mid the scenes 
 
 Of which he wrote he liv'd and died almost 
 
 Unknown, yet lives to-day throughout the word, 
 
 Rever'd and lov'd by all who know his verse; 
 
 Who came, but not in earthly guise, to help 
 
 Th' Roman Vergil write the wand'rings of 
 
 ^neas; yet not satisfied in giving 
 
 Man these great, immortal poems, still 
 
 Desir'd to pen another message when 
 
 Th' brain and hand made ready to receive 
 
 Prophetic word should come: it is not strange 
 
 That he should seek an instrument to-day 
 
 On shores where liberty is larger than 
 
 In other lands; nor that in coming to 
 
 America a woman he should choose; 
 
 For here a goddess holds the light as truly 
 
 As the pole in Athens Pallas held. 
 
 Why the great, immortal Homer came 
 
 To me, I cannot tell; but when he came 
 
 And how, I shall relate. 
 
The Child of the Nations 
 
 Much worn and sorely tried, my little bark 
 
 Upon a sea of doubts borne round and round, 
 
 My spirit faint from having tried to both 
 
 Row and steer o'er life's rough rock, I sat 
 
 One long, lone night, and pray'd and wept and pray'd 
 
 Again with strong desire to rend the warp 
 
 And woof that shut me out from light. Then having 
 
 No more tears to weep and no more prayers 
 
 To pray, like child so very tired of having 
 
 Its own way, very quiet I grew and listen'd. 
 
 I heard naught save the throbbings of my heart; 
 
 Then at the portal of my palace knock'd^ 
 
 For never had I been within. The door 
 
 Was straightway open'd; out fell all my doubts. 
 
 My self-will and my misery. Then said I, 
 
 "Lord, wilt thou not enter in^ and do 
 
 With me as seemeth best to thee?" Then having 
 
 Plac'd my trust on God and Him alone, 
 
 And promis'd in the presence of my soul 
 
 Not to rebel wherever He should lead, 
 
 A deep, sweet peace fell 'round me like a mother's 
 
 Arm, and soon a soothing sleep was mine. 
 
 Th' carolling birds awakened me, and made 
 
 Me feel their note of praise; the water gurgling 
 
 Said to me, "Come drink, thou knowest now 
 
 Th' crystal fount whence inspiration flows"; 
 
 Th' fleeting dawn lent me her rosy robe. 
 
 Then I arose and put my hand in his, 
 
 My guide's my heavenly Father sent to help. 
 
 One whose bidding I should do with will 
 
Prologue 
 
 Quite trustfully. Then looking up I saw 
 
 A patient, self-controlled, godlike man, 
 
 So gentle, firm, yet kind. "Materials gather," 
 
 Said he, "that I with you a lasting lay 
 
 May build for time to come. This way you will 
 
 Not come again; so leave behind you thoughts 
 
 That will enrich the world when much that now 
 
 Is valu'd shall have passed. Write of children 
 
 That the nations are by thought producing; 
 
 For like individuals, peoples when 
 
 United create their offspring. Nations few 
 
 As yet have coalescing ideals. Many 
 
 Have conceiv'd an ideal child, but one 
 
 Only has produced.^ Write of Him, 
 
 Of others yet to be; but most of all 
 
 Write of child that will exist when wars 
 
 Are over, when a universal law 
 
 Binds all; and see perchance if you can look 
 
 Beyond the day, and know what lies before." 
 
 "Am I then chosen as a prophet; that 
 
 Your wish for me?" I humbly asked, knowing 
 
 That prophets suffer anguish oft of spirit, 
 
 And always have sad lives. My thought my guide 
 
 Could read though unexpress'd, and for me suffer'd. 
 
 Then said he, "Let us hope it shall be so," 
 
 And handed me a cross some larger than 
 
 Th' one I wore. " If you would gain a crown 
 
 Of laurel while on earth, you needs must wear 
 
 A heavy cross. If you would prophesy, 
 
 You must be persecut'd; for those who see 
 
The Child of the Nations 
 
 Beyond what others see are shunn'd of men, 
 
 Regarded as unsafe, unsound, and only 
 
 In future ages prais'd." 
 
 If any words there be herein contain'd 
 
 That help mankind, that throw a light on smallest 
 
 Grain of truth, or ope the door, let praise 
 
 To him, my guide, be given; th' flaws and faults 
 
 Assuredly are mine. My prison walls 
 
 Reflect but blue; the full white light would blind; 
 
 A mortal but a partial ray can have. 
 
 How gladly would he speak to me more clearly; 
 
 His full voice deafens me. His touch is gentle 
 
 When more I've wish'd to see and hear and feel; 
 
 Then Semele's^ sad fate I do recall. 
 
 "Write hexameters, as Daphne^ wrote of old, 
 
 Call'd by you to-day a double trimeter. 
 
 Some will say you've lost the beat, but know you're right; 
 
 And others soon will follow where you lead the way. 
 
 Freedom in your style is good, but liberty 
 
 Of thought far more important is. Be fearless; tell 
 
 Truths which telling you must bear the scofiing of 
 
 Th' crowd, yea, e'en ingratitude of friends, the stigma 
 
 Of insanity perchance; yes, surely, if 
 
 Of our company you come to be, for poets 
 
 All by men of shorter sight have been deem'd mad.' 
 
 As bearing torches into darkest dens men feel 
 
 Th' foulness, dankness, and unwholesomeness of deadly 
 
 Vapors, which have not yet risen high enough 
 
 For harm yet will in time destroy, so poets see 
 
 Intellectual ills far greater than the noisome 
 
Prologue 5 
 
 Pestilence, which will, if not annull'd, destroy 
 
 Th' freedom of the human mind. 
 
 Then bravely write of that you know is truth; for no 
 
 One, not even Over Here, knows all the truth; 
 
 God to each one gives a portion suited to 
 
 His need. The more you give the more you gain; so freely 
 
 Tell the message now intrusted you, e'en though 
 
 At times it seems to contradict historic page; 
 
 For fuller light is coming now to all who study, 
 
 With no prejudice, the laws of planet life. 
 
 And truly love their fellow-man." 
 
CANTO I 
 Beginnings 
 
 Before creation's dawn, before its eve, before 
 Th' visible Universe came forth, an uncreated 
 World there was, the kingdom of the Most High God, 
 O'er which the Almighty One held sway supreme. As yet, 
 Not begotten. The Creator.^ 
 
 Before all worlds (which means before created worlds^ 
 As suns and moons and planets), God in His own image 
 Made, not th' fleshly tabernacle of the man, 
 But mankind, in tenderest love His offspring breathing 
 Out. Some whole He formed, likest to Himself; 
 More were made in halves; while many were but partial 
 Gods, mere atoms of His being, yet in substance 
 One and form'd to be hke Him.^ 
 
 Th' host of heaven were angels called, while the whole 
 Beings, archangels, were denominated Lords. 
 Th' eldest of the begotten sons did in rebellion 
 Lead a nimiber of the heavenly host against 
 Th' will of God the Father. Harmony thus arrested, 
 Th' atoms were dispers'd; attraction and repulsion 
 Began. When all were not of one will — call it warring 
 If you choose: it was not peace — yet as in heaven 
 No strife can be, these angels and their leader fell. 
 Not to a bottomless pit, not into endless misery, 
 But into outer darkness which they made by their 
 Self-will, for all oppos'd to light must e'er be dark. 
 
 7 
 
The Child of the Nations 
 
 Though to God the darkness and the Hght are qiiite 
 
 Ahke, to those outside of God there is no Ught. 
 
 Still the Father loved his rebellious offspring; 
 
 He would not they should stay forever from His side; 
 
 He ne'er desir'd to punish them, but wish'd to bring 
 
 Them home again. By th' way prescribed some were ready 
 
 To come, but some were still antagonistic and 
 
 In the darkness sought to found a kingdom. So 
 
 Now began the creation of the worlds that were 
 
 To be the fields of battle for th' opposing hosts. 
 
 By the Father's loving hand were stars sent out 
 
 To guide His erring children Home. 
 
 From the source of light were thrown great brilliant balls 
 
 To illuminate the sky. In time these flames 
 
 Dividing, fire- and water-stars became, which orbs 
 
 Are known as Saa- and as Fedrus-Stars. The fire 
 
 Or father stars were able to produce. They threw 
 
 Off portions of themselves which from the mother stars 
 
 Attracted water,* thus fecundated formed a third 
 
 Part which we call earth. This triune body able 
 
 Itself to reproduce we name a sun. Not all 
 
 Are suns that by this name are called.^ Some stars are still 
 
 Electric lights^ and some are yet all fire, as th' male 
 
 Progenitor of our sun, the famous Polar Star. 
 
 Around this father star in swift procession his 
 
 Children and their progeny go. 
 
 One group, Taurus nam'd, is far away from home. 
 
 Helios, our sun, midway stands, while Ursa Major 
 
 Nearer is; yet all are far from the star that gave 
 
 Them birth. These three as yet are all the systems that 
 
Beginnings 
 
 Hold life, as we term life, and on these three the human 
 
 Kind came simultaneously. The Polar Star, 
 
 Our great Saa father, stationary now 
 
 Is, as if to say. At heaven's gate I wait 
 
 For my children. Long, so long, must he wait — 
 
 For Helios, as we know, is not through giving birth, 
 
 But now in throes of travail is. 
 
 All the planets of our Uttle system must 
 
 Do their work, return their earth and ashes also 
 
 To the sun before his fires can burn their fullest; 
 
 Then be quenched, and in turn great Helios fall 
 
 Into his father's arms. And not our sun alone 
 
 But all the suns he has produc'd must fall, when their 
 
 Day is ended, into the arms of the Saa Star. 
 
 Many children are less ready to come home 
 
 Than Helios who has not made one circuit of 
 
 His orbit 'round the parent star. 
 
 With our short sight we cannot even count the children 
 
 Of our sun. Some known in earlier days have slipp'd 
 
 So far into the shadowy world we see them not; 
 
 Some are known to-day that were not counted years 
 
 Ago. Not longer are Hyperion's rays, but lenses 
 
 Man has made that do augment his sight, and planets 
 
 That upon their paths have sHpped come once again 
 
 In place and enter on the race. 
 
 Poseidon of old again is on the heights, nor held 
 
 Below the waters by his angry brothers; Neptune 
 
 Shines though not so brightly as does Jupiter. Also 
 
 Uranus once more upon the chart of sky is named. 
 
 Like men, male planets are more easily reinstated 
 
lo The Child of the Nations 
 
 Than their sisters. Where is dear old Amphitrite? 
 
 Lost? No, only fallen for a time, and Rhea 
 
 Takes her place, as cradle most desirable for 
 
 Th' himian race. The Earth we sometimes say, that other 
 
 Planets are of earth as well as fire and water 
 
 Unawares. Our Mother Earth, the planet Rhea 
 
 Is not the only home for God's erring children 
 
 As they make their pilgrimage through the sky. Before 
 
 Rhea's day began, on Jupiter, on Venus, and 
 
 On Mars at one time came mankind; that is, in form 
 
 Of man they came, for elsewhere potencies they had 
 
 Develop'd, necessary to form a human body. 
 
 When on Rhea souls first lived, in the rock 
 
 And jewels of her bosom they were hidden; having 
 
 Fed on this firm frame, they came again to sport 
 
 Among the herbs, to quicken grass and fruit and flowers. 
 
 But long ago the htunan left these lowlier forms 
 
 To make its home in tenements that swim and run 
 
 And fly, until attun'd to life in myriad ways 
 
 Th' struggling soul dares claim its present shroud of clay. 
 
 Which habit it must learn to wear and war in, 'til 
 
 By means of it and knowledge gain'd through oft repeat'd 
 
 Lives,^ the soul of man can clothe itself with frame 
 
 Of substance flner than his house of clay, and rise 
 
 Beyond the sight of those still held in Rhea's arms. 
 
 Our mother earth was born some fifty million years 
 
 Ago; a ten millionth part of the parent, with like qualities 
 
 She was dropped into space remote, a shining. 
 
 Burning mass. Her fires externally quenched were, 
 
 While with earth and water, much of th' latter congealed 
 
Beginnings ii 
 
 To ice, the brighter element was enfolded. As 
 
 Whirling swift through space the icy egg came nearer, 
 
 By attraction, to the sun, her coat of ice 
 
 Melt'd, and water form'd her swaddling clothes. Still 
 
 spinning 
 'Round the sun, she felt his sway. 
 Past her creeping days, she thought to stand erect 
 And run, as little child who first essays to walk 
 Will run and tumble oft; so infant Rhea, on 
 Her little end unsteady, next roU'd over, bruised 
 Her side and lost a fragment of her frame, some burnt-out 
 Earth and rock, from out that sea we name Pacific, 
 After great convulsions grown so calm; long since 
 Th' wound was heal'd. We call this charred bit of earth 
 Th' moon. No life can it support, but serves as time 
 Measure and reflector of Hyperion's rays 
 As 'round our orb it winds its way. 
 Baby Rhea roll'd for many million years 
 Upon her way, an orbit long, around the sun. 
 Spinning best she could, but wabbling much upon 
 Her larger end. Where was the head of earth first seen? 
 Where did the waters first divide? The place methinks 
 Th' Nubian mountains, or near by; her right arm on 
 Th' plain of Tibet beyond the Himalayas vast. 
 One tiny hand, the arm of which o'er much of Central 
 Asia stretch'd, came out in what is now Australia. 
 It was the life within, the heart and lungs of flame 
 That forc'd th' rocks and sand from out the sea, and made 
 Th' islands which in after days were mountain tops. 
 As age succeeded age, still more of land was wrested 
 
12 The Child of the Nations 
 
 From the sea, but all upon one side the globe. 
 
 We say, "The Old World"; well we may, for prehistoric 
 
 Races many liv'd and left no monument, while 
 
 Water covered all the western hemisphere. 
 
 Beside the upper waters of the Nile and on 
 
 Th' Persian plains there came a race of men who elsewhere 
 
 Lower lives had lived.^ Another type of man 
 
 His habitation made upon the shores of Hellas, 
 
 Not then so called. These two races in three countries 
 
 Develop'd simultaneously and a third came forth, 
 
 An amalgam of these two. 
 
 While upon her breast mankind she nourish'd, our 
 
 Mother Rhea grew apace within, and proudly 
 
 Stood erect, a queen among the planets; her head 
 
 Now towards th' north, her feet on Afric's soil were planted. 
 
 Th' mighty mother's speed increas'd. Up came her bile, 
 
 A motley mass of well-burnt ores; huge stones and even 
 
 Fire at times she vomited. Such her rage that turning 
 
 Over once again she threw an island off 
 
 While in her fury rocking. Mother Earth not only 
 
 Whirl'd Atlantis into space but spHt asunder 
 
 Libya's land and sent across the sea a strip 
 
 Of earth we now call Yucatan, where ancient monuments 
 
 Unearth'd and ones yet to be found, betray how once 
 
 This neck of land to Africa was join'd; its very 
 
 Clay the same as that fam'd land from which it parted. 
 
 This cataclasm vast made mountains plains, and seas dry 
 
 land. 
 Of giant rivers chang'd the course: it tumbled towers 
 Of highest rock, and buried deep all marks of that 
 
Beginnings 13 
 
 Degenerate race which caus'd th' wrath of Rhea. Picks 
 
 And shovels have not yet the relics of the earliest 
 
 Men, who builded well in stone and iron, brought 
 
 To light; and all we e'er shall find is very new 
 
 Compar'd to what there was before dear Rhea took 
 
 That turn which once more land'd her upon her little 
 
 End, and brought her nearer to the light, thus making 
 
 Night and day each shorter than they were, though shorter 
 
 Still they'll be as nearer to the sun we draw. 
 
 In times when Cyclopean walls were built the days 
 
 Were more than twice the length of those which now we 
 
 count. 
 No need had giant men of old to travel fast. 
 Or hurry work; their years were almost centuries, 
 So lasting structures builded they which now defy 
 Our scientific architects. A dozen thousand 
 Years they've stood in Syria and Greece; yet new 
 Are they beside the ones we yet shall find by old 
 Father Nile or deep in central Africa. 
 For race on race had liv'd and pass'd away before 
 There came to earth the Adamites. 
 In a garden fair between two rivers, in 
 Th' golden sand by th' water's edge an egg was plac'd, 
 Th' envelope of a man, surrounded by congenial 
 Elements; a two-fold tenement of clay 
 Was evolved. This man Adam came a whole 
 Being, not divided from his mate, as all 
 Rhea's other children are before they reach 
 Her nourishing breast, and find theirs how and when they 
 
 can. 
 
14 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Adam was indeed a blessed mortal whose star 
 
 Had elsewhere had its setting. He was good, but far 
 
 From perfect, as is shown by th' history of his acts. 
 
 Then Eve, the more evolved, but more fragile portion 
 
 Of what had been ere this a perfect man, came forth 
 
 From the dual envelope. To look upon 
 
 Very fair was she, and loving th' other part 
 
 It was not strange she should desire to again become 
 
 One with Adam. To offer him the fruit was natural; 
 
 To partake, for him, was right. But that which grew 
 
 In the centre of the garden should have been 
 
 Preserv'd for seed. The core conserved, they had not 
 
 For their first, attracted such frail progeny. Often 
 
 A Cain will come to homes where parents eat the fruit 
 
 Of life and sap the springs of being. Not content 
 
 With the many fruits that grow in rich abundance. 
 
 They use the one whose flowers are full of gore. The fruit 
 
 Of knowledge, season'd well with salt, the highest self 
 
 Whence the savor flows will, when partaken of 
 
 Temperately, produce the best. 
 
 These progenitors rare of special race were sent 
 
 To earth a purpose divine to fulfill; obeying not 
 
 Th' mandate of their higher wisdom, needs must suffer 
 
 Pangs of bringing forth a murderer, and of seeing 
 
 Slain a weaker brother, ere temperate enough 
 
 To conceive a son who should their likeness bear 
 
 At its best, and on the earth their seed continue. 
 
 Seth, this son, was of a famous race progenitor. 
 
 Cain became an alien in the land of Nod, 
 
 Far to th' east of Eden; but no more was Eden 
 
Beginnings 15 
 
 The abode of Adam. All to remind him of 
 
 This estate so fair was a simple rod, a twig 
 
 From a tree that in his beautiful garden grew. 
 
 An angel, so the story runs, permitted Adam 
 
 To take this rod, and told him what its use. Though not 
 
 Plant'd it grew, and held its strange mysterious 
 
 Potencies for many a day. 
 
 When illustrious Noe, whose ramparts were the sea,^ 
 
 Was swept away by tidal wave, and all that part 
 
 Of Rhea's crust was soak'd by rain, a man of God 
 
 A wondrous ship did build, and sav'd therein himself. 
 
 His sons and daughters, and animals of all kinds; of unclean 
 
 Two, and seven of the clean — a fair proportion. 
 
 Hospitality showing to all of God's creatures 
 
 Nurtur'd here for good of man. How came this Noah 
 
 So much wiser than his age? The legend says 
 
 He divin'd what was to come, and builded well 
 
 By means of Adam's rod. The history of this man 
 
 As given by the Hebrew poet helpful is 
 
 To th' wise, and full of symbolism. 
 
 Upon this scriptural washing day not all of Rhea's 
 
 Clothes were wet, but all the world to Adamitic 
 
 Race of men, then known, was delug'd. But this time 
 
 Of waves and storms was further back by several thousand 
 
 Years than we have counted it. Just as to-day 
 
 We know not what is happening at the Poles with all 
 
 Our ironclads, fast motors, wireless telegraph 
 
 And aeroplanes, so in those early days a flood 
 
 Might o'er all of Syria sweep and not be told 
 
 In other quarter of the globe. 
 
1 6 The Child of the Nations 
 
 It is a saying old that "nations rise and fall"; 
 
 They do indeed. Not all are swept away in one 
 
 Dire cataclasm, not all by tidal waves or deluge 
 
 Perish, or are covered with volcanic stuff 
 
 As Sodom and Gomorrah, rich cities of the plain; 
 
 Some one way, some another, perish or are buried. 
 
 Mountains also rise and fall. The prophet sang, 
 
 Every valley shall exalted be, and was 
 
 Geographer as well as philosopher and poet. 
 
 Islands peeping forth from watery home are urged 
 
 By th' heat in Rhea's heart to seek the air above. 
 
 Some come in a day, while others centuries take; 
 
 But slow or fast, they grow to hills or mountains vast. 
 
 Then when as stately hills they, for a time, have looked 
 
 Arrogantly down perhaps upon the fields 
 
 Below them, suddenly comes, some day, a rift in one 
 
 High peak, the fire beneath long smould'ring seeks rehef . 
 
 Greatness never lasts. The highest mountain once 
 
 Its fire pours forth, becomes as lowly as the plain 
 
 It once looked down upon. Its worn-out crater lower 
 
 Falls, then useless lying for a time excites 
 
 Th' wonder of the passer-by. But Time all things 
 
 Equalizes. Th' most unsightly lava fields 
 
 Become the softest, richest earth. In broad expanse 
 
 Of prairie lands we see no remnant of volcanic 
 
 Action. Men who lead their flocks and herds o'er these 
 
 Level fields have never heard that they were once 
 
 Mountains high; nor do the sightseers gazing on 
 
 Geysers often stop to think how near the fire 
 
 Must be that boils the water. Soon the place where they 
 
Beginnings 17 
 
 Are treading will be molten fire. Geologists tell 
 
 That these changes have been and still will be, but 
 
 They do not tell the reason why. 
 
 Much to help him guess how human beings lived 
 
 In times gone by the archaeologist finds, and comes 
 
 Gradually nearer to the truth of when man first 
 
 Made stone and metal tools, first builded tombs or carved 
 
 His image. Th' scientist gathers knowledge from without, 
 
 Th' poet from within, he therefore sees the scroll 
 
 Of records before they are unrolled. ^° 
 
 Besides the nations that have come and gone yet left 
 
 Their impress well engraven, their runes full strongly marked, 
 
 There are those gone and those still here who have no fruit 
 
 Borne, conceiv'd no child. The undeveloped has 
 
 No age. Some young, some old, of individuals live 
 
 And die without a purpose, nothing leaving that 
 
 Will prove they've been; the same with nations, mass from 
 
 part 
 Differs not, save in degree. 
 
 In far ofif Australia, what find we? An island. 
 Yet a continent, in extent as large almost 
 As th' United States. Th' geologist tells a tale 
 Here the same as elsewhere on our planet: Mountains 
 Risen, mountains fallen, lakes and river-ways. 
 And glorious fields. The archaeologist here has not 
 Yet begun his work to tell us of the greatness 
 Passed away : for once was here a race whose only 
 History buried lies in things they one time used; 
 Sealed books their thoughts to us. 
 
The Child of the Nations 
 
 Degeneracy is clearly written on the face 
 
 Of every native man we meet upon this isle. 
 
 We should not think of asking him of how he came 
 
 Or who was there before. Of his progenitors 
 
 He knows far less than we, for we know how the history 
 
 To discover he has lost. 
 
 When time is ripe the English-speaking race who now 
 
 Possession have of this rich, fair, and fertile land 
 
 In their search for gold and diamonds will some day 
 
 Uncover unexpectedly interesting history, 
 
 Which will tell us of a civilization long 
 
 Buried in Australia. 
 
 Another race degenerate whose place upon 
 
 Our map is large: The children of Turan hyena-like 
 
 Who through the night of ignorance prowl, devouring dead 
 
 Nations, thinking to govern by the sword instead 
 
 Of by the light. But half emerged from the animal 
 
 Envelope, their garments are so black they fail 
 
 To see the gore upon the border. 
 
 What Turkey may become when she begins to travail 
 
 Towards a human birth, we know not; but as yet 
 
 She has no ideals. One prophet she produced 
 
 Who knew the unity of God, but saw not man's 
 
 Divinity, nor recognized that strength must come 
 
 By suff'ring. Failing to move the mountains great of doubt 
 
 And ignorance, his faith not strong enough to wait, 
 
 Mohammed yield'd his princely state to vassals, left 
 
 His throne within and went without the beast to conquer 
 
 Which in the open conquer 'd him. 
 
Beginnings 19 
 
 Of no mean magnitude was Mohammed's star 
 
 Though shining with a lurid Hght as waning 
 
 Moon upon a cloudy night, or setting 
 
 Planet flick'ring 'mid black veils of night. 
 
 That same moon rose in silver radiance; 
 
 That planet brightly shone at eventide. 
 
 Th' time, the place, conditions 'round the man 
 
 Made Arabia's prophet what he was, 
 
 Th' best expression of that time and clime. 
 
 Wand'ring Bedouin tribes must needs be welded; 
 
 An earthly kingdom learn ere a spiritual one 
 
 Was known. An infant race is led by one 
 
 Strong man 'til able all alone to stand. 
 
 Within a tyrant's breast prophetic gifts 
 
 Are seldom hidden; very few are warriors, 
 
 Kings and legislators too; but this 
 
 Unletter'd son of Turan, persecuted 
 
 And despis'd in youth, his great gift fearing. 
 
 Until Khadija counsell'd him. Obey 
 
 Th' voice divine, surmounted difficulties 
 
 With strength miraculous, oft gaining knowledge 
 
 Without the aid of books. He wrote his laws. 
 
 Humane and just, eradicating many 
 
 Crude beliefs. He held to much of good 
 
 In Moses' statutes, modified Hebraic 
 
 Customs, adding gentleness from Christian 
 
 Teaching gained. Yet desire to see 
 
 Results, ambition for the recognition 
 
 Of the world, made Mohammed resort to measures 
 
 Most severe, made him in part forget 
 
20 The Child of the Nations 
 
 His mission to mankind. The monarchy 
 To him became the leading thought, and soon 
 His gift of prophecy waned. His rehgion 
 Crystalliz'd at Mecca 'round the Caaba 
 Stone. His kingdom at the point of sword 
 Was far and wide extended. He controlled 
 By fear his converts. Strength of arms without 
 Th' cords of love still feeds the beast, so slowly 
 Slavery gnaws the root of Islam's tree. 
 Though equahty preaching and brotherhood of man, 
 Th' savage Turks were ever brought to truth by force, 
 And still their way to grace they fight. 
 Th' kingdom by Mohammed 'stablished after his 
 Death amazingly grew o'er all Arabia, easily 
 Spreading thence to Palestine and Asia Minor. 
 Th' CaHphs saw their armies conquer in the name 
 Of Allah and his prophet, great Mohammed, while 
 Despotically they ruled beside the prophet's tomb 
 At Medina, sacred shrine. 
 
 These different peoples, knit by kinship which belief 
 In the same God gives, were able soon in Persia 
 To deal a final blow to th' Sassanian monarchy. 
 Though the Caliphs at Damascus ruled long, 
 After a time the chief seat of the empire was 
 Changed to Bagdad on the Tigris. Having at home 
 Conquer'd th' Persians, Egypt was quite easy to gain: 
 For it has been a prey to any one who cared 
 To take it since the fall of Rome. The Mohammedan Turks, 
 Whom the Romans called Saracens, burnt the famous 
 Library which the Ptolemies at Alexandria 
 
Beginnings 21 
 
 Had collected. Mohammedan fanatics wished 
 
 No books but the Koran, which has much of truth 
 
 In it: for knowledge not alone from Jews and Christians 
 
 Did Mohammed gain. Quite conscious that he talked 
 
 With visitors celestial he had confidence 
 
 To write and inculcate his laws. 
 
 Easily all of Northern Africa the Turks 
 
 Occupied, th' Moors absorbing; thence from Tunis 
 
 And Morocco pass'd to Sicily; then a century 
 
 Later set a giant foot on Spain where they 
 
 Improv'd and beautified a region much neglected 
 
 Since the days of Roman rule. But long and fierce 
 
 Th' struggle, with many bloody battles ere th' persistent 
 
 Turk the crescent rais'd o'er Capitol decadent 
 
 Of the Eastern Empire, where for centuries 
 
 Byzantine culture under licentious rule had smoulder'd. 
 
 Since Naziansen's bonfire no more classic learning. 
 
 In all the motley crowd since Rome had come to rule 
 
 Beside the Bosphorus, but one was ever called 
 
 "Good." Though chief of the army for a quarter of 
 
 A century, as Emperor, Michael Sixth was asked 
 
 To abdicate the throne in one short year. Then ruled 
 
 In quick succession weakling men and wicked women. 
 
 After sacking Rome and crushing Greece, barbaric 
 
 Hordes from th' north and east for some time helped to hold 
 
 The Turks at bay. The Byzantines, surrounded on 
 
 All sides by enemies, yielded in the fifteenth century 
 
 To the sword and faith of Islam. 
 
 The people we call Scandinavian older are 
 
The Child of the Nations 
 
 Than we think. At foot of hills whose beauty only 
 
 Th' modern man attracts, their culture buried lies. 
 
 No signs remain of this first race. Some songs and sayings 
 
 Wise by their descendants were left in Iceland, where 
 
 A portion of a second race we find, who here 
 
 Ruled long before Phoenicians found their way 
 
 To northern seas. A tree of life and knowledge grew 
 
 For these simple folk, whose fruit was rudely shaken 
 
 Down by Tyrian pirates, who, returning south, 
 
 Many towers and castles planted on the coasts 
 
 And erst received the name of Norsemen. 
 
 In these latter days upon a budded branch 
 
 Of their tree of life has come a blossom, a poet 
 
 Born in Skien.^^ Both Scotch and German blood runs in 
 
 His veins, and in his eyes the sorrows of mankind. 
 
 He has urged the world to see its social ills. 
 
 Nor has he failed to see beyond this vale of tears, 
 
 Where lov'd ones live, and can be seen by all whose eyes 
 
 Are clear'd and who to soar are willing to resign. 
 
 Sweden, too, had her great son, a prophet, 
 
 One who to th' world belongs. 
 
 Th' English call all Northmen Danes, the races 
 
 Of the Scandinavian countries failing to 
 
 Distinguish. Yet they differ greatly. The Dane no kinship 
 
 Had with veritable Norsemen, for the Viking 
 
 No liking. Long, long after th' earlier civilization 
 
 In the North it was that Danish people came 
 
 To live along the Baltic shores, and took possession 
 
 Of the Jutland peninsula; then made war upon 
 
Beginnings 23 
 
 Degenerate Northmen, Kelts and Anglo-Saxons, or 
 
 Any one who came within their reach; their time 
 
 Spent in exploits like the schoolboy of to-day, 
 
 Who cares much more for football than for classic lore. 
 
 Letting strength grow in his heels rather than his head. 
 
 Th' Danish pirate bent on sport, his days to theft 
 
 And rapine given, took no time to think or brood. 
 
 That he conquer'd but a day he held; for, having 
 
 Naught to give for that he seiz'd, nor anything 
 
 That might the parts cement, they slipped away as fast 
 
 Almost as he grasped them. 
 
 Driven from their Asiatic home by Roman 
 
 Conquerors, led by wicked chief, from Asgard after 
 
 Pompey's triumph, a barbaric horde it was 
 
 That follow'd Odin to th' north and west, that hailed 
 
 Him King in life and after death disrobed him, 
 
 Called him God, the evil that he did exalting. 
 
 Excusing all his wicked deeds by classing them 
 
 As supernatural. Odin to his people left 
 
 Some crude runes, some tales and songs brought from their 
 
 distant 
 Eastern home, wound 'round with minstrel lays, extolling 
 Their wUd life and victories. These a book of legends 
 Make, by them as early history held. Though th' softening 
 Light of Christianity has for many, many 
 Centuries been among them, th' Danes as yet have no 
 Central thought, no firm ideal, for the centuries 
 Of plunder no richer left, no wiser for their years 
 And years of greed and rapine; and th' few good men 
 And women who within the Danish realm have found 
 
24 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Birth, by right belong to other lands. Yes, verily — 
 Their one, ideal man a world possession is, 
 And in spirit belongs to Germany/^ 
 
 Italy also has produced no child for reasons 
 
 Different far from those which made some other nations 
 
 Barren. They had given nothing to the world, 
 
 While she has given her all nor kept enough at home 
 
 To feed her poor. In some respects it is the same 
 
 Whether nothing or too much, but not in all; 
 
 For those nations that give nothing have in turn 
 
 Nothing to expect; while she who gives her all. 
 
 Becoming empty, receives from all, or will receive 
 
 When time has shown the world the obHgation owed. 
 
 Italia has never been united, always 
 
 Feuds and jealousies internal; central fire 
 
 None on which to heap the debris of the race; 
 
 No charioteer to drive the steeds which gallop where 
 
 They will, full speed, Hke woman with too many lovers : 
 
 Full to th' brim with charm she husbands not her forces. 
 
 Sits not by the hearth to rock the cradle, but 
 
 Would forever on the public way be seen. 
 
 Her little faults forgiving, and of her gifts to other 
 
 Nations only thinking, note the casket full 
 
 Of jewels in either hand she bears. 
 
 Assisi 'mid the Umbrian hills half hid, still guards 
 
 Th' tiny chapel Francis builded, its stones made smooth 
 
 By pilgrims' kisses who from far and near come here 
 
 For visions rare and answered prayer, find rose leaves stained 
 
 With blood which speak of sacrifice and saintly life. 
 
Beginnings 25 
 
 One Franciscan friar far outshone the founder. 
 
 By his tomb at Padova all receive a blessing 
 
 And many weary faithful ones miraculously 
 
 Are healed, while in every country shrines and altars 
 
 Do attest the love and faith inspired by that 
 
 Young saint who ever holds the lily. 
 
 Ruled so long by popes at Rome, hke nuns no marriage 
 
 Rites permitted, no thought of child, for orphans of 
 
 Th' world has Italy clothing made and sung eternal 
 
 Songs, has painted pictures full of truth divine 
 
 To help the nations yet unborn. 
 
 Her Dante, morning star of verse, belongs to all 
 
 Th' world. Who knows not his Divina Commedia, 
 
 Its height and depth, and th' Vita Nuova, is poor indeed. 
 
 Marvel well we may at his imagination. 
 
 Joy we often shall at love that so transform'd 
 
 His Ufe. Yet o'er his unforgiving spirit, that 
 
 At last his life so darken'd, and our thought of his 
 
 Great genius shadows, weep we must. 
 
 Then her Petrarch with broad brow and luminous eyes, 
 
 Remember'd long by all whose Lauras to th' heights 
 
 Them lead, a lover, patriot, friend, philosopher he, 
 
 And poet laurel crowned, Hves at Rome to-day, 
 
 At Pisa and at Florence, though at Arqua rest 
 
 His bones. His statue speaks a message to the children 
 
 Of Padova, as on their way to school they play 
 
 Around their town's late tribute^^ to the bard who learned 
 
 Much lore within the gate where GaUleo's tower 
 
 Is seen, where still his rostrum reverently guarded is, 
 
 In the quiet halls which held a host of choice 
 
26 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Spirits in the bygone days. They loved the chapel 
 
 Built upon the old Arena, whose walls hold pictures 
 
 Fair that make us feel there is a vision seen 
 
 Alike by poets and painters. Giotto's inspiration 
 
 Dante's portrait drew in fresco fine while they 
 
 Abode in An tenor's town.^* Here Petrarch came to pray, 
 
 And Tasso too in later days; and while celestial 
 
 Vision ever came to Giotto's aid, yet in 
 
 Mary's Chapel better than in cr3rpt or tower 
 
 We see the master's hand who knew so well what color 
 
 Suited best each saint, who used th' legends old 
 
 And Holy Scripture stories right, and never failed 
 
 To give to saints their holy eyes. In every branch 
 
 Of art he far outstripp'd his master, Cimabue, 
 
 Whose sweet spirit still pervades many sacred 
 
 Fanes and makes us glad he found and taught the shepherd 
 
 Lad and recognized his peer. 
 
 Luini th' Lady Mother drew and saints that hold 
 
 A rare perfume. Though dim with age th' undying still 
 
 Is written on each perfect brow. 
 
 DaVinci knew the face of Christ; to it the phase 
 
 Of womanly as well as manly strength he gave. 
 
 But Guido Reni saw the Blessed Mother clearer 
 
 Than his peers, and of the gentle John of Patmos 
 
 Gives a portrait true, while Beatrice's tearful 
 
 Eyes are not more lifelike than the face and form 
 
 Of his Michael, warrior archangel. 
 
 The art of old Perugia town is full of quaint 
 
 ReHgious feeling; hosts of angels everywhere 
 
 From brush of Fra Angelico or Raphael's teacher, 
 
Beginnings 27 
 
 Perugino. Raphael depicts on his 
 
 Madonna faces every phase of woman's love 
 
 And power to suffer. We like to think that this most blessed 
 
 Lady cannot be portrayed by any one 
 
 Type, but that she stands for ideal womanhood. 
 
 What of Titan Angelo, who strength of sculptor's 
 
 Art to painting carried; in color carving figures 
 
 On his canvas so that prophets walk and sibyls 
 
 Almost talk on ceiHng of the famous chapel 
 
 Of the popes. Not higher than his time did his 
 
 Religious compositions rise, but when he gave 
 
 A dome to Peter's Church we knew that Angelo 
 
 Many talents had, which, if in one groove they 
 
 Had run, he would be hailed as Italy's greatest genius. 
 
 A majestic mixture in his art of pagan 
 
 And half-bred Christian; in his poems and letters th' gentle 
 
 Heart we find that would have grac'd earth as a prince. 
 
 A princess, yet true woman, helped to mould the manners 
 
 And the inner hfe of him she honored most. 
 
 Yea, Colonna, to you the credit be of much 
 
 We find in men whom you call'd friends. 
 
 While Italy is the native place of Christian art, 
 
 From rude designs on walls of catacombs to mural 
 
 Paintings quite superb in palace and cathedral, 
 
 Art by no means was all scriptural. Many mythic 
 
 Scenes we see and Titian well deserved praise 
 
 Gained for rarest coloring, yet not erudite 
 
 In fabled lore, his pictures often fail to tell 
 
 Th' story. His Assumption and fresco of Mary on 
 
 Th' temple stairs are justly famed. Tintoretto, 
 
28 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Veronese and Jacobo Bassano as 
 
 Colorists each the other much resembles; but 
 
 One can always tell Bassano by the family 
 
 Portraits or the little brown-ear'd dog. To naught 
 
 In Venice second is the Cana marriage feast, 
 
 Tintoretto's masterpiece, though Palma Vecchio's 
 
 Saint Therese more talked of is. The Ariadne 
 
 And Europa side by side in Doge's Palace 
 
 Illustrate the love of classic, Veronese 
 
 And Tintoretto felt. At Parma has Correggio 
 
 Left his most superb Madonna group, and while 
 
 Some cry decadence, all are spellbound held by warmth 
 
 Of feeling, grace, and opal tints. Guercino of 
 
 Bologna, though his coloring is less delicate than 
 
 Correggio's or Guido's, rarest portraits gives 
 
 In mythical and scriptural scenes. 
 
 When canvas all is worn and pigments e'en are faded. 
 
 On Ghiberti's doors we still shall gaze and wonder. 
 
 Nor fail to praise Verrochio, nor say that any 
 
 Him excelled in equestrian art. Perchance 
 
 He sculptured better than he knew; though Donatello 
 
 Gave to David and Saint George more perfect forms. 
 
 Both in marble and in bronze were master workmen. 
 
 Cellini's Cosimo and Perseus are inspired. 
 
 While Canova modell'd many lovely forms. 
 
 All these and many more made Italy's tree of art 
 
 Blossom for three centuries. Now came blight from bigoted 
 
 Religious zeal, which kill'd th' artistic spirit, which 
 
 Imprison'd Galileo for knowing more than pope, 
 
 Which burned th' wise Dominican friar who dared denounce 
 
Beginnings 29 
 
 Corruption in the Church and warn the wicked Borgia 
 
 Pope as well as Florence's lowliest sinner. Then 
 
 When God's instrument, Charles of France, from Alps to 
 
 Naples 
 Marched, Itaha's iniquity was chastised. 
 And France gain'd hterary and artistic birth 
 Which the mother's death knell sounded. 
 
CANTO II 
 Egypt 
 
 Let geologists tell the minute process of the birth of lands. Let 
 physicists and chemists wrestle with the problem 
 
 Of changes wrought that made the land a habitation fit for man. 
 Suffice for us to know that mankind on this planet 
 
 Lived ages ago, not only man, but wise men, seers and teachers. 
 Unless the seer he teacher too, what mission has he 
 
 Fulfilled? Who in times to come knows whether he lived 
 Or not? To Egypt we should go to learn what man 
 Did for man, yea, for mankind in th' dawn of th' sixth 
 Day, that day which now is and will be for ages 
 Yet to come th' most glorious by far that e'er 
 Has been; that day when, all things being ready, th' time 
 Fulfilled, man into being sprang, his temple of clay 
 Entering, leaving fins and feathers, fur and hide, 
 Too thick for higher uses than to defend him from 
 Th' beasts of prey, behind. Then shedding tails and wings, 
 He stood with vertebrate strength to claim his kingdom, not 
 On earth alone. At first too weak to cHmb, he sought 
 Th' level land and quiet water-side; the placid 
 Lakes his bestial nature calm, and nature's beauty 
 Reconciles him to the change. 
 That sweet poet who by stream of fecund Nile 
 Sang of creation's days, inspired was to speak 
 Of the evening and the morning. How beneficent 
 As well as wise the hand designing evening to 
 
 30 
 
E'gypt 31 
 
 Precede the morning! Who that first beheld the radiant 
 
 Morn and felt the noonday heat could live through night? 
 
 Darkness to one ignorant of its purport would 
 
 Be enough to stunt the growth of life and leave 
 
 A man bereft of reason who for th' first time felt 
 
 It after daylight. No death, perhaps, has been 
 
 More terrible than the yielding to sleep that first night after 
 
 Seeing th' god of day descend. 
 
 Did light precede the dark? In any life or lives 
 
 Does it e'er come first? The seed lies in the ground; 
 
 Th' bird is hidden in the egg; from the dark womb comes 
 
 Th' infant life. Yes, always darkness, then the light. 
 
 Out of the cloud comes lightning. O great negative mother^ 
 
 From whom positive force proceeds! O blessed wisdom 
 
 That decreed the night should day precede! In th' evening 
 
 Light was born! In th' twilight man first came to life. 
 
 A little light, then a long, long night before the brightness 
 
 Of the rosy dawn. So Erebus Phoebe precedes. 
 
 Nyx with her dark horses drives before Eos 
 
 With her saffron robe! Leto wander'd long 
 
 Ere chain'd Delos came in sight where birth she gave 
 
 To twin lights.^ Even Phoebus must destroy the python 
 
 Ere from Phoebe's hands the shears he takes, declaring 
 
 His hair shall ever be unshorn. 
 
 Having elsewhere had their primitive fives, a few 
 
 Develop'd souls to Rhea^ in their astral nimbi 
 
 Came, and wove terrestrial bodies out of Mother 
 
 Earth's fabrics, in climes best suited to their need. 
 
 Th' age call'd Pleistocene* came earliest in Greece, 
 
 Persia, and Nubia. In each of these 
 
32 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Climes a race matur'd, nor knew of others than 
 
 Themselves. The forerunners of these races, those who came 
 
 From other planets, in their astral envelopes. 
 
 Temples of clay constructing from the elements, were 
 
 Spirits so advanc'd that inspiration easily 
 
 They received from beings of a higher order, 
 
 Who not only aided them in preparation 
 
 Of these new tenements, but taught them what to do 
 
 For the betterment and development of all creatures. 
 
 Nubia, set 'round with mountains, wreath'd with clouds, 
 
 A land of many pure fresh-water lakes which flowed 
 
 Northward to the sea in after days, the foster 
 
 Mother was of a race in sinew strong, in mind 
 
 Wise. As all of earth's first children, they the sun 
 
 Worshipp'd. Into life its genial rays had warm'd 
 
 Them, as still it does the ostrich eggs when hidden 
 
 In the desert's golden sand. The radiant orb 
 
 Of day they lov'd and mellaw moon and twinkling stars, 
 
 Yet when night-time came they fear'd th' monstrous beasts 
 
 Who own'd th' waters and the forest ere man came. 
 
 Of all the myriad forms of life the serpents were 
 
 By far their greatest enemies. Of superhuman 
 
 Size, still upright,* walking on their tails, these creatures 
 
 Worshipp'd were by man, through fear. 
 
 When the golden age of earth had pass'd away. 
 
 Some seers and trusted teachers of these earliest times 
 
 Were, to men of later days, as gods. One Kofu 
 
 Open'd such a mine of wisdom to the new 
 
 Made race of men that he was father call'd by all 
 
 Of his disciples, and by many deem'd th' father 
 
Egypt 
 
 33 
 
 Of the Nubian gods. He sometimes is miscalled 
 
 Kephera, and was by his descendants worshipp'd in 
 
 Th' moon. A little later Sepa, learn'd in secret 
 
 Lore, by his descendants worshipp'd was as sun. 
 
 Th' life in trees was nam'd for him, and many words 
 
 Still found in northern lands betoken that his name 
 
 Was one with wisdom.^ Nu, an early ruler, gave 
 
 His name to all the land so lately under water. 
 
 He was call'd th' water-god; while Nut, his wife, 
 
 By her children nam'd Goddess of th' Sky, 
 
 Had figure made with feet and hands upon the earth 
 
 While her body fair is as the heavens arched. 
 
 Shu, whose place it was to uphold the sky, and keep 
 
 Th' earth and heavens apart, a teacher was of many 
 
 Things so little understood, those coming after 
 
 Nam'd him God of Air; and many of his words 
 
 Treasur'd long beyond his day were taken into 
 
 Syria and later to the Chinese realm, 
 
 Where in curious ritual crystallized we find 
 
 Them to-day in valued books, the Shu-King called. 
 
 Shu and Tefnut, wiser than their day, were only 
 
 Mortals worshipp'd when their faults were all forgotten. 
 
 Keb, less given to talking of th' sky than his 
 
 Father Shu, unveil'd th' treasures of the earth. 
 
 Helping men the secrets of the soil and rocks 
 
 To unfold; was given the name of Earth-God by 
 
 Those who wish'd in after days to honor him. 
 
 All these before the day of kings. 
 
 Th' earUest of the Nubian chiefs e'er honor'd as 
 
 A god was Thoth, who thought the moon was greater than 
 
34 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Th' sun, and instituted worship to that pale orb. 
 
 Thoth's teachings, not unHke the cult of Kofu, 
 
 Were in later days brought north where several kings 
 
 Assum'd his name. We know not all whose children made 
 
 Them gods, for next to sun and serpent worship, which 
 
 Everywhere was earliest, came the adoration 
 
 Of the ancestor; if he had anything 
 
 Worthy of recording done, or if his children 
 
 Thought so, and were rich enough to make their boast 
 
 In metal or in stone, this one would be to future 
 
 Generations as a god. 
 
 As century after century pass'd th' people who 
 
 Their earth-beginning had on Nubian soil o'er all 
 
 Of ^Ethiopia spread, and northward came beyond 
 
 Th' then high Atlas mountains going to a fair 
 
 Island called Atlantis. Here the men who chose 
 
 A southern clime for their beginning rapidly 
 
 Develop'd; many incursions made on the mainland north, 
 
 A maritime power becoming, 'til their progress was . 
 
 Arrested by the Titans in Greece.^ 
 
 This island of Atlantis in its civilization 
 
 Equall'd anything this earth as yet has seen; 
 
 But as the people in material wealth and knowledge 
 
 Gain'd, they lost in wisdom and in goodness, so 
 
 Had degenerated in a few thousand years 
 
 Into a very wicked nation. Then the Pilot 
 
 Who guides dear Mother Rhea, knowing that some portion 
 
 Of the earth must be thrown off, its shape and orbit 
 
 To preserve, the island of Atlantis chose 
 
 As least worthy to be saved. 
 
Egypt 35 
 
 Little did the luxury and refinement of 
 
 Their rich civilization help assuage the anguish 
 
 Both of mind and body that on one and all 
 
 Seized in that storm of storms, which rocked and sway'd 
 
 Their isle three days and nights, and loosen'd from th' 
 
 mighty 
 Deep the roots of land, and sent a piece from Rhea's 
 Breast far out in space, or sunk beneath the high. 
 High waves the land that fail'd to hold. Where once was 
 
 verdure 
 Now was mud; where temples, palaces, and gardens 
 Fair, and all that men and women covet of 
 Earth's rich stores, were in profusion, now was naught 
 But salt waves lapping mud, which barr'd for many years 
 That passage to the inland sea where stood the gates 
 Of Herakles. This cataclasm, of great ones second 
 On our planet,^ which has had so many fires 
 And floods, not only threw Atlantis off, and many 
 Smaller isles submerg'd, but clove asunder Afric's 
 Mounts, and let the many waters of the Nubian 
 Land in river flow, long call'd ^gyptus, 
 Afterwards the Nile. A world of sand was left 
 By th' receding sea, not yet made fertile, still 
 A desert call'd Sahara, which between ^Egyptus 
 Land and ocean made a barrier. 
 One man escap'd th' doom that met his kind that day 
 When this mighty earthquake buried low all towers 
 And temples of the Nubian land. Without a mate, 
 Without a home, by all he had endured nigh 
 To distraction driven, Kahab with the beasts 
 
36 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Consort'd and ere his days on earth were ended saw 
 Th' human partly imaged in half beast, half man. 
 Th' mustang and the ape from Kahab took on human 
 Traits and partly human heads, yet kept their tails, 
 Some their claws. With human heads e'en serpents came,® 
 And men with heads of vultures, rams and dogs, so that 
 In after days these strange mysterious compounds wor- 
 shipped 
 Were; yea, reverenced by a few, and feared 
 By many. Painted in rock tombs or graven on 
 Temple walls their portraits oft we find. The great 
 Sun-god Ra e'en had a head of ram, for he 
 In earthhfe to the half -beast race belonged; yet 
 Deified he represents the sun whose rays 
 Vivifying, were suggested best by strong 
 Creative force in rams. Hence Aries, the sun's 
 First house, mark'd th' vernal equinox, when life 
 Returns to trees and herbs, when man and beast feel most 
 Desire to multiply. So in the upper world. 
 Also in the underworld, has Ra the head 
 Of ram, and many are the emblems found that show 
 His power, greatest of the race from Kahab sprung. 
 This race, half beast, half man, in time held sway o'er all 
 Th' valley of the Nile. They left one monument 
 Which still defies the hand of Time, and keeps the savants 
 Guessing what it means and whence it came. By these 
 Strong-limb'd people built, the great stone sphinx on lion's 
 Body bears a woman's head. 
 In those far-off days the woman larger was 
 Than man, with passions stronger. This the lion's body 
 
Egypt 37 
 
 Indicated. She who had so lately been 
 
 A beast had mind develop'd less than man, who had 
 
 Been longer out of th' animal state. Man, hoping his 
 
 Mate to rule by keeping her in ignorance, 
 
 Capp'd her thinking thereby to suppress her mind. 
 
 From the great stone sphinx, still peering o'er the sand. 
 
 We learn what in those early days man thought of woman 
 
 Whom he almost worshipp'd, half fear'd, and wished wholly 
 
 To subdue, yet dreaded doing so for fear 
 
 He might thereby defeat his perpetuity. 
 
 Valued only as producer, kept as slave 
 
 For the gratification of the animal man, 
 
 Not permitt'd to use her mind like children close 
 
 To Nature, woman then had much of Nature's wisdom 
 
 Unalloyed. Judgment never used, her 
 
 Intuition was more strong. So now among 
 
 Th' women of this curious race, so lately sprung 
 
 From beasts, were sibyls who had such divining power 
 
 That men from far and near consulted them as to 
 
 Th' portent of the future. Of these women, taught 
 
 Wholly by the lore in Nature's book, such wide 
 
 Celebrity one attain'd she gave her name to all 
 
 That land, and many lesser seeresses in later 
 
 Days the name of Libya adopted, claiming if not 
 
 Descent from her held high in days of Ra, at least 
 
 A portion of her power assuming. 
 
 Not along the river Nile but in the hill 
 
 Countries of Apollo's land were Amazon women, 
 
 Able to produce their sons in sinew strong 
 
 And larger than themselves; of whom some came a little 
 
38 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Later to Libya's land, there mixed with the smaller 
 
 Darker people in whose veins yet ran the blood 
 
 Of rams and bullocks, who possessed still a portion 
 
 Of th' serpent's guile. From out the east and north . 
 
 Another race migrated to this valley, water'd 
 
 By the long strong river, which e'er since that fearful 
 
 Cataclasm from pure fresh lakes in Nubia 
 
 Had rolled and cut its way amid the hills, its bed 
 
 Of mud in that great sand tract making, 'til with many 
 
 Mouths it reach'd th' Magnum Mare. 
 
 In the lower valley of the Nile, made rich 
 
 By many overflowings of the giant river, 
 
 A race arose amalgamated from the three — 
 
 Syrian, Greek, and those half-animal beings who 
 
 Mark'd their highest era by the great stone sphinx 
 
 And the worship of the sun-god Ra. Yet not 
 
 Forgotten was the reverence for the moon. An early 
 
 King of Thinis took the name P-tah, a Nubian 
 
 Moon god, then made lunar calendars; so now 
 
 Again the moon became the first of deities. 
 
 By its quarters time was measured; and to these 
 
 Men, who first by Luna's quarters measur'd time. 
 
 What we call months were years. Then later thirteen 
 
 months 
 Became the lunar year, as now. 
 By its light the moon converted night to day, 
 Its apparent comings and its goings birth 
 And death suggested, rebirth and immortality 
 Foreshadowed. Surely P-tah a great god was, and many 
 Priests who knew the secret lore were glad to take 
 
Egypt 
 
 39 
 
 His name for their cognomen, thereby gaining power 
 
 Over superstitious persons whom they purposely 
 
 Kept in ignorance. All writing was by signs 
 
 Known to priests alone. E'en monarchs were dependent 
 
 On the priestly hierarchy for their knowledge 
 
 Of science or of history. Pyramids they built 
 
 For astronomical observatories which 
 
 Later were built over, added to or alter'd 
 
 And used as tombs by kings who ceas'd to reverence 
 
 Th' science of the stars. Yet many temples, builded 
 
 By these priests, to-day tell us how well they knew 
 
 Th' movements of the heavenly bodies, and betray 
 
 By their orientation what religious cult 
 
 Was uppermost.^" Those pointing to the summer solstice 
 
 Honor 'd Nile whose flood- tide started at that time; 
 
 Oriented to the vernal equinox 
 
 Others, showing that their builders held to forms 
 
 Of worship where the Tigris and Euphrates rose 
 
 In springtime. Some to rising, some to setting stars, 
 
 Tell th' inquirer in these latter days the age 
 
 Of these temples, and the time when different races 
 
 O'er this land held sway. For by their knowledge of 
 
 Th' stars and deep religious feeling, records true 
 
 Have been left in great stone temples by these builders 
 
 On the banks of Father Nile. 
 
 There came from out the land of Pimt, some thirty centuries 
 
 After the great cataclasm, a mighty chief, 
 
 Osiris nam'd, who all of Lower Egypt gained, 
 
 Making the peoples of the different races all 
 
 Subservient unto him; his rule at Thinis having 
 
40 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Firmly 'stablish'd, many other cities built; 
 
 Then with army vast to Nubia he sail'd 
 
 And brought a number of the large dark-skinned race 
 
 North as slaves. But with diplomacy acting, Osiris 
 
 Add'd th' Nubian deities to his own pantheon. 
 
 Kofu and Thoth now took their place beside the chief 
 
 Gods of Lower Egypt, Ra and Atum, whose 
 
 Worship had been added to that of Am, brought by 
 
 Phoenician conquerors from Syria. To each 
 
 Sun-god a place was given: Kofu, call'd the Opener, 
 
 Represented th' sun at early morn; the heat 
 
 And power of the noonday sun was Ra; while Turn 
 
 Or Atum, closer of the day, the sun at evening 
 
 Was. These gods did service also for the seasons; 
 
 Kofu, spring; the summer, Ra; the autumn, Tum. 
 
 Never more than three hours for each day, nor more 
 
 Than three seasons to the year.^^ 
 
 Th' Nubian moon-god Thoth for long held sway beside 
 
 P-tah, who venerated mostly was as teacher 
 
 Of metal workers; he, a veritable Hephaestus, 
 
 The fires of th' underworld controll'd. 
 
 His conquests finished, Osiris taught the people by 
 
 Th' Nile the cultivation of the vine which grew 
 
 To such perfection in his native land.^^ To Egypt 
 
 He became a Bacchus, and many temples built 
 
 Oriented to the equinoxes as 
 
 In Syria. Astronomers and architects 
 
 Imported were from Babylon. Both the lunar and 
 
 Th' solar calendars were by Osiris used. 
 
 Who added to the solar year five days, thereby 
 
Egypt 
 
 41 
 
 Confusion making: earlier it was more nearly right. 
 Osiris was a fighter brave, successful conqueror; 
 
 But by far the greater soul his sister 
 
 Isis, whom he married and made queen, 
 
 Jointly to rule with him. She was not only 
 
 Beautiful and learn'd but greatly loved. 
 
 And became a power for good in the land 
 
 She rul'd. Isis taught the women many things. 
 
 Greatest of all the truth from her they learned 
 
 Was the dignity of motherhood. 
 
 Upon that cult which worshipp'd virgins Isis 
 
 Frown'd. She cared not for the stern, cold maid; 
 
 She did not sympathize with Neith, the goddess, 
 
 Boasting that no man had pierced her veil. 
 
 Isis was proud to be a wife and mother. ,| 
 
 One of her favorite names was Mut. One of II 
 
 Her much-lov'd symbols was the cow, whose milk 
 
 Nourish'd not alone its own but higher 
 
 0£fspring. Isis strove to make all 'round 
 
 Her aware that woman God's final 
 
 Creation is. His highest work, most like 
 
 The Creator. Through becoming a mother 
 
 She not only created sonship, but 
 
 Conferr'd fatherhood upon her husband. 
 
 It was from this Phoenician princess, Egypt's 
 
 Greatest queen, that women of the valley 
 
 Of the Nile not only did, but all 
 
 Who will may, learn of motherhood th' intrinsic 
 
 Value and in creation woman's place. 
 
 But dimly the truth we apprehend that last 
 
42 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Shall be first. Not strange it glimmer'd faintly 
 
 On these childlike minds. Yet after Isis' 
 
 Day the Egyptians deem'd th' goddess higher 
 
 Than the god, th' mother ever more 
 
 Than the father god. From the day of Isis 
 
 Th' mother-thought is never absent. Th' child 
 
 Of Egypt was a Trinity of Beings. 
 
 In every triad of gods we find two gods 
 
 And one goddess. In the hand each god 
 
 Holds a symbol of the threefold life. 
 
 Under many names the great Egyptian 
 
 Mother was ador'd; she was not only 
 
 Demeter, but Persephone, whose gentle 
 
 Breath discovers, when trees in spring their life 
 
 Renew, the body of Osiris, her 
 
 Beloved brother, grief for whom had almost 
 
 Demented her when he by serpent worshipping 
 
 Set was slain, because he would put down 
 
 That cult which his enhghten'd mind abhorr'd. 
 
 Many lessons all may learn from th' blessed 
 
 Mother of Horus, who with Horus in 
 
 Her arms was full moon, also she the eyes 
 
 Of Horus was. When he as sun was worshipp'd. 
 
 She was represented by the dog-star: 
 
 Its heliacal rising hailed the goddess, 
 
 Bringing th' sun to light, while Sirius 
 
 Setting was the goddess Hathor,^^ th' cow. 
 
 Her greatest temples oriented were 
 
 To Sirius, erected centuries after 
 
 Her life on earth, when she was deem'd a goddess 
 
Egypt 
 
 43 
 
 Only, all her frailties forgotten. 
 
 Countless statuettes in metal and 
 
 In precious stones, e'en more than temples at 
 
 Dendereh and at Thebes, attest the fact 
 
 That motherhood was worshipp'd by these people. 
 Many pages in the poetry of this land 
 Are filled with myths that multiplied about the deeds 
 Of Isis, Osiris, Set, and Nephtys. Temples found 
 In fourteen places typify the days of th' waning 
 Moon: his heart at Abydos buried tells us that 
 This place was the center of Osiris worship. 
 Many places honor'd him who was not only sun 
 And moon but Nile god, all that gave fertihty and 
 Increase to the land. His wife, the moonlight had 
 
 For veil; it represented the mystery of birth; | 
 
 This mystery it was, and not the moonlight, that 
 Was worshipp'd. Noting the use of veils we very nearly 
 Can follow the decadence of religions; for | 
 
 When all inspiration from the fountain head 
 Directly comes, so long as nothing is between 
 Th' individual and his God, there is no need 
 To conceal the form divine. When human wisdom 
 Substituted is for revelation, th' serpent 
 Having enter'd th' garden, for secrecy there arises 
 Necessity, lest one should detect the fallibiHty 
 Of the hierarchy: hence the mysteries 
 Are inaugurated. Only priests may enter 
 Th' inner sanctuary; none but initiates 
 May see the form of th' goddess. After a while there are 
 So many veils the covering often is mistaken 
 
44 The Child of the Nations 
 
 For the form. If veils are spotless no one asks, 
 
 Is the King's daughter all glorious within? 
 
 It was not enough to veil the goddess; priestesses 
 
 Must wear veils to indicate that they were virgins. 
 
 Mortal maids e'en strive to hide with tissue veils 
 
 Th' imperfections of their bodies, as the blemishes 
 
 Of soul are hid by fleshly veil. 
 
 Laban made the veil of Leah so thick that Jacob 
 
 Wedded her instead of Rachael, his belov'd. 
 
 Not only Syrians and Egyptians used veils; 
 
 Was not Iphigenia arrayed as a bride? — 
 
 And as she sings that Greece shall be her nuptials, Greece 
 
 Her children, the saffron veil, betokening that she must 
 
 For her country bleed, hides not the cruel blade 
 
 That priest at altar wields, unsexing her for others' 
 
 Sins. So Polyxena likewise suffered, veiled 
 
 As bride while priests pretended that her sacrifice 
 
 Necessary was Achilles' shade to appease. 
 
 If only they were veiled enough, how many crimes 
 
 Sanction'd were by priests. No veils to-day our temples 
 
 Have, yet maidens drap'd with lace are ofttimes sold. 
 
 Th' veil of temple at Jerusalem was rent 
 
 By earthquake, when the Bridegroom of the Church, who 
 
 came 
 To break all veils, was crucified. 
 Yet mysteries are still in vogue; altar veils, 
 Chalice veils, and veils for ugly truths, and much 
 Of simple beauty cover'd deep with years of weaving. 
 How much further are we on the way to freedom 
 Than those children in the olden days? Some light 
 
Egypt 
 
 45 
 
 From other spheres the childhood of the race had brought. 
 
 Mysteries of Hfe to it were more apparent. 
 
 Life and death and birth are mysteries yet. Before 
 
 Th' hfe on Rhea is the free, full life we crave, 
 
 Lifted must be many veils. ^^ 
 
 As time went on the worship of Osiris was 
 
 Restricted to the waning moon and to the sun 
 
 In Duat, the underworld, where he with Ra divided 
 
 Honors. The world of shade most vividly pictured was 
 
 By th' Egyptian, who gave serious thought to th' place 
 
 Where he expected to spend much time, and from whence he 
 
 Would return. His earthly tabernacle preserved 
 
 Must be, so that his Ka, or astral, might in some 
 
 Mysterious way partake, through it, by means of prayers 
 
 And offerings, made by priests and friends of th' pleasures of 
 
 This life, which would last as long as th' mummy was 
 
 Preserv'd. To weave another body for his Ka, 
 
 To return to labor and to suffer in earth life, 
 
 Would indeed a hardship be, if, as he hoped, 
 
 He had to Duat gone equipp'd for life with Ra. 
 
 Hence was so much time and labor vast expended 
 
 On the tomb, and money willed whenever possible. 
 
 To pay for services and offerings. Was it strange 
 
 That these beliefs were f oster'd by the priests, when rich 
 
 Harvests they thereby did reap? 
 
 Many curious paintings on the walls of tombs 
 
 Show not only what their life was here, but what 
 
 They thought of the Hereafter. One idea is far 
 
 In advance of later ages. In the judgment 
 
 Hall of Duat a picture shows Anubis, son 
 
46 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Of Isis, weighing th' heart of man. Decision is 
 
 In favor of the man's rectitude if th' heart 
 
 Is more than a feather's weight. That a man is as he thinketh 
 
 Was by a wise king said some centuries later. We 
 
 Still are spelling this trite lesson written on 
 
 Th' tombs of Isis' descendants. Life Hereafter held 
 
 A large place in the minds of these sun-worshippers; yet 
 
 Th' cult of Isis was so popular it spread 
 
 In later days to Greece and Rome, where costly temples 
 
 To the great Egyptian Mother-Goddess were 
 
 Erected. There to-day we find in marble, statues 
 
 Of her beautiful priestesses, who in one hand carry 
 
 A symbol call'd th' "sign of life."^^ With it they conjured. 
 
 If the hooks when shaken turned down, the seed 
 
 Would sprout. The future was foretold by those with 
 
 psychic 
 Gifts, while others made wild guesses at the truth, 
 As many would-be psychics do to-day. These cults 
 Were inaugurated long years after Isis 
 Herself had passed to the world of shades; but during 
 Her lifetime was Osiris deified, and 
 Their son Horus sat upon the throne of Lower 
 And of Upper Egypt, when he had avenged 
 Th' murder of his father. Horus conquer'd Set 
 And all his followers, in a long religious war 
 Abolishing serpent worship throughout the land. He was 
 Then declared by worshippers of the sun and moon 
 To be th' reincarnation of Ra, whose name was added 
 To that of Horus; the sacred serpent^® was to the royal 
 Crown attached; a hawk's head was given him, 
 
E'gypt 47 
 
 Which bird, when drinking, by the position of his wings 
 
 Represents the force creative. 
 
 Even in his lifetime Horus was consider'd 
 
 Th' putter down of evil, the victor over the works 
 
 Of darkness. And what more than this a sun-god makes? 
 
 While Ra was never forgotten — does he not direct 
 
 His bark in the nether world, and give that beautiful care 
 
 Of th' divine pilot? — Horus was exalted 
 
 To the rank of highest sun-god Egypt produced; 
 
 His worship that of Kofu, Atma and Ra included. 
 
 As the lotus flower symbolizes the fertility 
 
 Of nature, Horus rising from this sacred blossom 
 
 Of the Nile was chosen to signify that life 
 
 In the spirit higher is than life of earth. 
 
 Deity ever matter transcends. 
 
 Horus' children, four, were for th' cardinal points 
 
 Nam'd, and for a thousand years did his descendants 
 
 Rule the Valley of the Nile. To magnify 
 
 Th' deeds of Horus they delighted, and oft depicted 
 
 Him as conqueror of all evil. Th' sun-disc winged 
 
 Over temple doors or humble dwellings was 
 
 Suppos'd to ward off powers of darkness, and betokened 
 
 Their faith and trust in Horus' strength. 
 
 Descendants of the son of Isis were the last 
 
 Dynasty of Egyptian kings divine entitled; 
 
 Phoenician rule by conquest end'd as it began. 
 
 There came from out the East a grandson of that Noah 
 
 Who from Persian deluge with his family was 
 
 Sav'd. This Semite Menes conquer'd Thinis; there 
 
 His throne established; then built Memphis which he called 
 
48 The Child of the Nations 
 
 For himself. That he was greatly rever'd, if not 
 
 Worshipp'd by his children's children, is attested 
 
 By the monuments in his honor erected by 
 
 Posterity. Those colossi at Luxor, sometimes called 
 
 "Th' Vocal Memnon," statues are of mighty Menes,^^ 
 
 Several centuries later than his day erected. 
 
 Th' Semite race, from Menes and his followers 
 
 Descended, ruled Egypt fifteen centuries. 
 
 They enlarged or rebuilt the pyramids 
 
 That were near to Memphis. Ata, a king of the first 
 
 Dynasty, built a step pyramid, while in the dynasty 
 
 Third, the pyramid of Medum Seneform 
 
 Erected, importing Babylonish astronomers. 
 
 Dynasty fifth pre-eminently priestly was; 
 
 Towards the end, in the reign of Assa, we find a moral 
 
 Philosopher whose name betokens a worshipper of 
 
 Th' moon. P-tah-hotep,^^ of Memphis high priest, left 
 
 A book of moral maxims written in verse, which more 
 
 Than a curiosity is. These maxims to-day 
 
 Are valuable as Hterature as well as precepts. 
 
 Though the oldest writings yet in Egypt found. 
 
 Their style betrays the fact that P-tah-hotep, however 
 
 Great, was no originator of a written 
 
 Language. Among the many excellent gnomic poems 
 
 One on how a man should treat his wife is modern; 
 
 One on courtesy in conversation full 
 
 Of wisdom is. He says not merely with the Ups 
 
 But with the soul to speak, and silent keep unless 
 
 Th' thing that thou canst speak is perfect. 
 
 Near the end of the old empire, in the sixth 
 
Egypt 
 
 49 
 
 Dynasty, higher than either priest or king, we find 
 
 Th' name of a common man, a son of th' soil, one Una 
 
 Of Abydos, who by ability and integrity 
 
 Placed himself at th' head of affairs. 
 
 Now a period of decline, by civil feuds 
 
 Caused, and Memphis ceased to be the seat of government; 
 
 Ammon grew in power; many temples built 
 
 Or alter'd were while priests of Thebes for centuries ruled 
 
 Th' land, restoring order by the undertaking 
 
 Of enormous works: the Fayum drain'd, th' Nile floods 
 
 stored 
 In Lake Moeris, canals built. The aristocracy 
 Saw that they were powerless against these wise 
 Priests. In time, the civil authorities were strong 
 Enough to insist that Ra should not neglected be, 
 A compromise effected was, the name of Ra 
 Added to that of Am, the All-god of the Syrians. 
 Henceforth th' cult at Thebes was that of Amen-Ra. 
 During th' latter part of the dominion of 
 Th' Amorite priests, when a pharaoh also of some power 
 Reign 'd, it was that Abraham of Ur visiting 
 Egypt was surpris'd to find its civilization 
 Advanc'd beyond that of Chaldea, especially 
 In the deference paid to women and the sanctity 
 Of the family. Since the days of Benothis, 
 In the second dynasty, women were permitted 
 To reign, and since the time of Isis motherhood 
 Had been venerated. We revere that pharaoh 
 Of the thirteenth dynasty who, because he had 
 So little power, took to himself so many names, 
 
 iiiij 
 
50 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Who with the beauty of Abraham's sister-spouse, 
 
 Sara was taken, yet as soon as he was told 
 
 That she the wife of another was, restored her 
 
 To her Hebrew husband. Famine which had driven 
 
 Abraham to Egypt, prov'd to be a great 
 
 Good. He profit'd doubtless by the wiser laws 
 
 In that land which is the mother of civilization, 
 
 Where the highest symbol is the lotus flower 
 
 Whose blossom is the woman, stem the child, and root 
 
 Th' man. This trinity of earth the father, mother. 
 
 Child, was first in Egypt worshipp'd. 
 
 Some three centuries after the Hebrew patriarch's visit 
 
 To the land of th' Nile, the power of the pharaoh 
 
 Being greatly weaken'd by th' domination 
 
 Of the priests, who though most learned men were never 
 
 Warriors, the Edomites, of Esau followers. 
 
 Descending upon the people of Lower Egypt, a kingdom 
 
 At Memphis establish'd, introducing th' worship of Bel; 
 
 They otherwise became Egyptianiz'd. This rule, 
 
 Which is known as that of Hyksos, or the shepherd 
 
 Kings, from th' thirteenth to the seventeenth dynasty lasted. 
 
 These Edomites it was who th' great rock pyramids 
 
 Converted into tombs. They also built vast temples 
 
 Of marvellous beauty, and tombs for sacred bulls, their god 
 
 Bel or Baal in later days as Apis known. 
 
 Whose vital fluid was by priests for heaHng used: 
 
 Caught in richest cups of silver and of gold 
 
 This potion taken tended to produce longevity. 
 
 During the period of the Hyksos kings it was. 
 
 In the reign of Iran Ra, the Superb, The Dreamer 
 
^gypt 51 
 
 Sometimes call'd, that Joseph, a Hebrew lad, descended 
 
 From Abram, Isaac and Jacob, by his brethren sold 
 
 To the Midianites, to Egypt came, a slave. 
 
 Where for a time he labor'd, was unjustly imprisoned, 
 
 Yet finally through his gift of divination was 
 
 Brought before the king, whom he so pleased that 
 
 Iran Ra bestowed upon him many honors, 
 
 And gave to Joseph, Asenath, daughter of the priest 
 
 Of On, for wife. Their sons, by Jacob blessed, became ||| 
 
 Leaders, two of th' tribes of Israel nam'd for them. 
 
 By his remarkable foresight godly J^oseph enriched 
 
 Egypt in the time of famine, also brought 
 
 His father and his brethren to this land of plenty. 
 
 The descendants of Jacob lived and multiplied 
 
 By the stream of Nile for centuries four or more. 
 
 Though the Hyksos kings had been expelled by 
 
 Aahmes, that great Nubian warrior whose grandson, 
 
 Thothmes, the worship of the moon reintroduced 
 
 At Thebes, as yet had nothing disturbed the peaceful lives 
 
 Of Israel's descendants. Thothmes First and his 
 
 Grandson Thothmes Third were given to war, and many 
 
 Successful conquests made, the empire extending from 
 
 Ethopia to Palestine and East 
 
 To th' Euphrates, into a province erecting Syria. 
 
 Of all the energetic sovereigns of the eighteenth 
 
 Dynasty, Queen Hatasu is the most distinguished. 
 
 Though half-sister to Thothmes Second, and seven years 
 
 His senior, she became his wife, and reigned jointly 
 
 With him. Then through the minority of the third Thothmes 
 
 She ruled alone, and many temples and obelisks 
 
 ii 
 
52 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Erected. Her name at Del-el-Bhari still is seen, 
 
 While from other temples it was by Thothmes erased, 
 
 Who two great obelisks^^ set up at Heliopolis, 
 
 Both of which to Alexandria later were removed. 
 
 At Elephantine and at Luxor structures were 
 
 By Thothmes Third begun which Amen-hotep, his 
 
 Great-grandson, finished, whose wife, a Syrian princess, 
 
 urged 
 Th' change in worship at Thebes from moon to that of sun. 
 In the reign of Amen-hotep Fourth, who also 
 Married a Syrian princess, once again sun worship 
 Prevails. A hymn of this time seems to change the cruder 
 Notion of sun worship to that of sun as source 
 Of energy. Philosopher, reformer, and patron of literature 
 Too radical to find favor at Thebes, this prince 
 With his Syrian consort th' capital to Tel-el- Amarna 
 Removed, where some years ago a correspondence 
 Political in character, showing friendly relations 
 With Syria, was unearthed. After this dynasty 
 A period of military despotism ensued. 
 Which last'd till Ramses First, a Hittite warrior, founded 
 Th' nineteenth dynasty. His son Seti First, a serpent 
 Worshipper, as his name betrays, it was of whom 
 Th' Hebrew scriptures say: "He knew not Joseph." Now 
 Began the persecution of the Israelites 
 Whom the Hittites feared and hated. It was Seti 
 Who decreed that all male infants of the Hebrew 
 Race should be destroyed. The ark in bulrush hidden 
 Wherein the baby Moses rest'd, by Miriam watched, 
 Was by Seti's daughter found. This Hittite princess 
 
Egypt 
 
 53 
 
 Beautiful the babe to palace brought and begged 
 
 Permission of her father to adopt it. Stern 
 
 Seti could refuse his darling daughter nothing, 
 
 So it came about that Moses educated 
 
 Was in all the learning of the Egyptians. After 
 
 Th' death of Seti, Ramses Second, his son, who as '^ 
 
 His name betokens worshipp'd rams, did not with favor 
 
 Look upon the Hebrew lad who found it dangerous 
 
 Now to stay in Egypt; for in trying to 
 
 Defend an Israelite an Egyptian he had killed. 
 
 Into the land of Midian thence he fled and came 
 
 To Jethro's house. The aged priest from Jacob descended 
 
 Was so pleas'd with Moses that he gave his daughter 
 
 Zipporah to him for wife. For several years the future 
 
 Prophet led a peaceful life, the flocks of Jethro 
 
 Tending. Hearing how his kindred suffer'd under 
 
 Rule of Seti's son, the longing to deliver 
 
 Israel Moses seized, so that he begged Jethro 
 
 Him to bless and let him go. 
 
 Th' aged priest had in his house a potent rod 
 
 Which to give his son-in-law he much desired. 
 
 One morning after earnest prayer th' wise old man 
 
 For Moses shepherd's crook the rod substituted. |{lj 
 
 Three days and nights was Moses on th' mountain absent; 
 
 Returning was by Jethro met, who saw at once 
 
 By the new light in his face a great experience 
 
 Had come to him, who to his father-in-law related 
 
 All the marvels of the precious rod, recounting 
 
 What Jehovah, great archangel, said, who in 
 
 A blaze of light appear'd like fire within a bush, 
 
 \Mi 
 
54 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Yet burn'd it not. The vision like a god to him 
 
 Spoke, declaring the Almighty had the cry of his 
 
 Afflicted children heard, and now was calling Moses 
 
 Their deliverer to be. Then Jethro knew 
 
 Who chosen was to set his people free, so gladly 
 
 Gave the rod of power to him, its history telling,^" 
 
 How an angel stay'd th' hand of Abram, Isaac's 
 
 Life to save; how he on Jacob the rod bestowed. 
 
 Who many visions had and wonders did perform 
 
 While he Laban served; that with this rod the Dreamer 
 
 Joseph e'er divin'd, and to distinction rose. 
 
 Whose son Manasseh, knowing that it must be saved 
 
 Though he could ne'er it wield, had carried it to Jethro's 
 
 Home, and bade him keep it safe 'til one arose 
 
 Who might with it be trusted God's mandates to 
 
 Perform. Magicians many knew the use of rods 
 
 Who would rejoice possessing this, but Providence 
 
 Had it preserved not to be misused. Then Jethro 
 
 Godspeed bade to Moses, sent with him Zipporah 
 
 And their two sons. To Egypt as he journey'd with 
 
 Th' rod of God in hand, his brother Aaron came 
 
 To meet him in the wilderness, and they each other 
 
 Kiss'd. Then Moses told to Aaron what words Jehovah 
 
 Spake, declaring unto him the Lord Almighty's 
 
 Help, by whose strong arm the children would from bondage 
 
 Come into the Promised Land. 
 
 To Aaron Moses showed the rod, and told of all 
 
 Th' signs and wonders wrought by it, and promised that 
 
 In sight of all the people Aaron should these feats 
 
 Perform, and speak to Israel's Elders e'en as Moses 
 
E'gypt 55 
 
 Bade. When Aaron deeds miraculous had done 
 
 And to th' assembled host what Moses dictated spake 
 
 The Elders and the people bowed their heads and worshipp'd 
 
 God, obedience promising Moses. Yet when Pharaoh 
 
 Did refuse request that they might go for holiday, 
 
 And sacrifice unto their Lord present, the people 
 
 Murmured, blaming Moses for the harshness Pharaoh 
 
 Show'd, who sent the messenger away saying, 
 
 I know not who the Lord is that I his voice obey. 
 
 And that same day he gave command that labors be 
 
 Increas'd which Israel's children wrought for him unpaid. 
 
 Then to Jehovah Moses spake complaining, for 
 
 Well he knew the hardness of this king with whom 
 
 In Seti's palace side by side he was brought up. 
 
 His angel guide did him assure that God was hard'ning 
 
 Pharaoh's heart, yet in a little while the king 
 
 Would drive them forth, for strong the arm of Righteousness. 
 
 Still great discouragement Moses felt, for if in earlier 
 
 Days, while yet his father reigned, Ramses gladly 
 
 Had seen Moses exiled, now when ruler sole 
 
 Of Egypt in the zenith of his power, the prince 
 
 Welcom'd not the coming back of this brave man 
 
 Who would the cause of Israel champion. 
 
 For nearly fifty years had Ramses ruled with 
 
 Rod of iron. Not only all at home the knee 
 
 Did bend to him, but from the east much tribute came. 
 
 Which show'd that part of that great Asiatic realm 
 
 He had regain'd, that Thothmes Third had earlier to 
 
 Th' empire add'd, which had been lost for many years. 
 
 Not only stranger tribes did Ramses fight, but his 
 
56 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Father's people; Hittites felt his cruel onslaughts, 
 
 Though later with his kindred he made peace, and married 
 
 A Hittite princess, yet when boasting of his exploits 
 
 He did not hesitate to magnify his victories 
 
 Over Hittite kings. These wars most graphically 
 
 Described, in vivid though in somewhat exaggerated 
 
 Style, the groundwork form of Egypt's greatest epic. 
 
 Ramses, tired of wars, desired a record that 
 
 Should lasting be of his campaigns. The preservation 
 
 Of rare heroic verse, in which the poet Pentaur 
 
 Celebrates the victories of this boastful king. 
 
 We owe to Ramses' vanity, who the verses that 
 
 His exploits glorified caused to be carved 
 
 Upon the massive pillars of the temple at Karnak, 
 
 "Where his father, Seti, had great pylons raised 
 
 To close the sanctuary to the light of solstice sun, 
 
 Where the priests had praised Osiris for the rise 
 
 Of Nile. Nor would these ram and serpent worshippers let 
 
 Th' light of sun those temples flood which oriented 
 
 Were to vernal equinox, for these were built 
 
 By worshippers of the sun and stars who came from Babylon. 
 
 As conquerors each succeeded each in Egypt; as 
 
 In other lands they brought with them religious prejudice; 
 
 Yet finding here so many temples of gigantic 
 
 Mould, expedient often found it not to destroy 
 
 But these massive structures alter; hence it is 
 
 That pillars block the entrances and darken ancient 
 
 Sanctuaries, when one cult to another gives place. 
 
 Not alone were pylons raised by Seti and 
 
 Ramses, but heads of rams were everywhere in evidence, 
 
Egypt 57 
 
 And statues of these kings were seen on any possible 
 
 Site. At Abou Simbel four of Ramses Second 
 
 Are still on guard. This superb rock temple was intended 
 
 To glorify Pharaoh, but to-day it stands a monument 
 
 To the Israelites whose patient labor builded 
 
 It and many another, while they wore the yoke 
 
 Of servitude in Libya's land. 
 
 Now living in the glory of these magnificent temples 
 
 And tombs, which only could be builded by an oppressed 
 
 People, far from easy was it for this Pharaoh, 
 
 Who had never in his life been crossed, to let 
 
 His slaves go even for a three-days' feast. Grown old 
 
 In selfishness, greed, and arrogance, the heart of Ramses 
 
 Was hard indeed. He lov'd but one thing besides his power, 
 
 Meren-p-tah, his son, who like his father feared 
 
 Th' Hebrews secretly, yet was loath to part with them, 
 
 Moses knew these men so well he doubted even 
 
 God's power their hard hearts to soften. That 
 
 Pharaoh easily yield was not intended now; 
 
 First he must see the power and might of Israel's Lord. 
 
 To this end Moses and Aaron skill were given beyond 
 
 That of the Egyptian magicians who could do 
 
 Many occult feats, the potency understanding 
 
 Of magnetic rods. Yet through the rod by Moses 
 
 Or by Aaron held, Jehovah's strong arm acting 
 
 Made or stayed the plagues at will, sent horrors, suff'ring. 
 
 Grief, to th' homes of Egypt's mighty men, yet left 
 
 Th' land of Goshen free from pestilence, pests, and death. 
 
 Nor frogs nor Hce disturb 'd th' Israehte though found 
 
 In Pharaoh's bed. To th' fields of Israel's children came 
 
58 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Nor hail nor fire from heaven; neither did the locusts 
 
 Eat the tender herbs; their cattle died not though 
 
 In the Egyptian's field both man and beast did perish. 
 
 On that last eventful eve, when God so sorely 
 
 Smote, it was that Moses did the hearts of his 
 
 O'erburden'd people prove. If they Jehovah's arm 
 
 Would trust, if in the true God they believed, their faith 
 
 Must written be in blood. Where o'er the doorway now 
 
 Th' sign of Horus' power appear'd, e'en here the blood 
 
 Of lamb must strike, on lintel and on posts be seen. 
 
 That Death's grim messenger might know whose faith was 
 
 firm. 
 No longer from the winged disc of sun-god they 
 Might protection seek; on Abram's, Isaac's, Jacob's 
 Lord alone rely. Minute directions Moses 
 Gave, and strict command concerning th' lamb whose blood 
 To them would ever be as token that the Lord 
 From hand of their oppressors had deliver'd them. 
 With fire the lamb must roasted be, with bitter herbs 
 And bread unleaven'd eaten at night, and nothing left 
 'Til morning; gird'd their loins and staff within their hands; 
 Shoes upon their feet. In haste must it be eaten, 
 Rememb'ring that it is the Lord's passover. This 
 Feast in Egypt, instituted their deliverance 
 To commemorate, forever must be kept, 
 Their children and their children's children taught its 
 
 meaning. 
 Commanded to observe the feast for seven days. 
 From the evening of the fourteenth to the evening 
 Of the twenty-first day of the month of Abib 
 
Egypt 59 
 
 Which from henceforth was to be the first of th' year. 
 
 Nothing served to show the change in their reHgion 
 
 More than altering th' year's beginning from the Nile 
 
 Flood at summer solstice to the time of vernal 
 
 Equinox; for this the lowliest among 
 
 Them would perceive a separation indicated. 
 
 But whether even Moses fully understood 
 
 Th' symbolism of th' lamb, its blood upon the door, 
 
 Th' bitter herbs and bread unleaven'd, very doubtful 
 
 Is. The Lord Jehovah he obeyed in smallest 
 
 Details, while in later years the seers have seen 
 
 What was typified by Moses' passover feast 
 
 Which has helped to point the way. 
 
 So great the cry in Egypt when in every house 
 
 Th' first-born died, that Moses and Aaron summon'd were 
 
 By Pharaoh in the night, and bade go serve the Lord 
 
 And take with them their flocks and herds; for urgent now 
 
 Was the Egyptian that this people, by reason of whom 
 
 They had so keenly suffer'd, should depart. So Moses 
 
 And Aaron hasted, and that selfsame day the children 
 
 Of Israel out of the land of Egypt marched six 
 
 Hundred thousand strong; for they beside the Nile 
 
 Four hundred years and more had lived and labored. They 
 
 Carried Joseph's bones with them, as he had bidden 
 
 When prophesying that God would surely visit them. 
 
 Before the Israelites had crossed the sea, repented 
 
 Pharaoh that he let them go from serving him. 
 
 Then all his horsemen, captains, chariots, sent he after 
 
 Them. Yea, even the young Meren-p-tah who ruled 
 
 Beside his father, with the army went, for so 
 
6o The Child of the Nations 
 
 Willed God. When Israel saw the army of Pharaoh 
 
 Pursuing, 'gainst Moses bitterly murmured they for bringing 
 
 Them into the wilderness to die, for surely th' Egyptian 
 
 Host would them annihilate. 
 
 But Moses feared not, and to the people said, 
 
 Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He 
 
 Will show this day to you. The Lord shall fight for you 
 
 And you shall hold your peace. Then spoke the angel, 
 
 saying: 
 Tell the people to go forward. 
 All that night a strong east wind prevailed, sent 
 By the angel of God, which caused th' smoke to go 
 Between the camps, so that the Israelites could not 
 By their foes be seen, yet light the chosen people 
 Had enough from Sinai, sacred mount, whose crater 
 High threw out, in form of pillar vast, the cloud 
 By day, the fire by night. The same east wind which drove 
 Th' smoke between the camps of Israelites and Pharaoh's 
 Host, the waters of the sea did make recede 
 So much that Moses, stretching out his rod, was able 
 To divide the waters, ^^ on either side a wall 
 And in the midst thereof the land, so that his people 
 Through the sea did walk as if it were dry land; 
 Yet when pursuing army came, his arm again 
 Across the sea extending, Moses bade the flood 
 Of sea return which covered chariots rich and horsemen 
 Many, all of Pharaoh's host. So Israel's children 
 Saw the dead Egyptians lying on the sands; 
 Then feared they God and in his servant Moses trusted, 
 And sang forthwith a great triumphal hymn. Then Miriam, 
 
Egypt 6 1 
 
 Th' prophetess led, with timbrels and with dance, the 
 
 women's 
 Choir, antiphonally singing with the men a hymn 
 Of praise to Israel's Lord whose mighty arm had them 
 Delivered from the house of bondage. 
 
 Bl, 
 
CANTO III 
 India 
 
 TK Israelites who still preferred the laws of Nubian Shu to 
 those of Moses, eastward journeyed to th' land of Chaldees. 
 
 Here some eagerly received th' ancient wisdom brought by 
 Jacob's children from the mother land, while others frowned 
 
 Upon the cult. So Shu's followers soon to th' Punjab migrated, 
 where for many years in peace they dwelt beside the Indus. 
 
 Brahma, soul develop'd, who though an Aryan spirit 
 Was of Malaysian parents born, to th' land of India 
 Came as forerunner of that race which still in Iran 
 Dwelt, who destined were to drive the Semites north, 
 And conquer th' aboriginal tribes of northern India. 
 Those who to the conquerors would not submit 
 Retreated to the hills and mountains where are found 
 Their descendants still. These Aryans coming into 
 India from th' Iranian plateau a century 
 After Brahma's time, possession took of this 
 Fertile valley, and assimilat'd th' culture 
 Of decadent Malaysians, as the Romans did 
 That of th' Greeks. Though Roman bricks ofttimes th' 
 
 Greek 
 Marbles cover'd, never for a moment did 
 Their lamp of light outshine or overshadow Hellenic 
 Radiance. But the men of Iran not only drove 
 Th' yellow-skinned people from their fertile fields 
 In the land of th' seven rivers, and new methods 
 
 62 
 
India 63 
 
 Of agriculture introduced; but collecting 
 
 And translating their great store of sacred writings 
 
 Neglected to ascribe them to an ante-Aryan 
 
 Period; while the numerous bright divinities of 
 
 Th' Aryans quite eclips'd th' somber shadowy spirits 
 
 Of the primitive race they conquer'd. 
 
 Malaysians, the autochthonous race of India, coming 
 
 To life on Rhea^ only a century later than 
 
 Th' earliest,^ warriors, priests and tillers of the ground 
 
 Were, whose civilization had so degenerated. 
 
 When the Aryans came it was no more than that 
 
 Of the American Indian when by Anglo-Saxons 
 
 Found. Yet they had left not only mounds and rude 
 
 Rock-tombs, but hymns of highest merit, a drama of such 
 
 Value that its fragments make the world to-day 
 
 Richer, helping all who seek the truth and desire 
 
 Liberation. Th' names of India's earliest poets 
 
 We know not, nor th' conditions under which they wrote. 
 
 Yet of their inspiration there can be no doubt. 
 
 Thirty- three are th' gods of which the Vedic hymns 
 
 Speak, divided into three groups differing in 
 
 Degree, in state and station, though th' Almighty is 
 
 Immutable. These old bards the shining ones above 
 
 Knew, the devas recognized as distinct 
 
 From th' dark earth spirits, dasyus or preventors 
 
 Of light. They also knew the deva-Rishi, saintly 
 
 Man, who from his seat in spheres above his brothers 
 
 Help who still are bound to earth. 
 
 Knowledge of things divine the Veda is, and writers 
 
 Of these sacred songs had certitude; they knew. 
 
64 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Not merely dances and rude mimes their drama, as 
 
 Often is suppos'd, but literature. The highest 
 
 Philosophic truths these dialogues contain, 
 
 Fragments of which we find in the Upanishads.^ 
 
 Nachiketas, greatest seer in Brahma's day, 
 
 To whose home repaired many pupils, some 
 
 Sons of th' royal house, and even kings themselves, 
 
 Preserv'd for later ages th' greatest of th' truths 
 
 Found in these Malaysian dramas. Nachiketas 
 
 Taught his pupils reverence for the mother-god, 
 
 Th' one of all the gods in India earliest worshipp'd. 
 
 Not Privati, ancient goddess of the Earth, 
 
 But that primeval stuff from which the gods as well 
 
 As men proceed, and part of whom resides within 
 
 Each one of us e'en though unrecognized.* This self 
 
 A light, a finger's length, lies hidden in the heart 
 
 Of man. The wise beholding it within themselves 
 
 From sorrow cease and choose the better rather than 
 
 Th' dearer things in life, no longer led away 
 
 By greed for earth gauds. He who chooses wisdom, wisdom 
 
 Gains, and learns that what is Here the same will e'er 
 
 Be Over There. He knows this light within his heart 
 
 Is one with th' inner self of All; that he in substance 
 
 Is the same as God. A tiny spark of fire 
 
 Must e'er contain the elements of fire. The creature 
 
 Made in image like unto The All, to his 
 
 Creator is as drop of water to the ocean; 
 
 Who sees a difference restless and uncertain is 
 
 And goes from death to death. The knowledge of this Life 
 
 Is gained neither by speech nor sight nor meditation, 
 
India 65 
 
 Only by affirming it. The light is that 
 
 Which Jesus call'd the candle, and said it should be set 
 
 Upon a hill, not hidden as is oft the case 
 
 By worthless mass of rubbish. How the self to th' great 
 
 Dynamic force of life by radiance may be join'd 
 
 When man, by meditating on the mystic Aum, 
 
 Shall learn to rise by measures three, and pass the narrow 
 
 Gate which leads to higher spheres, where food in pastures 
 
 Green and waters clear life-giving streams may be 
 
 Partaken of, while yet the soul in house of clay 
 
 Doth dwell, wise Pappalada taught. 
 
 This sage in Brahma's time suggested what in after 
 
 Days the Nazarene command'd — Go in and out 
 
 And pasture find, and take of life's waters freely. 
 
 This was the food which He partook of when He said, 
 
 Meat have I that ye know not of. 
 
 Th' saintly Sakayana warns his hearers not 
 
 To preach the secret doctrine save to pupils of 
 
 A mind serene. An esoteric circle has 
 
 Always been encouraged by great teachers. Jesus 
 
 In parables spake to th' many, for their time had not 
 
 Yet come. A time there is for all things, all things come 
 
 In time. Not all mankind for vision ready are. 
 
 God's children differ greatly in attainment. 
 
 As in age souls vary. When on earth for th' last 
 
 Time, a glimpse at least of other spheres the soul 
 
 Will have to make the journey heavenward easy. Seers 
 
 Are those who see beyond. The righteous Sakayana 
 
 Taught that mind the cause of bondage is, as well 
 
 As cause of freedom, and that man his way to life 
 
66 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Eternal wills, when life within beholds The Life; 
 
 This can never be until from wickedness 
 
 Th' soul has turned away, and emptied envy, hatred, 
 
 Malice, prejudice, from the heart. Then tranquil, free 
 
 From fear or grief, the man will see by grace of God 
 
 Th' majesty of self, and know by choosing that 
 
 He can one become with Universal Self, 
 
 Nor lose an atom of any good that he has gained. 
 
 Besides the many Brahmanical seers and sages who 
 
 Th' philosophic dissertations of the Malaysian 
 
 Drama preserved, there were gifted poets among 
 
 Th' early Brahmins, singing of non-Aryan as well 
 
 As Aryan heroes, giving glimpse of a golden 
 
 Age that passed away before the Semites came. 
 
 Valmiki, holy hermit, pearls of poesy gained 
 
 Through pity. Aided by Narada, messenger of 
 
 Th' gods, of Dasa-ratha's dutious son, the noble 
 
 Rama sang, who Vishnu-like, unfaltering in 
 
 Th' truth, was by privation chasten'd and prepar'd 
 
 To be a father to his people, th' kind Kosalas 
 
 And Videhas in their glorious day, when men 
 
 Of Ayodhya righteous were, when Oudh and Behar warriors 
 
 Marvellous prowess had, and culture deep their priests. 
 
 Valmiki not alone of Rama's wanderings sang 
 
 But of Rama's bride, Mithila's princess Sita, 
 
 Janaka's daughter from the earth with birth imputed 
 
 Miraculous, whose faithful wifehood many sufferings 
 
 And purgations have to womankind endeared 
 
 Her, and given her a place in every Hindu 
 
 Woman's heart. The valiant brothers Rama and 
 
India 67 
 
 Lakhmana were descended from devout illustrious 
 
 Monarch Sagara, also from the saintly king 
 
 Bhagiratha who the lovely Ganga, daughter 
 
 Of the vast Himalaya mountains, led to th' sea. 
 
 Centuries after Rama's day the Kuru kingdom 
 
 On the upper Ganges stood. 'T was here Bharata's 
 
 Godlike race of knightly men, with maids and matrons 
 
 Fair, so fam'd in song and story, reverenced 
 
 For long years the Holy Vedas, also their authors 
 
 And their heralds, fed the sacrificial fire. 
 
 Gave abundant feasts to rich and poor; made costly 
 
 Gifts, not only from king to king but from the wealthy 
 
 To the needy man; acknowledg'd that the shining 
 
 Ones above were cognizant of their acts; and offerings 
 
 Made to saints and gods celestial, who from seats 
 
 On high o'er them did watch, as well as gifts to saintly 
 
 Seers and priests and holy hermits, helpers here. 
 
 They believ'd that bright immortals came to view 
 
 Their gay parades; and taking pleasure in their pleasures 
 
 Above them sailed in the sky in cars, from whence 
 
 Dropped heavenly flowers whose perfume filled th' air. 
 
 Not only did these men of Kuru have their massive 
 
 Palaces gaily painted, their women much bedecked, 
 
 Their monarchs and their princes jewel-girdl'd, gauntlet'd. 
 
 Their bows and knives and swords aflame with precious stones, 
 
 Their chariots drawn by milk-white steeds and swiftest 
 
 coursers, 
 Their actors and their minstrels well paid, loyal their friend- 
 ships. 
 Their paternal and maternal love alike 
 
68 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Firmly grounded, so that the mandate of a mother 
 To her sons was final; but many of the heroes 
 Of this Bharata land were god-born, or their birth 
 God-inspired, fighting to the end their fight, 
 Yet dying they forgot not to forgive their murderers. 
 So it was in Kuru kingdom when Vyasa 
 Of Hastina's ancient walls did sing, which Ganges' 
 Bright wave washed; and of Yudthisthar's palace 
 Built on Jumna's sacred shore, and of the old 
 Blind king Dhritarashtra, father of Duryodhan, 
 Who the sons of Pandu fought so fiercely when 
 Jealousy had darkened his hard heart so that 
 Even saintly, white-rob'd Drona, warrior-priest. 
 Could not stay his murd'rous hand. So peerless Bhishma 
 He bade lead the Kuru race in war unrighteous 
 'Gainst their kindred; thence fell many godlike men. 
 Now we read that Krishna with Hastina's monarch 
 Pleaded long for peace and love with sweet and soft 
 Persuasion; that the fatal feud might cease; that Bhishma 
 Strongly urged Duryodhan yield to Krishna's counsel; 
 That Drona, wise preceptor, bade him list to these 
 Peerless chiefs and not to those who wished th' war, 
 Prophesying that brave Arjun, son of Indra, 
 Aided by the righteous Krishna, could not be 
 O'ercome; and that the sightless kind old father wept 
 And strove to turn Duryodhan's mind, the friendship of 
 Th' noble Pandu brothers begging him to seek, 
 Letting strife and hatred cease. But proud Duryodhan 
 Was with ten strong kings allied, and naught could bend 
 His ignoble pride nor quell his boundless greed. 
 
India 69 
 
 He hop'd to wipe his hated kinsmen off the earth. 
 
 Also we read of Drupad, fair Panchala's monarch, 
 
 Whose dear daughter Draupadi, in mighty contest 
 
 By Arjun gain'd, the wife of Yudhishthir 
 
 Became; and of Matsya's King, whose daughter fair 
 
 Was bride of Arjun's beauteous boy. These kings the army 
 
 Of the Pandu brothers joined. 
 
 We read of wind-born Bhima, stalwart fighter, who 
 
 With furious valor strove; of Arjun, Vishnu-like, 
 
 Who, when god-incarnate Krishna served him 
 
 As charioteer, the death of peerless Bhishma caused. 
 
 Then when Abhimanyu, fair Subhadra's boy. 
 
 Was slain by Sindhu's monarch and six Kuru warriors. 
 
 Boundless Arjun's wrath and deep his grief for death 
 
 Untimely of his valiant son, while fiercely burn'd 
 
 His vengeance on that day of arduous, cruel quest. 
 
 Krishna, ever kind and thoughtful, groom'd and fed 
 
 His jaded horses, healed their bleeding wounds ere Arjun 
 
 Drove his furious car against brave Jayadratha, 
 
 And laid him low with vengeful arrows. 
 
 Yet when Drona, peerless, wise preceptor, slain 
 
 Was by Panchala's prince, a filial tear brave Arjun 
 
 Dropped o'er his lifeless corpse. When sun-born Kama 
 
 Whose famous bow Vijaya that once to Par'su-Rama 
 
 Belong'd, met Arjun with his bow, Gandiva, gift 
 
 Of gods, these heroes equal were in strength and bravery. 
 
 Naught did Kama fear save Arjun's charioteer. 
 
 And begged that mighty Satya, Madra's king, his car 
 
 Might drive. This favor by Duryodhan granted was. 
 
 Then for two long days these archers, so well matched, 
 
70 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Fought, and neither knew that both were sons of Pritha. 
 
 At length when valorous Arjun conquer'd dauntless Kama, 
 
 We know that more than mortal strength was his, and this 
 
 Was granted him, we're told, because in path of virtue 
 
 He was fighting for the right. 
 
 On the fifteenth day, the last day of the war, 
 
 Bhima, having slain Duryodhan's brothers all. 
 
 Met the hateful king, and for his many crimes 
 
 Him arraigned, calling hideous deeds the one 
 
 After another to mind ere him he sent to Yama, 
 
 Monarch of the regions of the dead. Then from 
 
 Hastina's palace hall came forth the Queen Gandhari 
 
 With many moaning maids and widow'd matrons, weeping 
 
 Bitter tears o'er loved ones' corpses found on field 
 
 Of battle. Stately in her sorrow stood Gandhari 
 
 WhUe to Krishna speaking. That Duryodhan now 
 
 In heaven dwelt herself she comfort'd. When the funeral 
 
 Rites were o'er the sightless Dhritarashtra with 
 
 His Queen Gandhari and the ancient Pritha, mother 
 
 Of the Pandu brothers, into retirement went 
 
 To the forest, where ere long they met their fate 
 
 By fire. One after another the heroes die, then Arjun's 
 
 Grandson, Prakshit, upon the throne is placed, and pious 
 
 Yudhishthir proceeds to Paradise in car 
 
 Celestial. We follow him and note that Krishna now 
 
 In heavenly form the good man meets, and him presents 
 
 To Draupadi his dear earth mate, to father and 
 
 To mother and all his brothers brave. The sun-god Indra 
 
 Then shows the king the heroes Bhishma, Kama, Drona, 
 
 All the true and virtuous chiefs of Kuru kingdom. 
 
India 71 
 
 In the glimpse we have of heaven mention is 
 
 Not made of selfish, impious king Duryodhan. 
 
 So closely this historic epic of the war 
 
 Of th' Bharatas twin'd itself around the people's 
 
 Hearts, that generations later when a writer 
 
 Or a teacher would preserve a legend or 
 
 A maxim emphasize, it was inserted in 
 
 The Mahabharata. So Vyasa's bouquet 
 
 Of verses^ has to vast proportions grown, wreath'd 'round 
 
 With much that's good midst many weeds. When Krishna 
 
 worship 
 Dominant became, the ancient dialogue 
 Between brave Arjun and his heavenly charioteer 
 Was by wise preceptor Sanjaya heard with inner 
 Ear; wherein the godhke slayer of Madu teaches 
 Th' son of Kunti helpful truths, instructing him 
 That slaying a man's body in no wise slays the man, 
 For he to the imperishable belongs; having been 
 From the beginning, will be always. The everlasting 
 Abiding Ancient is not slain when th' body perishes. 
 Yet Arjun wishes not to smite his kindred 
 Not desiring victory. Krishna then assures 
 Arjun that this fight is lawful, and 'twould be 
 Dishonorable in him not to wage the battle. 
 Further th' Lord to Pritha's son explains the rule 
 Of work: that no man wins adeptship leaving work 
 Undone; without the doing of deeds no one can come 
 To the plain of rest, but wise is he who ever unwearying 
 Works with no desire of fruit of works, for that 
 Work done free from attachment wins to the supreme. 
 
72 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Further Krishna to his faithful one makes plain the difference 
 
 Of the moods, and how to pass beyond them by 
 
 The cleansing power of knowledge, which through faith to him 
 
 Is given who wisely holds the reins of his emotions. 
 
 Mind than sense is higher, understanding higher 
 
 Still than mind, while self that in the heart abides 
 
 Highest is, for of the Undivided Supreme 
 
 It is part. "Who refuge seeks within and casts 
 
 His cares on Me wins peace at last. "® Thus spake the Lord 
 
 Whose words were ages later into this epic woven; 
 
 Which by many later critics is considered 
 
 Modern, but Sankaracharya called it 
 
 The essence of all the Vedas; while to-day the native 
 
 Men of erudition hold that th' Bhagavad Gita 
 
 Was long before Vyasa's day, before the Aryans 
 
 Migrated into India,^ though much mutilated 
 
 Now by modern would-be seers. 
 
 Time came when the prophet Brahma was forgotten. 
 
 Though half hidden by the rites and mummeries of 
 
 Th' sacerdotal order, much of his teachings remain'd. 
 
 Yet men of learning claiming to be than monarchs higher, 
 
 Some enlightened and some not, but knowing that 
 
 That which animates the man is spirit, worshipp'd 
 
 Breath, and taught that Brahma was th' Creator. While 
 
 Th' ignorant and uncultur'd here as elsewhere had 
 
 Many gods, th' Brahmin monotheistic was 
 
 At first; the lesser gods were all impersonations 
 
 Or the attributes of Brahm. 
 
 Th' Aryans brought a number of deities from Iran; 
 
 Then adopted all they found in their new home, 
 
India 73 
 
 And invented for this sunny clime a bright 
 
 God who became in time a veritable Apollo, 
 
 Athwart the sky his chariot driving, attended by 
 
 Th' haratas; Indra gradually took the place of th' great 
 
 Mother, honors ahke sharing with th' protector 
 
 Vishnu and th' destroyer Siva, who together 
 
 With Brahm had form'd a triune God. 
 
 Th' Brahmin minstrels, singers of sacred songs, at first 
 
 Became the priests, and later on a caste, whose claim 
 
 To superiority was enhanced by 
 
 Th' teaching that the Brahmin proceeded from the mouth 
 
 Of th' Creator, while the Rajputs from his arms 
 
 Came forth, the Vaisyas from his thighs, and from his feet 
 
 Th' Sudras. Of course those who proceeded from the 
 
 mouth 
 Must teach; those coming from the arms were warriors 
 And princes; while the product of the belly or 
 Th' thighs should work; and those born of the feet be slaves. 
 Separated were these castes by iron-bound rules 
 Fost'ring prejudice, injustice, pride. To break 
 Their rigid order no one tried until the Master 
 Came, the Samda-Budhi, reincarnate Brahma, 
 Greatest of the Aryan teachers, th' brotherhood 
 Of man proclaiming; founding th' Order of the Yellow 
 Robe, so that deliverance from delusion might 
 To mankind be preached, th' barriers breaking down 
 That bind the soul to earth lives; fetters cutting that 
 Create necessity for reincarnation. Buddha 
 Sought and found in man and womankind wise helpers — 
 Men to preach and teach; to nurse the sick and tend 
 
74 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Th' temple, nuns and matrons kind, who food and clothes 
 To th' despised poor dispensed, also practic'd 
 Generous hospitality, gaining lasting good. 
 Whether in oval isle of Ceylon, or 
 In northern land of Ouhd where Sakyas dwell 
 As tributary princes to Kosala's 
 King, was this rare prince Siddartha born 
 Is of little moment. Whether palace 
 Was his home or humble dwelling place 
 Matters not. Or if as later legends 
 Say, his mother Maya was by gods 
 Above impregnat'd — what of it? A Virgin 
 Is a man begettor. Yes, one able 
 To produce a virile man, a hero; 
 For consciously or unconsciously is all 
 Conception caused by Holy Spirit power. 
 Who knows her kinship to the gods will be 
 Th' mother sought by souls who purpose help. 
 Whoe'er his father or his mother, born 
 On earthplane was the master call'd Gautama, 
 Who the key to heaven's kingdom found; 
 Show'd th' open door to those made ready 
 For the vision; taught that knowledge freedom 
 Brings to those with eyes and ears for truth, 
 Th' many moral teachings of the past 
 Condens'd into the eightfold path, a doctrine 
 Plainly pointing to the cause of suff'ring;® 
 Stating how to quench the thirst for earth lives, 
 How to vanquish vain desire and banish 
 Delusion; how to overcome the tempter 
 
India 75 
 
 Of forest ! Then an order founded of mendicant 
 
 Monks, who donn'd the yellow robe with meek 
 
 Grace, their daily bread in bowl accepting, 
 
 Making the giver richer for the gift. 
 
 Brahmins not alone to this new order 
 
 Came, but high or low were welcome if 
 
 Ready in themselves to seize a ray 
 
 Of light that from Gautama's well enlighten'd 
 
 Soul in floods fell round. 
 
 Then as rivers all to ocean run 
 
 Whatsoe'er their caste had been, these men 
 
 As one Bhagava cry. Exalted One! 
 
 Buddha! He who knows. 
 Among the earliest converts of this prince Siddartha 
 Were the mighty kings of Magahda and Kosala, 
 Also wise Jivaka whom Bimbisara appointed 
 Physician of the Order. When Buddha at Benares 
 His first sermon preach'd, he won a numerous following. 
 Then in Jetavana's garden many merchants 
 And many men of humble birth he taught, while women 
 Throng'd to hear him, though to highest fellowship 
 None admitted were. The gentle Yasodhara 
 Became a nun, and good Visakha of Savatthi 
 Praised was for hospitality. 
 MaggoUana and Saruputti, Buddha's early 
 Friends, though disaffected for awhile to th' master, 
 Return'd anon and faithful followers were; but none 
 So well as Ananda understood his word, though many 
 'Brethren went throughout the land the Way of Peace 
 Declaring, which the Buddha had proclaim'd; and after 
 
76 The Child of the Nations 
 
 He had shed the mortal shell his teachings at Patna 
 
 Were collected. But divisions came, and neither 
 
 Th' council of five hundred nor of seven hundred 
 
 Held the believers to one mind. 
 
 Asoka, grandson of the famous Chandra Gupta 
 
 Of Behar and th' daughter of Seleukis, who 
 
 With Antiochus th' Great made treaties and extended 
 
 His empire southward, made of Buddhism a state religion, 
 
 Conven'd a council, corrected heresies, collected 
 
 Th' sacred books, promoted institutions of learning 
 
 For men and women, hospitals built for man and beast, 
 
 Missionaries sent to teach. Conversions always 
 
 By persuasion were and never by the sword. 
 
 Numerous rock inscriptions permanent record make 
 
 Of good Asoka's work. His son the sacred canon 
 
 To Ceylon carried; thence it spread to Burma and 
 
 Th' Eastern Archipelago, 
 
 Buddhism grew the better for transplanting. Though 
 
 It prevailed in India for a time, never 
 
 Was Brahminism entirely crush'd or rooted out. 
 
 From the pen of Megasthenes we learn that kingly 
 
 Government in Gupta's day was much the same 
 
 As that prescrib'd in Manu's laws. 
 
 While the Gupta kings in Ouhd were reigning, and 
 
 Th' Sah kings held the northwest near Bombay, 
 
 Those vast invasions by the Tartars started, which 
 
 For over a thousand years all India devastated. 
 
 Fame one monarch won attempting to drive the Scythian 
 
 Hordes beyond th' Himalayas. Th' Samvat era began 
 
 In honor of his victories. Then a century later 
 
India 77 
 
 Th' successful exploits of another valiant king 
 
 Th' Saka era marks. But still the Tartars came. 
 
 Ishmael's descendants, cultur'd Arabs, in th' eighth 
 
 Century of the Christian era conquer'd th' Sind, 
 
 Mohammedanism introducing, which a rapid 
 
 Growth had in the north, while in the south of India 
 
 We find the faith of Brahma reasserting itself. 
 
 Kumarila of Behar the Vedic doctrine 
 
 Preached of a personal God, and while in his 
 
 Day the Buddhists suffered persecution, he 
 
 And his most famous pupil Sancharacharya mould'd 
 
 The philosophy of the Brahmins into the more 
 
 Popular religion of the Hindus. 
 
 Siva now became the favorite deity. In 
 
 Th' minds of th' cultur'd class this is the wisdom of 
 
 Th' serpent, while to th' ignorant man or woman it is 
 
 Only phallic worship. Vishnu never was 
 
 Forgotten; he who brighten 'd day at morn, at noon 
 
 And eventide; who from his home in heaven willingly 
 
 Descended, taking human form, as Rama First; 
 
 Then, as Krishna incarnating, high-soul'd princes 
 
 Of the great war epics, Vishnu, god of light. 
 
 Slowly gain'd pre-eminence in the minds of th' people 
 
 Especially those of th' middle class. The worship of 
 
 Vishnu spread, becoming the popular cult of even 
 
 Th' most despised caste, after Ramanand 
 
 Of Benares chose his twelve disciples from 
 
 Th' poorest, and the dialect of the common people 
 
 Used in th' familiar folk songs and war ballads. 
 
 One of Ramanand's disciples, Kabir, to unite 
 
78 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Th' Hindu and Mohammedan strenuously strove. 
 
 Eloquently he set forth the oneness of God, 
 
 Saying to the Mussulman: To th' West, to Mecca, 
 
 Thou for God dost look; and to the Hindu: Thou 
 
 Lookest East, to Benares; but if only your 
 
 Heart you would explore, there both would find the same 
 
 God, the Inner, He to whom the whole wide world 
 
 Belongs, — the Father of both peoples. 
 
 From Usman's raids to Ahmad Shah's devastations 
 
 Th' triumphs of the iarmy of Islam were but partial 
 
 And temporary, meeting with resistance in 
 
 India keener than elsewhere. Yet by Muhmud twelve 
 
 Times was India invad'd, though it was not 'til 
 
 Th' day of Akbar that an Islamic empire existed. 
 
 Most wise his policy was of giving to the Hindu 
 
 Chiefs high posts in government, which not only brought 
 
 Them into political dependence on him, but induc'd 
 
 Them to mingle their blood in marriage with th' Mughals. 
 
 Thus did Akbar reduce the states of Upper India 
 
 To provinces of the Delphic empire. Yet withal 
 
 In the south his efforts frustrated were by th' valor 
 
 Of a queen.^ To various forms of religion Akbar 
 
 Was hospitable; he also encouraged learning; his 
 
 Red stone fort at Agra is still admir'd, and stands 
 
 In marked contrast to the exquisite marble temple 
 
 Erected by his grandson Shah Jahan. This was 
 
 The height of the Mughal empire in India. Even before 
 
 Th' British came, decline began. Mohammedan princes 
 
 Resist'd th' EngHsh army at many places, yet soon 
 
 Th' great Mughal was but a puppet, mov'd by British 
 
I India 79 
 
 Hands. The longest and the strongest opposition 
 
 To British rule came from the Hindus. 
 
 Th' military supremacy of the English in 
 
 India only began after the battle of Plassey. 
 
 Th' victor became the Governor of Bengal, and made 
 
 Vain but most heroic efforts for good government. 
 
 It was after Clive's second administration 
 
 During th' term of Macpherson, English governor third, 
 
 That the orientalist Jones, the translator of 
 
 Th' Persian poet Hafiz, found the Sanskrit drama, 
 
 And made an English version of the Sakoontala 
 
 An exquisite picture of the pastoral life in the dawn 
 
 Of India's day. Though oftener we read the poetic 
 
 Translation of this drama by Monier- Williams, to him 
 
 We owe most thanks who to the western world first brought 
 
 Kalidasa's light, a poet greatest among 
 
 Th' nine bright gems who grac'd the court of Vik-rama-dity, 
 
 King of Ujjain, in a day when Buddhism was 
 
 Uppermost in India, ere it was transplanted 
 
 To China, Siam, or Japan. 
 
CANTO IV 
 China 
 
 It was the canon of the Scythian King Kanishka, who held the 
 last great Buddhist council and revised th^ sacred books, 
 
 That became a state religion of China, spreading through the 
 north of India, thence to Thibet, Tartary and the southern 
 
 Part of China, where Buddhistic thought is still preserved in 
 purest form by people who know that spirit first is born. 
 
 Which weaves an envelope for itself best suited to 
 Th' sphere in which it dwells. The soul life then evolves, 
 Spinning a little coarser thread for rougher uses, 
 Forming a case to work in, lastly th' earth-house, call'd 
 By some the natural body. So the law of life: 
 First that which is spiritual, and afterwards 
 Th' earthy, cemented by a middle life which rules 
 Th' emotional man. As in the unit, so it should 
 Be in the mass; and if we but look deep enough, 
 Go back far enough in the history of a race 
 That has come to aught, we ever find it so. 
 China's child is law; and children here not only 
 Must have little feet to be aristocratic, 
 But must be laced about the waist, and bound in many 
 Layers of rich clothes, so nothing of their natural 
 Form is seen. Conventions multitudinous 
 Have hemm'd her children in so long, her men and women 
 Can be walked upon. Yet underneath, like frozen 
 
 80 
 
China 
 
 Stream in winter, th' current still sets toward the sea; 
 
 So, though held by too much outward form, the nature 
 
 Of the Mongol is not frigid; deep down under 
 
 Th' crystallized surface paternal love still moves 
 
 His heart; his spirit yearns for higher spirits that 
 
 He believes are ever near. 
 
 If we stir the stream of individual life 
 
 We find it warm within; so if we drop the plummet 
 
 Down the sea of th' race, we find a prophet, whose 
 
 Name is but a name for God. 
 
 Early in the morning of Time, beside 
 
 Th' river Wei, in land now nam'd for him 
 
 Tartary, lived the grand man Tao, who 
 
 To his land the first laws gave — and they 
 
 Are more to-day than then, for laws of spirit 
 
 Live and grow. The sage of Tartary bade 
 
 His disciples live a simple life. 
 
 Not seek to govern men, but strive the nations 
 
 Of the kingdom inside to subdue. 
 
 His word was ever self-effacement. His 
 
 Favorite figure was the valley; for 
 
 As to th' lowlands all the waters of 
 
 Th' hills must run, and all the richest earth 
 
 Be borne, so honor ever to the humble 
 
 Man will come, and that which without seeking 
 
 Comes is always best. 
 
 For the sake of results must naught be done, 
 
 Else th' result will not avail, says Tao. 
 
 He taught the easy, level way: that small 
 
 Things must be considered great, and few 
 
The Child of the \atiofis 
 
 Many: -while with kindness injur}- ever 
 
 ISlust be recompensed. 
 To Tao there was neitJier Yin nor Yang, but just 
 Th' All. Forgetting that e'en life in process of 
 Creation must have ebb and flow, repulsion and 
 Attraction, th' Taoists of to-day have stopp'd progressing; 
 Their religion only one of forms, the prophet 
 E'en forgotten by his followers, a word his name. 
 Yet 'neath the sands that give it birth pure water sinks 
 To rise again in other lands, or flow in wells 
 WTien men dig deep enough; so ages after Tao's 
 Stream of spiritual wisdom buried was in Tartary, 
 It rose in China, when the Old Child, Laotze, 
 Who kept the archives for the King of Chu, the fountain 
 Found, the heavenly stream of Tao recognized. 
 Knew the pearls of thought he found encrusted by 
 Th" ages, and gladly gaA'e them Hght.'^ 
 Confucivis of Lu to th' Old Child went for wisdom; 
 But so unlike were these two men in mental build. 
 They f omid no common groimd on which to meet : yet both 
 Would teach the golden mean, would have men Hve by 
 
 golden 
 Rule. Confucius was courtier, politician, 
 Reformer more than philosopher; regarding outward 
 diodes of life was sage. He voiced Aiews held long 
 Before his day; a canon of ceremonious customs 
 Codified that from earHest times existed. 
 His disciples gather'd th" fragments left from ancient 
 Feasts in baskets five, which gave the histor}-, poetry, 
 Laws and manners of antiquit}.*. 
 
China 83 
 
 Th' earliest race in China passed away before 
 
 Th' time of histor}'. Next the ^Mongol evolved, but 
 
 Not for many centuries mixed his blood with that 
 
 Of Malay or of Tartar neighbor; yet the three 
 
 Gradually an amalgam formed, with a sprinkling 
 
 Of that Semite stock which brought the cult of Shu^ 
 
 Across the Tibetan hil ls when they by Ar\-ans were 
 
 Driven out of northern India. 
 
 From what the Chinese sages saved we leam that ia 
 
 Th' ancient days the Highest One by China's children 
 
 Under name of Yao worshipp'd was; that heaven 
 
 Descended were their emperors deem'd, and reverenc'd 
 
 As the fathers of the race; that later d^iiasties 
 
 Gained their names from new rehgious cults; that those 
 
 Recognizing God within are Yia, those seeing 
 
 More of God in outward things, the Yang or Wang. 
 
 Woo Wang, foimder of the d}Tiast\' Chou, a memor>' 
 
 Left not reverenc'd less than that of Yu, who foUow'd 
 
 The heavenly Emperors Yao and Shin, when he with almost 
 
 Superhuman power had dealt with mountain floods, 
 
 River courses changing, marshy lands reclaiming. 
 
 In the Trigrams of Fu-hsi we see the knowledge 
 
 Of a positive and negative force in nature: 
 
 But in the hands of priests the hexagrams became 
 
 A system vast of di^■ination. 
 
 ^Nlencius, mother'd carefuUy, cull'd th' flowers Confucius 
 
 Cultivated, tied the seeds in labelled packets. 
 
 Mo-Ti, to whom antiquit\- was not as sacred 
 
 As to orthodox Confucius, affir ms that aU 
 
 E\'ils in familv or in state arise from want 
 
84 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Of mutual love — as altruistic he as Yang-Chu 
 
 Is frivolous. Broad are Schopenhaur's ethics compared 
 
 With Yang-Chu's, whose denial of free-will 
 
 Is a link in the process of decay of th' Chou 
 
 Dynasty, far more pregnant than the change to Tartar 
 
 Dress by King Wu-ling, or introduction of 
 
 Cavalry to a people used only to chariots. 
 
 Neither th' building of great walls nor burning records 
 
 Stayed th' ship which rides the waves of history. Woo, 
 
 Taitsong's widow, ruled th' land for forty years, 
 
 When enlighten'd Arabs built a mosque at Canton; 
 
 But not 'til Marco Polo wrote did th' western world 
 
 Know much of that vast empire rul'd by Kublai Khan, 
 
 Grandson of the ablest of the Mongol leaders.^ 
 
CANTO V 
 Persia 
 
 Had Genghis Khan ne'er conquered Syria, still upon the soil of 
 Persia we should find the impress of the dominant eastern 
 
 Race. For ages long before the Tartars teas'd their eastern 
 neighbors, or their territory tried to gain, they westward 
 
 Marched, passed th' Tibetan mountains, and an empire founded 
 in the plain between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. 
 
 Here as elsewhere on this planet, man on th' sixth 
 
 Day began to live. At once he surpassed all 
 
 That had existed here through ages, ofttimes called 
 
 Days, before the heat within the globe came forth 
 
 Enough to foster him. If upon the surface of facts 
 
 He liv'd and saw some light that since is lost, — nay, only 
 
 Clouded for a season, — if he read a message 
 
 In the stars that has been blurr'd for years, his children 
 
 Yet unborn shall fairer, fuller lessons read 
 
 When light their robes of clay has percolated. This mud, 
 
 Th' elements three times three containing, used was 
 
 In form of sun-dried bricks impress'd with ideograms 
 
 To tell the story of their civilization; yet 
 
 Long years before they felt the need of written records 
 
 These prehistoric races warr'd over their religious 
 
 Differences. The overworld they worshipp'd with 
 
 Its day- and night-time luminaries, but the tribes 
 
 Dispers'd and families were divided as to whether 
 
 Th' Sun be called Ar or Ra, or Al or La. 
 
 85 
 
86 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Th' Persians never had a definite mother god; 
 
 But Tur, the thunder, thought to be a force maHgn 
 
 Was worshipp'd as a goddess. Devotees of Tur, 
 
 Turanians, early went to Africa, Italy and 
 
 Spain; there the city Tarshish built. 
 
 Wars between the sons of Sehm, Tur, and Irij 
 
 Many heroes made; the foremost one of whom, 
 
 Rustem brave, whose father Zal by Simurgh nourished 
 
 Was, with axe of Sam in hand, astride Rakush 
 
 His wondrous horse by demon foaled, seven marvellous 
 
 Feats performed; then the Persians led 'gainst Turan 
 
 And the allied Tartar hosts, and champion proved. 
 
 Yet his majestic child, Tahmineh's son, Sohrab, 
 
 Unwittingly he slew, and all too late his offspring 
 
 Knew. But still their deeds in fadeless colors live 
 
 On Firdausi's poetic page.^ 
 
 By and by religious amalgamation effected 
 
 Was by Iran and Turan to protect themselves 
 
 Against the Tartars who brought learning from the land 
 
 Of the Sacred Tongue, where the sun was more 
 
 Than an archer god; where men for ages had 
 
 Studied th' movements of the heavenly bodies, th' spirit 
 
 In and behind them worshipping, rather than their form, 
 
 It was the Tartars who to Persia gave th' Sumerian 
 
 Culture and a language than th' Semitic older 
 
 Far. One branch in history known as Hittites drove 
 
 One of th' earlier races northwest, where in the mountains 
 
 They retain'd their primitive ways. To-day these are 
 
 Caucasians called. Persia's other Titan race, 
 
 Known to-day as Aryans, for a time were driven 
 
Persia 87 
 
 South and west. Some went to Egypt; thence returning 
 Settled in Phoenicia; but before this time 
 Cyclops from the north had come and left their story 
 In the massive stones at Baalbec. Very much 
 Of the record of the earliest peoples was 
 Destroyed in Noah's deluge, but one book, that of Job, 
 Th' Aramaean philosopher, full of dramatic fire, 
 Th' kernel of the Christian faith containing, was 
 Saved; and their thought was carried on by one 
 Born in far-fam'd Noe before the flood, 
 Saved in the ark, so marvellously 
 Built. While yet a little child he saw 
 His father and his grandfather thanks return 
 To the God of Earth and Heaven, when 
 On Ararat they saw the waters abating. 
 Is it strange that Shur's soul should be 
 Strongly stirred, and his heart for action 
 Throb; or that he should the will of heaven 
 Feel, and early know his destiny? Taught, 
 While still a little lad, by his father Shem 
 To pull the bowstring, not at elk or doe 
 Or mountain goat he aim'd, but upward sent 
 His arrows, hoping they would pierce the sun. 
 When later he had grown to be a mighty 
 Hunter, heavenward his thoughts were sent. 
 And still extraordinary deeds he craved. 
 Feeling th' power of tides and waves, yet knowing 
 Not their origin, he shared th' popular 
 Belief that Anu, god of the celestial 
 Ocean, inundations brought about 
 
88 The Child of the Nations 
 
 As punishment for wicked men. To help 
 Mankind above all else was Shur's desire. 
 Having slain a goodly lion, he 
 Sacrificed him to the sun, then built 
 Altars three — to fire, to earth, and water. 
 Around the last a temple rear'd to Nun, 
 Where priests in robes resembling fish^ petition'd 
 Heaven ne'er to send another flood. 
 Near this temple soon arose a city- 
 Built by mighty men, a chosen band 
 Of Shur's, and he their lawgiver was and king. 
 Th' wheel with wings he made his emblem, ever 
 Conscious that his inspiration came 
 On wings from place beyond the sun, which orb 
 He worshipp'd as the source of life terrestrial. 
 Not only his descendants took his name. 
 And rul'd in Nineveh, but all the country 
 Round was called for him Assyria.^ 
 Shur's kinsman, mighty Nimrod, Erech conquer'd 
 And Akkad, builded Calneh in the land of Shinar 
 Where for centuries Tartars had held sway. 'T was here 
 Gishdubar laurels won, Eabani fighting. 
 Here Istar for long was deem'd a goddess. Brave 
 Merodach exalted was to sun-god when 
 He had slain Tiamat, great sea serpent, whose 
 Spirit shone in Milky Way. 
 
 Two centuries after Shur a sovereign nam'd Shargina 
 Arose who master'd Babylonia, then carried 
 To the Mediterranean Sea his arms. He called 
 His empire Sumer and Akkad. Naram Sin, his son, 
 
Persia 89 
 
 Left a wonderful portrait of himself in stone, 
 
 And maintain'd his father's empire, keeping the Elamites 
 
 At bay, who ever sought to destroy the arts and records 
 
 Of the towns of Lower Zab. 
 
 A civil war arose in Peleg's day,^ which drove 
 
 A remnant of the Semites further south. So Nahor 
 
 Went to Gurra's land and Terah dwelt at Ur 
 
 In Chaldea; whence his son by God was call'd to Canaan, 
 
 Where Abram by Melchizedek was blessed, who gave 
 
 Him bread and wine. Here Abram fought with Sodom's 
 
 king 
 To rescue Lot, and slew the king of Elam. After 
 This with th' angel of the Lord, to spare the wicked 
 Cities Sodom and Gomorrah, Abram pleaded. 
 Now Amraphel of Shinar, in the vale of Siddim 
 Warred, and th' Elamites to their mountains drove, 
 Then reunited Sumer and Akkad. Now Marduk 
 Bel supreme became, whereas En-lil of Nippur 
 Had long been call'd the All. The change was only one 
 In name; both worshipp'd the creative fluid of 
 Th' bull, which as a potion taken gives longevity. 
 Th' limits of his empire Amraphel not only 
 Now extend'd, but peace restored, literature 
 And astronomy encouraged, and a written 
 Code of laws to his people gave. One of these 
 Graven tablets was to Susa taken five 
 Centuries later when the Kassites conquer'd Babylon, 
 Where for full six hundred years they held the throne, 
 And assimilated Babylonian culture. 
 That the Semites mix'd their blood with that of Huns 
 
90 The Child of the Nations 
 
 We learn from grief Rebecca show'd when Esau took 
 
 To himself a Hittite wife, from which admixture 
 
 Th' indomitable Edomites arose, whose country 
 
 In early days the Israelites pass'd round when Edom's 
 
 King refus'd their marching through; nor with this people 
 
 Israel fought as they with many of their kindred 
 
 Did as well as nations strange. Yet Balaam saw 
 
 A star arising out of Jacob that should possess 
 
 This people; while post-exilic Isaiah spoke of Christ 
 
 As one from Edom coming, his garments stain'd with blood. 
 
 Soon after Israel came again to Canaan, his next 
 
 Capitol Shalmaneser built at Calah which 
 
 Later was absorbed by Nineveh. Then for a time 
 
 Semite Nebuchadnezzar led victorious armies; 
 
 But that he gained could not hold, while his successors 
 
 Were overcome by th' rising power in Assyria. 
 
 They felt the sway of that strong king — " Conqueror 
 
 Of hostile countries and subduer of all rebels, " 
 
 As Assur-ris-isi was by his greater son 
 
 Tiglathpileser styl'd — who statesman was as well 
 
 As warrior; even unto Egypt his success was known. 
 
 His lengthy annals tell of many prosperous 
 
 Expeditions, widely extending Syria, conquering 
 
 Babylon, Canaan invading, coming e'en to Lebanon. 
 
 But as night follows day, after conquest a period 
 
 Of inaction usually ensues. Tiglathpileser 
 
 Found no one in Syria or in Canaan able 
 
 To resist his arms; but when two centuries later 
 
 His successors tried to reach th' Phoenician coast 
 
 They were not only met by Aramaeans, who 
 
Persia 91 
 
 On th' fallen Hittite empire had a kingdom 
 
 Founded at Zobah and Damascus, but in Palestine 
 
 Found new forces firmly planted, for a kingdom 
 
 Israel had established there. 
 
 Samuel, prophet-priest, to th' cries of Israel's children 
 
 For a king had acceded; Saul, tall son of Kish, 
 
 Anointed them to lead to battle; but not the rod 
 
 Of Aaron did Samuel give to Saul, which Joshua, son 
 
 Of Nun, of all the Hebrew leaders greatest, brought 
 
 To Canaan; with it dividing th' waters of Jordan, tumbling 
 
 Th' walls of Jericho through knowledge of acoustic 
 
 Laws long since forgotten; making the sun on Ascalon 
 
 Stand still, or appear to do so by the help of his 
 
 Angel-guide and th' mighty rod. This was the weapon 
 
 Caleb used to fight the giants. Othniel, son 
 
 Of Caleb's brother Kenaz, with this magic twig 
 
 Th' king of Mesopotamia defeated. Then arose 
 
 Left-handed Ehud, son of Gera who the king 
 
 Of Moab, Eglon, slew, and in his belly left 
 
 Th' potent rod which, used for death instead of life. 
 
 Long was lost. This rod once only by a woman 
 
 Was possessed. Poetess and prophetess 
 
 Deborah judged Israel many years. She aided 
 
 Barak rout their enemies; then sang the praise 
 
 Of Heber's wife who drove the nail in Sisera's head. 
 
 Captain brave of Jabin's army, when in the Kenites' 
 
 Tent he rest'd while his mother peering through 
 
 Th' lattice wonder'd why the chariot wheels so tarried. 
 
 Again did Israel evil in the sight of the Lord. 
 
 So the Midianties, Amalikites and Amorites 
 
92 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Prevailed against them 'til an angel brought the wondrous 
 Rod to Gideon, mighty man of valor, whose 
 Chosen men their trumpets blew and cried, Th' sword 
 Of Gideon and the Lord, which sword was Adam's rod. 
 With it their foes he vanquish'd, yet refus'd to rule. 
 For many years no ruler came. Then greatly fearing 
 Ammon th' men of Gilead sent to th' land of Tot 
 For Jephthah, on whom the spirit of the Lord did rest. 
 With Gideon's rod in hand he sallied forth to fight, 
 Vowing to sacrifice whatever should come forth. 
 First, on his return to meet him, when victorious 
 To Mizpah he came. Behold, it was his daughter who 
 Came out with minstrel and with dance to greet him. Jeph- 
 thah 
 Sorrowfully now his vow perform'd, his only 
 Child condemning to virginity.^ 
 Next Manaoh's Herculean son heroic deeds 
 Accomplish'd, Dagon's temple overthrew, the death 
 Of many causing. Samuel, like Samson, was the child 
 Of aged dame, hence rul'd by judgment more than passion, 
 Kept the rod throughout his lifetime, realizing 
 Saul from witches e'er was seeking aid, advice 
 From familiar spirits asking, instead of gaining 
 All his wisdom from the Lord. 
 To David, whom in Hebron he appointed, Samuel 
 Bequeath'd th' precious rod, and taught the son of Jesse 
 How with other spheres he could communicate 
 By means of Ephod,^ Urim (earpiece), thiunbpiece (Thum- 
 
 mim) 
 Form'd of clay and epho in shape to user suited 
 
Persia 93 
 
 Best. To priests of Egypt this was known, and used 
 
 By Levites who understood its law. 
 
 Able men surrounded Jesse's youngest son, 
 
 Sons of Zola of the tribe of Issachar 
 
 Were men that understood the times. Those that to David 
 
 Came in Zikley ambidextrous were in throwing 
 
 Stones, while sons of Gad with faces lionlike 
 
 Could the shield and buckler handle, and were swift 
 
 As roes upon the mountains. Amasai of captains 
 
 Chief, Jehoshophat, son of Ahilud, recorder, 
 
 Zadok, Ahimelech, chief priests, and Joab, leader 
 
 Of the hosts, were all trustworthy vaHant men. 
 
 When the great grandson of the gentle Moabitess 
 
 Ruth, the singer of the psalms of Israel, King 
 
 Of Judah, turn'd his face to th' wall his soul return'd 
 
 To God, his youngest son, Bathsheba's child, inherited 
 
 Not only all the kingdom but the rod of Aaron. 
 
 So well did Solomon wield this rod that far and wide 
 
 His reputation as a sage was spread, and Sheba's 
 
 Queen from Egypt journeyed his advice to ask. 
 
 Rich gifts she brought to him, and wonder'd at his treasures. 
 
 Though in extent his kingdom greatly was reduced 
 
 He richer grew, rare woods, rich colors, spices, gold 
 
 And silver shower'd were on Solomon. 
 
 As in very early days Gudea, priest-king 
 
 Of Sirgulla, to Lebanon sent for cedars, so now 
 
 These priceless trees desiring for the building of 
 
 Th' temple, Solomon asked them of Hiram, king 
 
 Of Tyre, who aided him in every way. This temple 
 
 Was seven years in building. Syrian in design 
 
94 The Child of the Nation 
 
 And very rich in ornamentation was this house 
 
 Which Solomon dedicated to God with song and prayer. 
 
 To Israel's children very dear this temple was. 
 
 But with all his wisdom, Solomon altars built 
 
 To strange gods to please his many wives: to Ashtoreth, 
 
 Goddess of th' Zidonians, Chemosh, Moabite god, 
 
 To Milcom and to Baal, which so displeased Israel's 
 
 God that Solomon's kingdom He divided and only 
 
 Two tribes gave to Rehoboam, in whose reign 
 
 Jerusalem was sacked, its palace and temple treasures 
 
 Carried into Egypt were by Pharoah Shishak, 
 
 Th' ten tribes now to Jeroboam of Zereda 
 
 Given, whose father Nebat, one of Solomon's servants 
 
 Was. Yet Jeroboam and his sons were so 
 
 Displeasing to the Lord that soon we find in Israel 
 
 Kings enthron'd by mihtary despotism. 
 
 With Omri, able general, who Samaria builded. 
 
 Arose a new dynasty. His son, Ahab, influenc'd by 
 
 Th' wicked Jezebel of Tyre, the worship of Baal 
 
 Introduc'd, whose prophets manifold and those 
 
 Of Ishtar were at the royal table fed, while prophets 
 
 Of Jehovah hid in dens and caves; until 
 
 Elijah th' Tishbite, living with a widow in 
 
 Th' village of Sarepta, near to Sidon, rebuked 
 
 Ahab and a mighty miracle on Mount Carmel 
 
 Wrought; then fearlessly bade the people slay the prophets 
 
 False of Baal. On Horeb in his lonely hours 
 
 Elijah found that inner chamber where the voice 
 
 Of God is heard. On leaving this world Elijah bade 
 
 Elisha, whom for his successor he had chosen. 
 
Persia 95 
 
 Make a request. A double portion of the prophet's 
 
 Spirit was what EKsha ask'd and gained; for 
 
 EKjah bestow'd on his disciple th' mantle which 
 
 Was Aaron's rod.' Elisha many marvellous things 
 
 With it perform'd, and to poHtical as well 
 
 As spiritual power attained. Knowing that the house 
 
 Of Ahab would be destroyed, he appointed Jehu 
 
 Of Ramoth-Gilead king. The Baal- worshippers then 
 
 He strategically slew, yet allow'd th' golden 
 
 Calves of Bethel and of Dan to remain. Throughout 
 
 Jehu's reign and that of many generations 
 
 Succeeding, th' struggle of Israel with Damascus continu'd 
 
 To be a losing one. Th' Assyrian conquest of 
 
 Th' Aramaean kingdom brought relief to Israel 
 
 And to Judah. Then ensued civil strife. 
 
 During these times of dissension Judith* of 
 
 Bethuha, by her great beauty and deep strategy, 
 
 Secur'd and bore within her bag of meat the head 
 
 Of Holof ernes, captain chief of th' Assyrian host. 
 
 For which brave deed both priest and people sang her praise. 
 
 Ahaz, king of Judah, to Tiglathpileser Third 
 
 Appeal'd for help, though by Isaiah warn'd that ruin 
 
 Would come. This was that Isaiah, son of Amos, 
 
 Who the shadow on the sun-dial made go back 
 
 Ten degrees. When this was noised abroad, and also 
 
 Hezekiah's wonderful recovery, priceless 
 
 Gifts to Jerusalem were sent. Then Hezekiah 
 
 Ostentatiously display'd th' royal treasures 
 
 To ambassadors from Babylon. Now Isaiah 
 
 Prophesied that not only these treasures 
 
96 The Child of the Nations 
 
 But the people also would to Babylon be carried 
 
 Captive. Just a little while it was until 
 
 Hezekiah dearly paid for heeding not 
 
 Th' prophet's voice; for th' destruction of Samaria 
 
 Begun by Shalmaneser was by Sargon th' Later 
 
 Complet'd, and Israel carried into Babylon. Sargon 
 
 Also captur'd Gaza and Ashdod, and took 
 
 Th' Philistines to his realm. His greatest conflict was 
 
 With th' Chaldeans, a people lately risen to power 
 
 In southern Babylonia. But Judah was not 
 
 Devastated or th' Chaldean monarch expelled 
 
 From Babylon 'til his son Sennacherib's day. 
 
 After the murder of Sennacherib by his sons, 
 
 And before the rebuilding of the city by 
 
 Esar-Haddon it was, that Tobit who dwelt an exile 
 
 At Nineveh, sent his son to Rages, guided by 
 
 A holy angel Raphael, one of th' seven who 
 
 Th' prayers and praises of the saints to God present.^ 
 
 For the young Tobias, Raphael found a wife 
 
 Fair and rich, his cousin Sara, daughter of Raguel 
 
 Of Ecbatana; also Raphael taught Tobias 
 
 How to heal his father's blindness, who, so grateful 
 
 That his eyesight was restored, wrote a prayer 
 
 Of rejoicing, telling of Jerusalem 
 
 The city Over There, whose streets are paved with gold. 
 
 Tobit prophesied Nineveh's destruction 
 
 Which happened in Tobias' lifetime, though his father's 
 
 Instruction following, to Medea he had moved. 
 
 On the ruins of Assyria arose the new 
 
 Chaldean monarchy. The fate that renowned Jonah, 
 
ersia 
 
 97 
 
 Priest of th' famous fish-cult, hesitat'd to tell 
 
 For Nineveh so long ago, had overtaken 
 
 Her. When Nabopolassar join'd th' Medes besieging 
 
 Shur's ancient capitol, Nineveh was raz'd 
 
 To th' ground, and th' wonderful library of Assurbanipal 
 
 Was buried, that future generations might not only 
 
 Read of th' last of th' Sargonids (a fierce and merciless 
 
 Warrior, who was educated in all the arts 
 
 And sciences of Babylon) but through these clay tablets 
 
 Learn the culture of the people. 
 
 Necho, son of Pharaoh Psammet, during th' siege 
 
 Of Nineveh advanc'd against Carchemish where 
 
 He was defeat'd by th' young prince Nebuchadnezzar, who 
 
 Had alHed himself to Medea by marrying princess 
 
 Amytis. She car'd not for th' mighty walls of Babylon 
 
 Built by semi-mythic Semiramis, when from Tartar 
 
 Hands the rich plain first was wrest'd nor did she care 
 
 For military prowess as that Amazonian 
 
 Semiramis reigning in a later day, to whom 
 
 The credit of the walls is sometimes given. Though 
 
 With richest stuff from Lydia and from Egypt and 
 
 Many golden candlesticks and vessels from 
 
 Jerusalem her palace crowded was, yet Amytis 
 
 Was sad. She sighed for her mountain home. To please 
 
 This creature of the woods and hills the king had built 
 
 A mount and thereon hanging gardens, which were long 
 
 Accounted one of the seven wonders of the world. 
 
 Many and magnificient the structures Nebuchadnezzar 
 
 Gave to Babylon. In his reign Jerusalem 
 
 Was besieged, for it had revolt'd despite 
 
98 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Jeremiah's warning, who predicted captivity 
 
 On account of their sins, yet taught that children need 
 
 Not suffer for the sins of fathers, but be rewarded 
 
 Every one according to the fruits of his 
 
 Doings. Jeremiah used an almond rod 
 
 For divining, which was not so powerful as 
 
 Th' apple rod that came from Eden; but that one 
 
 Daniel had to Babylon carried, where he sat 
 
 In the king's gate as Mordecai in earlier 
 
 Days had done, whose brave niece Esther pleas'd th' king 
 
 Ahasuerus and outwitted wicked Haman. 
 
 With Daniel were three other noble youths who in 
 
 Th' king's palace stood. The golden image refusing 
 
 To worship, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego 
 
 Were thrown into a fiery furnace, but protected 
 
 By an angel they came forth unharm'd. Th' mighty 
 
 Michael, prince of all the Hebrew people, spake 
 
 To Daniel; and the great archangel Gabriel guided 
 
 Him; so many things he prophesied that came 
 
 To pass: the death of King Belshazzar, and the coming 
 
 Of Cyrus, prince of Ausan, king of Persia, who 
 
 Had overthrown th' Medean empire, and the beautiful 
 
 Capitol of Lydia taken. Croesus, son 
 
 Of Alyattes, at whose court wise Solon feasted, 
 
 And the cripple .iEsop moral fables told. 
 
 Had allied himself to Nabonid of Babylon. 
 
 So though meriting punishment Cyrus pardon'd him 
 
 As at a later day he Nabonid forgave. 
 
 On entering Babylon Cyrus peace to all proclaimed. 
 
 Sympathetic with their many religious cults 
 
ersia 
 
 99 
 
 He much praise to Marduk gave, yet favor'd Ormuzd 
 As portray'd by Zoroaster the Iranian 
 Reformer, who another form of phalHc worship 
 Taught in fire dimension which is nine, and nine 
 Th' measure is of man,^" as Ezekiel versed in 
 KabbaHstic lore, in mystic language tells, 
 When he had seen the chariot wheels in his own temple. 
 And learn'd to go without, and browse within the courts. 
 But even more than to his rehgious Hberality 
 Cyrus' fame was owing to the edict which 
 Gave the Jews their freedom; yet not all return'd 
 To Palestine; a century later we hear of Ezra 
 Th' scribe, and Nehemiah cupbearer to Artaxerxes 
 Going to Jerusalem to assist in rebuilding 
 Th' temple and repairing of the city walls. 
 It was in this day Zechariah, son of Iddo 
 Th' prophet, urg'd th' spiritual restoration of Zion. 
 He in vision saw the seven-flamed lamp^^ 
 Whose oil feeds myriad lesser lights. 
 From the river Indus to th' .^gean Sea, 
 From the Jaxartes to the land of th' pharoahs, Cyrus' 
 Empire vast extend'd. His son Cambyses dethron'd 
 Amasis in an Egyptian expedition, and would 
 Have reigned over th' largest empire on earth had not 
 An accident shorten'd his life. Under Darius who now 
 Was chosen king, the empire was organized anew. 
 Desiring to be master of the world, Darius 
 Sent his armies not only eastward to the Indus, 
 And northward to th' Caucasian country, but tried to 
 conquer 
 
The Child of the Nations 
 
 Greece. Mardonius his ablest general with 
 
 A host of long-hair'd Medes landed on the coast 
 
 Of Attica, where they signally were defeat'd by brave 
 
 Skillful Miltiades who a chosen few, 
 
 Th' flower of Athens, led to battle. Still the Persian's 
 
 Grave is seen upon the plains of Marathon. 
 
 Next at Salamis Xerxes' ships a sad fate met, 
 
 While he sat by and wept. In Susa's palace Queen 
 
 Atossa saw Darius' ghost, which said to her, 
 
 "My son defeated is by great Themistocles." 
 
 After this the Persians thought no more of conquering 
 
 Greece, but half a century later ask'd from Hellas 
 
 Help. Then Xenophon with ten thousand sturdy men 
 
 Aid to Cyrus Younger lent; returning after 
 
 Countless hardships found the gates of Sparta closed. 
 
 Th' battles of Issus and Gaugamela decided 
 
 Persia's fate when Alexander th' Great the power 
 
 Of the third Darius overthrew. Then began 
 
 A second era of civilization for Persia under 
 
 Th' rule of th' Seleucidae, when the customs and culture 
 
 Of the Greeks were introduced. 
 
 Once again in Persia power arose. The brave 
 
 Sassanides disput'd th' east with Rome for four 
 
 Centuries. But th' victorious career of Sapor 
 
 Second, king of this new dynasty was by th' rising 
 
 Power of Palmyra checked. Here in the old 
 
 Tadmor of the desert Odenathus reigned, 
 
 And after him his brilliant, beautiful wife Zenobia, 
 
 Who later recklessly fought Aurelian, and was taken 
 
 Captive to Rome in chains of gold. 
 
ersia 
 
 Subtly Hellenic and Hebraic influences 
 
 Met and mixed in Syria and in Asia Minor, 
 
 Where Seleucus and Antiochus made the Jews 
 
 Ever welcome. But th' Judean state had fallen 
 
 Into sad corruption; high priests now were secular 
 
 Princes, finally chiefs of marauding bands of whom 
 
 Judas Maccabasus most noted was; yet even 
 
 Now from Pontus Mithradates was driven while 
 
 All of Asia Minor to Rome submitted. Finally 
 
 Under Pompey, Syria was reduced to a province 
 
 Of the empire, and th' Hasmonean monarchy was 
 
 Forever extinguished. High priests tributary vassals 
 
 To Rome became. Idumean Antipater ruled. 
 
 Whose son Herod, tetrarch of Judea, rebuilt 
 
 Th' temple and adorned Jerusalem, which pleased 
 
 Th' Romans so they overlooked his many hideous 
 
 Crimes. He died four years before th' estabhshed Christian 
 
 Era, which was th' same year Jesus Christ was born. 
 
 After this Judea was to th' prefecture 
 
 Of Syria join'd, and ruled by the Roman governors. 
 
 Pontius Pilate, at whose hands the Lord Jesus 
 
 Suffer'd, weak was, not wick'd, only an instrument in 
 
 Th' hands of Providence to hasten th' end of that 
 
 Life on earth, which for all time will be an example. 
 
CANTO VI 
 Japan 
 
 Th' Son of Righteousness, whose goings forth from of old have 
 been, as Micah saith, whom Malachi with healing wings 
 did see. 
 
 Not only rose in Palestine, and left warm tints of afterglow 
 athwart the western sky, but in the far, far East 
 
 Ariseth, where the isles already gifts to Him are bringing, whose 
 glory th^ earth shall cover as the waters cover th' sea. 
 
 Even now the light of Bethlehem commingles 
 With the light of earlier days in Shinkoku. 
 In this Meigi period Japan's thinking man 
 Embraces Christianity as he welcomes science, 
 Political theories, social reform and industries 
 Of the western world; yet with terrific tenacity 
 Holds to ancient creeds, as he has always held 
 To belief in an unbroken line of sovereignty. 
 Yesterday's revolution was an earthquake almost 
 Destroying old picturesque Japan. The pent-up life 
 Of the race in centuries long of isolation. 
 Of such silent preparation, was the ebb 
 Of a tidal wave. And just as that grand man 
 Hamaguchi,^ residing on the heights, the waters 
 Saw receding, knowing what the flood would bring, 
 Burnt his rice the village folk to save; so in 
 This latter day the Samurai gives up his swords; 
 The hereditary princes of Satsumi, 
 
Japan 
 
 103 
 
 Choshi and Hizen, resign their fiefs to th' crown, 
 
 Hoping to break the power of the Shoguns, their 
 
 Enemies since the day of Jeyasu, diplomat 
 
 Unsurpass'd, who set aside the youthful sons 
 
 Of Hideyoshi, councillor great, then quell'd the turbulent 
 
 Daimyos, compelling them to live at Yeddo. 
 
 Since Yoritomo overthrew the Tairo clan 
 
 Six hundred years ago at Kawakura, estabhshing 
 
 Mihtary rule which only a nominal strength 
 
 Left to th' sovereign, virtually had the land been rul'd 
 
 By the Shogunate, which now yields to foreign powers, 
 
 Giving them an open door at Yokohama. 
 
 Th' court at first oppos'd to western ways, pollution 
 
 Fearing for Yamato's land, abolish'd th' Shoguns 
 
 With a weapon by Prince Mito forged, pohshed 
 
 By Motoori, and enlarged by Hirata. 
 
 Then standing on the heights the statesmen call the people 
 
 To come up! And culture, long the sole possession 
 
 Of the court, is rapidly being democratized; 
 
 Literature no longer left to women, though 
 
 Morasaki, creator of prose epic in 
 
 Japan, has to the Fugiwara family lustre 
 
 Given, while Seishonagon's lengthy "Pillow Sketches" 
 
 Are remember'd. Lyrics of the Heian age 
 
 Are read, and Hitomaru call'd a god. Still reverenc'd 
 
 Th' Kojiki, for does it not declare their land 
 
 To be of origin divine, their Mikados 
 
 All of heavenly birth! Yet press and public school, 
 
 Philosophy and psychology are to-day far greater 
 
 Factors in the life of every Japanese 
 
I04 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Than even that colossal Buddha erected by 
 Th' efforts of the Empress Glorious, Komio, Spouse 
 Of Shomu, who when offering flowers to Buddha feared 
 To pluck them lest her hands the blossoms might defile;^ 
 Or Ise's sacred temples with their wealth of Shinto 
 Liturgies publish'd by the Empress Gensho, Jito's 
 Daughter, who the court at Nara fixed, and there 
 Preserv'd th' code of laws and old traditions by 
 Tennu, her noble spouse, collect'd. Yet to her past 
 Japan is loyal, loyal to her present, and 
 Loyal to her belief in a future life. On China's 
 Laws and India's sacred lore she has been fed, 
 And woven the richest of each into her native faith, 
 "Th' Way of th' Gods," preserving all that makes for bet- 
 terment. 
 Other nations have had light that comes through avenues 
 Of the soul, have known how to lift the veil between 
 Th' seen and unseen, yet have not given freely of 
 This knowledge to the world. In India it was only 
 For a chosen few, and hence her light is waning, 
 Her civilization fast becoming but an ornament 
 Upon the English life. A heritage rich has China 
 But too carefully husband 'd; she has been forgetful 
 Of hospitality, a virtue none must overlook; 
 She has shut her doors when feasting. So to-day 
 Th' father and the elder brother to the younger 
 Son are giving place; the robe and ring are his 
 Already; even now the feast for him is laid. 
 Of the nations three, set apart to bring the psychic 
 Wave to earth, the Japanese are in advance. 
 
 t 
 
Japan 105 
 
 From of old it has been so: not Cain the outcast, 
 
 Not Abel whose gift was preferr'd, but Seth, the third 
 
 Son, was chosen; Shem's nor Ham's but Japheth's children 
 
 Have the richest dower; Issac, son of promise. 
 
 Was a younger brother; he unwittingly blessed 
 
 Jacob, who in turn preferred Joseph, and 
 
 Exalted Manasseh. As with th' children so it is 
 
 With the nations of the world. The last shall be 
 
 First. The race is very young now ruling Yamato's 
 
 Land, whose rude rock caverns ages older are 
 
 Than the fall of Sasanoo, whose sacred Fugi, 
 
 Mighty mount of Daisen, rais'd its snowy cone 
 
 Long before e'en Izanagi cross'd th' floating 
 
 Bridge, before those fourteen chieftains slew the spider 
 
 Men, who dwelt beneath the ground in Izumo, 
 
 A remnant of which race we find in men call'd Ainos. 
 
 Th' younger son a mixture of Malaysian is 
 
 With Mongol. Coming from Korean land, led by 
 
 Jimmu Tenno, he firm possession of these rich 
 
 Isles has taken. Jimmu (as all emperors since 
 
 His day) traced descent from Mingi-no-Mikoto, 
 
 Grandson of the goddess of the sun, the beauteous 
 
 Amaterasu-0-Mi-Kami, whose sword the dark 
 
 Dispels, whose mirror life reflects, whose jewel rests 
 
 Within the heart of every loyal one. Goddess 
 
 Of miraculous birth, from Izanagi's eye 
 
 Produc'd in Izumo, fair province of the gods, 
 
 Mother to be of mighty kings, Mikados all 
 
 To thee their lineage trace, to thee their high descent 
 
 Ascribe. For ages thou didst hide in caverns of 
 
io6 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Th' sea, whence woo'd by myriad gods with song and dance 
 
 To gladden heart of fair Yamato's race, thy rays 
 
 From ocean depths came forth, and shone on great Nippon; 
 
 With ropes of rice-straw wast thou bound to hold thee fast 
 
 To Shinkoku. Thou Kwannon art of thousand hands, 
 
 Who on the lily stand' st refusing rest of heaven 
 
 To aid the souls of men. Amida Buddha thou; 
 
 Gyogi recogniz'd thy light as one in all. 
 
 When on the seventh night of vigil to him thou spakest. 
 
 Behind the orb of day thou peepest forth thy work 
 
 To do, illuming lands made ready for thy light. 
 
 Thy robes of variant hue o'er earth are spread. The dawn 
 
 Is seen in cherry blossom petals in Japan. 
 
 Thou new aurora of the eastern seas, your blossoms 
 
 Scatter o'er a smiling land, and laugh and shout. 
 
 Yea, cry aloud, ye sons of Izumo! The sun 
 
 Which for centuries Japan has worshipp'd, will 
 
 Soon be up; and not as horse or bull or lion 
 
 Will she appear, but as a serpent spreading o'er 
 
 Th' sky a roseate hue; then setting on the earth 
 
 Its tail, its head will swallow all the little snakes 
 
 (Small pretensions to the psychic truth magicians 
 
 Make), as Aaron's rod of old.^ 
 
 Has the youngest child of th' yellow-skinned race 
 
 Found the charmed rod that blossoms for the one 
 
 Who knows its use? It need not be of apple tree 
 
 Or almond,* such as Israel's prophets potent found; 
 
 Cherry tree magnetic is. Its blood-ting'd blooms 
 
 Speak of war; its juicy fruit of intellectual 
 
 Life; its wood that easily yields to artist's hands 
 
Japan 
 
 107 
 
 Typical is of this small nut-brown race who practice 
 
 Jiu-jitsu so well, with serpent-like guile, the power 
 
 Of non-resistance knowing. Yet her fighters vahant 
 
 Are, believing they are guard'd by heroes who 
 
 Have passed beyond. They fight, and fear not, knowing 
 
 death 
 Is not dark, and that a Hfe more beautiful lies 
 Just Over There. The Japanese are not afraid 
 To let the world know what they beheve. Did not their 
 
 Admiral 
 Togo thank the deva-Rishi for his glorious 
 Victory, when by might of right Yamato's sons 
 Drove the larger, stronger forces of the Russians 
 From Korea, which land China had so lately 
 Ceded to them after a fair fight? And was not 
 Korea Japan's territory by right, since Jingo, 
 Widow of Chuai, bravely fought Formosa 
 Folk and left her son a heritage? Great-grandson 
 Of Yamato-dake, subduer of the Ainos, 
 Ojin was, and after reigning forty years 
 Th' title gain'd of God of War. 
 Hidegoshi contemplated conquering China 
 When Korea he had taken; but later rulers 
 With th' peninsula were satisfied, until 
 Rehgious differences — so often cause of war — 
 Made th' Conservatives in Korea aid of China 
 Ask. Now young Japan herself expressed, and 
 Gain'd Port Arthur. Then the Slavic bear crept in. 
 And China welcom'd him. But greed, in brutes, exceeds 
 Diplomacy: Russia violated agreements 
 
io8 The Child of the Nations 
 
 With the powers, and sent her troops into Manchuria 
 To protect her interests there. But lion-hearted 
 Kuroki and brave Oku and Nodzu drove 
 Th' Russian army back to boundary line with loss 
 Of thousands upon thousands of the Slavs and very 
 Few of Japanese; while Togo kept the Russian 
 Fleet confin'd in harbor, aided by Marconi's 
 Wonderfiil invention. Even more than in 
 Rapidity of fire or marksmanship, superior 
 Mobility marks the Japanese. 
 And is it not significant that both Russia and 
 Japan should come to these United States to settle 
 Their dispute, which has resiilted in making Japan 
 Th' dominant power in the East? 
 They are very young, these children of the Orient 
 Isles, and use their fists as children will; but they 
 Are running fast, and soon will overtake, yea, pass. 
 Their elder brothers on the way. They know the power 
 Of non-resistance. Using th' subtle method of 
 Jiu-jitsu not to fight for rights o'er here they come. 
 But just slip in. Yes, e'en to-day are many sons 
 From Yamato's race of Aryan parents born 
 On American soil. They come because rebirth 
 They understand; for just as individuals pass 
 And repass from one body to another,^ nations 
 Places change. It is decreed that th' yellow-skins 
 Shall one day the western hemisphere inherit. 
 Now they come to families that know them not. 
 But that will educate them, and property leave to 
 them. 
 
Japan 109 
 
 Then more will come. We know them by their eyes, their 
 
 smiles, 
 Their silent, winsome ways, their knowledge of the art 
 Of living, which, as Soshi says, lies not in criticism 
 Or antagonism, but in gliding into spaces 
 That do everywhere exist. 
 
 Their serpent lies not prostrate on the ground, nor swallows 
 Its tail as if afraid to leave its mouth unguard'd; 
 It curls not up, and sleeps beneath the grass; but on 
 Th' path it coils quite ready for the charge — that serpent 
 Which so long has crawled, mindful of the curse 
 That put it on its belly, but forgetful of 
 Th' cross that, even in the wilderness, raised it 
 To higher, nobler uses. Japan's serpent head 
 Is up; her wisdom not secreted, wide she opes 
 Th' door, and lets the sunshine in that all the world 
 May know her goddess. Fast, so fast, she is acquiring 
 Th' knowledge of the new, and adding it to th' knowledge 
 Of the past; nor letting go of truths she long 
 Has held, and seen to be as pearls. 
 
CANTO VII 
 Greece 
 
 In other isles, in earlier days, the sun in female form, with 
 shears as symbol of creative power, worshipp'd was; 
 
 Phcebe rul'd as light primeval 'til the Dark brought forth the 
 Delian twins, when she resigned the Delphic shrine to 
 Phoebus. 
 
 Then fecund feminine force in brain of Zeus produced th' 
 virile maid Athene, whose pole for ages ruVd Hellenic men. 
 
 Very old the fruitful plains of Attica by 
 Natural bulwarks bounded, warding off the sea, 
 Through great travail produced, fertile made by much 
 Fire. For even now the close observer sees 
 Th' form of two gigantic extinct craters between 
 Which majestically rises the acropolis. 
 Gone their fires, no streams of boiling water issue 
 From the rocks, Hygeia's wells are dry. The soil 
 Yet is Hght and fruitful; but the lava which 
 Mother'd forests is to ashes turn'd; the trees 
 Have to earth gone back; the rocks alone remain 
 Much the same for ages, yet have broken, crumbled, 
 Fallen, singing as they fall. The hills made low. 
 On the glist'ning quarries of Pentelicon, or 
 O'er the purple slopes of huge Hymettus gazing, 
 Where rich store of sweets the bee still finds, we know 
 That they too, in time, when inward fires are kindled, 
 Lava will send forth, to first destroy and then 
 
 no 
 
Greece m 
 
 Enrich these plains time-honor'd. Yes, though silent now 
 
 These great sentinels shall send forth their fire by night, 
 
 And cloud by day, until they too shall be brought low. 
 
 Then the sea, long at bay, shall sweep at will 
 
 O'er Athene's olive trees. But ere that rock, 
 
 Fam'd so long in legend and historic page. 
 
 Be splinter'd at its summit, we would trace the record 
 
 Left by all who here have lived. 
 
 First the Titans, children of the earth and heaven, 
 
 Well named, having elsewhere had beginning, brought 
 
 Enough of force to clothe their souls with elements found 
 
 Here. Our mother Rhea garments rich provided 
 
 For this heaven-sprung race who worshipp'd God the 
 
 Father, 
 Yet builded fanes to honor her who brought them forth. 
 Cea, celestial mother of the Titan gods. 
 Though your temple now is hid from view, on it 
 Rests the only perfect building in this world, 
 Which the firmer stands because that yours was builded 
 Well by loving hearts and willing hands, made strong 
 Through firm faith in you and all that you had taught. 
 Without reward your sons and daughters labor'd, this 
 Part of earth to make a dwelling fit for all. 
 What if Asteria turned to meteoric rock — 
 Had you not Titan sons: Antyos,^ strong of limb; 
 And Helios, bright one like the sun; yea, grandsons too 
 Of whom you could be proud? Prometheus, overwlse, 
 Wasted heavenly fire; Oceanus, so learn'd 
 In laws that govern water ways, was father called 
 Of all fresh water streams; while sages and poets in 
 
112 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Later days ascrib'd the source of life to him, 
 
 Dimly apprehending that of elements needed 
 
 For sustenance of the vital frame the first is water. 
 
 Hyperion, whose golden hair and visage bright 
 
 Won for him the name of Sun, outshone his father 
 
 Helios. Themis, just of soul, and Thia devout, 
 
 Tethys,^ fruitful vine, and many more whose names 
 
 Here are not record'd for generations lived 
 
 In sweet accord, and made the golden age of Greece. 
 
 Few and rare the monuments to prove that they 
 
 E'er lived; for when the streaming, groaning mounts their last 
 
 Lava streams sent forth, and giant craters sunk, 
 
 Th' Attic Titan age was over. 
 
 Mother Earth had other children rear'd in other 
 
 Lands; so, when the time was ripe, a remnant of 
 
 Another race from out the north came here, who thought 
 
 Themselves the first. The Cronids erstwhile were a cruel, 
 
 Savage tribe; yet even they were worshipp'd once. 
 
 So prone is man to magnify the merits of 
 
 Th' dead. These Cronids dying left no lasting monuments. 
 
 Before the flood o'er Asia's shore extended, when 
 
 Peleg was divid'd,^ one portion of that warlike 
 
 Race to farthest west did march, and came to Greece; 
 
 Routed all that yet remain'd of Cronids. These 
 
 Semitic peoples left a record on the rocks 
 
 Which is ofttimes deem'd th' first in lore historic.^ 
 
 We fain would praise them more, had not the giants that 
 
 Succeeded them thrown down their temples, and with mighty 
 
 Rocks cut from Hephaestus store built walls and castles, 
 
 Covering all Pelasgic art had left. They stand 
 
Greece 
 
 113 
 
 To-day on Attic plains, in Pelops' isle and on 
 
 Asia's shore, to tell the tale that men had far 
 
 Outgrown the natural frame allotted them. To us 
 
 Cyclopean signifies the massive and 
 
 Th' strong, but speaks no word of beauty or of grace, 
 
 Cyclops giants work'd for ages; yet no written 
 
 Page they left to tell from whence they came or who 
 
 They were; so those coming later, at their deeds 
 
 Marvelling, oft imputed to them even natural 
 
 Wonders, vomiting of huge rocks from mountain tops. 
 
 Earthquakes, noises made by subterranean fires. 
 
 And gas. Rich knowledge of the use of fire they surely 
 
 Had; the Cyclops metal forgers were, as well 
 
 As builders of strong walls of sun-dried brick and hugest 
 
 Rocks; yet they in turn were conquer 'd, not by men 
 
 Of larger limb, but by ones with stronger nerve and brain, 
 
 Who came across the great blue sea from out of Libya's 
 
 Land. Well arm'd were Cecrops and his men. The Cyclops 
 
 Fell before superior skill; while fair Cecropia, 
 
 Built by dext'rous hands, soon grac'd th' rocks where Titan 
 
 Temples long had stood. The Cyclopean walls. 
 
 Thought this Libyan king, were well enough; on them 
 
 His palace rose,^ a stately edifice facing th' southern 
 
 Sun, and looking towards th' temple of the mother 
 
 Of the gods, which soon was builded o'er with marble 
 
 White, and nam'd for Egypt's virgin goddess Neith. 
 
 She it was who long would rule the Attic plain. 
 
 Statues of Neith, and many priestesses with waving 
 
 Hair and rich embroider'd robes, were brought to deck 
 
 Cecrops' palace halls, where pillars rare of basalt 
 
114 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Stood, as pedestals for gaily painted maids, 
 
 Around the court. A winding staircase under ground 
 
 Led to grotto of old Pan, where Cecrops' daughters 
 
 Danc'd, and music made to charm the gods, who were 
 
 Pleas'd no doubt, with music, dance, and prayers, yet 
 
 All the temples ever built, and all the prayers 
 
 E'er pray'd, stay not the shafts of death's relentless hand, 
 
 Which on Cecrops and his tribe too soon perchance 
 
 Fell; and strangers worshipp'd in his temple rare. 
 
 In other parts of Greece grew citadels less fair 
 
 Than that on Astu's rock, yet strong; and many heroes. 
 
 Good and brave, fought beasts and beastlike men with valiant 
 
 Might, to rid their land of monsters. 
 
 Alcmene's warlike son, bred in ^olian Thebes, 
 
 Where Phoenician Cadmus wiser than the Sparti 
 
 Of Boeotian plains, by music-loving Amphion 
 
 Aided, builded well a walled city called 
 
 Cadmeia for himself — ^here Herakles the brave. 
 
 Long enduring, hardiest of many vigorous 
 
 Sons of Greece, grew strong through suff'ring; then when 
 
 freed 
 From arduous labors he to Elis came, in Phrygian 
 Pelops' day, and on far-fam'd Olympia's plain 
 Gained lasting bays; nor for himself sought praise. 
 But to father Zeus a monument rais'd who erstime 
 Sire of Herakles was called. 
 
 Zeus had long time worshipp'd been where oaks Thesprotian 
 Were thought to wave articulate sounds, whence with her 
 
 doves 
 And serpentine divining rod, Dodona, priestess 
 
Greece 115 
 
 Egyptian beautiful, declar'd the portent of 
 
 The signs, and made a name that even Pythia failed 
 
 To take away, great sibyl of a later day. 
 
 Yet to Argive Zeus was precedence 'stablish'd firm 
 
 By mighty Herakles, who knew the love men bear 
 
 Sports and glory gained from prowess. 
 
 Other sons had Zeus, who sang his praise in different 
 
 Ways. Cadmeian Thebes besides strong Herakles 
 
 Boasts of Semele's great son Dionysus, 
 
 Who planted first the vine on Hellas' shore, which here 
 
 Grows more perfectly than elsewhere; still in grapes 
 
 And grape leaves is wreath'd th' head of Semele's 
 
 Son, and ivy vine which shelter'd him when born. 
 
 Praises still to him are sung by bards in many 
 
 Lands for inspiration as the bowl o'erflows 
 
 Its purple juice, while many theatres on Grecian 
 
 Hills attest the power he wield'd o'er the stage. 
 
 Heaven-born, O Bacchus, is thy genius, e'en 
 
 Though a mortal mother'd thee. Persephone oft 
 
 Call'd thy sister, goddess fair in bud and blossom 
 
 Worshipp'd, mourned in winter, welcomed in the spring, 
 
 Daughter of Demeter, Mother of Agriculture — 
 
 Child of Zeus and bride of Hades, well may she 
 
 Share they meed of praise; and as 'tis meet, O loved 
 
 Bacchus, through our tears we worship thee when climbing 
 
 O'er the steps of that great temple justly famed. 
 
 Where Demeter's gift to Grecian men and thine 
 
 Were together solemnized.^ 
 
 From the Colchian realm rich cargo Jason brought 
 
 To Greece, in what to us seems early days; Medea 
 
ii6 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Was his greatest prize; by those who envied her 
 
 Costly robes barbaric princess called. She 
 
 Taught Thessalian women how to cook; she boiled 
 
 A ram with certain herbs that made it seem like lamb. 
 
 Pelias' dull daughters thus persuad'd that 
 
 Their father would be young if cooked, stewed him 
 
 In Medea's pot, nor knew that life could never 
 
 Be restor'd by fire. Alcestis who would not 
 
 Lend her hand to such a deed, was by her sisters 
 
 Hated, and driven to wed that odious king Admetos, 
 
 Whose love of life led him to sacrifice his yielding 
 
 Consort rather than to Hades go himself. 
 
 One redeeming trait had this most selfish prince. 
 
 Welcome wide to guests, which one day made him happy 
 
 Host when iEsculapius chanced that way, no doubt 
 
 Sent in answer to the prayers for Alcestis, 
 
 Self-devoted wife, who willingly resigned her 
 
 Life to save her spouse;^ yet was restor'd by love 
 
 Divine. Apollo's son, with strength of Herakles, 
 
 Wrestled with the powers of death, and gave unto 
 
 Th' king, his host, his bride again. Alcestis then 
 
 So lately from the tomb restored, mourned greatly 
 
 For her father. Soon Thessalian maids and matrons 
 
 All made life a sad thing for Medea, until 
 
 To Corinth she was glad to go, not knowing that 
 
 Glauke fair would there take comely Jason from 
 
 Her side; yet, knowing his unfaithfulness, the while 
 
 Feigned ignorance, and in her heart did rancor 
 
 Nurse, which she so justly felt towards him she long 
 
 Had serv'd and trust'd. To grace erstwhile the bride, Medea 
 
Greece 117 
 
 Sent a robe of cloth of gold which unsuspecting 
 
 Glauke donned delighted with the shimm'ring thing. 
 
 Trying to quench the flames contain'd within that 
 
 Poison'd gown, the king's fair child was drowned.^ Then 
 
 Wise Medea fled from angry Corinth, and 
 
 Drove her chariot to old ^geus' palace; whom 
 
 By her wiles she soon subdu'd, and ruled th' Attic 
 
 King the better that she still lov'd perfidious Jason. 
 
 So insatiate was her love of brewing poison 
 
 That this Colchian princess would have ended th' Pandion 
 
 Line of Attic kings, and placed her son Perses 
 
 On the throne. But otherwise rul'd th' gods and ^Egeus' 
 
 Dulled senses quickened, so he knew his sword; 
 
 Hence the poison'd cup he spilled, that his son 
 
 Sprung from ^Ethra might not be cut off from life 
 
 As Medea plann'd. Then Theseus, who with mighty 
 
 Valor rare strategic powers combined, th' hamlets 
 
 Of these fruitful plains allied; nothing loath 
 
 Cecropia's virgin goddess to adore, whose name 
 
 Chang'd had been, for her his kingdom called Athene. 
 
 By the Amazonian queen did Theseus gain 
 
 Hippolytus, a son most beautiful, in mein 
 
 Godlike; who the chase and woodland sports so loved, 
 
 Artemis fair he kept enshrin'd within his heart. 
 
 Nor ever thought to worship elsewhere. Aphrodite, 
 
 Always jealous of the chaste, would punish one 
 
 Who to her ne'er sacrific'd; so sent from Eros' 
 
 Shaft a barb through Phaedra's heart, which made the 
 
 queen 
 Too eager for her step-son. Failing in her amorous 
 
ii8 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Wiles, with passion mad and wound'd pride, she died 
 
 By her own hand, accusing falsely Theseus' son. 
 
 On Hippolytus, the chaste, the fair, his father 
 
 Cruel curses heaped, and learn'd too late the truth. 
 
 Not Attica alone but Troezen, Argos and 
 
 Mycen£e mourned the untimely death of this 
 
 Much-beloved Amazon's son.® 
 
 Theseus then with grief and shame nigh craz'd, yet with 
 
 Hot blood unsubdu'd, no more to emulate 
 
 Th' Theban Herakles and rid his land of monsters 
 
 Caring, seized th' fair young daughter of Tyndareus 
 
 Of godlike beauty; fled with her to Libya's shore. 
 
 Where alone he left his Helen, ^° as in earlier 
 
 Days he had abandon 'd lovely Ariadne 
 
 On the Naxion isle. By her twin brothers rescu'd 
 
 Helen was borne back to Pelops' land, where long-hair'd 
 
 Menelaus made her Sparta's queen and worshipp'd 
 
 Her immortal beauty, nor knew how faithless would 
 
 She prove. By Aphrodite aided Paris, Dardan 
 
 Prince, persuaded Menelaus' wife to fly. 
 
 Sailed with her to Troy; hence indignation righteous 
 
 Fill'd th' breast of every Grecian chieftain that 
 
 From their land by guest perfidious a queen should be 
 
 Decoy 'd. To arms they call'd their choicest youth; then 
 
 sailed 
 To Mysia's shore with every ship by flower of Greece 
 Mann'd, determin'd Helen to bring back with all 
 Th' treasure Paris stole, or raze the walls of Priam's 
 Town, where Dorian Greeks, Apollo's special care, 
 Shelter'd Sparta's beauteous queen. 
 
G 
 
 reece 
 
 119 
 
 This internecine feud became a war of gods 
 
 As well as men; for many valiant heroes counted 
 
 Lineage from Zeus; while some for Helen claim 'd 
 
 Descent from heaven; sprung from Perseus was she not 
 
 Whom all Hellas loved? Offspring of Danae 
 
 And the golden shower he so beauteous, so 
 
 Bright, had god-descended shown himself in mighty 
 
 Deeds, whose number grew in later days, so much 
 
 Did Greece desire to honor Helios-like Perseus. 
 
 Though her beauty from her lineage high did Helen 
 
 Erst derive, yet she of frailties had so large 
 
 A share her visage was a torment to her soul. 
 
 While she to Hellas was a scourge. 
 
 Rous'd from lethargy and luxury by their anger. 
 
 That a Trojan prince should dare so basely use 
 
 Sparta's hospitahty, not alone youthful 
 
 Men for battle strong, but aged seers long past 
 
 Their prime lent aid to valiant Menelaus. Atrides, 
 
 Call'd king of men because his frame was larger 
 
 Than his race in days when many men were large, 
 
 Became their leader; having brought a hundred ships 
 
 Yet in arrogance exceeding what was kingly, 
 
 Anger 'd Peleus' son, who of all the chiefs was heartiest 
 
 In the fight, though unforgiving in his heart; 
 
 Thence Achilles pray'd his goddess mother his wrongs 
 
 Avenge. His prayer lovely Thetis heard, from ocean's 
 
 Waves arose, and swiftly sped to high Olympus, 
 
 Zeus' aid to ask. The cloud compeller gave 
 
 His assenting nod, at which Olympus trembles. 
 
 Satisfied her suit was granted, silver-footed 
 
I20 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Thetis to the sea returned, while Cronion 
 
 Always true to his nod, deluding visions sent 
 
 To Agamemnon's tent; who, guided by this dream. 
 
 Rather than by judgment or advice of sage 
 
 Nestor or the wily Odysseus, again 
 
 Waged war; and gods with men and men with gods 
 
 Fought and many valiant heroes gave up life. 
 
 Immortal gods who could not die were wounded. E'en 
 
 Laughter-loving Aphrodite wept when Diomed 
 
 Pierced her ambrosial veil, and Iris carried 
 
 Love's goddess to her home in heaven; while 
 
 Apollo bore ^neas from the tumult, and 
 
 Took himself the form of man to aid the Dardans; 
 
 Called on Ares, blood-stained lord, to take Tydides 
 
 From the field; but he, of all the Greeks the bravest. 
 
 Whose sire gave his life at Thebes, who himself 
 
 For the seven-gated city fought, now aided 
 
 By Pallas blue-ey'd maid, arrayed for the fray 
 
 In veil of airy texture work of her own hands, 
 
 Th' tassel'd aegis round her shoulders whereon was 
 
 Monstrous gorgon's head, and on her brow a golden 
 
 Helmet, in her hand a mighty spear — to fight 
 
 Ares feared not. When Pallas call'd th' son 
 
 Of Tydeus dearest to her soiil of all the Greeks, 
 
 In his breast such courage she instilled that 
 
 Thrusting forth his long and mighty spear, Tydides 
 
 Wounded Ares 'neath his low-girt belt; who cried 
 
 So loud it were as if ten thousand men had shouted. 
 
 Then with speed did Ares go to Zeus his father, 
 
 Show'd his wound, and bitterly complain'd of Pallas. 
 
Greece 12: 
 
 Cronion bade Apollo heal the wound, but said 
 
 "Ares, 'tis from Hera you your love of strife 
 
 And proud unbending mood inherit." Now while Ares 
 
 Rested from his murd'rous course the field of battle 
 
 Pallas left with Hera, and to Zeus' abode 
 
 Came, where guarded are the gates of heaven by 
 
 Th' Hours, where all the gods in gorgeous palaces in 
 
 Th' deep recesses of Olympus dwell. Zeus, 
 
 Abiding in his house of brass, Hephsestus' work, 
 
 Victory wills to Troy, while all the gods repose 
 
 But Discord, who upon the battle-field remains. 
 
 Then those who to the Argives wish success indignant 
 
 With Cronion grow for aiding Hector; yet none 
 
 Save Queen Hera dares oppose the will of Zeus. 
 
 Borrowing Aphrodite's belt, the queen beguiles 
 
 Her lightning lord, who sheds a golden-colored cloud 
 
 O'er Ida that the mystic rites of love he may 
 
 Enjoy with ox-ey'd Hera. When by Sleep and Love 
 
 The Sire subdued is, Poseidon, ocean king. 
 
 Leads th' Grecian host in furious fight, while Priam's 
 
 Son, the noble Hector of the glancing helm, 
 
 Th' Trojan troops arrays against the great Earth-shaker, 
 
 'Til Ajax hurls a pond'rous stone, and smites brave Hector. 
 
 Then th' omniscient Zeus swift-footed Iris sends, 
 
 Who like the wind descends to Ilion's sacred heights. 
 
 Mandate to the Earth-encircler gives that he 
 
 Shall quit the field of battle. Now the dark-haired god 
 
 Of ocean declares himself the equal born of Zeus, 
 
 Stating how old Cronus' kingdom was divided: 
 
 "To Hades, realm of darkness; sky and cloud to Zeus; 
 
122 
 
 The Child of the X at ions 
 
 The hoary sea assigned to me; but earth and high 
 
 Olympus are to all a common heritage." 
 
 The rainbow goddess by soft speech, Poseidon did 
 
 Assuage; yet ere he sunk beneatli the waves sends word 
 
 To Zeus that their fraternal feud can ne'er be healed 
 
 Should great Ilion's towers be saved. 
 
 Wliile warrior Greeks deplore Poseidon's loss, Cronion 
 
 Bids ApoUo wave on liigh the tassell'd tegis 
 
 To daunt tlie Greeks, and also give his special care 
 
 To godlike Hector. Gladly the behest of Zeus 
 
 Phcebus of the golden sword fulfills, delighted, 
 
 The guardian god of Troy, to shield brave Hector. Before 
 
 Th' dazzling tassels quaii'd tli' spirit of th' Greeks; 
 
 Their weU-wrought wall Apollo easily broke, and bridg'd 
 
 A way for Trojans o'er tlie ditch. 
 
 Beside their ships now standing all hemmed in, witli arms 
 
 Outstretch'd to every god each chief uphfted prayers. 
 
 Nestor, mighty soul'd sage, to father Zeus 
 
 Open'd heart and hps. His prayer the Sire of gods 
 
 Heard, and thmider'd loud to quell the Greeks; yet raised 
 
 Th' courage high of Trojans and their allies, willing 
 
 That with fire they wrap the beaked ships of Greece. 
 
 Not until the flame of hostile fire that seized 
 
 The poop of Ajax ship was seen, where ^Myrmidons 
 
 Safely by the sea were moored, did AcliiUes' 
 
 Stubborn soul give ear to Patrocles' desire 
 
 To aid the Greeks. Within his tent still sulking Peleus' 
 
 Son his anger nursed toward the kuig of men. 
 
 Who from his embrace witliheld the lovely Briseis. 
 
 Achilles wish'd that ever}' Greek might taste of death, 
 
Greece 123 
 
 Save himself and Patrocles, his loved friend, 
 And they two raze the walls of Ilion; but now, 
 Fearing for the safety of his ships, in his 
 Shining armor hasten'd to array his friend's 
 GodHke form: the spangled breastplate bright with stars. 
 The helmet with its horsehair plume, the mighty shield. 
 The silver-studded sword, and his stout spears, reserving 
 Only that far-famed Pelian ash which no 
 Hand save his could poise; his charioteer most trusted 
 Sent to drive the flying steeds of birth immortal. 
 Whom nor honey'd word nor threat could move to seek 
 A safe retreat or join the fray, they stood as column 
 Stands to mark a tomb, beneath the splendid car 
 Drooping to the ground their heads, their manes with dust 
 Defil'd, their eyehds full of scalding tears e'en Zeus 
 Pitied these immortal steeds, who could the misery 
 Share of mortal man, when their dear charioteer 
 Was by Hector's hand laid low. Though very vahant 
 Not with single arm could Hector in the dust 
 Patrocles have lain, who, ere his thread of life 
 Was broken slew great Sarpedon, dear son of Zeus, 
 And to Trojans three times nine dealt death. So he 
 The well-built walls of Troy had razed, had not Apollo 
 Stood thereon, with hands and threatening voice repelling 
 GodHke strength. In mortal form the Delian fought 
 By Hector's side to vanquish Patrocles. "Me fate 
 Hath slain with Phoebus' aid, the victory Zeus has given 
 Thee," Pelides' gentle, courteous friend did cry. 
 As to the Shades his spirit fled. But ere his eyes 
 Closed in death he dar'd predict that Hector soon 
 
124 The Child of the Nations 
 
 By Peleus' matchless son laid low should be. Achilles 
 When he heard how his loved friend had fallen, moaned 
 So loud that Thetis heard, in cave of ocean, where 
 She sat by nymphs surround'd, who wept and wail'd with 
 
 her. 
 Coming then to where Achilles stood, his goddess 
 Mother begg'd to know his cause of grief, reminding 
 Him that prayers which he had prayed in bitterness 
 Of soul, not thinking what the issue, had been answer'd. 
 Deeply groaning, Peleus' son his goddess mother 
 Tells how his dear comrade was by Hector slain. 
 And how the glorious arms, the gods' gift to Peleus, 
 Had been stripped from his loved friend. Then swears 
 
 Achilles 
 Never to his home will he return till Hector 
 Shall be vanquish'd by his spear. 
 Passionate his grief, remorseful that his anger 
 Towards the king of men had kept him from the strife; 
 Knowing that his term of life is short he but 
 Desires that Hector of the glancing helm by his 
 Hand shall fall. The silver-footed goddess bids 
 Achilles not go forth to battle 'til new arms 
 She brings, which surely will Hephaestus make at her 
 Request. While Thetis hied her to Olympus, then 
 To th' fire-god's forge beneath the sea, fierce rag'd th' battle 
 Round the body; Hector shouting loud his comrades 
 Onward cheered, as in glittering arms late won 
 He, with aid of Ares and of Zeus, came like 
 A great war cloud upon the Greeks; 
 Even valiant Menelaus, and Ajax of 
 
Greece 125 
 
 Th' tow'ring shield, call'd loud for aid to save the corpse 
 
 Of Patrocles from dogs of Troy. Idomeneus, 
 
 Brave Meriones, and many more of lesser 
 
 Note, now swell'd the battle of the Greeks. So had 
 
 They easily won the day, but that in human form 
 
 Apollo rous'd ^neas, who spoke winged words 
 
 To the chiefs of Troy, by Hector's side fighting. 
 
 Now the will of Zeus was changed, who sent the blue-eyed 
 
 Maid to stir the strife, in bright-hued cloud array'd. 
 
 In voice of phoenix Pallas spoke to Menelaus, 
 
 Instill'd th' boldness of the fly within his breast. 
 
 Then Iris bade Achilles to the rescue go; 
 
 Because, without his arms he hesitates, o'er his 
 
 Shoulders Pallas throws her tasselled aegis, while 
 
 With a golden cloud his head encircles; then 
 
 Joins her voice with his in three great shouts that fill 
 
 With terror all the Trojan host. Beside their chariots 
 
 Twelve of the bravest fell, while from the fray the Greeks 
 
 Bear the body of their comrade dear away. 
 
 Achilles sheds hot tears, and vows no funeral rites 
 
 To celebrate until the arms and head of Hector 
 
 He shall bring into his tent. 
 
 All night the death of Patrocles the Myrmidons 
 
 With loud groans bewail; while Briseis, whom Agamemnon 
 
 Had restored, threw herself upon the bier 
 
 And wept aloud; while all the other captive women 
 
 Join'd th' wail, the death of Patrocles a pretext 
 
 Bitter tears to shed, each for her private grief. 
 
 When rosy-finger'd morn appear'd, who her glad light 
 
 On gods and men does shed, from ocean's cave arose 
 
126 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Thetis, bearing to her son Hephaestus' gift. 
 
 As Achilles gazed upon this miracle rare 
 
 Of art, his eyes enjoyed th' feast, but fiercer burn'd 
 
 His wrath. Refusing food and drink, though urg'd by 
 
 wise 
 Odysseus not to fast, lest hunger shoiild subdue 
 His strength, now to th' front Achilles drove his fiery 
 Steeds; though Xanthus, noble horse, endow'd with speech 
 By goddess Hera, had foretold Pelides' day 
 Of doom was near, and that 'twas truth Achilles knew, 
 Yet angry he that Xanthus had predicted it, 
 And urg'd th' steeds whose feet with zephyr's breeze might 
 
 vie. 
 When Peleus' godlike son they saw in glitt'ring arms 
 Arrayed, tembled every Trojan. 
 Not long to join the fray the gods delayed. Themis 
 By command of Zeus a council call'd to high 
 Olympus. Rivers and nymphs of various grades were there; 
 Old ocean only stayed within his bed. Poseidon 
 Ask'd th' will of Zeus, which was that all the gods 
 Should mingle in the fight. So angry war was by 
 Th' gods unchained. Zeus thundered, earth was shaken 
 By Poseidon so that Mount Ida quail'd from top 
 To base and rock'd proud Ilion and the ships of Greece, 
 So great the shock that Hades fear'd the solid earth 
 Was breaking o'er his dark abode. With men and horses 
 Throng'd th' plain; the earth rang loud beneath their feet. 
 Urg'd by Phoebus, Aphrodite's son iEneas 
 Advanc'd to meet Achilles; boasting each: of his 
 Lineage high ^Eneas, of his prowess Achilles; 
 
Greece 127 
 
 With spears and swords and stones they fight. But that 
 
 for others' 
 Guilt ^neas may not sacrifice his Hfe 
 Poseidon casts a film before Achilles' eyes, 
 And bears ^neas from the field. 
 Onward then Achilles urg'd th' valiant Greeks; 
 Likewise Hector cheers the men of Troy, to them 
 Saying, "Fear not Peleus' son; I too with gods 
 Could in words contend, though not in arms." Achilles 
 Said, "Draw nigh and quickly meet thy death," and nothing 
 Terrified is Hector at such lofty speech 
 But modestly replies, "I own myself the weaker 
 Yet with the gods th ' event if thou or I this day 
 Shall die." Then Pallas lends her aid to Peleus' son, 
 Who in fury strikes the misty cloud that Phoebus 
 Rais'd o'er Hector. Now his rage on other chiefs 
 He spends, and drives his chariot o'er the bodies of 
 Th' dead. The flying host, some o'er the plain, some towards 
 Th' city rush; a mingled mass of men and horses 
 Into the whirling stream of Xanthus piling. Th' river 
 Soon ran red with blood, while fearful groans arose 
 From those by sword of Achilles stabb'd. Of slaughter tiring 
 From the stream twelve youths he dragged, — their hands 
 
 behind 
 Them tying, bade his comrades lead them to the ships. 
 Their lives on funeral pyre of Patrocles to forfeit. 
 Then right and left he slew the men of Troy, nor listen'd 
 To the prayers of suppliants 'til the mighty river 
 Spoke. To move Achilles by his words he failed. 
 So to Apollo th' lovely stream appeal'd, reminding 
 
128 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Phoebus 'twas his duty to defend the men 
 
 Of Troy. Achilles, nothing daunted, plung'd into 
 
 Midstream to battle with the angry flood. To th' gods 
 
 Soon he cried to save him from an ignominious 
 
 Death. As it was not decreed that he should be 
 
 O'erwhelm'd by a river, Pallas and Poseidon 
 
 Came to aid him. This increased Scamander's rage 
 
 So that succor from his brother Simois he 
 
 Now asked. Hera seeing that the swollen stream 
 
 Was likely to destroy Achilles, called Hephaestus 
 
 Heavenly fire to bring. Then aided by the winds 
 
 A strong blast summon'd so the trees along the river 
 
 Bank were burned. The dead upon the plains were all 
 
 Consimi'd by fire. The waves were e'en with fiery breath 
 
 Scorch'd. Then spoke the mighty river, begging Hephaestus 
 
 To restrain his wrath and prayed th' wily goddess 
 
 Call away the fire. No Trojans more to save 
 
 He pledg'd himself. So Hera heard his prayer, checked 
 
 Th' flames, and in his wonted bed the river flowed. 
 
 Yet 'mid other gods contentions rose. Triumphant 
 
 Some, and some in angry mood their seats before 
 
 Th' cloud compellor took. Apollo, fearing that, 
 
 Th' gods withdrawn, the Greeks would raze his well-built 
 
 walls, 
 Enter'd now the gates of Troy. 
 King Priam standing on a lofty tower, marked 
 How Achilles drove the Trojan hosts and bade 
 Th' warder open wide the gates. So now within 
 Th' walls the Trojans from the Greeks escaped; only 
 Hector stay'd without nor listen'd to his father's 
 
Greece 129 
 
 Voice imploring him, nor yet his mother's anxious 
 
 Pleading not alone to meet Achilles by 
 
 Th' Scsean gate. His parents' tears and prayers were vain; 
 
 For with dauntless courage Hector stood his ground, 
 
 Thinking it were better th' fight to dare, and know 
 
 At once to whom Zeus triumph will'd. Yet when, in armor 
 
 Bright as rising sun Achilles brandishing his 
 
 Ashen spear aloft, drew near, then trembling Hector 
 
 Fled. Pelides, swift of foot, pursu'd with hate 
 
 Untiring. Phoebus lent such suppleness of limb 
 
 And strength to Hector, him Achilles ne'er had conquer'd, 
 
 But that in his golden scales their lives did Zeus 
 
 Weigh and Hector's sank. Then Pallas with her woman's 
 
 Wiles, the bravest of the Trojans lur'd to death, 
 
 To PeUdes' side him bringing, who noted where 
 
 Th' armor which from Patrocles he'd stripped failed 
 
 Hector's body to protect; now into this chink 
 
 Achilles drove his spear, the stream of life thus sev'ring. 
 
 Dying, Hector did predict that Paris' hand 
 
 Helped by Apollo soon should end Achilles' 
 
 Life; to which Pelides made reply: "My fate 
 
 Shall I meet whenever Zeus decrees." Then while 
 
 He stripp'd the blood-smear'd armor off, the Greeks press'd 
 
 round. 
 Anxious each to add a wound to Hector's noble 
 Form. Pelides bound with leather thongs the ankles 
 To his chariot, leaving the graceful head to trail. 
 On the walls of Troy Andromache, Hector's loved 
 Wife, not able to behold so sad a sight, 
 Swoon'd, piteously mourn'd her fate and that of Hector's 
 
130 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Son Astyanax; while Hecuba and Priam 
 
 Wail'd aloud, as to the ship that lay by th' broad 
 
 Hellespont Achilles drove his car, the corpse 
 
 Of Hector dragging, which he flung by Patrocles' 
 
 Couch, it for the dogs intending. 
 
 That night, while sleeping 'mid his Myrmidons upon 
 
 Th' ocean shore, Achilles saw in vision the Shade 
 
 Of Patrocles, which asked him that the funeral rites 
 
 Be hasten'd so that he could pass the river that separates 
 
 Th' unburied from the buried dead, and begged that 
 
 Their bones should together be interred, when 
 
 Achilles should have met his doom beneath the walls 
 
 Of Troy. To this request Achilles in his waking 
 
 Hours gave thought, commanding that in golden urn 
 
 Th' bones of Patrocles remain 'til his be ready 
 
 For the tomb, then over both a mound be raised. 
 
 In honor of his friend, Pelides gave rich prizes 
 
 To those who in the funeral games contend'd. . Tydides 
 
 With Athene's aid the chariot race won easily. 
 
 Antilochus, noble Nestor's son, came next, his father's 
 
 Word that skill is more than strength thus vindicating. 
 
 For Admetos' son Eumelus, whose flying mares 
 
 Came last, Antilochus of Achilles begg'd an added 
 
 Prize. Wise Odysseus the blue-ey'd maiden prayed 
 
 To give him speed of foot, and lo, the goddess Ajax 
 
 Tripped, giving prize to him who trusted her. 
 
 In archery, royal Teucer far excell'd them all, 
 
 Yet forgetful to request the aid of Phoebus 
 
 Archer king, by Meriones was surpass'd. 
 
 Who ere he drew his bow an oflf'ring vow'd to give 
 
Greece 131 
 
 Th' great far-darting god. In all the games some god 
 
 Or goddess still took part. The crowd dispers'd; Achilles 
 
 Still his dear friend Patrocles did mourn and bitter 
 
 Tears he shed. Behind his car the corpse of Hector 
 
 Trailing in the dust, the circuit three times made 
 
 Of Patrocles' new tomb. The blessed gods with pity 
 
 View'd th' sight. The great Sire summon' d Thetis, bade 
 
 Her hasten to her son, acquaint him with the rage 
 
 Of Zeus, and say that when rich ransom Priam to him 
 
 Bring, the dead he must restore. 
 
 Next to Ilion's king swift-footed Iris came 
 
 To urge him take such presents as would melt Achilles' 
 
 Heart, nor fear alone to go. His best lov'd bird 
 
 Zeus as omen sent; also the gentle guardian 
 
 God in form of princely youth, who to the aged 
 
 King spoke winged words of praise regarding Hector's 
 
 Bravery. Then did Hermes Priam's confidence gain. 
 
 Th' royal Dardan, following Hermes, 
 
 As suppliant clasp 'd Achilles' knees, and sued th' chief 
 
 With honey'd words for Hector's corpse, Achilles' heart 
 
 Touch'd, th' costly raiment took yet left enough 
 
 To clothe the corpse; then urg'd the king to eat and drink, 
 
 Reminding Priam that e'en Niobe from food 
 
 Did not abstain when robb'd of fourteen children. So 
 
 Of Achilles' hospitaHty Ilion's king 
 
 Partook and each admir'd th' other's mien and speech. 
 
 From war twelve days Achilles promis'd to refrain 
 
 'Til Hector's funeral rites were o'er. 
 
 Scarcely was the solemn feast in Priam's palace 
 
 Ended, when Apollo thought of his prophetic 
 
132 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Words by Troy's hero to his slayer spoken; 
 
 So soon beside the Sc£ean gate Pehdes fell 
 
 And o'er the body war was waged. 
 
 Achilles' son aveng'd his sire by wounding Paris 
 
 With a poison'd barb. Her Paris dead, what now 
 
 At Troy held Helen? Th' Grecian chiefs were all for going 
 
 Home, save only Odysseus who upheld the king 
 
 Of men in his desire to raze the walls of Ilion. 
 
 Th' wily one a plan conceived which Agamemnon 
 
 Approv'd. A monstrous lion-horse they made of pine, 
 
 Bound firmly round with bands of iron; this left upon 
 
 Th' plains while seen to sail away the Grecian fleet. 
 
 Bewilder'd were the men of Troy; what was the portent 
 
 Of this sign? No doubt to Athens virgin queen 
 
 An off 'ring. Thinking for themselves to gain the goddess' 
 
 Favor, over th' walls they haul'd th' wooden horse. 
 
 Too late the Trojans wak'd to their mistake. The fleet 
 
 That night return'd from Tenedos, their comrades hidden 
 
 In this mock Palladium ope'd the city gates. 
 
 Behold, the enemy now within their walls, Troy's towers 
 
 And temples soon ablaze, and Priam slain beside 
 
 His household altar. iEneas, by his goddess mother 
 
 Warn'd, with chosen few escap'd. 
 
 Th' work of devastation wrought, the city sack'd 
 
 Of all its treasures, beauty perfidious who the long 
 
 War had caused, smiled upon her erstwhile lord 
 
 And was forgiven; nay, for pardon asked not 
 
 But made fair Menelaus think regaining her 
 
 Prize enough for all the woe of Greece. Returning 
 
 To their Spartan home, her husband's love the firmer 
 
Greece 133 
 
 Helen held for ten years' absence. Yet as vain 
 
 And heartless as of old, Electra said/^ that time 
 
 She nurs'd Orestes, helping him to bear his load. 
 
 Telling him of her long years of daily woe. 
 
 Sin sown ages ago, when Tantalus in pride 
 
 Defied th' gods, by ivory-shoulder'd Pelops nourish'd, 
 
 Grew apace in Thyestes' hands; inherited by 
 
 His sons. Loud cried th' crimes when palace doors were open'd 
 
 To murders new. Now all this weight of woe and sin 
 
 And crime for many generations past, his family's ,,^^ 
 
 Heritage, awaken'd in Orestes' heart. |! 
 
 When upon the blood-stained blade he gazed which 
 
 He had plung'd into his mother's breast, his grief 
 
 Was madness. Furies rag'd; th' conscience of his race. 
 
 Long buried came to life in him. 
 
 At length with laurel bough in hand to Pythia's cave 
 
 He came, and knelt and pray'd for penance, his burning brain 
 
 To calm. Not only with knee bow'd but heart inclin'd 
 
 To do the will of God, he waited for oracular 
 
 Voice his punishment to declare: "From Scythian Taurus 
 
 To Pelops' isle his sister he should bring." By good 
 
 Pylades aided, Iphigenia home he brought. 
 
 Whose virginity had been sacrificed to Artemis 
 
 When the ships would sail for Troy, so coming from 
 
 Th' Dardan realm, hke fate had Polyxena suffer'd.^^ 
 
 Many peaceful years Orestes reign'd o'er Argos 
 
 And Mycenae, obeying e'er Apollo's mandates 
 
 E'en though ignorant of their portent. 
 
 What time he interview'd th' sage Tiresias, 
 
 Where beside the stream of deep flowing ocean in 
 
134 The Child of the Nations 
 
 That far country, whither Circe bade him sail 
 
 To know his fate, Odysseus learned much of what 
 
 At home had happened in the land of rocky Ithaca, 
 
 For to drink of th' blood came many spectres, from 
 
 Th' shades of Tartarus. His mother told him that 
 
 His dear old father Laertes still mourn'd his absence; 
 
 That Telemachus, his much-lov'd son, to manhood 
 
 Grown, now sorrowing sought his father; that by suitors 
 
 Who his substance wast'd, Penelope was surround'd. 
 
 Agamemnon wept aloud, recounting all 
 
 His suff 'rings and his wrongs, at sight of him wept also 
 
 Odysseus. Lastly Achilles, whom the Argives honor'd 
 
 As a god, spoke sorrowfully, saying he'd 
 
 Rather live above the ground and be a hireling 
 
 Than a ruler 'neath the earth. Of all the souls 
 
 By Odysseus seen, tall Ajax, son of Telemon, 
 
 Alone refus'd to speak to him, still angry that 
 
 Odysseus had prevailed against him in the fight 
 
 For Achilles' arms. The loss of his bright heavenly 
 
 Armor had made Ajax take his life; the gain 
 
 Was recompense far too small for all Odysseus 
 
 Had endur'd. His wand'rings have been call'd a myth. 
 
 Many seem to be the inconsistencies 
 
 Of this eventful voyage; yet in that day water 
 
 Was where land is now, and islands then which now 
 
 Have disappeared. No doubt for dramatic effect 
 
 Some things exaggerated were, but license more 
 
 Is permitted the comedian than th' historian. 
 
 Th' author of th' Odyssey had in earlier days 
 
 Woven an historic scene in dramatic form, 
 
Greece 135 
 
 Which for centuries was fiction deem'd, until 
 
 In these latter days the hoe and shovel have 
 
 Shown where Troj ans fought with Greeks. The landmarks of 
 
 Th' Dardan realm by archaeologists are pointed 
 
 Out, and many fragments found which tell us now 
 
 That the life then lived is depicted clearly 
 
 In the Iliad, greatest of all tragic poems/^ 
 
 Not an empty name but a living soul 
 
 Homer is, the world's supremest genius. 
 
 His geography from ours may differ. 
 
 Not exactly a chronicle of facts I 
 
 May his history be, for poets write 
 
 Upon whatever canvas fate has given 
 
 Them. How gloriously Homer painted 
 
 On that background of old Troy, in lines 
 
 True and faithful drew those heroes as 
 
 They were, yet paint' d th' gods in colors bright 
 
 Enough to let us see their faults and follies! 
 
 Well he knew the use of satire's sharp 
 
 Blade. It is the string on which his boldest 
 
 Songs are strung. He with this weapon would 
 
 Destroy the pantheistic creed of his 
 
 Day, the polytheistic belief of that 
 
 Generation. Very frail are his 
 
 Olympians; very human are those gods 
 
 He made for Greece. Ever Fate than Zeus 
 
 Is stronger, th' thread of life she spins, which even 
 
 Th' mighty cloud compeller cannot lengthen. 
 
 This great father of gods and men his wife 
 
 Blames whenever anything goes wrong. 
 
136 The Child of the Nations 
 
 She is constantly deceiving him. 
 
 Hera, also Pallas, hates Troy, and not 
 
 For any righteous reason, only that 
 
 Paris had declared Aphrodite 
 
 The most beautiful goddess; yet even this 
 
 Baneful disease of jealousy does not prevent 
 
 Hera flying fast as thought. We see 
 
 How Homer veils, yet tells, the truth that thought 
 
 Travels. Thetis knew when griev'd her son 
 
 While Achilles betimes presag'd ill. 
 
 Animals as well as men were given 
 
 Foreknowledge. Rivers as well as horses speak, 
 
 Th' elements join the fight in such a way 
 
 We feel the poet's cognizance of nature's 
 
 Laws. Apollo, healing god, is sunlight 
 
 In the physical world. Athene, th' air 
 
 Queen, to aid those who on her are calling 
 
 Works in various ways; she demonstrates 
 
 To Achilles the restraining power of a deep 
 
 Breath; in Menelaus' arms and knees 
 
 Pallas stirs new vigor, plainly telling 
 
 What fresh air will do to calm the nerves. 
 
 In the sacred river, fainting heroes 
 
 Bathe their wounds. So water, fire, and air 
 
 Give much strength to those who use them rightly. 
 
 Homer often shows that God's will 
 
 With the human working, betters all 
 
 Conditions. Glaucos prays; he knows his prayer 
 
 Is answer 'd; glad he is and straightway pain 
 
 Ceases. Hector, sorely wounded, not 
 
Greece i37 
 
 Even able to pray yet ever reverent, 
 
 Hearing Apollo's voice receives great strength, 
 
 Yet begins to revive the moment Zeus 
 
 Wills it. This is a well-defined statement 
 
 Of the truth of so-called absent treatment. 
 
 Th' poet seldom knows how much of hght. 
 
 How many godhke thoughts, his page enfolds, 
 
 While he fearlessly writes what God puts in 
 
 His heart. In after days the multitude 
 
 Praises him who in his lifetime was 
 
 Derided. Now we weep recalhng Homer's 
 
 Keen privations : going without bread 
 
 To pay for parchment; going without sleep 
 
 To write what came in visions of the night, 
 
 Immortal verses singing far beyond 
 
 Th' mind of men those days, whose nearest friends 
 
 Thought him mad; great loneliness of spirit 
 
 Suff'ring; knowing not his future praise. 
 
 Though long delay'd, proportion'd to his anguish 
 
 Of heart and mind would be. 
 
 An earnest study of the poet teaches 
 
 Us that he who suffers most will, when 
 
 Time is ripe, bear richest fruit. There are 
 
 Bulbs that grow in water; flowers that 
 
 Too quickly spring, and die as quickly; but 
 
 Th' great strong trees come only when the frost 
 
 Has crack'd their nuts, while they best root'd are 
 
 Which must split the cold hard rocks themselves. 
 
 There are vines that climb, but bloom not 'til 
 
 They reach great height, their chalice holding open 
 
138 The Child of the Nations 
 
 To the sky all night, not seen by man. 
 Like to these white, heavenly scented glories 
 Of the night, great Homer art thou spreading 
 Thy vine, not only on the dwellings of 
 Th' learned to-day, but over many humble 
 Homes, rare sweetness shedding o'er every one 
 Who cares to come your way. 
 Not until Lycurgus went to Crete to study 
 Minos' laws,^* did Homer's poems find their way 
 To Greece as we know Greece, the land of Helen; where 
 At Sparta they were sav'd though not rever'd as 
 Good Lycurgus wish'd, who knew their worth, because 
 An impressionist himself, receiving laws 
 Divine as roses dew receive. 
 Solon a Codifier of far different type 
 Than Sparta's great lawgiver, called wise indeed 
 Because he knew what others understood or thought 
 They knew, from Egypt, Syria and the islands gleaning - 
 This noble man of Salamis to Athens gave 
 A code of laws for that day perfect. 
 In Solon's day were many men of wisdom. Thales 
 Taught that Homer dream'd that water is the source 
 Of life terrestrial. Poets ever bear the torch. 
 Light the path for minds material. 
 Corinthian Periander helped Arion take 
 Music rare to other courts than his. The tyrant 
 Pittacus, to whom Alcaeus war songs sang. 
 For whom the cup was filled by Sappho's brother, is 
 Immortalized, because upon her lyre the tenth 
 Muse a sympathetic note did strike while he 
 
Greece 139 
 
 O'er Lesbos reign'd. Of Love's sad pain to Aphrodite 
 
 Sappho did complain, the hearts of many touching 
 
 In her day and in after days. 
 
 As 'tis said, the head of Orpheus floated o'er 
 
 Th' sea, and landed on the Lesbian isle; so Sappho's 
 
 Flowers of verse, dyed so red by broken heart. 
 
 Wafted were by gentle zephyrs to ^ohan 
 
 Thebes, where in Corinna's soul they found an echo, 
 
 Whose sweet singing taught great Pindar how to spread 
 
 His eagle wings. A deeper mine of philosophic 
 
 Truth in iEschylus' majestic lines we find; 
 
 This man of Marathon gives speech to mountains, makes 
 
 Th' sea waves weep, and shows in true dramatic form 
 
 How man's rebellion to the will divine still holds 
 
 Him chained upon the rocks of Time.^^ 
 
 O'er many men of pow'r that day Aspasia 
 
 Like a goddess spread her saffron robe; her willing 
 
 Slave was Pericles, who Athens ruled as 
 
 Zeus had erstwhile rul'd th' sky. By his persuasive 
 
 Arts this earthborn god made men his bidding do. 
 
 So, soon, upon the ruins the Persians left, arose 
 
 Buildings fairer than had been. Not only bloom'd 
 
 Th' great AcropoHs with temples, statues, trees 
 
 And gardens fair; but halls and palaces most rare 
 
 All of glist'ning marble from Pentehcon 
 
 Builded were on other hills: the hall of government 
 
 Upon the Pnyx; near by Aspasia's palace faced 
 
 Th' sea; while on the hillside opposite a Httle 
 
 Hut, where Kalicrates fram'd th' plans, with clear 
 
 Vision, of Athene's perfect temple. Others 
 
I40 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Help'd th' sacred fane to fashion for their loved 
 
 Virgin goddess; skillful, willing, unpaid hands 
 
 Rais'd th' fluted pillars, on which Time's 
 
 Hand has laid the amber tints, as if the sun-god's 
 
 Sisters yet were weeping that such beauty could 
 
 E'er crumble. Still they stand, those perfect columns, of 
 
 Mother art the sentinels, though earthquakes, flood, 
 
 Fire, barbaric hands and bombs have hammer'd them. 
 
 As we chmb the steps or tread the floor of this 
 
 Stately Parthenon, we honor all who worshipp'd 
 
 Wisdom in a woman's form. Here Socrates 
 
 Came to pray. If, while the priest intent upon 
 
 Th' lamb for sacrifice his knife uprais'd, th' people's 
 
 Head bent low, the great sad eyes of the philosopher 
 
 Search'd th' sky for hidden truth, we still must say 
 
 Socrates came here to pray. 
 
 Golden precepts from the great truth-seeker's loom 
 
 Gleam in shining threads upon the page of Bacchus' 
 
 Youngest Child, ^® who in the temple of the god 
 
 Of wine libations rich pour'd forth in sweetest verse, 
 
 Singing strains of love or paeans of pain to show 
 
 Th' merits of self sacrifice to suff'ring man. 
 
 Euripides the same fire felt that Socrates 
 
 Sustain'd, when through his human frame the hemlock sent 
 
 Death's chill, while round him stood his lov'd disciples 
 
 Thinking of the "Good" their teacher had proclaimed. 
 
 One there was who wrote what Socrates had said 
 
 As nearly as he could, and many sought the shrine 
 
 At Delphi where Apollo's temple rested on 
 
 Th' rock beside Castalia's spring. 'Twas here the great 
 
Greece 141 
 
 Philosopher heard th' oracular voice. It bade him listen 
 
 To the inner voice divine (which few can hear), 
 
 And never disobey its leadings. 
 
 Of all the Pythias that ever sat upon 
 
 Th' tripod to interpret Phoebus' words, not one 
 
 Surpass'd th' Delphic priestess of this day. Not all 
 
 Who tried could play Apollo's lyre; not all could catch 
 
 Th' music of the sun-god's voice, which never has 
 
 Been mute.^^ His sacred fane from times remote was call'd 
 
 Th' centre of the earth; and far and wide the fame 
 
 Of every Delphic priestess spread. 
 
CANTO VIII 
 
 R 
 
 ome 
 
 When Mneas left the burning walls of Troy, his father on his 
 shoulder, leading his young son, by faithful band 
 
 Followed, to Greece he sail'd, ascended to the shrine of Troy's 
 lov'd god, that he might learn where to go to rear an altar 
 
 For his household gods that he might give to less enlighten'd 
 lands the culture and religion of the Dardan realm. 
 
 Little did yEneas dream of all the perils 
 And the toil he would endure before he reach'd 
 Th' spot long destin'd the traditions of his people 
 To preserve. So earnestly he desir'd to find 
 Th' place Apollo bade him seek, that Macedon's 
 Vast lands nor Sicily's fruitful fields detain'd him long; 
 And had he not been shipwrecked on the Carthaginian 
 Shore, he ne'er had dream'd of Dido, fair Phoenician 
 Princess, who with winning ways enslav'd him for 
 A year. While mending were the much betatter'd sails, 
 Her generous aid and lavish hospitality readily 
 Th' Dardan did accept. Yet naught availed her 
 Wail of woe iEneas to detain, when ready 
 To depart. By duty and ambition ruled 
 He sail'd away, while passionate and uncontroll'd 
 Dido stabb'd herself upon the funeral pile. 
 Little thought ^Eneas of the life that he 
 Had wrecked. Love's voice now fail'd to reach his ear. 
 Pride of conquest, for discovery keen desire, 
 
 142 
 
Rome 143 
 
 Led him where destiny had design'd that he should dwell. 
 
 At Cumae landing, fairest city on the famed 
 
 Hesperian shore, built nobly, filled with richest store 
 
 Of rare Etrurian art,^ with harbor grand and mountains 
 
 Warding off the inland foes; a spot to be 
 
 Desir'd ^neas thought, and forthwith made alliance 
 
 With the Latin king, who fear'd th' Trojan arms; 
 
 Therefore gave his daughter to Anchises' son 
 
 In marriage, who a city built and call'd in honor 
 
 Of his wife Lavinium. 
 
 In this and much else that ^neas undertook 
 
 Th' sage advice his father gave he follow'd, when 
 
 Midst the sulphurous fumes in her mysterious grotto 
 
 Th' wise Cumsean Sibyl brought Anchises from 
 
 Th' Shades to hold communion with his pious son. 
 
 Yet not all the admonitions of his father, 
 
 Nor the worldly counsel of the Sibyl to whom 
 
 Much gold he'd given, from the enmity of Turnus, 
 
 Betrothed of Lavinia, kept iEneas. Fierce 
 
 And many were the battles ere this foe was vanquish'd. 
 
 But of this and how the Trojans ever gained 
 
 More and more, did Vergil amply sing, and tell 
 
 Of the goodly kingdom left Ascanius, 
 
 When to th' Shades ^neas passed. 
 
 Th' long-fam'd Alba Longa by ^Eneas' son 
 
 Was builded, who made alliance here and there with scatter'd 
 
 Tribes of old Etruria's once great stock, a people 
 
 Part from Egypt, part from Persia, who along 
 
 Italia's shore had built, before Calabria from 
 
 Th' sea came forth to lure the pleasure-loving, wand'ring 
 
144 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Greek. An island in ^Eneas' time, Hesperia 
 Had been desir'd by all who heard of its fair clime, 
 Its orange and its lemon groves, its cornfields and 
 Vineyards rare. Its city proudly faced th' western 
 Sea, secure in Nature's bulwarks. 
 Little did Cumseans dream that they and all 
 Their palaces would some day buried be beneath 
 Hot rocks and streams of molten lava, when the mighty 
 Avernus his work should do, and mount be lost 
 Save in name of placid acrid lake; and river 
 Fam'd its course would change, and later change its name;^ 
 While the greatness of Etruria's state in days 
 To come be but a schoolboy's tale. 
 Not in Ascanius' day, nor in that of his 
 Most noted descendants came these changes vast; yet north- 
 ward 
 Press'd th' Trojans and their Latin allies, peoples 
 Of the valleys fighting, nor the mount e'er yielding 
 Where Alba Longa stood, where king after king held sway 
 From Dardan ^Eneas claiming descent. 
 But wicked men arose, and brothers fought. The daughter 
 Of the king was forc'd to be a Vestal Virgin, 
 However brought forth twins, by Mars, she said. Fain would 
 Th' usurper slay these babes; but otherwise the gods 
 Had will'd, and sent to save them from a watery grave 
 A shepherd kind, whose wife was Lupa call'd because 
 Of her free life; a woman kind of heart to these 
 Starved boys gave suck. So Roman art and history 
 Preserve her memory, wee Romulus and Remus 
 Picturing nursed by a wolf. 
 
Rome 145 
 
 When to manhood grown not shepherd's staff but huntsman's 
 
 Sports appear 'd to Rhea Silvia's sons; their natural 
 
 Bent their foster father nurtur'd; and soon a band 
 
 Of lawless youths surround'd them, who built a town, 
 
 For Romulus their leader named. Near the foot 
 
 Of the Palatine hill it lay, while other towns 
 
 From other hills look'd down, by fear and envy stirred. 
 
 Upon the throne of Rome, in turn, sat seven kings; 
 
 Each was by a woman ruled. 
 
 Sabine Hersilia bade her Romulus desist 
 
 From battling, when her people came their daughters to 
 
 Reclaim, who stolen were by youths of Rome, so peace 
 
 Was made between these alien states. 
 
 Egeria, lovely nymph, with divination gifted. 
 
 Taught the pious Numa what the gods desired 
 
 Most, while he obedient to his sibyl wife 
 
 At Rome estabhsh'd rites religious. 
 
 Etrurian Tanaquil, so full of base intrigue. 
 
 Her Greek-born husband on the throne of Romulus 
 
 Did place; then slave within her palace born exalted 
 
 To the highest station, Servius, th' boy 
 
 Whose head 'twas said oft blaz'd with light in sleep. A 
 
 peaceful 
 King and loved was he, yet ne'er secure; for TulHa 
 Th' restless temper of the younger Tarquin stirred 
 To murder Tarquin Primus; then her chariot drove 
 Over his dead body in the market place; 
 And put the crown so deeply dyed in family blood 
 Upon her husband's head, whose many sanguinary 
 Victories soon gain'd for him the name Superbus, 
 
146 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Desiring for the Tarquin name a monument, Jove's 
 
 Temple, by his father started, the king would now 
 
 Finish; but, a frightful prodigy occurring 
 
 Which Etrurian sages failed to interpret, 
 
 Superbus sent his sons the oracle at Delphi 
 
 To consult. The serpent might portend the god's 
 
 Displeasure that no temple in his honor had 
 
 Been built since Alba Longa was destroyed. With 
 
 Th' Tarquins went their cousin Lucius Junius Brutus, 
 
 Thought a witless lad, for fearing much the king 
 
 He had dissembled; yet was bright enough, for when 
 
 Pythia declar'd that he who first should kiss 
 
 His mother Rome would rule, while lots the Tarquins cast 
 
 To see on which should fall this honor, Brutus stumbling 
 
 Kiss'd the earth, rememb'ring Rhea is the mother 
 
 Of mankind. And he it was who ruled th' state 
 
 After he had stirr'd the indignation of 
 
 Th' people by his eloquent recital o'er 
 
 Th' body of Lucretia, whose death untimely 
 
 Hasten'd the end of regal government at Rome. 
 
 Yet the form of rule chang'd not the hearts of men; 
 
 Consuls now instead of kings, more liberty, more 
 
 Ferment; wars abroad, at home dissension; no 
 
 Stability, no loyalty; to-day a man 
 
 Prime favorite is; to-morrow exiled. 
 
 Coriolanus brave, much scarred, from attacking 
 
 Th' imperial city deterred by the rebuke 
 
 Of his aged mother and Volumnia's tears. 
 
 Died in exile; while to those who pray'd for peace 
 
 As a reward, the citizens built a temple to female 
 
Rome 147 
 
 Fortune. Yet not tears nor temple stayed th' fearful 
 
 March of war, nor quell'd internal strife, until 
 
 Patricians shar'd th' spoils of government with those 
 
 Whose bone and sinew held the state. 
 
 Step by step the army steadily fought its way 
 
 Towards a democratic commonwealth. The Volscians 
 
 Ceas'd to be. Th' ^Equians finally were defeated, 
 
 When peace-loving Cincinnatus, call'd to be 
 
 Dictator, left his plow, and on to victory led 
 
 Th' Romans. Last of all th' Italian peoples engulfed 
 
 By Rome were th' Etrurians. Then was she by th' Greeks 
 
 At sea defeated. Attacked by the Gauls on th' north, 
 
 Veil was at length destroyed. Thus forever 
 
 Broken was the power of Rome's strongest enemy. 
 
 Quelling Etruria but open'd th' gate to th' Gauls; 
 
 So these strange peoples of the North now found their way 
 
 To th' Eternal City, which they pillaged and 
 
 Burn'd, all save the capitol; this seven months 
 
 They besieged unsuccessfully. 
 
 Th' Gauls withdrew; rebuilt was Rome, and soon for more 
 
 Warfare ready; now against the nations south 
 
 Waged three long wars. Then one by one the Greek 
 
 Cities of the coast submitt'd to Rome's supremacy. 
 
 Th' Tarentines for liberty fought bravely, aided 
 
 By Pyrrhus' army and his elephants at first 
 
 Repell'd th' Roman arms, yet Samnites fell at length. 
 
 Th' fruitful isle of Sicily, coveted long, became 
 
 Next the seat of war. The Punic colonies strove 
 
 Constantly with th' Greeks. The Romans from the isle 
 
 Drove the Carthaginians, and rule upheld 
 
The Child of the Nations 
 
 Of Hiero of Syracuse, descendant of 
 
 Gelon of Gala, brother of that Hiero 
 
 In whose time iEtna vomit'd fire,^ and sent forth giant 
 
 Lava streams destructive for the time, for after 
 
 Days enriching plains of Sicily/ This was that 
 
 Hiero whose affluent halls were graced by poets 
 
 And philosophers. Here ^schylus and Pindar 
 
 Honor'd were. The Pythian and Olympian bays 
 
 Still are green in those immortal odes where e'en 
 
 Th' king's victorious horse has found a lasting name.^ 
 
 Wars nor wealth can give such length of days to men 
 
 Of mortal mould as can the poet's page, in whose 
 
 Power it lies e'en kingly hospitality to 
 
 Well repay. Would Hiero be known to-day 
 
 Had the Theban bard not feasted at his board? 
 
 Of the lesser one we ne'er had heard, but that 
 
 In lovely lyric lays Theocritus his patron's 
 
 Praise did sing; while he, protected by the Roman 
 
 Power in southern Sicily, mildly rul'd th' lazy 
 
 Pleasure-loving Greek. Not rul'd so easily were 
 
 Th' Samnite Carthaginians. When quieted in 
 
 Sicily depradations then began in Spain. 
 
 Ere the fleet arriv'd from Italy, Roman strongholds 
 
 On the coast attacked were; and led by bold, 
 
 Cruel and relentless Hannibal they crossed 
 
 Th' Alps, and nearly crush'd th' Roman state at Cannae. 
 
 For years they devastated southern Italy, while 
 
 Strategic, murderous Marcellus Syracuse 
 
 Besieged, and the treasures of its temples brought 
 
 To Rome; then turn'd his army 'gainst the Punic leader, 
 
Rome 149 
 
 Met his death, and buried was by Hannibal. 
 
 Th' fate of Rome in balance hung when Scipio — 
 
 Young in years but old in vision, placing his 
 
 Dependence on the gods, who show'd their will and his 
 
 Destiny in dreams, and made him brave to do. 
 
 E'en when contrary to the Senate's voice, their bidding — 
 
 Asked for troops to lead to Africa, which was refus'd; 
 
 But so famous for victories in Spain became 
 
 That in goodly numbers volunteers to his side 
 
 Flock'd. With fleet and army formidable he sailed 
 
 To Afric's shore where on the field of Zama great 
 
 Hannibal he overcame. So glorious was 
 
 This victory, that in triumph home returning th' surname 
 
 Africanus Scipio received. Th' people 
 
 Then desir'd to make him consul and dictator; 
 
 But as in Spain he had declin'd th' title king, 
 
 Then preferring that of general, so he now 
 
 Prudently put aside these proffer'd honors, for 
 
 Th' Senate's jealousy well he knew. 
 
 War with Macedon came shortly after peace 
 
 With Carthage. Philip having further'd Hannibal 
 
 Incens'd th' Romans. Scipio in humbleness 
 
 Of spirit asked leave to follow his brother who 
 
 Led the troops. The power of Macedon in Greece 
 
 By Titus Quinctius Flaminius was broken; 
 
 Th' news that Greece was free proclaim'd at th' Nemean 
 
 Games by heralds scarcely was believ'd; yet almost 
 
 Overpower'd was Quinctius by gratitude 
 
 Expressed by th' assembled Achaeans. 
 
 After this was Rome involved in war with Eastern 
 
150 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Powers. Egypt, Carthage, Macedon, each proffer'd 
 
 Help. The gold and coin from Africa proudly was 
 
 Refus'd but Philip's aid in driving Antiochus 
 
 Out of Greece accepted gladly. Th' allied forces 
 
 At Thermopylae defeated th' Asiatics, 
 
 Where in early days the brave Leonidas 
 
 With three hundred Spartans held the pass against 
 
 Th' Persian host. The Romans conquer'd Antiochus 
 
 Later at sea, and drove him back to Asia Minor, 
 
 There depriving him of most of his dominion. 
 
 Now the Asiatic luxuries and customs 
 
 Became the vogue at Rome. Against these tastes and gauds 
 
 Newly acquired Cato harangu'd, when opposing 
 
 Th' repeal of th' Oppian law. 
 
 Conspicuous for his austere frugality, Cato 
 
 Fear'd that avarice and luxurious living would 
 
 Into captivity bring the state; for these 
 
 He knew had ruined all great empires. 
 
 Despite the strenuous opposition of the censor. 
 
 Law the dress of women limiting was repealed; 
 
 For Valerius, plebeian Tribune, all 
 
 Cato's fears most eloquently silenc'd, showing 
 
 By examples from remotest times to his 
 
 Day it was not new for women to appear 
 
 In public when the interest of the commonwealth 
 
 Demanded it. "The matron's gold it was that ransom'd 
 
 Rome when Gauls besieged. The widows' fund supplied, 
 
 During a later war, the treasury. When to these 
 
 Shores new gods were invited to relieve our distress, 
 
 Did not the matrons in a body go to th' coast 
 
Ro 
 
 me 
 
 151 
 
 Th' Idasan mother to receive? " 
 
 These and other instances Valerius 
 
 Cited. As to the repeal of laws in general, 
 
 Th' Tribune agreed with Cato, but this law was not 
 
 Coeval with the city, nor was it written by 
 
 Decemvirs on the tables twelve, but only passed 
 
 When necessitated by the state's distress. 
 
 Reminding Roman men that power the greater any 
 
 One possesses, th' more moderate should he be 
 
 In exercising it; the Tribune Valerius 
 
 Closed his justly famed speech.^ 
 
 Cato lived to ripe old age, preserving strength 
 
 Of mind and body. " Carthage must destroyed be, " 
 
 Were his words, no matter what the subject of 
 
 Senatorial debate. As constant drippings 
 
 Wear the hardest rocks away, so Cato's oft 
 
 Repeated speech the Senate mov'd, who found excuse 
 
 Their rival city to besiege. The namesake of 
 
 Hannibal's defeator Carthage's destroyer 
 
 Was. This Scipio like th' elder one was taught 
 
 By dreams. One night in Massinissa's palace sleeping 
 
 He was visit'd by the Shade of Africanus 
 
 Who predicted for him many honors. Also 
 
 In this same dream his father, Paulus, spoke to him 
 
 Of the Life Hereafter, of the bliss eternal 
 
 Which awaited him, and of his duty to 
 
 Preserve the wonderful union of the soul and body 
 
 Until from earthly fetters God should will him loosed. 
 
 Africanus spoke again of things not known 
 
 To seers regarding planet Rhea, sun and stars; 
 
152 The Child of the Nations 
 
 And urg'd his namesake not to think of worldly fame, 
 
 But his heart to set on things above and know 
 
 He was a god; for one who feels, and recollects, 
 
 And controls his body, as the Ruler Supreme 
 
 Governs th' world, must be a god. 
 
 Much else Scipio the Elder spake, and all 
 
 Predictions of this dream came true.^ 
 
 About this time Achaia conquer'd was by Quintus 
 
 Metellus. Corinth was demolish'd, Thebes and Chalcis 
 
 Were laid low. Numidia Metellus ravag'd 
 
 Later, and defeat'd Jugurtha. But it was 
 
 Marius by Sulla aid'd who took the Numidian 
 
 In chains to Rome. This Marius was th' first to enter 
 
 Th' Senate in triumphal habit. Son of th' soil. 
 
 He valu'd costly apparel more than do the noble 
 
 Born. Because success attend'd his raids against 
 
 Th' Teutons and the Cimbri he became the popular 
 
 Hero of the day, yet far too ignorant was 
 
 To govern. Soon his blood-stain'd rule was ended by 
 
 Th' wily Sulla, first to turn his arms against 
 
 His country. Marius then fled. Victorious Sulla 
 
 Led his army into Greece, in campaign ruthless 
 
 Athens stormed, slaying most of her inhabitants; 
 
 Returning then to Italy terroriz'd th' people 
 
 By massacre more merciless than Marius 
 
 E'er perpetrat'd; to suit himself the laws refashion'd, 
 
 Dictatorial ofl&ce abdicated then. 
 
 And return'd to private life. 
 
 Yet systems he establish'd did not save the state; 
 
 For after Sulla's death no one arose with power 
 
Rome 153 
 
 Enough to seize the government 'til Juhus First, 
 
 Greatest of the Cagsars, law and order brought | 
 
 Out of anarchy, when he had conquer'd Pompey 
 
 Call'd th' Great, who with success the Seleucidse 
 
 Overthrew, the rulers of the Asiatic 
 
 Realm since Alexander's day. 
 
 Advancing to Judea, Pompey after a long 
 
 Siege the temple at Jerusalem took, his way 
 
 Forcing into the holy place where only high 
 
 Priest might lawfully enter; Palestine annex'd 
 
 To Syria, and home return'd th' hero of 
 
 Th' hour. Ambitious, yet without ability his 
 
 Hopes to realize, from Caesar, favorite now 
 
 Of the democratic party, gladly he 
 
 Accepted help. With Pompey's prestige, Crassus' wealth 
 
 And his own genius, Caesar form'd th' first triumvirate. 
 
 Of short duration this, for Crassus in the east 
 
 Defeat'd and killed, Pompey curried favor with 
 
 Th' people and soon sole consul was at Rome; while Caesar 
 
 Many victories won in Germany, Gaul and Britain, 
 
 Having made the ocean and the Rhine the boundaries 
 
 Of Rome, yet order'd was by jealous Senate to 
 
 Disband his army. Friends now ask'd th' Consulship 
 
 For him. Not granted this; so Csesar peace desiring 
 
 Demanded Pompey should disband his legions; this 
 
 Refused, notwithstanding th' apparition which 
 
 Spoke of bloodshed, Caesar cross'd th' Rubicon, 
 
 And soon th' imperial city occupied, Pompey 
 
 Having fled. The food supply securing and 
 
 Th' opposing forces conquering in Hispania, 
 
154 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Caesar was proclaim'd Dictator. Th' government was 
 Reorganized; then with troops well disciplined 
 Little difficulty he had in overpowering 
 Pompey. Bloody yet decisive was Pharsalia. ^ 
 Now to Egypt came the rivals; here receiving 
 Pompey's head, great Caesar wept, as Alexandria's 
 Founder wept when no more worlds he found to conquer. 
 With family feuds was Egypt rife. The young king no 
 Resemblance bore to those great Ptolemies whose name 
 Alone he had inherited. First of these new-made 
 Egyptian kings by Alexander's will who sat 
 Upon the throne was Soter called. Philadelphus, 
 His son, patron was of learning, and justly famed 
 For his large library, while the other Ptolemies 
 For warHke attributes were known, until degenerate 
 Grew the race, in too much luxury swath'd. The last 
 Flower on this dying stem was Cleopatra. 
 Caesar by her charms enthrall'd at her side 
 Linger 'd; when affairs at home requir'd his presence, 
 Th' beautiful princess placed upon the throne of Egypt 
 Jointly to rule with her young brother. 
 Caesar soon became sole master of the Roman 
 World; created Imperator, with consummate 
 Judgment gave attention to the empire. Showing 
 No resentment nor revenge, his enemies 
 He forgave; yet of his popularity some 
 Partisans of his were jealous, for the people 
 Gladly him accepted; but powerless were to shield 
 Their god when he o'erconfident refus'd to note 
 Th' auspices, the warnings fail'd to read, nor listen'd 
 
Rome 155 
 
 To his wife Calpurnia, whose dreams forshadow'd 
 
 Harm to him, but came upon the Ides of March 
 
 As usual to the Senate quite unarmed; there 
 
 Was stabb'd by men he had call'd friends 
 
 Who, while they aim'd their cruel blows to lay him low, 
 
 Gave undying fame to this imperial leader, 
 
 A crown more lasting than the one he thrice refus'd 
 
 Upon the Lupercal. His blood was spilt by those 
 
 To whom his friendship only gave distinction; they 
 
 Envied his invincible genius; his mind 
 
 They never understood, nor fathom'd his great heart; 
 
 So like Dodona's giant oak in sacred forest 
 
 Cleft by Caesar's sword, then fell'd by his command, 
 
 Rome's Imperator fell; with whom began 
 
 Th' greatest empire earth has known. 
 
 As the swollen sea in turbulent waves is tossed 
 
 After a storm, now Roman rival parties strove 
 
 Each with greedy hands to seize the reins of power. 
 
 Three in sanguinary rule united. All 
 
 Th' old-time friends of Cssar they proscribed. Even 
 
 One, "The Father of his Country" called, who 
 
 Wrote and spoke his native tongue as none had done 
 
 Before, was foully murdered, while his head and hands 
 
 Were nailed where his eloquence had often flowed. 
 
 Like a calm between two storms, as sea-foam white 
 
 Because all else is black, thy fame, O Cicero, 
 
 Lasting is. The sea of trouble still rolled on. 
 
 After fated Phillipi ran Cassius 
 
 And Brutus on their swords. Her aid now Cleopatra 
 
 Lent to Anthony, who his wife and children left 
 
156 The Child of the Nations 
 
 For this voluptuous queen. No match was this perfidious 
 
 Pair for him who soon in Rome was styled Augustus 
 
 When he had won the world at Actium. To Egypt 
 
 Then the fooHsh lovers fled, and took their lives. 
 
 Octavius now sole master of the empire was, 
 
 Which for a space was quiet as ocean is, when swollen 
 
 Flood, subsiding after strenuous storm, the sea 
 
 Clear and blue without a ripple leaves, while on 
 
 The horizon spreading their white sails in glistening 
 
 Simlight, scarcely seen to move, a line of barques. 
 
 So in a nation after agitation great 
 
 Comes a time of peace and much prosperity, when 
 
 Many men arise and soar on wings of golden 
 
 Opportunity, leaving for the generations 
 
 Yet to come undying words. 
 
 Not by one great man are made the world's great 
 
 Ages, but by many illumin'd souls whose genius 
 
 Is permitted to unfold amid congenial 
 
 Surroundings. Horace had not written as he did 
 
 But for Maecenas' lavish hand and sympathetic 
 
 Voice, whose gifts the poet well repaid by praise 
 
 Of his munificence. Those gentle satires, gracious 
 
 Letters, odes like pearly dew upon the lawn. 
 
 Are with us still; the Villa and the gold are gone. 
 
 To his dear friend Vergilius, who led him to 
 
 Th' friend at court, did Horace hold affection. Both 
 
 These poets learn'd in Grecian lore sought Athens, home 
 
 Of every classic song, whose very dust is brain. 
 
 Vergil's soul was clad in fragile clay, which wrap 
 
 Too soon was worn away; yet even so, he stands 
 
Rome 157 
 
 First of Roman bards. His pastorals^ claim our praise, 
 
 Though to Theocritus this form of lay came first. 
 
 Vergil much surpass'd th' Syracusan singer 
 
 In refinement of this style of verse. In his 
 
 Heroic poem this bard took Homer for a guide. 
 
 Little new the work contains yet full of legend 
 
 And of lore; is firm in teaching that we live 
 
 Again and work in other spheres; for Vergil knew 
 
 That he was part of that bright flame in each intelligence 
 
 Glowing, felt his soul was nourished by a light 
 
 That kindled once, shines on forever.^" 
 
 Poets were not rare in Rome these days. Catullus' 
 
 And TibuUus' Sapphic strains were oftener read 
 
 Than Cinna's geographic page, whose Smyrna now 
 
 Forgotten lies. To passionate men and women, little 
 
 Learned, Ovid then, as now, appeal'd. Among 
 
 These meteoric men, for poets ever strange 
 
 Paths tread, there lived a man of calm and quiet temper 
 
 Who with rich yet simple diction penned th' history 
 
 Of Rome in faultless style. As stately forest tree. 
 
 Its head above the vines and blossoms rears, so Livy 
 
 Of Patavium, that town in northern Italy 
 
 Which Antenor of Troy did build, stood lonely in 
 
 His height amid the writers of his age. His talents 
 
 Won for him the friendship of the Senate's prince. 
 
 So that far and wide his fame was spread, while yet 
 
 On earth he liv'd— and still lives on. 
 
 Not one of all those high-born geniuses 
 
 Of Rome who shone at august Cesar's court. 
 
 As stars do circling shine about the sun, 
 
158 The Child of the Nations 
 
 To his royal table coming as 
 
 The gods on Mount Olympus hasten when 
 
 To banquet hall of Zeus by Hebe bidden, 
 
 To the world would give the wisdom, light 
 
 And truth that came from Galilee, from lips 
 
 Of Man whose name Augustus ne'er had heard. 
 
 He to Caesar tribute paid, yet taught 
 
 A higher fealty belonged to God. But who 
 
 Could live in all the splendor of the empire 
 
 Days, and not be buried 'neath its gauds, 
 
 As surely as Tarpeia was in early 
 
 Times, by Sabine shields and bracelets covered? 
 
 Nor dreamed these men of Rome what marvellous things 
 
 Were happening in far off Palestine, 
 
 Nor would believe if told that Gabriel, angel 
 
 Bright, from highest heaven a visit paid 
 
 A maid in Nazareth, and hailed her chosen 
 
 Of the Lord, Messiah's mother she 
 
 To be. This message modest Mary doubting, 
 
 The angel did declare with God all things 
 
 Possible are. Submissive then to wish 
 
 Most High, this Holy Virgin, child of Anne 
 
 And Joachim,^^ to Zacharias' house 
 
 Did hasten there to tell the wondrous news, 
 
 Yet ere the salutation passed was hailed 
 
 As Mother of the Lord. Then Mary sang 
 
 A hymn of praise and prophecy that all 
 
 Should ever call her blessed. ^^ 
 
 To Joseph, who like many of his race 
 
 Was versed in dreams, it was reveal'd that his 
 
Rome 159 
 
 Was Aaron's rod. So when the priest bade all 
 Unmarried men of David's line their rod 
 Into the Temple bring, to see if sign 
 From heaven be given, on Joseph's rod a dove 
 Did perch, ^^ fullilling prophecy. Then the priest 
 To Joseph's care the blessed maid confided. 
 While they in David's town sojourned, a son 
 Was born, and shepherds hearing angel chorus 
 Came to cave where lay the babe by glistening 
 Light surrounded; while seers from Egypt, Greece 
 And India came with gifts of frankincense. 
 Of gold, and myrrh, to worship Him, the King 
 New-born, whose brilliant star they'd seen afar. 
 His parents, true to Jewish law, the Child 
 Did bring to temple at Jerusalem where 
 Aged priest rejoiced to see the Lord's 
 Salvation. Holy Simeon spirit-guided 
 Saw the sword that Mary s heart would pierce. 
 When she should stand beside the cross whereon 
 Her bright and beauteous Son was crucified. 
 Should stand and see Him suffer so, the sinless 
 One whom wicked men derided, crowned 
 With thorns, and spat upon, nailed His hands 
 And feet upon the cross of Calvary. When 
 At last His spirit freed itself with a loud 
 Voice He cried. Then sword was thrust in His 
 Fair side 'til blood and water flowed therefrom, 
 And Mary's heart was pierced as Simeon said. 
 Gentle, loving mother, than whom no earthly 
 Woman suffer'd more, thy son of promise 
 
i6o The Child of the Nations 
 
 Died a malefactor's death, by cruel 
 
 Crowd surround' d and no one there to help. 
 
 Holy Mary, Mother mild, thy faith 
 
 Helps us in Ufe's dark hours. No night of ours 
 
 So black as this that thou didst spend upon 
 
 Thy knees while Jesus' body in the tomb 
 
 So silent lay, while He was preaching help 
 
 To tortur'd spirits in the world of Shades. 
 
 When on the third morn other Marys precious 
 
 Spices taking to His grave, the stone 
 
 Found rolled away, thou didst not need to see 
 
 Th' empty tomb; already had thine eyes 
 
 Beheld the risen Lord, Victorious One, 
 
 Who next appeared to Mary Magdalene, 
 
 At whose marriage feast He made the water 
 
 Wine, as He had turned her life from earthly 
 
 Ways to things divine. Her Lord she loved 
 
 So well, her eyes were opened when her name 
 
 He called; then she beheld His changed estate, 
 
 And knew her Saviour's body glorified, 
 
 The radiant mien which Peter, James and John 
 
 Had seen when Jesus on the Mount with Moses 
 
 And Elias talked. ^^ The risen body 
 
 Different, yet like the one of clay. 
 
 Many saw; yet those who could not see 
 
 Believed not, e'en though through closed doors 
 
 He passed, showed His nail prints, let them touch 
 
 His wounded side. For forty days on earth 
 
 He stayed, appearing many times to one 
 
 Or more, in body of the resurrection. 
 
Rome i6i 
 
 Then, O wondrous light! He grew more bright, 
 More luminous, and floated upward out 
 Of sight; while angels, who with men were watching 
 Spoke to Jesus' sad disciples, telling 
 Them their Lord had gone to heaven, a place 
 To prepare as He had promised them. 
 That where He was they too should be when they 
 Had put on immortality. 
 While the Son of Righteousness with midday splendour 
 In Syria conquer'd, very low the clouds hung over 
 Rome, for love was chain'd, and lust was loos'd. No more 
 Cornelia's noble race, so proud in consciousness 
 Of motherhood; no more Calpurnias who with visions 
 Clear might warn their lords, but women full of evil 
 Machinations. Murderous to the core were those 
 In highest places. Could the son of Livia be 
 Other than he was? We needs must pity one 
 With such an heritage, reared in lap of lust and school'd 
 In fratricide, with exile self-imposed, his wreck 
 Of manhood hid on Capri's rocky shore; there ruled 
 By crafty Sejanus, who caus'd th' death of many 
 Innocent ones ere his ignominious death 
 He met. He poison'd stately Agrippina's mind. 
 When with the Emperor she dined, augmenting the 
 Dislike Tiberias bore Augustus' grandchild. So 
 Her request for marriage honorable he refused. 
 Soon in exile this exotic feminine flower 
 Of Rome was starved to death; yet happier thus than living 
 To see her daughter slain by son's command, the cruel 
 Nero, third to sit upon the throne, by madness 
 
i62 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Driven desperate deeds to do. This madness was 
 
 A form of that disease which flows for generations 
 
 In the blood of those from sinfid men descended, 
 
 And comes into the brains of kings when women of 
 
 Th' foremost rank lead lives lascivious; for from 
 
 Mother does the man his mental tendencies 
 
 Inherit. Rais'd to power imperial while a boy, 
 
 Cruelty with mother's milk imbibing ^ passions 
 
 Unrestrained, for monstrosity Nero in name 
 
 Stands in limelight of the past. 
 
 That sect among the Jews, nam'd Christians, with insatiate 
 
 Cruelty, for the amusement of a degraded populace, 
 
 Were horribly tortur'd. Peter, th' great Apostle, finding 
 
 Himself unable to shield his little flock, to their 
 
 Entreaties yield'd to save himself. Wlaile fleeing along 
 
 Th' Appian way, he saw impress 'd upon the soft 
 
 Volcanic granite, footprints turn'd towards Rome. 
 
 He stoop'd and kiss'd th' mystic marks, and bless'd th' 
 
 Lord 
 For pointing out the way; then slowly his steps retrac'd 
 Soon to meet a martyr's death. 
 
 Now o'er Peter's tomb a great dome rises where countless 
 Devotees the toe of his stone image kiss; 
 While footsteps of the jSIaster, harden'd into rock 
 As altar-piece in far-off San Sebastian are, 
 Gazed upon by skeptic tourists, or beheld 
 By pilgrims lo\-ingly who for signs like these are longing, 
 Yet the doors dare not unbar which th' Church has lock'd 
 With keys that Christ to Peter gave as sign — the gates, 
 Which priests of other cults so long had barr'd, now 
 
Rome 16,3 
 
 Shoiild \jt opened to let His sheep vdtliin the pasture. 
 
 Not with footmarks on the sand, but Hght upon 
 
 Th' path, and voice hke thunder from the sky, did Jesus 
 
 Come to Paul, who then viith mighty eloquence 
 
 Th' story of the resurrection told in Syria, 
 
 Greece, and Macedon. WTien held in imjust bonds 
 
 For preaching Christ, to Caesar he appeal'd, and was 
 
 By Festus sent to Rome along with Luke and Silas, 
 
 His co-workers. There in prison burning words 
 
 He wrote which still are heard the wide earth o'er, and 
 
 will 
 Ring on when Rome is knovv-n no more. 
 Yet by cruel king's command, this first Apostle 
 To the gentiles was behead'd. As citizen 
 Of Rome he might not suffer death -n-ithin the gates; 
 So far out on the Ostian road the foimtains three 
 We find that do attest the place where Paul's head fell, 
 Bound 'roimd by fair PlautUla's veil. 
 As oft in darkest night shines Sirius with more 
 Than planet Hght, so Seneca shone at Rome with light 
 That Hghteneth extry man when clear his mental mirror. 
 On his page of precepts truth we see beyond 
 Th' stoics. Deeply had he dug in that rich mine 
 Open'd by Euripides, whose dramas he 
 Transcribed for the Latin world. "When bj^ his heartless 
 Pupn self-inflicted death was decreed, as one 
 Who knows there is a Life Hereafter he met the signal. 
 Soon his kinsman, gifted Lucan, suffered Hke 
 Fate, for verses so superior to his own 
 Nero could not brook. This noble soul in dying 
 
1 64 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Lines from his sublime Pharsalia recited 
 
 (Imputed to another)/^ showing firm belief 
 
 In God's omnipresence and that a virtuous mind 
 
 Is His noblest throne on earth. 
 
 Why was Martial spar'd whose epigrams were most rare, 
 
 The emperor's brutal taste well pleased, praising 
 
 Th' Colosseum's horrid scenes, yet hiding th' designer's 
 
 Name, Gaudentius, who met a martyr's death? 
 
 Juvenal, Martial's nearest friend, with satire's swift 
 
 Sharp sword did veil his fierce invectives, not extravagant 
 
 We know, for from historic page of Tacitus 
 
 We learn what Roman license and luxury were those 
 
 days. 
 By decree of soldiers, Nero's mad career 
 Ended was by self-inflicted death. Then rulers 
 Raised or deposed were in quick succession 
 By military despotism. 
 Pliny in later days description graphic gives 
 Of scenes terrific which he witnessed as a lad. 
 Vesuvius had groan'd, shaken th' country 'round 
 About for many months to tell the men who lived 
 Upon her slopes to leave. But then, as now, they little 
 Heeded nature's warnings. When at last fierce flames 
 Burst from mountain top, and cloud of smoke the sky 
 Obscured, some preferr'd th' sea to earth in such 
 Distress. But tidal waves, which ever in the wake 
 Of heavy quake will follow, engulfed their tiny crafts, 
 While hot lava swiftly down the mountain flowed. 
 Covering cities at its base. The naturalist, 
 Th' Elder Pliny, perished watching this phenomenon. 
 
Rome 165 
 
 His nephew's letters tell the tale, and also give 
 Us most dehghtful scenes from country life enjoy'd 
 By men and women of fine taste and culture, who 
 Were guests at his Liburnian and his Tuscan villas — 
 Life quite unlike that which Juvenal decries. 
 We learn from Pliny's page of Trajan's clemency, 
 Foreign ruler, first of Rome, who greatest limits 
 Gave the empire; in whose reign and that of his 
 Adopted son, the Spanish Hadrian, learning is 
 Again encourag'd. Now the Greek philosopher 
 Plutarch comes to Rome. Like Seneca, for men 
 And women equal virtue he demand'd. Th' worship 
 Of Isis he explained, ^^ brought to Rome in Sulla's 
 Day, the importance showing for the reverence 
 Of motherhood. The heavenly host that mediate, 
 Spirits freed from bodily bondage that do God's 
 Service, Plutarch saw, and oracles explained. 
 Through his influence Delphi was restor'd though Pythia's 
 Voice was silent, for Hadrian found a peasant girl 
 Upon the tripod when this shrine he visited. Much 
 Attracted by the eastern occultism, he spent 
 Little time at Rome, yet hither sent rare treasures 
 For his Tivoli villa from Egypt, Greece and Syria, 
 Which to us still speak of his great taste for art. 
 Hadrian chose for his successor Antoninus, 
 Pius call'd because of his benevolent, peaceful 
 Reign; who show'd his greatest wisdom in adopting 
 Verus and Domitia's son Aurelius, 
 
 The consummate flower of Roman manhood, 
 Who from his mother mental poise and moral 
 
i66 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Strength partook. From her he learn'd that evil 
 
 Thought pernicious is as evil deed. 
 
 From father and grandfather he inherited 
 
 Modesty, perseverance, manliness. 
 
 Temper mild and lack of all vainglory. 
 
 Among the many men of character who 
 
 Helped to form the judgment of this prince, 
 
 Th' stoic Rusticus stands first. He taught 
 
 Simplicity in all the acts of life; 
 
 Benevolence without display; to offenders 
 
 Easy reconcilement; never to be 
 
 Satisfied with any superficial 
 
 Understanding of a book. For his 
 
 Good teachers and good kinsman Aurelius 
 
 Thanked th' gods, but specially did praise 
 
 Them that he was able his virginity 
 
 To keep. Like Paul he knew the value of 
 
 Deferring proof of his virihty," gathering 
 
 Strength by not parading manhood. Also 
 
 He thanked th' gods for temperate keeping him 
 
 In mind as well as body, giving him 
 
 Desire to aid and leisure right to do. 
 
 By admonitory dreams he oft 
 
 Instructed was, and felt the providence 
 
 Of God, which Plutarch says is minist'ring angels.^* 
 
 Aurelius did fully feel that all 
 
 Members of one body are, as said 
 
 Xenophon in th' Memorabilia. 
 
 Therefore warfare contrary to his nature 
 
 Was. In camp he still preserv'd his peaceful 
 
Rome 167 
 
 Mien, and daily wrote his meditations 
 
 Beautiful on life and death. His soul 
 
 Was so awaken'd that he knew what men 
 
 Call death is but the walking from one house 
 
 To another, the putting off the clay 
 
 For the robe of light. 
 
 Th' character of this most noble man 
 
 More lustre gives to Rome than all the temples. 
 
 Towers, and palaces upon her seven 
 
 Hills: The Palatine where Romulus 
 
 Built his infant walls, the Capitoline, 
 
 Th' Quirinal by Sabine kings annexed, 
 
 Th' Aventine by Marcius once claimed, 
 
 Th' Celian, th' Esquiline so long Etruscans 
 
 Held, at length the city set beside 
 
 Th' Tiber joined, last Janiculum 
 
 Included in the circuit of her walls 
 
 By Antonius Marcus Aurelius. 
 
 There now the pious pilgrim goes to kneel 
 
 At Peter's shrine or stops to note the nameless 
 
 Stone o'er Beatrice Cenci's grave;^^ 
 
 Then when the sun is setting, gazes on 
 
 Th' ruins of what was once the capital of 
 
 Th' world, and with Aurelius perceives 
 
 That matter is in flux, so why regard 
 
 Th' dissolution of the elements or 
 
 Be apprehensive? Nothing can be wholly 
 
 Evil that is natural. Man possesses 
 
 That which th' world phenomenal transcends. 
 
 If he but cultivates within his breast 
 
1 68 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Th' spark divine; he can, when driven forth 
 
 From one body, life renew. 
 Just as Constantine transferr'd th' Roman power 
 To Byzantium, a man can in another 
 Tabernacle preserve his life, his loves, his light. 
 
CANTO IX 
 Spain 
 
 Had not Africanus lived many times before he came to Rome, 
 the gods would not have chosen him when only 
 
 Twenty-four years old to lead their country's forces into Spain. 
 That Scipio was old in spirit, though in earth 
 
 Years young, is attested by his power of interpreting dreams and 
 hearing th' inner voice. Thus led, an easy task was th' 
 taking 
 
 Of Saguntum. Carthaginia's power o'erthrown, 
 Th' towns along the coast secure, the Romans pushed 
 Their way into th' interior of th' Iberian 
 Peninsula; built roads and walls and amphitheatres; 
 Roman laws and customs introduced; and 
 Conciliated th' people who were a strange conglomerate, 
 Turanians from Persia, dwelling here from time 
 Remote, Iberians of Greek descent who gave 
 To the land their name before the Roman rule. 
 Of that cultured, wicked race th' Atlantides^ 
 A few who had escap'd that fearful tempest which 
 Swept the land from 'neath their feet. 
 Scipio's policy was gentle and humane; 
 He gained the esteem of those he conquer 'd; and had he 
 So willed, King of Spain he easily might have been. 
 Different quite the warfare was in Caesar's day. 
 Hunting Pompey's legions, the Iberians 
 He devastated, making slaves of those opposing 
 
 169 
 
lyo The Child of the Nations 
 
 Him. As Roman province, called Hispania now, 
 
 She in importance grew, and yield'd not only great 
 
 Stores of silver from her mines, but poets and 
 
 Philosophers from her people. Moral Seneca 
 
 And Lucan both were Spanish born, and three of Rome's 
 
 Emperors^ came from this rich soil. 
 
 When the western world Rome ceas'd to rule, the Goths 
 
 Swept destruction on this land as hurricane 
 
 Tears the tassell'd corn; yet on these ruins a kingdom 
 
 Built, with many temples fair and castles strong. 
 
 And put their nerve and sinew into what was fast 
 
 Becoming a degenerate race. 
 
 No one disputed th' Goths' right to rule Hispania 
 
 For full three centuries. Then came from Afric's shore 
 
 Tarik with his Moors. For seven days the battle 
 
 Rag'd, and Roderick was slain. Then onward marched 
 
 Th' Moors, Toledo, beautiful city of th' Gothic 
 
 Kingdom, taking. Soon the southern towns were all 
 
 Theirs, while Goths and Romans fled to th' mountains of 
 
 Asturia or into Galicia. Now Spain 
 
 Became a province of the Saracen empire, ruled 
 
 By the Caliph at Damascus, 'til an Arab 
 
 Leader,^ strong enough to form a Caliphate, 
 
 At Cordova arose; which was in time a centre 
 
 Of culture and civilization as Athens had 
 
 Been of old. As palms and tropical plants in sunny 
 
 Andalusia thriv'd, brought hither to adorn 
 
 Th' Caliph's garden, so did oriental learning 
 
 Flourish in this Moorish kingdom. 
 
 Th' Spaniards grew more hardy in their northern homes, 
 
Spain 
 
 171 
 
 And could easily have expelled the more luxurious 
 Arab had they been united. But with one 
 Another Leon, Castile, Aragon, and Navarre 
 Warred, when united by marriage were disrupted 
 Again by wars or divided by the death of kings. 
 Whose realm portion'd was between their sons and daughters ; 
 Thus petty kingdoms took the place of central power. 
 One Sancho of Castile was by assassins stabbed. 
 This deed was witnessed from afar by one 
 Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar, who said 
 In war all fair must be; his sovereign fallen 
 Through perfidy, Le Mio Cid ere he 
 Would serve Alphonso demanded that the King 
 Swear he had no part in this base act. 
 His Highness angered banished from Castile 
 The champion of Bivar, the Bearded One, 
 Who swore by saints and dreamed of them and made 
 A bishopric for Jerome, when by much patient 
 Toil and stratagem Valencia he 
 Had taken. Though an exile, royal gifts 
 Of Saracenic spoils the Campeador 
 Sent Alphonso : horses richly laden. 
 Scimitars tied to their sides, which from 
 Th' Moors he'd taken, whom he killed by 
 Th' dozen with his blade, the wonderful Tizon; 
 For with Herculean strength and courage rare 
 Th' good brave Cid brought terror to his foes, 
 But succor to his friends. 
 His lovely wife Ximena, happy only 
 When her lord was near, two charming daughters, 
 
172 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Phrenia and Cordena, bore to him 
 Who first were married to th' Infantas of Carrion 
 And were by them most basely treated, but 
 Afterwards were wedded to the princes 
 Of Navarre and Aragon, becoming 
 Thus the mothers of Kings. 
 With royal splendor the brave Campeador 
 At Burgos was interred. 
 Of all the heroes since the days of Troy 
 No one of such gigantic mould we see 
 As Rodrigo the Cid, with Gothic strength, 
 Roman bravery, Iberian grace 
 And wit, Turanian intrigue combining, 
 Charming both to men and women, called 
 By all the Perfect One, concerning whose 
 Life and deeds have many songs been sung; 
 Yet this brave one's praise shall cease not while 
 Tongues there are to speak or pens to write 
 The lives of earth's great sons. 
 Though no more heroes of gigantic mould to Spain 
 Came, yet new blood was infused, in that Eleanor 
 Of Albion* bride of Alphonso of Castile became. 
 Their great grand-daughter was that Eleanor of saintly 
 Memory who married Edward First of England. 
 Fernando, called the Saint, who was of Anglo-Spanish 
 Blood, to Moorish conquest much devoted was. 
 Carrying to Cordova and Seville the banner 
 Of the Cross, Granada only leaving as 
 A centre of the Moslem power. 
 Portugal with England was allied when his 
 
Spain 173 
 
 Eldest daughter John of Gaunt, ever astute, 
 
 Married to the King; while of Castile his daughter 
 
 Catherine queen became and grandmother of the famous 
 
 Isabel,^ whose blonde hair and blue eyes bespoke 
 
 Her Plantagenet blood; while other strains ancestral 
 
 Gave that disposition which the title of 
 
 The Catholic won for her. For with all Isabel's 
 
 Royal good sense, warmth of heart and firmness, her 
 
 Devotion to the Church led her to lend her power 
 
 To many dark and cruel deeds. 
 
 Priest and Bishops persuaded the Queen it was the will 
 
 Of Heaven to renew the hateful Inquisition. 
 
 Isabel's religion came first, and after that 
 
 Her country. The cruel expulsion of the Jews she sanction'd. 
 
 Unselfish and courageous, a devoted mother 
 
 And wife, her chosen spouse Fernando was in no 
 
 Way worthy of her. They together vowed perpetual 
 
 Warfare on the Moslems. In the beautiful palace 
 
 Of the Alhambra, they succeeded in placing th' standard 
 
 Of the cross of Christ, the power of Granada 
 
 Forever breaking. This to them the greatest was 
 
 Of their achievements; but to th' world what marks their 
 
 reign, 
 Lenient making us regarding Isabel's 
 Fanatical mistakes, is that she aided one 
 Willing to brave the dangers of the sea to find 
 A western way to India's shore. 
 God's instruments are manifold, and when 
 A child of His who comes here for a purpose listens 
 For the guiding voice,^ and lets no gauds of earth 
 
174 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Nor inclinations interfere with what he knows 
 
 Is his work, clear will be th' way. 
 
 Discovery was to be the child of Spain, upon 
 
 Th' palace doorstep placed by that keen navigator 
 
 Who, as .^neas, shipwreck and privation faced. 
 
 Seeking the Hesperian isles where the golden 
 
 Apples grew, yet quenched not the desire for sailing 
 
 Unknown seas and searching for new shores, so came 
 
 Again to earth; ambition's fire more ardently burn'd 
 
 Than of yore. Not Delphic oracle, but his own 
 
 Angel guide^ now told Columbus where to go 
 
 And what to find, so that he braved th' waves, and stood 
 
 Th' taunts and threats of disaffected sailors, sure 
 
 Victory would be his at last. 
 
 Discouraged by the treachery of Portugal, 
 
 Disheartened by th' indifference of England's King, 
 
 Delayed by doctors who infeasible declared 
 
 His plans, Columbus southward sailed to Guinea first. 
 
 Then northward bent his way to Iceland. When at length 
 
 Time was ripe, Mendoza Isabel encouraged 
 
 Help to lend, while Santangel the Jew advanced 
 
 Money to equip three ships. 
 
 Th' new land found, in triumph to the Spanish court 
 
 Th' great discoverer came with treasure laden for 
 
 Th' Queen, his friend and helper. Th' monarchs rise to greet 
 
 Him, and bid him seated be. 
 
 Again he sails, with Marco Polo's teachings filled. 
 
 And thinks that Cuba is the land of Kublai Khan.^ 
 
 Not until his voyage third did great Columbus 
 
 Look upon the mainland of America. 
 
Spain 175 
 
 Not successful he as Viceroy — for gold 
 
 Demanded was with only slaves available — 
 
 His fortunes now began to wane; disaster with 
 
 Jealousy and misunderstanding was united, 
 
 So the day-star of this great explorer's soul 
 
 Set in dark and heavy clouds. 
 
 In spirit of conquest next to Columbus was Gonsalvo, 
 
 Spain's great captain, who secured for Fernando 
 
 Th' crown of the two Sicilies. The Spanish arms 
 
 So firmly planted on Italian soil that not 
 
 Until the advent of the valiant Garibaldi, 
 
 That Americo- Spanish chief, were Italy and 
 
 Sicily freed from foreign rule. 
 
 It was Isabel's grandson, Charles th' Emperor, 
 
 Inheriting Holland from his father, MaximiHan's 
 
 Son,^ with Spain and Italy from his poor, weak, much 
 
 Misunderstood queen Mother, Joan, call'd Th' Mad, 
 
 Imprisoned for long years because against th' religious 
 
 Violence of her day rebelling, — that left his 
 
 Kingdom to a son, fanatical, weak, and cruel; 
 
 In whose reign the Netherlands were bathed in blood 
 
 Because to Luther's teachings the Dutch had given ear. 
 
 Roused to help her innocent, persecuted neighbors, 
 
 England her own skill upon the sea augmented, 
 
 While Holland suffered and grew strong through hardship and 
 
 Warfare. Not without a shudder can we think 
 
 Of the thousands on thousands of human sacrifices 
 
 By blood and fire sown in the soil of Spain; yet mid 
 
 These scenes of horror like wild grass that starts up brighter 
 
 And thicker after burning, art and literature 
 
176 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Thrived. At the number rather than th' quaHty 
 
 Of the writings of this age are we amazed. 
 
 Lope de Vega, soldier-poet, father of 
 
 Th' Spanish drama, alone left over a thousand plays, 
 
 And was honor' d in his day. 
 
 Murillo painted a marvellous amount, so full 
 
 Of fervor and of beauty, if not as mystical 
 
 Or complex as those from the master Velasquez' hand. 
 
 Saint Theresa, full of visions yet with practical 
 
 Good sense, wrote rapturously of the profit of 
 
 Poverty and the grace of humihty; while her pupil 
 
 Juan de Cruz left much religious amatory verse. 
 
 Everything in this day was in numbers large; 
 
 Five wives had the King; his third bride was th' beautiful 
 
 Brilliant daughter of Catherine de Medici, 
 
 Who reluctantly did her mother's bidding. Much 
 
 Beloved was this sweet young Isabel of the Peace. 
 
 She left no heir, and Philip sought alliance with 
 
 Austria by marriage with his niece who bore 
 
 To him a sickly son. Though sanction'd by the Popes 
 
 At Rome, this incest of the kings gave imbeciles 
 
 And lunatics to sit upon the throne of Spain. 
 
CANTO X 
 England 
 
 'Twas not indignation consequent upon the death of Mary, 
 Queen of Scots, nor just resentment for the treatment 
 
 Of Catherine of Aragon, that fired Philip with such zeal to fight 
 the English, hut pique that Elizabeth 
 
 Refused to marry him. With ships top-heavy like the monarch's 
 head, th' Invincible Armada gave sport to English sailors, 
 
 Who aided by a storm dispersed the Spanish ships, 
 Which sail'd from Lisbon under patronage of saints 
 With Papal benediction. After this the EngHsh 
 Ne'er by Spanish were molested. 
 These efforts on the seas, these naval victories, 
 Though so easily won, did stir the pulses of 
 Th' nation towards a greater goal; her scatter'd forces 
 Helped to unite; and made of Englishmen 
 One in love of home and liberty. 
 Later than Italy or France to come out of 
 Th' dark night of the Middle Ages, when she did 
 Awake, her sun resplendently shone. But, as at sunrise 
 Snaky clouds the horizon oft surround, so when 
 Albion's light was first increasing, reign'd a monarch 
 Who at will divorced or beheaded wives. 
 Cajoled th' people whom convince he could not; used 
 Th' inordinate ambition of a man^ 
 Aspiring to the Papal crown to further his 
 Selfish ends; then cast him as a garment worn 
 
 177 
 
lyS The Child of the Nations 
 
 Aside, and raised to highest ministerial power 
 
 Conscientious Thomas More, who soon his head 
 
 Lost because he would not sanction all the king's 
 
 Evil doings. Though a selfish, bestial monarch, 
 
 Henry was an instrument in the hand of Time, 
 
 Whose crimes his country helped free. 
 
 Three of Henry's children sat upon the throne: 
 
 Edward, in whose reign emerged Protestantism 
 
 From out the thraldom of Rome;^ sweet, meek, misguided 
 
 Mary^ 
 Rul'd by Spanish fanatics, and Elizabeth, daughter 
 Of Anne Boleyn, whose reign was not less bloody than that 
 Of Catherine's daughter. Yet she stands upon a pedestal 
 Created for her by priests and poets of her day. 
 The Fairy Queen of Spenser's fadeless epic, firm 
 Defender of the faith of many martyrs, with 
 Diplomacy overflowing, hedged by courtiers willingly 
 Swayed by the gentle hand of woman, this 
 Queen has given her name to Albion's brightest day. 
 There was Sidney, brave and beautiful, grandson of 
 That Northumberland who vainly strove to place 
 Ill-fated Jane upon the throne ; 
 There was Herrick, whose sweet melodies are still 
 Heard the wide world o'er; and Bacon, prophet of 
 Th' new philosophy. Yet neither sonnets, lyrics, 
 Nor inductive science gave the glory to this 
 Age, but th' drama, which a portrait gives of these 
 Stirring times drawn in imperishable colors. 
 The dramatists were neither priests, who must give moral 
 Or scriptural scenes, nor politicians afraid to paint 
 
England 179 
 
 Men's faults, nor courtiers bound by rules laid down 
 
 By kings. The English dramatists were men of middle 
 
 Class, to think and act quite free as suited them ; 
 
 Or if of high estate they wrote in strict seclusion. 
 
 No longer were tragedian and playwright always one; 
 
 Bacon and Raleigh work'd indeed, but never trod 
 
 Th' boards; while Decker, Drummond, Beaumont, Fletcher, 
 
 Jonson 
 And many more wrote plays, who found a Garrick or 
 In after days a Siddons to act th' parts they had 
 Conceived. Shakespeare alone the talent of writer and 
 Protagonist as of old combined. 
 
 O mighty heart that felt the throb of myriad 
 
 Pulses less than thine, that held within 
 
 Its chamber walls the loves and fears and hopes 
 
 Of many men and maids both high and low ! 
 
 Thy brain did weave the web of various lives, 
 
 Whose destinies were fraught with liveliest interest. 
 
 On thy pictur'd page we see all passions. 
 
 Heroic deeds and crimes that human ilesh 
 
 Inherits. Whence came this great soul of thine. 
 
 Able so much to comprehend of all 
 
 That's rarest, all that's intimate in life? 
 
 Why should thy unletter'd muse to zenith 
 
 Float in multicolor'd robes, while Hours 
 
 Th' gate of heaven open to thy gaze. 
 
 As of old they swung to Hera's chariot; 
 
 While with diadem the Fates thee crown'd? 
 
 O bard of Avon! say how camest thou? 
 
 Not claiming god-descent, of virgin priestess 
 
i8o The Child of the Nations 
 
 Nor of princess born, yet godlike, priestlike, 
 
 Kinglike in thy powerful wielding of 
 
 Th' tragic rod, which turn'd to trident in 
 
 Thy hand. Melpomene, ThaHa, Clio, 
 
 Unfold to us the secret of thy magic 
 
 Power. Many lives of pain and many 
 
 Penalties for lives of gain misused 
 
 Must thou have had ere conscious life develop'd 
 
 Scope, so by thy will alone thou could'st 
 
 Incarnate where the brain quite adequate 
 
 Was found. So passing from one form, without 
 
 The need of heaven or hell, thou camest from 
 
 Italy to England, found a village 
 
 Lad with healthful body, born of sturdy 
 
 Undegenerate stock, with spirit hence 
 
 In sleep departing, thou this house of clay 
 
 Didst enter and the past forget, that in 
 
 Th' present thou mightest work. Then tragic seed 
 
 Th' mighty ^schylus did sow in that 
 
 Fertile brain, while Livy lent his vast 
 
 Historic wealth, and Kalidassa brought 
 
 Gifts of rare romantic pastoral verse^ 
 
 Such as Marlowe had but sipped, which 
 
 With natural wit thou seasoned'st, so that even 
 
 Rare Ben Jonson found no fault withal. 
 
 While many poets strove thy matchless style 
 
 To steal, who erst in other age had shone. 
 
 Thou knew'st why the mother's tear so moved 
 
 Brave Coriolanus, why Miranda 
 
 Slept that Prospero by Paracelsus' 
 
England 
 
 I8l 
 
 Art might call the spirits to his aid, 
 And mystify the uninitiate. 
 Thou Othello's jealous madness, which 
 All too late brought agony of soul, 
 Did'st paint with carmine dye. The anguish keen 
 Of thankless ofifspring, knew'st with Albion's king 
 Who gave his all, then felt the pelting storm 
 As beggars feel it through their rags, and rage 
 That heaven is not just, resigning their 
 Inheritance as Lear his land to vassals. 
 Like the Polar star, great father of 
 So many suns from regions far beyond 
 Our ken, thou art fed and fix'd in firmament 
 A constant torch to lighten minds made ready 
 For thy word as long as earth shall last. 
 Th' next great light in poetry's world was Milton. Coming 
 In a moral volcanic age, he saw the dangers 
 Incident to such religious fire, saw what 
 Puritanic zeal was leading to, yet dared 
 Not openly declare his views, so set them forth 
 In fine satiric strain.^ Heroic verse immortal 
 Holds in vivid colors those crude doctrines which 
 Seem'd to him absurd. He dreamed not in his 
 Inimitable imagination that the world 
 Would be so long in seeing that his great didactic 
 Epic was satirical. He little thought 
 That Paradise Lost would almost be a Bible to 
 Several succeeding ages. 
 
 Milton mourn'd that he was born an age too late, 
 Yet never poet had such prince to honor him 
 
1 82 The Child of the Nations 
 
 As Milton had in Cromwell, great soul, in whose veins 
 
 Cours'd the blood of that indigenous race so strong. 
 
 Tall and dark, which side by side develop'd with 
 
 A smaller, darker race. These two primaeval peoples 
 
 For a time possess'd th' fair isle, named Albion 
 
 In early day for Alba, famous king who govern'd 
 
 Both these races of the soil before the Finns 
 
 Found their way from Norway across the Northern Sea, 
 
 And drove the peaceful Albions west and north, while they 
 
 In turn were conquer'd by strong Keltic tribes who crossed 
 
 From Brittany, settling first far south but gradually pressing 
 
 Into the interior, driving th' Albions to Wales 
 
 And the Finns still further west to th' island called. 
 
 After one of their important tribes, Iberia; 
 
 From thence some of these Iberians pass'd to Iceland; 
 
 There undisturb'd evolv'd, and left in simple lays 
 
 A record of their hopes and beliefs. 
 
 On Dover's white cliffs landing, Caesar found the same 
 
 Keltic people he in Gaul had conquered. They 
 
 So wholly by this time the island did possess, 
 
 Th' Romans thought them the original people of 
 
 This land, and call'd their land Britain after good 
 
 Brit, the greatest of their tribal leaders. Ere 
 
 Th' Romans came, these Britons were a stock much mixed; 
 
 For while each successive contest wiped out 
 
 Or made slaves of most of th' men, the conquerors then. 
 
 As in Roman days, the wives and daughters of 
 
 Th' conquer'd married. So although the Caesar called 
 
 Them Britons, they who now their blood with Romans mixed 
 
 Were Keltic, Finnish, Albion. This last name we use 
 
England 183 
 
 For lack of better to denote those early races 
 
 Who evolved side by side ere the Phoenician 
 
 Pass'd th' pillars of Herakles, or Fortinbras 
 
 With his Finns from Norway sailed, which was long 
 
 Before the Kelts the channel crossed. 
 
 After a bloody but unequal contest waged 
 
 In Wales and Anglessey, where priest and people were 
 
 Sacrificed upon their altars, Roman generals 
 
 A terrific outburst met of patriotic rage 
 
 From th' Iceni, whose King Prosutag th' kingdom 
 
 Had bequeathed to the Romans. But the Queen 
 
 And her daughters, outrag'd by the Roman ofiicers. 
 
 Appealed to their people; Amazonian Queen 
 
 Boadicea drove her chariot midst the troops, 
 
 Who slaughter'd seventy thousand Romans. 
 
 Later these brave Britons fell in tragic numbers 
 
 Before the better disciplin'd Roman cohorts. Now 
 
 For several centuries Romans rul'd in Britain as 
 
 Easily as in any province. 
 
 Agricola, great and good, as Prefect of the Isle 
 
 In famous battle drove the Caledonians north. 
 
 Severus later tried to exterminate them. 
 
 But died ere he had conquer'd. The land by Scots and 
 
 Painted 
 Scots, or Picts, was nearly devastated when 
 Th' Spanish general Theodosius, father of 
 Th' Roman Emperor of that name, with strong hand drove 
 Th' cruel and relentless Caledonians northward. 
 Confining them beyond the Grampian hills. These triumphs 
 Were renewed by StiHcho. This was the last 
 
The Child of the Nations 
 
 Struggle made by Rome to resist th' barbarians in 
 
 Britain. Now their arms were busy fighting Gothic 
 
 Alaric, or the formidable Huns who under 
 
 Attila were the scourge of God. 
 
 Landing in the ancient territory of the Regni, 
 
 Ella and three sons the Britons defeat'd with great 
 
 Slaughter. Hearing of his victories, other Saxons 
 
 Sail'd to Albion. Cerdic with son Cymric came 
 
 To Hampshire, where the Avon still holds its Keltic name. 
 
 By Cymric's men brave Geraint, Ella's son, was slain; 
 
 Knight of th' "Table Round" he gain'd the hand of Yniol's 
 
 Gentle daughter whom the people called Enid 
 
 The Good. Her faded silk the queen did change for bridal 
 
 Robe like unto th' sun when Geraint rode with her 
 
 Into Damnonia; where Arthur, son of Uther 
 
 And Ygerne, at Camelot dwelt (in castle builded by 
 
 Th' wizard Merlin ere his power Vivien stole. 
 
 Whose great, white towers were oft in clouds encircled while 
 
 Lightnings played upon them, yet, when clear the sky, 
 
 Towering heavenwards they stood like ghosts, their glittering 
 
 Turrets seen afar), surrounded by brave knights 
 
 Who help'd him thrust the heathen from the Roman walls, 
 
 Kill the giants, aid the weak and right the wrong, 
 
 And for good deeds the strong make stronger. 
 
 The highest enterprise the knights essayed was 
 
 To see the Holy Grail. Though many suffer'd in 
 
 This quest, but three the chalice saw, and felt the flame 
 
 Which rises when the life is pure and soul aspires: 
 
 Sir Galahad, Sir Bors — he 'twas saw seven stars — 
 
 And Perceval, strong and brave, who ever virgin was. 
 
England 185 
 
 To one the cup appear 'd but veiled; for, despite 
 
 Great strength and zeal, his heart unlawful love enfolding, 
 
 He might not see the light of grail. 
 
 Gareth in disguise, tall son of Lot and Bellicent, 
 
 Serv'd the king as kitchen knave that he might see 
 
 Th' jousts. Here Tristram, imitative and inventive, 
 
 Of ready wit, who loved Isolde, died by sword, 
 
 Thrust through by Mark, her Cornish lord. 
 
 Here was Gawain with prodigious memory, brave 
 
 In war; the fair but false Ettare he loved, and was 
 
 To Pelleas untrue, who suffering learned th' truth. 
 
 He saw the living fire within the grass, and knew 
 
 Lust from Love, and that a harlot's house did less 
 
 Harm than sin in places high. The sullying of 
 
 The Queen such bad example set throughout the land; 
 
 Because a warrior bold and brave, it more unseemly 
 
 Was that Launcelot should live a lie. Had he 
 
 But lov'd th' Hly Maid of Astolat she had 
 
 Not died of broken heart; nor had King Arthur's wife 
 
 In fit of jealousy cast the wondrous jewels which 
 
 He had won into the flood before the barge 
 
 That bore the body of Elaine; nor Guinevere 
 
 Been wounded by the pratthng maid, nor scorn'd by Arthur 
 
 And left to die as Abbess of Almesbury, while 
 
 To the end her lord was true to her, and died 
 
 Fighting for the right, his great Excalibur giving 
 
 To Belvidere at last to cast into the lake. 
 
 Many legends 'round him grew, and some would have 
 
 It he had mystic birth and death, and would return 
 
 In days to come and Britain rule again. His spirit 
 
1 86 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Lives in Wessex yet, the third of those great Saxon 
 
 Kingdoms out of which so many rulers came 
 
 Who all the blood of Cerdic claim. 
 
 Sussex's greatness lasted not beyond the days 
 
 Of the first Bretwalda Saxon Ella. Soon 
 
 Th' middle kingdom merg'd in Mercia, while the greatest 
 
 Of the Angle kingdoms, Northumberland, by King 
 
 Ida found'd, extended northward from the Humber, 
 
 And included Edinboro. Egbert Atheling, 
 
 Of the blood of Cerdic, brought all the Angle kingdoms 
 
 Under his power, and Rex Anglorum styled himself. 
 
 Th' petty kings assembled each his own wise men, 
 
 And ruled his state, but all to Egbert vassals were. 
 
 Yet midst this glory evil threaten' d, for the Danes 
 
 Came again and again; and only the valiant 
 
 Alfred the Great, hero, law-giver, scholar, saint, 
 
 Together with his wise advisor Asser of Wales, 
 
 Kept them for a time at bay. 
 
 By this time great numbers of Danes had settl'd in England. 
 
 Olaus Magnus, Norwegian-Finnish leader, lent 
 
 Aid to th' people who bravely fought, deposing a king 
 
 Who would buy their good will, or when failing to hire 
 
 Peace would order wholesale murder. Th' Princess Gunhilde, 
 
 Sister of the Danish King, was kill'd in massacre 
 
 Of St. Bride. Her brother then to conquer England 
 
 Vowed or perish in the struggle, whose son Cnut 
 
 Annex'd the island to his Scandinavian Empire, 
 
 Four earls appointing as officials of the highest 
 
 Class to rule in England. More than birth fidehty 
 
 Counted. These great earldoms of Cnut's reign 
 
England 187 
 
 Were a near approach to th' feudal system, affecting 
 
 Th' history of the next half-century. 
 
 Th' Danish conquest soon was followed by the Norman. 
 
 William, with the sanction of the Papal See, 
 
 With rehc ring and consecrated banner, supported 
 
 By the strategic Hildebrand, Archdeacon of 
 
 Th' Church at Rome, made men the worse cause think the 
 
 better. 
 With a band of bribed bold adventurers at Hastings 
 And at Stamford Bridge he Harold overthrew, 
 Whom the English Witenagemot had chosen king. 
 Thus became the famous conqueror. 
 Two sons succeeded William, then the son of his 
 Daughter Adela, Stephen of Blois, whose miserable reign 
 Pav'd th' way for Henry, son of Matilda, who 
 Had more hereditary right; though th' English crown 
 Was still elective, th' centralizing and restraining 
 Power used by Henry welcome was. This first 
 Angevin King, Plantagenet called from his father's 
 Habit of wearing blue broom blossoms, married Eleanor 
 Of Acquitaine, extending thus his empire to 
 Th' Pyrenees. Defining the relation between 
 Church and State, his courtier Becket he appointed 
 To the chair of Augustine; but he, refusing 
 To promise that the Church should to the State submit, 
 Was murdered by four royal knights at Canterbury, 
 Who unwittingly made of him a saint and martyr. 
 Richard ruled and retained his father's realm. 
 Th' weakling John his foreign inheritance mostly lost, 
 Yet became the unwilling benefactor of 
 
The Child of the Nations 
 
 Th' nation by signing Magna Charta. 
 
 Edward First, the English Justinian, scarcely less 
 
 Religious was than Cnut's son-in-law, th' Confessor, 
 
 For whom he was named, happy in having a subject 
 
 Who a true son was of his adopted country, 
 
 Though an alien born. In leading th' barons' war 
 
 Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, yielded his 
 
 Castles before requiring others to give up theirs. 
 
 With Montfort's idea of representative government 
 
 Th' King was in accord, and summon'd burghers along 
 
 With bishops, knights and abbots to levy taxes to fill 
 
 Th' purse, made empty by the crusade in aid of Knights 
 
 Templars, which was th' last of those fanatical 
 
 Religious wars by European princes waged 
 
 Against the Turks in Palestine. 
 
 Later Edward fought the fierce Llywelyn, Wales 
 
 Subjugating. Scotland to enthrall he failed; 
 
 Although on an EngHsh scaffold Wallace perished, Bruce 
 
 After Bannockburn the Scottish throne secured. 
 
 Edward Third it was whose brilliant victories 
 
 At Crecy and Calais made France for a time a province 
 
 Of England. He it was who instituted the great 
 
 Order of the Garter, giving a feast at Windsor 
 
 To the Knights. Then for a time the arts of peace 
 
 Took the place of th' arts of warfare; and the EngHsh 
 
 Tongue, a mixture of the German, Latin, French 
 
 And Keltic, first took form on th' page of poet Chaucer; 
 
 While the Hebrew Scriptures were put into the language 
 
 Of the people by Wyckliffe, which th' genius of 
 
 Caxton, a century later, made available for 
 
England 189 
 
 Th' poor and the unlearned man. 
 Not yet had England assimilated her various races; 
 So when not fighting abroad, at home was ferment. Now 
 Two of Edward's three grandsons, Long John of Gaunt, 
 And son of th' beloved Black Prince, claim'd th' throne. 
 With them began the War of th' Roses, which famous struggle 
 Between the houses of York and Lancaster ended on 
 Bosworth field, when fell the wicked Richard, who 
 Had basely murder'd th' Kttle princes in th' tower. 
 Then Henry Tudor, illegitimately related 
 To royalty on th' maternal side, the throne ascend'd. 
 His queen was Elizabeth, daughter of the fourth 
 Edward; thus were the roses white and red united. 
 Their daughter Margaret to the ill-fated Marie Stuart 
 Was grandmother, whose son wore both th' Scottish and 
 The EngHsh crowns. But that of which he boasted most 
 He had least of, kingcraft; and he held Plantagenet 
 Superstition that birth confers some rights anterior 
 To and unalterable by law. 
 
 Had Charles' head been sever'd sooner, less honest blood 
 Would have dyed the soil of England, on whose glorious 
 Meadows sweet wild flowers every year to us 
 Speak of nameless graves where many champions. of 
 Freedom lie. The dauntless Hampden all too soon 
 Upon the field of battle died a hero's death. 
 While Pym and EHot with others fought on; strengthen'd hj 
 His example men of conscience cowed men 
 Of meaner mould, and Nature's noblemen more majestic 
 Proved than those born princes and prelates. Oliver 
 Cromwell 
 
I go The Child of the Nations 
 
 Led his famous Ironsides from victory on 
 
 To victory, fighting in the name of th' Lord of Hosts; 
 
 Those who would not suffer themselves to be by law 
 
 Govern'd were quelled by the sword; and he who brought 
 
 Order out of chaos was recognized as 
 
 Protector. Though without the hated name of king, 
 
 Cromwell rul'd more absolutely than any prince 
 
 Who ever sat upon the British throne, and dying 
 
 Will'd the kingdom to his son. 
 
 More like his illustrious father had Richard been, 
 
 Th' nation to another Stuart rule had ne'er 
 
 Submitted. Yet the utter worthlessness and bigotry 
 
 Of Charles Second disenchanted those who fain 
 
 Would make a martyr of his father. The son as ignoble 
 
 Was as false the father. But, dreading rulers raised 
 
 To power by fickle soldiers, th' people join'd th' Scottish 
 
 Troops, when Monk to London marched. 
 
 More honest than his father or his brother, James, 
 
 Duke of York, surround'd by harlots, none as pretty, 
 
 Bright or saucy as Nell Gwynne, so tried th' protestant 
 
 Spirit of the time that it exceeded loyalty 
 
 To the throne, and produc'd a second revolution 
 
 Which end'd arbitrary monarchy. 
 
 The new administration was establish'd without 
 
 Bloodshed, save in Ireland where 'round James the Second 
 
 Th' Catholics rallied, but defeated were at Boyne 
 
 And Londonderry by that William, wise, heroic 
 
 Prince of Orange who had helped the Dutch resist 
 
 Louis Quartorze before he was invited to rule 
 
 Jointly with the Princess Mary. 
 
England 191 
 
 One more Stuart by an act of settlement wore 
 
 Th' English crown, grand-daughter of the Earl of Oxford, 
 
 Th' famous Clarendon; daughter of James and Mary's 
 
 sister; 
 Anne, in whose reign were united Saint George's and 
 Saint Andrew's crosses on the British flag, whose very 
 Weakness was her strength, has given her name to one 
 Of the shining epochs in English literature. 
 Critical poetry and translation classical, which 
 In the century previous with Dryden and Cowley 
 Started, now found in Pope an able second, whose 
 FeUcity of phrase has given us many proverbs. 
 Prose attain' d its growth beneath the pen of Addison, 
 Inimitable preacher, whose lightest playful fancy 
 Makes him morahst rare. Among his famous friends 
 Were Jonathan Swift, who with a fertile imagination 
 Satire combined, and Samuel Johnson, practical novelist, 
 With Mary Montague, writer of wisdom gained in 
 Th' East. DeFoe begins the novel. Science takes 
 A leap under Newton. Nor is th' Church, with Wesley and 
 Atterbury, silent. Over the reign of th' last 
 Of th' Stuarts was shed a suffused prosaic light. 
 Once again the blood of Cerdic, flowing in 
 Foreign lands, with German and Italian stock 
 Mingling, comes to th' British throne; Sophia's son 
 Wore the crown while Robert Walpole ruled th' state 
 And warr'd with Bolingbroke. Throughout the Georgian era 
 Th' Enghsh princes rul'd, though kings from Hanover were. 
 Th' Elder Pitt, intrepid, eloquent, honest, whom Tories 
 ExtoU'd and Whigs obey'd, conciliated George, 
 
192 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Domineer'd over the House, by th' people was 
 Ador'd, and by all Europe admir'd. 
 Hume and Gibbon brilliantly record the past. 
 Berkeley and Locke into th' future peer. Th' Herschels 
 Search the sky and find another planet.® Watts 
 Builds his engine. Cowper and Goldsmith write, and wait 
 For fame. McPherson unearths th' Finnish poet Ossian. 
 The younger Pitt, the great reformer, learning from 
 Adam Smith the principles of free trade, applies 
 Them, and understanding the menace of Ireland unites 
 Th' kingdoms three in a single representative system. 
 After losing th' American colonies 
 England the necessity of conciliation 
 
 Learn'd, which Edmund Burke and Charles Fox, peace- 
 loving 
 Quaker, long had striven for. 
 In successive generations th' New World had 
 Been visit'd by Englishmen, since John and Sebastian Cabot, 
 Aid'd by funds from Henry Seventh, had explored 
 Th' coast of North America. 
 
 Th' Quakers call'd their colony after William Penn. 
 Though to the scenic Hudson the Dutch came first, the 
 
 Enghsh 
 Chang'd New Amsterdam to New York. The Puritans, 
 
 though 
 Residing last in Holland, gave their rocky shore 
 Th' name New England. Often these staunch statesmen 
 
 found 
 Their way as steep and rough as tinker-preacher Bunyan's 
 Imaginary Christian. Though they loved their 
 
England 193 
 
 Mother country, fought for her against the Indians 
 
 And the French, and long delayed to claim their rights, 
 
 There came a day when. Justice balancing in the scales 
 
 Against Injustice, strife arose, an internecine 
 
 War, and Liberty was conceived. 
 
 As in the individual life upon the loss 
 
 Of power blessings wait, a nation from defeat 
 
 Wisdom gains. New England now perforce reHnquished, 
 
 At home were greater efforts toward improvement made. 
 
 To reform was William not opposed, while 
 
 His niece, the good Victoria Guelph, desir'd it greatly. 
 
 What a kaleidoscopic century is the one 
 
 Just past, in whose morning hours the song of Keats, 
 
 Shelley, Coleridge, Burns, Tom Moore and Byron, Lamb's 
 
 Plaintive homely humor, Jeffery's nature note. 
 
 Brougham's reviews, were mingled with the sound of guns 
 
 And drums from th' battle of the Nile, or Nelson's dying 
 
 Victory at Trafalgar, which th' lions Landseer 
 
 Moulded^ ever keep in memory. 
 
 While the government under the rule of imperious Peel 
 
 Reformed criminal law, effected Catholic 
 
 Emancipation and just corn laws, Erastian Peel, 
 
 Lacking prescience, was alike impervious 
 
 To the bigotry of Protestantism or 
 
 Th' leaven of th' Oxford movement; which despite 
 
 His views widen'd into th' Anglican Revival 
 
 Led by th' treble cord, poetic Keble, prudent 
 
 Pusey and aggressive Newman. 
 
 In the noonday-time Imperialism held sway 
 
 Alternately with Paternalism. Vivacious, eloquent. 
 
194 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Self-sacrificing Gladstone, often misunderstood, 
 
 Helped make a broader Catholic spirit in 
 
 Th' land. His just reforms were all that Ireland needed. 
 
 Parnell demanded more than England could concede, 
 
 Hence by discord th' fruit was plucked, and still the Irish 
 
 Discontent ferments. Th' astute, consummate strategy 
 
 Of the Jew Disraeli placed the diadem 
 
 Of empire on Victoria's brow, and heirs of Timour 
 
 Bow their necks to Britain. She foxlike had 
 
 Pursu'd her hunt, though Clive in arms and council able 
 
 Had striven to keep th' stronger race from preying on 
 
 Th' weaker; while Hastings, though impeached by jealous 
 
 patriots, 
 Fearlessly advanced his country's arms. Ambitious, 
 Bold, at times unjust and cruel, especially in 
 His unequal war upon the fair Rohillas, 
 And the spoliation of the princesses of Ouhd, 
 Yet the great prose writer^ of the century, who 
 Had been eye witness of much that had perplexed th' early 
 English governors in India, says that Hastings 
 Did not only extend th' empire with a polity 
 Equal to a Richelieu, but patronized 
 Learning with th' judicious liberality of 
 A Cosimo. Who better than the briUiant son 
 Of Selina Mills, the friend of Hannah More, could judge 
 Th' conduct of men like Clive and Hastings. 
 While in India and in Africa running riot 
 Was the spirit of aggrandizement, able men 
 And women at home to th' vision of th' people added. 
 Darwin demonstrated what Spencer thought and taught. 
 
England 195 
 
 Huxley, Tyndall and other torch-bearers threw their calcium 
 
 Light upon the timely revelation that all 
 
 Nature in a state of evolution is; 
 
 While in th' world of pen and pencil painting Scott, 
 
 Thackery, Dickens, Bulwer, Austen, Eliot, th' Proctors, 
 
 Th' Bronte sisters, th' Carlyles and th' Brownings, Southey, 
 
 Tennyson, th' Rossettis, Patmore, Pater, Blake, 
 
 Jowett, Nettleship,^ Dobson, Lang, Fitzgerald, Massey, 
 
 Morris, Burne- Jones, each a note to th' chorus added 
 
 Or a ray to th' multicolor'd canvas. Ruskin 
 
 Increased our love of architecture, show'd us beauties 
 
 In Reynolds, Turner, Gainsborough and a host of others. 
 
 Teaching us to praise, not blame, that which we could 
 
 Not understand. He ably wrote on economics. 
 
 Seeing th' deep, deep shadows in the great life-picture. 
 
 Th' lonely burial of Sir John Moore at Corunno; 
 
 Th' war in the Crimea; th' wretched bombardment of 
 
 Alexandria; the sad, sad sacrifice of brave, 
 
 BrilHant, God-fearing Gordon at beleaguer'd Kartoum; 
 
 Th' smouldering fire beneath the workman's servile manner; 
 
 Th' unjust wage of disenfranchised woman; all 
 
 Make the shadows darker than the artist wishes. 
 
 Although a coalition Salisbury had effected 
 
 Of conservative and liberal unionists. 
 
 Chamberlain's new imperialism eventuated 
 
 In the Boer War, which General Herbert Kitchener 
 
 Ably helped to end. And now John Bull the peaceful 
 
 Sequester'd Tibetans needlessly is disturbing, while 
 
 Amid the sound of cannon and death-dealing shells 
 
 From the Transvaal or the plateau of Thibet 
 
196 The Child of the Nations 
 
 We hear the drums and fifes of the Salvation Army, 
 
 As they march and sing the hymns of Isaac Watts; 
 
 While Booth, with Wesley an spirit and the saintly Catherine^® 
 
 By his side, is earnestly striving to end this modern 
 
 Hundred Years War, wherein England gained all 
 
 Of India, and the better part of Africa, as 
 
 Easily as in other days she quietly captur'd 
 
 A corner of France, and was content. 
 
CANTO XI 
 France 
 
 Sold by th' Duke of Burgundy to the English at Rouen, the 
 peasant girl of Domremy, who with unexampled courage 
 
 Had led the troops of France from victory to victory until 
 Orleans and Rheims were safe and only Paris remained 
 
 To he taken, was abandoned by those she had so faithfully 
 serv'd and valiantly fought for. Then despite her tender 
 years, 
 
 Maiden grace, demeanor calm, and sweet face, was 
 
 For witchcraft tried, burned by those mistaking saintship 
 
 For sorcery. From this horrible fate th' ungrateful Charles 
 
 No effort made to save her. Only in this twentieth 
 
 Century has the march of truth made plain the visions 
 
 And voices of this martyr'd maid,^ now hailed as Saint. 
 
 Jeanne d'Arc stands forth a brilHant figure on the page 
 
 Of history, the one flower of the Hundred Years 
 
 War which strife with hardy foes a homogeneous 
 
 Power made of France, which before had been but petty 
 
 Fiefs and kingdoms. Even th' kingdom of the Salian 
 
 Franks had by the sons of Clovis quarter'd been. 
 
 And all the land left pregnable until Martel 
 
 Put the Moors to rout at Tours, whose son received 
 
 His crown from Rome: then began that powerful fief in 
 
 Central 
 Gaul which was in time to be the kingdom of 
 Th' western Franks. Yet even in the fourth Capetian 
 
 197 
 
igS The Child of the Nations 
 
 King's time but five towns under one rule were. 
 
 Th' crown by purchase or by force acquir'd slowly 
 
 More fiefs, th' strength of feudal aristocracy less'ning. 
 
 Th' Keltic peoples in the north untrammel'd yet 
 
 Wrote songs of heroes, and told tales of earHer times, 
 
 While in the south th' troubadours lyric love-songs made 
 
 For Provenfe a lasting name; and this before 
 
 Th' rise of schools, before the brilliant Abelard 
 
 Incited men to learning, while Bernard strove 
 
 Thought to crush, or fanatic Montfort led adventurous 
 
 Bigots 'gainst the Albigenses. 
 
 Philip Augustus, in whose reign the wasting fire 
 
 And sword had crushed beautiful Provenje where Latin 
 
 Civilization linger'd longest, accompanied 
 
 Richard of th' Lion Heart and Barbarossa 
 
 To the Holy Land. This war to liberate 
 
 Th' Saviour's tomb did not his heart make soft, yet made 
 
 Th' way for saintly Louis, who led the fourth Crusade. 
 
 Calamitous in the extreme these Saracenic wars 
 
 Were, yet Louis' reign remember'd still is for 
 
 Its reconstruction of political power and justice. 
 
 Dying in Moslem lands, no Moorish town allowed 
 
 To receive the dust of one who fought their faith, 
 
 This saintly King was buried in fair Sicilia, 
 
 Whose rich soil the bones of many races covers. 
 
 The grandson of this saintly king expell'd from France 
 
 Th' Templars; then quarrel'd with Pope Boniface, and by 
 
 Intrigue effected the removal of the Papal 
 
 Residence from Rome to Avignon.^ Now began 
 
 That succession of rival popes and antipopes. 
 
France 199 
 
 Against each other thund'ring anathemas. Three popes 
 
 Arose, pretenders to supremacy. The council 
 
 Of Constance named a fourth, and the schism of Peter's chair 
 
 Was at an end; yet Rome had lost its spirituality 
 
 While Avignon held sway. Though ruled for a brief 
 
 Space by Rienzi, who the Good Estate establish'd. 
 
 By perpetual strife it was so weakened that 
 
 Th' monarchs of France, who made the popes their tool, the 
 
 way 
 Found quite easy to invade and ravish beautiful 
 Italy of her treasures. This was done by three 
 Successive kings, ^ until there sat upon the throne 
 Of France a queen of Italian birth who ruled for her 
 Licentious husband and her weakling sons, and gave 
 To politics, already rotten, a sinister bend. 
 Catherine de Medici, a forceful woman, 
 Whose reign meant death to all free thought in France, 
 
 first with 
 And then against the base, unprincipled Dukes of Guise 
 Working, thought to suppress by persecution the new 
 Religious movement of that day. Ambition divorced 
 From heart is always cruel. Catherine's desire 
 To rule no moderation knew; yet opposition 
 Came, and not from ignorant serfs alone. The blood 
 Of ancient Gaul was rising, that heroic stuff 
 So stern that Csesar found it hard to bend. If not 
 Like th' Cadmeans sprimg from dragon's teeth, at least 
 A portion of the Gallic race their origin had 
 From the soil. The Kelts autochthonous surely were; 
 And this inheritance it was that put such vim 
 
200 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Into the heart of good, brave Louis Conde de Bourbon,* 
 
 And made Protestants of many nobles born 
 
 And reared in the Catholic faith. 
 
 Had not Calvin, after teaching man's right 
 
 To liberty of thought, his flock left, and retired 
 
 To Geneva, there for himself to make a lasting 
 
 Name, the fighting of the few might have resulted 
 
 Differently; but with their religious general 
 
 In retreat, the army weaken'd. Princes and 
 
 Captains bled for their new faith; yet their devotion 
 
 And their lives the ruthless slaughter stayed not 
 
 Which by selfish fanaticism had been brought on. 
 
 There was no religious tolerance in France 
 
 Until strategic Richeheu, no way to absolute 
 
 Monarchy seeing without concessions, granted to 
 
 Th' Huguenots the privilege of worship, while 
 
 Taking their political freedom. 
 
 Sagacious in all things, in nothing clement was 
 
 This man, who at once was Pope and King of France 
 
 During Louis Thirteenth's minority, whom ever 
 
 We must remember for his purity of life. 
 
 So different from that of his time or that of his 
 
 Son, the self-indulgent Louis Quartorze, to whom 
 
 Life presented but one side, th' supremacy of 
 
 Monarchy. His wars were all for this result. 
 
 And though the borders of France he widen'd, and his nephew 
 
 Placed upon the throne of Spain despite his promises 
 
 To relinquish all Maria's claims, he drained 
 
 So persistently the treasury that France 
 
 Was left much poorer for his reign. 
 
France 201 
 
 Everything to centralization of power tended 
 
 During the long life of this king; no thought was given 
 
 To the provinces where peasants toiled to provide 
 
 Tinsel for their rulers. In his heartless love 
 
 Of display he absolutely nothing did 
 
 To allay the suffering of his people. 
 
 Yet unquestionably Beauty, their child, was now 
 
 By this nation conceived. Louis' passion for 
 
 Display, his almost insane desire for grand and costly 
 
 Architectural effects, with furnishings rich and rare 
 
 And splendid attire, was only second to his love 
 
 For beautiful women. These were now produc'd in France 
 
 In numbers great. Th' Mistress Montespan, Sevigne, 
 
 Grignan, th' duchesses Bourgogne and LaFayette, 
 
 Were none as beautiful as Madame Pompadour, 
 
 Who rul'd th' weakling Louis Fifteenth a little later. 
 
 Yet the women of the Empire made an exquisite 
 
 Bouquet that day. The queen rose, beautiful in mind 
 
 As well as face and form, was Maintenon, 
 
 Who held Louis in the hollow of 
 
 Her hand. When France was th' world, this wonderful 
 
 Woman, sprung from lowly parents, married 
 
 When a girl to th' crippled poet Scarron, 
 
 When a widow glad to educate 
 
 Th' daughters of the King, for thirty years 
 
 Rul'd entirely th' monarch, who in all 
 
 Europe was a majestic figure, among 
 
 Kings a king supreme. 
 
 Maintenon was never mistress; she 
 
 Wisely insist'd on marriage, though not able 
 
202 The Child of the Nations 
 
 To acknowledge it. Her prudery is 
 Seen in her request that Racine should write 
 Something for her charges more edifying 
 Than Andromache, which under th' friendly 
 Auspices of Moliere had lately 
 Been produced. The poet for Madame 
 Composed Esther, which was played by 
 Amateurs at St. Cyr; but Racine had no 
 Adequate interpreter until 
 Th' day of th' great Rachel.^ 
 Fully as selfish and a degree more weak th' successor 
 Of Louis Quartorze ; while greater discontent was breeding 
 In a reign so barren of achievements as 
 Was that of Louis Fifteenth, whose beautiful Polish wife 
 Marie Leczinsky was known chiefly as the mother 
 Of numerous daughters. Now a few painters take the place 
 Of th' rich galaxy of poets. No new Pleiad 
 Arises who, like stars whose name they chose, were only 
 Asteroids, yet bright and memorable ones; the leader 
 Ronsard especially praiseworthy. No more pious 
 Fenelons or Bossuets grace the court. A deist 
 Takes their place, and pulpit oratory is naught 
 Beside the greatest thinker of this age, Voltaire, 
 Who th' corruption of th' Church was e'er denouncing. 
 Always championing the oppress'd. From his retreat 
 At fair Ferney near the widen'd Rhone, with view 
 Of the giant, snow-rob'd mountain, where stern Calvin 
 Preached and afterwards the sweet persuasive Saint 
 Francis de Sales, the mighty Voltaire predicted the 
 Revolution, which came like a tidal wave 
 
France 203 
 
 After a great volcanic eruption; while it wash'd 
 
 Th' shores, and carried much debris to sea, yet also 
 
 Wrecked many innocent lives. 
 
 Th' Empress Maria Theresa's daughter, whom the French 
 
 Had never loved more than they had understood 
 
 Her progressive brother Joseph, suffer'd for 
 
 No crime greater than her folly. Sweet but vain 
 
 Marie Antoinette, th' frail pretence of a king 
 
 Sinning less than sinned against, with many true 
 
 Compatriots were guillotined; while the same 
 
 Death was for that young heroic girl, grand-niece 
 
 Of Corneille, from Caen decreed, who was so filled 
 
 With patriotic passion she thought that she could curb 
 
 Th' march of the uncontrolled mob by killing one 
 
 Leader; so like Jael of old, with word and smiles 
 
 Insinuating, Charlotte Corday the knife did drive 
 
 Into th' heart of monster Murat. This wretched man 
 
 Heads no longer could demand; but thirst for blood 
 
 Is not allayed by one sacrifice, nor is 
 
 Equality gained by guillotine. 
 
 As giants from the blood of Ouranos were born, 
 
 So from the reign of terror came forth a military 
 
 Genius. France in desperation threw herself 
 
 Into the arms of th' giant general. First she made 
 
 Napoleon consul with three others; as with that first 
 
 Triumvirate at Rome the power was centered all 
 
 In one. The mighty Corsican was later made 
 
 Hereditary Consul for life, and finally was 
 
 Created King, anointed by the Pope, and crowned 
 
 By himself. Then after vicissitudes various 
 
204 The Child of the Nations 
 
 And the conquest of Italy, he was proclaimed 
 
 Emperor. And now a new regime began, 
 
 Wherein plebians were made titled noblemen 
 
 At the will of one who not so much the statesman 
 
 Was as military despot. 
 
 Yet even Napoleon's unparalleled success 
 
 In the field of war deserted him, when from 
 
 The gentle, loyal, winsome Josephine he rudely 
 
 Parted, who to her dying hour Bonaparte 
 
 Adored. Her son Beauharnais was appointed king 
 
 Of Italy, while her grandson Louis Napoleon Third 
 
 Liberator sublime became and "Emperor 
 
 Evermore,"^ the last of France. His court was graced 
 
 By the beautiful Eugenie, Empress ever 
 
 Dignified, to the end revered and loved. 
 
 Even in her later secluded sorrowful hfe. 
 
 But Bonaparte e'en though deposed, exiled, imprison'd 
 
 And dead, still reigned in the hearts of his people; still 
 
 To the world is and will ever be the great 
 
 Napoleon, as JuHus to Rome the great 
 
 Caesar ne'er will cease to be. 
 
CANTO XII 
 Germany 
 
 Not inferior in energy to either CcBsar or Napoleon was that 
 Charles the Great, who made a nation 
 
 Of the eastern Franks, and with their help not only all of Gaul 
 but nearly all of Europe conquered. Called a second 
 
 Romulus, yet as the Rhine, the centre of this nation, exceeds in 
 volume and in length the Tiber, so Charlemagne 
 
 Rome's first King outstripped in statue and in strength. 
 Like Caesar he not only was inimical 
 In war, but anxious the conditions of his people 
 To improve. His zeal was great in founding schools, 
 Collecting manuscripts, gathering eminent men 
 Around him. Alcuin his chief advisor was; 
 His power th' rule of the ecclesiastics. Th' unity 
 Of the Empire was a reflection of the imity 
 Of the Church. The payment of tithes to the clergy was 
 By Charlemagne estabUshed, erecting on a firmer 
 Basis the connection between the Church and State. 
 Th' crown of the imperial Caesars, bestow'd by 
 Th' viceregent of Jehovah on Pepin's greater son, 
 Whose grandfather, Charles Martel, defeated th' Moors 
 At Tours, was lost to Germany when the kingdom of Charle- 
 magne 
 Was divided, and a nominal dignity only 
 Left th' abject heirs of an illustrious name. 
 Like India after Aurunzebe's day, the great 
 
 205 
 
2o6 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Kingdom of the Franks decayed. 
 
 Otho, vigorous and able though not learn'd, 
 
 Won again from Rome the symbol of th' Csesars' 
 
 Power, which Henry suffer'd penance for when standing 
 
 Barefoot at Canossa's mountain castle, waiting 
 
 For forgiveness. Yet nor prince nor pope was earnest. 
 
 Barbarossa, who with lion-hearted Richard 
 
 Fought the third Crusade, was excommunicated, 
 
 While Richard languished at Durstein. 
 
 Barbarossa's grandson, intellectually 
 
 Above but morally much below his age, saw Germany 
 
 Split in many petty principalities; while 
 
 Th' golden crown was now by popes on Austrian kings 
 
 Bestow'd, and ancient Vindabona on the beautiful 
 
 Danube became the capitol of th' Teutonic empire. 
 
 The Hapsburg brain, by th' blood of Castile narrow'd, made 
 
 Th' weakling Charles, Maximilian's grandson, who 
 
 Murder'd thousands in the Netherlands, and would 
 
 Have stamped out Protestantism had not its force been 
 
 stronger 
 Than pope and emperor combined. 
 What could stem the vehement eloquence of th' monk 
 Of Wittenberg or confute the great Confession of 
 Augsburg? Learn'd Erasmus could not e'en gainsay 
 All that Luther and Melancthon taught; while puppet 
 Monarchs were as powerless to quell the great 
 Surging masses, claiming right to think and pray 
 And live according to their consciences with God's 
 Word for rule of conduct, as artillery is 
 To stem a mountain torrent. Cannon may mow down 
 
Germany 207 
 
 Men, and ruthless butchery prevail, when peasants 
 
 Rise to arms; but blood cries out; and more and more 
 
 Th' spirit of democracy grew among this race 
 
 Mothered by the soil, for Goth and Gauls descended 
 
 Were from those far distant peoples we find buried 
 
 With their various implements beneath the lakes. 
 
 Vigorous men were these, who knew no master 'til 
 
 Th' Romans came in Julius' time, yet were not wholly 
 
 Conquer'd by Agricola, Germanicus 
 
 Or Claudius. On these wild tribes the early Frankish 
 
 Leaders forced baptism, while allegiance to 
 
 Th' Pope was urg'd by Rome; but not 'til Martin Luther's 
 
 Day were seeds of primitive Christianity sown 
 
 In this land. The vision of the Crucified One 
 
 Seeing, Luther his torch hghted from the light 
 
 Of Bethlehem's star, and fearlessly flaunted it 
 
 Before the princes and prelates, defying the power of Rome. 
 
 But an idea as a weapon used loses 
 
 Much of its power; so Luther failed to make his message 
 
 Universal. Missing th' Gospel lesson of 
 
 Non-resistance, he exhorted the princes to crush 
 
 Th' rebellion; and no battles in all the annals of Rome 
 
 Were more bloody than those between the German peasants 
 
 And the lords of the Swabian League. Thousands met 
 
 Their death by sword and water, while Copernicus 
 
 Of Thorne in seclusion dying, clasped his book that Rhea's 
 
 Revolutions demonstrated, knowing the world 
 
 Was not ready for these truths which Kepler helped 
 
 Later to elucidate. 
 
 A century later th' brilliant Gustavus Adolphus, coming 
 
2o8 The Child of the Nations 
 
 To succor religious freedom, lost his life at Lutzen; 
 
 His blood with that of murder'd peasants mingling cried 
 
 Out for liberty of thought. 
 
 Like the Minotaur of old, German soil 
 
 Devoured children sent from every European 
 
 Country to sweU the ranks of the destroyer, in 
 
 That war which rag'd for thirty years to abrogate 
 
 Th' sovereignty of Rome, until schismatics were 
 
 Given full share in ci\dl rights. 
 
 Germany but a federation now of states. 
 
 Princes, emancipated from imperial control, 
 
 Despots became in their own territories. Before 
 
 Another century roll'd 'round, Frederick, grandson of 
 
 Th' great Elector of Brandenbm-g, inherited so 
 
 Goodly a principaHty and so savage an army 
 
 That he aspir'd to be an emperor. A tyrant 
 
 Without fear, or faith, or mercy, crafty, sagacious, 
 
 Cynical and ruthless, from Austria stole Silesia; 
 
 England aided Frederick, France sided T^dth 
 
 Maria Theresa, helping her to hold the Hapsburg 
 
 Crown, which Marlborough wrested from the French at 
 
 Blenheim. 
 Beside the Austrian empire now arose the compact 
 Prussian state. In time of peace which follow'd th' Seven 
 Years War, when Frederick tried to legislate the people 
 Into righteousness, not knowing that from e\dl 
 To good is slow growth, intellectual life awoke. 
 In Prussia Immanuel Kant, Fichte, Leibnitz and 
 Lessing no mean luminaries were; yet Frederick 
 Th' literature of France affecting, made of Voltaire 
 
Germany 209 
 
 Much, 'til of such a brilHant guest he jealous grew. 
 
 Little of the poetic spirit had come to Germany 
 
 Till now. The wand 'ring minstrel Tannhauser, Sachs, the 
 
 cobbler 
 Poet and the Minnesingers were to th' poets 
 Of Frederick's time what whippoorwills at night or songsters 
 Before the daybreak are to th' chorus greeting sunrise: 
 Schiller, with classic spirit and dramatic fire; 
 Goethe, with serene insistently inquiring 
 Mind, his grief to poems turning yet himself 
 Holding aloof from love and strife, as th' Calvanistic 
 God does from the world He made — this far-off God 
 Of mediaeval Protestantism, which kept Spinoza 
 From embracing Christianity. Finding in 
 Th' depths of his sublime self God, this spiritually 
 Minded man shows us how finite individuals, 
 Dififerentiated from the unity of 
 Infinite substance, come at last to God as gods. 
 This was the crest of that great thought-wave by th' shoe- 
 maker 
 Mystic Boehme begun; two centuries later than 
 Th' Holland-Portuguese philosopher it brought 
 To th' Swabian Highlands one who found within 
 Th' silence of his soul thoughts richer than he found 
 In books; the Infinite Spirit moving in all things Hegel 
 Recognized, but especially he perceived 
 It manifest in history; Hellenic to the core, 
 He came when seeds of Grecian culture ripening were 
 In Teutonic soil. Then, too, came Heine, singing 
 Almost as lyrically as the Lesbian poets. 
 
2IO The Child of the Nations 
 
 Now Ludwig gladly gave his son to rule the Greeks, 
 
 While he bade his architects make for him an "Athens 
 
 On the Iser," sheltering Diirer, Holbein, Rembrandt, 
 
 Kaufman, Van Dyke, and many others. 
 
 But poets and painters stemmed not the tide of war, 
 
 When a new Caesar stepped upon the scene. The wily 
 
 Metternich sacrificed Louise Archduchess, and saved 
 
 Austria's being blotted out by Bonaparte. 
 
 Though in political intrigue strong, th' Austrian minister 
 
 A pigmy was beside the Prussian tiger Bismarck, 
 
 Who thought it virtue monarchs to deceive; so blinded 
 
 By his brilliant mind, to his designs they fell 
 
 A prey; then kings and emperors unawares aid'd him 
 
 To tear adjacent territories to suit the pattern 
 
 Prussia wish'd, and make of the confederate states, 
 
 When France was humbl'd, an empire strong enough to 
 
 dictate 
 Terms to all of Europe. Now the cow may graze 
 In green Lorraine, and wade in waters of the Rhine, 
 For summer time it is in Germany. The spring 
 As Goethe said to Mendelssohn, was when Theresa's 
 Good, kind son the nobles' souls did harrow by 
 Abolishing slavery and righting other wrongs, yet e'en 
 Before this budding time was birth. 
 
 There came to this fair world of ours three souls 
 
 One year — just six before that war when we 
 
 Were freed from tyranny of English rule. 
 
 In childhood's days they felt the waves of strife 
 
 That swept with enmity from sea to sea. 
 
 Their prime of life likewise was lived while scenes 
 
Germany 21 ] 
 
 Of carnage held full sway in Gallic lands. 
 
 The one, who found on British isle his home,^ 
 
 A man than whom none other is more mild, 
 
 His poems full of Nature's lore, beside the lakes 
 
 Sweet fancies bred, that intimate no thought 
 
 Of cruel warfare wag'd in other lands. 
 
 But breathe soft zephyrs fraught with blossoms gay. 
 
 Sweet violets, daffodils, and daisies dear, 
 
 With sunlight intertwin'd and twilight hours. 
 
 Th' woods, the stones, the meanest flowers that bloom 
 
 In his hand take on radiant hues, and glow 
 
 With that glad light which fades on land and sea 
 
 Yet lingers long within the mind of man. 
 
 He spoke to Peter Bell — he speaks to me 
 
 In language plain, and yet withal his words 
 
 Make meadows sing and brooks take rainbow tints. 
 
 He taught the young to see, to think, to feel, 
 
 And better yet, to know the power that feeds 
 
 Our minds in passiveness. The Infinite 
 
 He saw in all that lives and breathes; he felt 
 
 The silent voice of Nature's anguish, and 
 
 Realized th' note of joy in things 
 
 Inanimate. He sympathized with lowliest 
 
 Forms of life. He strove man's heart to move, 
 
 His mind to widen and enlarge, his vision 
 
 To exalt that he might shape from out 
 
 Th' produce of the common clay a little 
 
 Paradise. His gospel has a healing 
 
 Power; it helps to fortify, to soothe. 
 
 To reconcile. His strain didactic is, 
 
The Child of the Nations 
 
 Too strong, not veiled enough: too austere 
 
 His self-control. Yet, fraught with peace and good, 
 
 His message will not fail, e'en though his name 
 
 Should from ofif the page of history be blotted. 
 Th' one who came for birth on Danish soil,^ 
 More vigorous than the poet, chose his home 
 Where war and wealth had not perverted hearts; 
 A peasant's cot preferr'd to castle walls. 
 As likelier there to find the food that feeds 
 Th' genius; keen privation great men need; 
 For harder knocks it takes to make a man 
 Than chiseling stones for statues. Fiery sea-kings 
 Were his progenitors; their wild blood lent 
 Him strength. His mother gave the Christian grace 
 We note in all his later works. At home 
 In Rome, this Thorwald of the North first strove 
 To carry sculpture back to classic days; 
 Then added somewhat of the modern ways; 
 So stands, like Bach in music, midway 'twixt 
 Th' old and new, — the Spring of art. As some 
 Dry leaves still cling to trees though Easter Day 
 Has come, not Jason, Gutenberg nor Byron 
 His best thought portrays, but Christ; with arms 
 Outstretched, speaking of the all-embracing 
 Love, this statue is that best defines 
 
 Th' step this artist took o'er mediaeval thought. 
 To Germany, when o'er her breast the storms 
 Of wrath and bitterness hd-d broken, when 
 Her lap with cannon had been plow'd, and for 
 Existence bare her brave their blood had shed, 
 
Germany 213 
 
 To warm her bosom one there came who was 
 
 To suffer more than even she had done. 
 
 By choir of lesser luminaries led, 
 
 Each giving strings to lyres yet paling all 
 
 As does Orion's nebula at moonlight 
 
 Or Sirius when sunlight floods the world, 
 
 When Melody's great master brought his light, 
 
 His star that elsewhere had its setting, down 
 
 Th' centuries coming, travelling, laboring, waiting. 
 
 Submitting, suffering, ere with glory rose 
 
 O'er Austria, lighted Neustria, shed its beams 
 
 On British lands: now Apollo's self 
 
 Th' world of music lightens and uplifts. 
 
 For Beethoven, dear, loving soul, did give 
 
 From out his earthly store not only gold 
 
 And silver, but encouragement, advice. 
 
 Himself, his sympathy; he never turn'd 
 
 His face from any one in need, nor failed 
 
 To praise his weaker brother's feeble efforts; 
 
 Always he strove to see the good in men, 
 
 And not the ill; in judgment merciful. 
 
 In friendship constant, jealousy unknown, 
 
 That demon which so often warps wise men. 
 
 To Handel, Haydn, Mozart, praise he gave, 
 
 And thanks for every hill they levell'd, all 
 
 The vales that they exalted; while before 
 
 Th' conqueror they rode to music's palace. 
 
 Th' road made somewhat straight, their way he walked 
 
 Nor wavered in the course, though weighted down 
 
 With many weary burdens, till the key 
 
214 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Was forg'd with sacrifice and suffering keen 
 Which op'd the door. Necessity compelHng, 
 Within he dwelt, in those divinely built 
 Exclusive halls where purest harmonies 
 Are heard. Th' chains of mediaeval bondage, 
 Which slavishly held tone to words, already 
 Sebastian Bach had broken, as Luther loosed 
 Th' bonds which bound the conscience in confession. 
 So harmony and rhythm now stood like jars 
 At wedding feast of old, where Mary knew 
 They needed wine, and wiUing servants drew 
 Th' water. But music's master, mother'd by 
 A Magdalen, his royal father nothing. 
 No servants by to fill the jars, did first 
 Enlarge the mould; then mix'd with brain and heart 
 A nectar given by the gods, and drew 
 Such melody therefrom, that surging of 
 Th' Rhine, the wildest forest notes, the storm, 
 Th' gentlest breeze that blows, th' wailing woe, 
 Th' cry of joy, were blended all in one 
 In his immortal symphonies. His head 
 Oft reel'd with overdose of melody; 
 Its utter loneliness his spirit felt. 
 While agonizing throes of childbirth left 
 Him deaf to sounds of earth, that only might 
 He hear th' heavenly song, and give to man 
 In radiant garment clad th' maiden music 
 So fair, so free, so full of feeling, speaking 
 In universal language love to all. 
 Then as the Magi brought to Israel's royal babe 
 
Germany 215 
 
 Gifts, so artists of this Teuton land would fain 
 
 Th' brow of music's child with jewels deck. Then enter'd 
 
 Schumann, Schubert, Franz the open palace door. 
 
 And bow'd before their nation's child, while Brahms has 
 
 given 
 A diadem to-day. Then one arose who said 
 Th' maid must wed. The godman Poetry long had wait'd. 
 With bonds of rare orchestral tone the two in holy 
 Wedlock were united by the high priest, Wagner, 
 Who with play at Oberammergau most deeply 
 Was impressed— though he saw not Anton Lang, 
 Greatest artist that e'er took th' part of Christus.^ 
 It is in Parsifal we see the blending of 
 Hebraic and Hellenic myths. Th' spear more plainly 
 Speaks than tusk of boar^ or even brazen serpent^ 
 Of that wound which pleasure takes from king, and makes 
 Him yield his state to forest-foster'd lad, whose mother 
 Kept him innocent till old enough to battle 
 With seductive vice, and hold the fount of feeling 
 Till time was ripe for highest joy.® The Holy Grail 
 He could partake of and be strong. Such man is greater 
 Conqueror than he who won at Waterloo. 
 
CANTO XIII 
 Russia 
 
 It was the ice and snow which Nature as a robe of state to Russia 
 gave that overcame the mighty Corsican, who 
 
 Made the same mistake that Charles of Sweden made a century 
 earlier, deeming he could bring the bear to bay by following 
 
 Him, not dreaming of what cost of life would be where thousands 
 saved from sword and fire by frost and cold and famine 
 perished; 
 
 While the Muscovites rebuilt their town and fresh 
 Courage took, remembering how in Etzel's day 
 Th' Knights of Gunther to a man were slaughter'd, that time 
 When Kriemhild, who had taken Helca's chair would fain 
 Avenge the wrong that Hagen did to her beloved 
 Siegfried, and again obtain the Nibelung's gold. 
 Gunther's men in Etzel's banquet hall fought bravely, 
 Where the only wine was blood; and this before 
 Julius Caesar crossed the Alps, before the Romans 
 Knew they had a foe beyond the fence of snow. 
 Uta's daughter was but one of many German 
 Princesses who mixed their blood with bold, brave Huns; 
 Though it was long before the Tartars took on aught 
 Of western ways, or showed towards European 
 Culture any leaning, save in th' title Tzar. 
 Not until the women ruled did the Slav 
 Any outward mildness show. 
 Ivan's daughter, Anne of Courland, guided by 
 
 216 
 
Russia 217 
 
 German libertines, extended th' empire southward 
 
 Conquering Turks and Scythian Tartars. 
 
 Elizabeth like her father Peter, named "the Great," 
 
 Liv'd a licentious life; and yet advanc'd th' prosperity 
 
 Of her country, carrying on the policy of Peter, 
 
 Which showed th' weakness of the Scandinavians, from 
 
 Whose borders centuries before came Danish Rurik 
 
 To rule in Russia. He Novagard builded, and 
 
 Helped to enlighten the uncultured Huns. 
 
 To avenge her wrongs from Emperor Frederick's hands 
 
 Elizabeth allied herself to Austria's Empress 
 
 Maria Theresa, thereby stopping the advance 
 
 On her domain of greedy Prussia. 
 
 Mild indeed were all the other Russian queens 
 
 Beside the German Catherine, whose domestic crimes 
 
 Though dark grow dim compared to her dastardly conduct 
 
 Toward crushed, crumbling Poland. 
 
 Austria's Empress and Prussia's King each lent a hand 
 
 Aiding the Tzarina in her deadly work. 
 
 Which resulted in blotting Poland from the map; 
 
 Yet her name still rings on th' page of history 
 
 When we her men of might remember. Sobieski, 
 
 Called by the Pope to save the Church and 
 
 By Austria to deliver the State from impious hands 
 
 Of infidel Turks, devoting body and soul to defend 
 
 The honor and glory of the Polish name, delivering 
 
 Beautiful beleaguer'd Vienna, driving the Moslem 
 
 Forever out of Austria, so that great cathedral 
 
 For St. Stephen named should not share the fate 
 
 Of Saint Sophia's fane, will ever be a hero 
 
2i8 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Of the rarest, purest type. 
 
 Nor should we forget King Stanislaus Leczinsky, 
 
 By Sweden's monarch chosen to rule the Poles, the father 
 
 Of the fair Maria who as Queen of France 
 
 Bore daughters many to Louis Quinze. 
 
 A god of such heroic build success is. 
 
 That Catherine's subjects ready were to forget her foreign 
 
 Birth and e'en her many crimes, remembering only 
 
 Her reforms and dazzling victories. Her empire 
 
 To the Caucasus was extended; the Tartars of 
 
 The Crimea made independent of the Turks, 
 
 Yet their home in less than a century was the scene 
 
 Of bitter warfare between the allied powers of all 
 
 Western Europe and the Russias. 
 
 It was here that little Sardinia her first 
 
 Laurels gained, whose brave king Emanuel, 
 
 Duke of Savoy, aided by th' sagacious policy 
 
 Of Cavour, was soon to free defenseless Italy. 
 
 War in the Crimea was begun on pretext 
 
 Of protecting holy places, but its end 
 
 Was an open door to th' Black Sea, by the blows 
 
 Of many valiant patriots cut. 
 
 Catherine's children still rule Russia, who descent 
 
 Claim from that brave exiled patriot Romanoff, 
 
 Th' monk whose blood was mix'd with that of Danes and 
 
 Russians; 
 So this house of Romanoff is heir of all 
 Of Scandinavian Rurik's kingdom, as well as of 
 Th' land long held by th' Golden Horde, and is to-day 
 Successor of the Greeks, the Huns, the Turks, the Arabs 
 
Russia 
 
 219 
 
 And the Tartars in that land by th' Jaxartes water'd 
 Where Venetian Timour once his capital made. 
 Nicholas, grandson of that Alexander named 
 "Liberator of the Serfs" whose clemency was 
 Repaid by base assassination at the hands 
 Of Nihihsts, now at The Hague holds conference of peace, 
 While poor Finland still is robbed of her rights. 
 And men of China, Korea and Japan cheated. 
 Yet relief to persecute Jews and tolerance 
 Of unorthodox Christians, freedom of the Polish 
 Press, and aid to students, show the reforming hand 
 Of the Tzar, whose empire has become the centre 
 Of anarchistic demands that nothing rational can 
 Satisfy; for long repression of the Russian 
 Mind has made it peculiarly susceptible to 
 Th' unnatural heat of free thought, as 'tis call'd; and one 
 There is who e'er augments this socialistic ferment. 
 Tolstoy nobly born yet scorning empires, 
 Titles, wealth and ease, has learned that 
 Not until the love of God be shed 
 Abroad, as leaves in autumn when the trees 
 Bare their boughs the soil to richen, will 
 Men in high estate make laws that rob 
 Robes of tinsel to clothe the naked and 
 Feed the children of the husbandman, 
 Who with horny hands the black earth plows 
 To harvest wheat for children of the rich. 
 As the Sun returning from the tropics 
 Melts the snow in valleys first and later 
 On the mountain peaks, so here the people 
 
The Child of the Nations 
 
 Laboring in the fields the prophet's voice 
 
 Gladly hear, while those in places high 
 
 Hear yet heed not all his burning words 
 
 Springing from a heart surcharged — kindly 
 
 But mistaken thought. This man of Russia 
 
 Sees unwritten laws, as did Antigone, 
 
 Brave and strong. Yet wiser Socrates 
 
 Knew that breaking laws ^ however bad 
 Never helps to mend the ill or aid the good. 
 And so a prophet must arise who truly sees 
 Th' teaching of the Nazarene; and also knows 
 What Buddha knew, that action ceas'd from still is action,' 
 While too much clemency reactionary is. 
 These people, held in check so long, still need a rein. 
 
CANTO XIV 
 America 
 
 The idea of liberty concerning matters of conscience conceiving, 
 men of British birth to Holland fled, thence came to these 
 
 Stern shores to found a state on lines their narrowness dictated, 
 persecuting all who disagreed with them regarding views 
 
 Religious, failed signally in their efforts to limit liberty to th' 
 Puritan mould; the reins too tightly held were snapt. 
 
 Descendants of these stern but hardy men, who fought 
 
 Th' Indians and the French for every foot of ground, 
 
 Warred with the mother country for their rights. 
 
 Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill, are names fast woven 
 
 Into the warp of Liberty's gown. In th' war with England 
 
 Her more polished sons, who earlier settled in 
 
 Virginia and Maryland, in thought and purpose 
 
 With the Mayflower men became one; while the Dutch 
 
 And Huguenots, who held Manhattan Isle and th' scenic 
 
 Hudson, lent their strength; so when the revolution 
 
 Ended, not a few small settlements envious each 
 
 Of the other, but thirteen states united to form 
 
 A government, with George Washington for their President, 
 
 And their capital on th' Potomac nam'd for him. 
 
 Sprung from th' sons of Puritan and Dutch Protestants, 
 
 Found'd by men whose lives were given that liberty might 
 
 Be born, we should expect a swift and easy birth. 
 
 But another element in th' amalgamation 
 
 Which made th' United States, was that refined, indolent 
 
22 2 The Child of the Nations 
 
 People who from England and Scotland came. 
 
 Aristocrats for long ages, used to servants, they 
 
 Welcom'd th' advent of the negroes who became 
 
 A necessity, soon as they degenerated 
 
 Through luxurious living. Th' black man could all day 
 
 Labor in the fields and bear the sun; to him, 
 
 Coming from the wilds of Africa, this country 
 
 Was a paradise. Associated in closest 
 
 Intimacy with his master, th' change from savage 
 
 To domestic state was rapid. As wild fruits 
 
 Become by cultivation larger, juicier, stronger 
 
 And more abundant when not hybrid, so this wild 
 
 Race of black-skinn'd men improv'd. Th' masters mixed 
 
 Their blood from time to time with slaves, and did great 
 
 wrong 
 To both. The white blood made a slender, brown-skinn'd 
 
 man, 
 Hose in his brain, and told him he to his master was 
 Kin. Then liberty he demanded. 
 Th' sturdier Northerner who felt no need of slaves, 
 Cried out against his brother in the South 
 Who upon his human property leaned more 
 And more, as on his crutch leans a cripple, seeing 
 No way to walk without. Then long and bitter was 
 Th' strife disrupting this new nation started by 
 Religious men, on the idea of liberty foimded. 
 What the outcome of this burning hatred between 
 Brothers, men whose ancestors fought so lately that 
 This country might be free, who fram'd a constitution 
 On th' equal rights of man? 
 
A 
 
 merica 223 
 
 Would not Patrick Henry speak from the tomb? Would 
 
 not 
 Washington's bones arise, and all New England's fathers 
 Leave their rest in Paradise an internecine 
 Feud to arrest? And yet it came. On many fertile 
 Fields their hot blood flowed. Thousands fell by sword 
 And gun. Their cannon tore down ramparts, and destroyed 
 Palatial homes. In prison hundreds languish'd, dying 
 Of starvation and disease. At home the women 
 Wept alone or hover'd over half-fed children; 
 While men to hardship not inured slept on cold. 
 Damp ground or walk'd all night as sentinels, their lives 
 More freely giving than their sons give dollars now 
 To feed the poor or educate the liberated 
 Slave. On either side good men, brave, valiant soldiers, 
 Able generals, gentlemen and people of 
 Th' soil were linked arm in arm for Southern rights, 
 Or for the Union struggling long. 
 
 As dung when mix'd with earth produces fruits and flowers 
 Th' finest, so these troublous times, when wicked deeds 
 With human feelings mixed in the breasts of many 
 Men, produced a man among men, hero great. 
 Who gave birth to th' thought of Freedom. 
 Always thought must things precede. Before material 
 Manifestation possible is, th' idea comes. 
 In man creative power, as in God, first thinks. 
 Then wills, then does; and thoughts need longer periods of 
 Gestation to be born than visible objects do. 
 Thoughts must not only be conceived but must live 
 Ere they in turn can reproduce and multiply, 
 
2 24 The Child of the Nations 
 
 And deeds make possible. The birth of th' thought of 
 
 freedom 
 Was not freedom, nor e'en its conception. That 
 Can only come when as a whole the nation thinks 
 This thought, when all men work together to produce 
 That which is fermenting now. 
 
 Yet praise shall ever be to him who thought this thought; 
 Iron willed, silver tongued, golden hearted. 
 Crystal vision'd patriot he, our President; 
 Who prudently and skillfully, with master hand 
 And stout heart th' appalling sittiation faced; 
 Yet yielded not a jot or tittle of authority 
 Vested in his ofi&ce, but held tight the reins 
 Of the governmental horse, so that rebellious 
 States the traces broke, and fired upon Fort Sumter. 
 Then to arms his countrymen loudly Lincoln called, 
 Disruption to avert from our blest fatherland. 
 Fought by raw, undisciplined troops the first 
 Battle lost was, by fault of one who through inertia 
 His superior officer failed to obey. 
 One vote saved Porter from a traitor's death; 
 While McDowell, who was not a natural general, 
 Suffer'd from this defeat throughout the war; yet Sherman 
 Called him America's highest spirit 
 Of gentlemanliness ; for had he not refused 
 Supreme command when by the President offered it, 
 Rather than precedence take of General Scott, a senior 
 Officer under whom McDowell had served in 
 Th' Mexican War? But no such modest feeling deterred 
 Ulysses Grant from mounting to first place who showed 
 
America 
 
 225 
 
 Himself a born commander and true soldier, who 
 
 Rightly became the hero of the war, though Sherman 
 
 And Sheridan followed closely on his heels. From all 
 
 Three the war spirit brightly shone. 
 
 For eighteen moons the carnage reigned ere the freeing 
 
 Of the slaves, which proclamation from th' Executive 
 
 Was forced as means to end the fight. He knew the Black 
 
 Must be armed for the Union. Feeling rose 
 
 High, and many Federalists were dissatisfied; 
 
 While Confederates now fought to th' death with great 
 
 Odds, at all times having fewer men, but led 
 
 Throughout the strife by brave strategic souls, as Lee 
 
 And Stonewall Jackson, whose names live beside those on 
 
 Th' winning side. The hearts were stout and blood was warm 
 
 Of these southerners who deem'd their cause was just; 
 
 And honor them we must, regretting bitterness 
 
 That lasted long, e'en after their most noble leaders 
 
 In the dust were laid. Yes, lasted 'til three Presidents 
 
 Had fallen by assassins' hands. Beloved Lincoln 
 
 Just entering on his second presidential term; 
 
 Garfield, ere he'd shown what he could do, and peaceful, 
 
 Mild McKinley, after sailing the ship of state 
 
 Safely through the Spanish War, which rudely was 
 
 Upon him thrust. Like Rome's philosopher Emperor, 
 
 Only when forced he fought, and like Aurelius 
 
 Was most brave in facing death. 
 
 But one Democrat has filled th' presidential 
 
 Chair since the Rebellion, who with firm judicial 
 
 Mind, hke Cato the Elder, civil service reforms 
 
 Established, and just as the censor called for 
 
226 The Child of the Nations 
 
 The destruction of Carthage, Cleveland insistently 
 
 Demand'd improvement of the tariff. Bryan, born 
 
 To rule, with monetary reform came forward now. 
 
 Had he gained the executive office, war 
 
 Between the classes which now threatens might have been 
 
 Postpon'd though never entirely averted; for like mountains 
 
 Humans must be rudely shaken ere they reach 
 
 Their level. Rocks and fire upheaved are before 
 
 Crystal fountains flow; so in this shaking of 
 
 America's people we must expect hard knocks, 
 
 Not only on political and economic 
 
 Questions; but the fire of religious persecution 
 
 Once again shall burn within the borders of 
 
 This fair land where religious liberty was to dwell. 
 
 Th' Puritan spirit th' breast shall swell of those maintaining 
 
 That all men are equal. Protestant not only shall 
 
 Scorn the Catholic, but shall loudly denounce and try 
 
 To quench the rapidly spreading cult as "New Thought" 
 
 known. 
 But not having sufficient truth to set him free, 
 Like Christ's disciples of old, he shall both fear 
 And chastise those who do miracles in a way 
 He does not understand; forgetting that the Master 
 Said, All who are not against us are for us; 
 Remembering not that Jesus said, Greater things 
 Than these shall ye do; thinking not of Paul's teaching 
 That the gifts of spirit divers are; not preaching. 
 Teaching, prophesying, healing, only, for spirit 
 Worketh as it wills. Interpreting tongues and 
 Discerning spirits all are from the selfsame 
 
America 227 
 
 Source. Yes, bitter indeed will be the feeHng, stinging 
 
 Th' words, and cruel and unjust the judgment of 
 
 Those professing to foUow th' Prince of Peace. The Rock 
 
 Of Ages will be crucified afresh. And as 
 
 Th' rocks are split and washed to pebbles, then are ground 
 
 To sand ere they can be cemented by the clay 
 
 And made one rock again, so Christ's Church will be 
 
 Divided, subdivided, persecuted, parted, 
 
 Until the Rock of Truth is all hke grains of sand, 
 
 Here a little, there a little, washed by seas 
 
 Of doubt, left cover'd by the waves of strife, yet ever 
 
 Shone on by the sun, until at length the troubled 
 
 Waters all are dried up. Then intelligence 
 
 Shall make clear the truth. The sand at th' bottom of 
 
 Th' sea is safe as on the shore; so though submerged 
 
 For a time, at last will every atom of 
 
 Th' truth be manifest; for only can birth come 
 
 Through strain and stress and storm. All light the offspring is 
 
 Of dark; so this intolerant night in our dear land 
 
 Will be the birth pains of a day of higher, clearer, 
 
 Cleaner thought. The isms all are for a purpose. 
 
 Many schisms grinding time but hasten, which 
 
 Ever welding time precedes. 
 
 Since the days of Luther no reform has taken 
 
 Such a hold on Christians as that inaugurated 
 
 By Phineas Quimby of Portland, Maine, and broadcast sown 
 
 By his pupil, Mary Baker Eddy. She 
 
 To the world this message gave, and thousands upon 
 
 Thousands have been helped out of the pit and put 
 
 Upon the track of apostolic teaching. Had 
 
228 The Child of the Nations 
 
 He who first this truth received Hved longer 
 
 It would probably have been given to the world 
 
 With fuller light; for Quimby never had denied 
 
 Th' source of this fresh inspiration. 
 
 Th' number of her followers would have been far less 
 
 But her cult more lasting had only Mary Eddy 
 
 Been brave enough to tell the truth respecting her 
 
 Revelation, and not take the credit all 
 
 Herself/ The thought would then not have had abortive 
 
 birth. 
 VTet truth though buried long at length to th' surface rises. 
 Th' scientist pebble will be sand, and many other 
 Cults and isms be ground down. Then th' "Mother Church" 
 Always th' past conserving, ever tending to grasp 
 All that comes within her reach will open wide 
 Her doors and take in many shipwrecked children who 
 Struggling are with waves of doubt. So many will 
 Come in she can no longer lock her doors but will 
 Th' lesson learn that Christ intended when to Peter 
 Keys He gave to unlock the gates. ^ 
 Ere this comes to pass we needs must see a war 
 Between the classes, wherein the mass ascendancy 
 Will gain, and overthrow the plutocrats. This violent 
 Uprising of the mob we could prevent if greed 
 Were curb'd in time, and arrogance gave place to kindness, 
 Sympathy took precedence of self-indulgence. 
 Th' rich man does not think. Gold fills the chinks of all 
 His palace walls; his bed, his carriage and his clothes 
 So padded are he fails to hear the piteous cry 
 Uprising from the slimas where God's children starving, 
 
America 
 
 229 
 
 Freezing are; his eyes are gloated with strong wine 
 
 And vulgar scenes, so he sees not the brawny arms 
 
 And iron hands of working men; because he's blind 
 
 And deaf the reign of luxury will end in havoc. 
 
 But more fearful still will be the bloodshed when 
 
 Th' strong black man shall mount upon the steps now 
 
 building 
 By degenerate whites. Not only will the black 
 Man the white man fight; but religious fanaticism 
 Which ever insists that all men equaP are in God's 
 Sight, will brother incite against his brother over 
 Th' cause of th' blacks. This gory war, by women led. 
 Will result in a woman in the Presidential 
 Chair (foreseen by Susan Anthony, an able man 
 In female form),* which ushers in a greater change 
 When a black shall hold that office grac'd by Lincoln, 
 Who though foully murder'd by an insane Jew 
 Happy was in that he lived not long enough 
 To see the ballot given to the freedman. This 
 Was th' beginning of conditions that will finally 
 Lead to negro rulership in America. 
 To free the slave was just and wise; to give him suffrage 
 Was a foolish act. A new-born babe as well 
 Might cast a ballot as when first emancipated 
 Th' black. But now the fruit of unripe seed decaying 
 On the ground breeds many a feud, and politics makes 
 Impure, and hastens what was sure to come: dissension 
 Between two races never meant to dwell within 
 Th' same tents. Abel's blood was shed by Cain, and Cain's 
 Descendants^ will with cruel hand the blood of Japheth's 
 
230 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Sons outpour on this blest soil where many great 
 
 Souls have given their lives in freedom's holy cause. 
 
 After or during the period of the Civil War 
 
 Those were born who now form Doctor Coulter's circle. 
 
 He, the great Greek god of healing, then the Cid, 
 
 Petrarch, Cosimo de Medici, and Voltaire, 
 
 Had his last earth life in Indiana where 
 
 For a few short years he was a country doctor. 
 
 Through our dear clairaudient Pythia, whom we all 
 
 Revere, we have acquired some facts respecting our 
 
 Director: First, that we belong to him as subjects 
 
 To a sovereign; for our guides have elected him 
 
 Commander-in-chief of th' circle. All who talk with Doctor 
 
 Coulter learn to love, revere and trust him. His 
 
 Judgment in earth matters is remarkable as 
 
 Is his counsel for our soul's advancement. Our 
 
 Dear Doctor becomes to each of us a friend. 
 
 Like earth sovereigns he has favorites at court, 
 
 Pythia always first — and should she not be, with 
 
 Psychic gifts transcending all we've ever heard 
 
 Or read of? She was priestess of the Delphic shrine 
 
 Who hailed Euripides wisest of his tribe. Before 
 
 That she was Hygeia, in gift of healing second 
 
 Only to her brother yEsculapius. 
 
 Her last earth life cut short, as Charlotte Corday, she needs 
 
 Must come again; and now her time and strength devotes 
 
 To manifesting immortality. 
 
 Not a medium she, for our Pythia never was 
 
 "Controlled" nor entranced, which is hypnotism 
 
 From the other world and not the best;^ nor does 
 
America 231 
 
 Our Pythia visions see, or dreams interpret, though 
 
 She has much natural prescience. Her unique gift 
 
 Is "the independent voice" whereby those who 
 
 Understand the law may speak to, and the voices 
 
 Hear of, loved ones gone before; may hold communion 
 
 With their angel guides and learn to do and suffer 
 
 Here more willingly, each fulfilling his especial 
 
 Mission, yet quite happy at the thought of going 
 
 Hence when earth-work is complete. 
 
 Our Pythia of a sweet and patient nature is, 
 
 Kind and true; she strives to help each one to see 
 
 That "all is right" as Hermes frequently asserts. 
 
 Him who Doctor Coulter's trusted messenger is 
 
 We call our Hermes. From him gladly we receive 
 
 A word of cheer, as by the little walnut table 
 
 In the upper room we sit, and offerings make 
 
 Of fruit and flowers, love and prayers and sacrifice. 
 
 For dear ones gone beyond the veil. 
 
 It was my good fortune to be first of th' chosen 
 
 Few who form th' circle, next to Pythia's handsome 
 
 Black-eyed boy. To th' work I brought one who had been 
 
 Both Deborah and Maintenon; and could she but 
 
 Have realized that the rod was still hers in 
 
 Th' astral world, she would have been a greater power 
 
 In the new world than in Israel or in France. 
 
 But though she had fine judgment, heart and mental gifts, 
 
 Her eye of faith was dimmed by excess of worldly 
 
 Goods, Her daughter knowing she had been Isolde 
 
 Married Mark, thereby redeeming one past life. 
 
 Next he who preaches now, but was so lately Keats, 
 
232 The Child of the Nations 
 
 His brilliant comet and his rose of poesy bringing, 
 
 Who still is seven and pale yellow. 
 
 The combination of number and color with fruit and flower 
 
 Betokens what work best is suited to our need. 
 
 Th' third whom I induced to visit Pythia was 
 
 My graceful, gracious friend, who had been Ariadne, 
 
 Andromeda and Adrienne Lecouvrier. 
 
 These names disclosed to us a law that always in 
 
 Past lives we'd find three names with one initial letter. 
 
 As Ariadne of old to Theseus gave the thread, 
 
 So now she led him to the light whose lov'd earth-mate 
 
 Had lately gone before; soon as convinced that he 
 
 With her could talk, rare psychic powers developed 
 
 Who writing "Coulter's Treatise" preaches and practices 
 
 help. 
 Ariadne's mother, who to me will always 
 Iphigenia be, is green, with clematis white; 
 Her number four much sadness gives in life. Another 
 Green and fifteen, with narcissus white, a musical 
 Patroness, is sister of La Farnarina. 
 One from Venus, blue and eleven, uses her music 
 For the pleasure of the poor. Hippolyta 
 Has now rare gifts of sight and healing. Intellectual 
 And fruitful in good works some are who fail in faith ;^ 
 Purple obscures their light, hence they will come again. 
 Jason is no longer bewitched by Medea, 
 Nor in love with Glauke, though he knows them both; 
 To Rhea Silvia he is married, who still is pink. 
 Louis Conde, Huguenot leader, has yet a passion 
 For reform. We must work to develop self, 
 
America 233 
 
 Then work to aid others who are tugging at the rope; 
 
 For all are linked and bound together, of the body 
 
 Politic members, each as necessary to 
 
 Th' whole as members of the individual's body 
 
 Are to its welfare. Doctor Coulter ever 
 
 Is insistent respecting this, and urges each 
 
 To do his part regardless of the praise or blame 
 
 Of men; commands allegiance to our guide appointed 
 
 By our Heavenly Father to help us climb the mount; 
 
 Forbids our looking down on any one below 
 
 Us on the ladder, for we are only higher by 
 
 Th' grace of God and aid from elder brothers gone 
 
 Before. All now in Doctor Coulter's circle number 
 
 Have and color ;^ yet ciphers were of yore, as those 
 
 Who have not learn'd yet how to make the Hght shine through 
 
 Their shrouds of clay. When color^ comes, then number too 
 
 Is given. ^'^ How count leaves before the stem has sprouted? 
 
 Why wish leaves to fall ere they have done their work? 
 
 Th' flowers pluck'd, th' fruits preserv'd, th' seed elsewhere 
 
 Planted in new soil; opportunity is given 
 
 Again and again the soul to redeem itself from crime, 
 
 Mediocrity, squalor and hidden faults which harder 
 
 Oft times are to cure than crime. Like apples rotting 
 
 At the core, the cover'd sins of self-approval. 
 
 Avarice, unforgiveness, anything that hinders 
 
 Progress, pride, especially spiritual satisfaction, 
 
 Spoil the seed for higher planting. 
 
 Over and over again the self the heart of man 
 
 Enters; until it builds a more ethereal body 
 
 Th' house of clay it uses, weaving a wedding garment, 
 
234 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Covering, which in th' interstellar spaces serves 
 Th' soul 'til strong enough the spiritual body grows 
 To slip this cloudlike covering, as the house of clay- 
 It earlier forsook, and stand arrayed in light. 
 Ere the soul may leave the earth forever to bask 
 In light, and choose its work in worlds where loved ones 
 
 dwell. 
 Much it must subdue, and many attributes 
 Perfect. Our metals, jewels, fruits and flowers may all 
 Be chang'd for higher ones. If we are lead or iron 
 At heart it will be hard indeed to turn to silver; 
 But to steel we may attain by being true. 
 Copper or aluminum may turn to gold 
 By doing deeds of kindness, charity holding in 
 Th' heart. To polish the jewels or gain better ones 
 Requires but little effort; intellectual work 
 Brings clear stones ; pearls are tears. Of fruits the higher ones 
 Have many seeds, thin skins and yellow color. Hard 
 Work in any line, with right intent improves 
 Th' fruit. No matter if the flower from lap of earth 
 From shrub or tree doth spring, it must in time be white. 
 Perfume sweet or centres golden tell a tale 
 Of progress. Trees than shrubs are higher, vines than trees. 
 Lastly our light must shine, our candles all be placed 
 Within the candlestick.^^ That light may not be faint 
 Or flicker, obstacles must be removed, th' mould 
 And dust be wiped away; indifference, doubt, despair. 
 Despondency, criticism or any shade obscuring 
 Light, be rent. The blinds within now raised, th' spirit 
 Looks without, has certitude, meets sorrow cheerfully 
 
America 235 
 
 As joy, for both are messengers from the King of Kings. 
 
 Learn to trust your guide, he has dimb'd th' path before 
 
 And knows its pitfalls. Place your hand in his, and hold 
 
 Your soul upturn'd for inspiration. These are some 
 
 Of the teachings that our dear Director gives, 
 
 Whose circle Here and Over There five hundred and forty 
 
 Numbers, some from every cycle, ^^ of the flower 
 
 Which crowns the second branch of th' Aryan candlestick. 
 
 In America, in England, Germany and 
 
 France our Pythia has formed circles of those 
 
 Ready for the work. In India now and Japan 
 
 She is finding friends who gladly hear the Voice, 
 
 And counsel take from Doctor Coulter. First we thought 
 
 Th' circle was exclusively for America 
 
 Which we now know girdles th' globe. 
 
 Several of our circle have the prison of Akka 
 
 Visited, Abdul Baha to see, who knows that he 
 
 Is "one of us," and also knows who belong to him. 
 
 Devoted souls who make this pilgrimage bring word 
 
 A great hght they have seen. One learn'd in portraiture 
 
 All resign'd to follow this manifestation 
 
 Of the Word, but thinks not as some do that he 
 
 Is Jesus come again, nor does this " Servant of God" 
 
 As he styles himself, so teach. Indeed the Bahai 
 
 Of reincarnation seldom speak — a doctrine 
 
 Perhaps already too much accented in the East. 
 
 Baha UUah, conscious soul,^^ to Persia came 
 
 With a worldwide message, proclaiming peace to all 
 
 Mankind. His son Abdul Baha the message is 
 
 Carrying now to all the nations.^* He is the only 
 
236 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Perfected soul^^ on earth to-day, and may sometime 
 Be added to the "Prophets of the world," when with 
 His rosy light, his white rose, pearls and serpent, he has 
 Proceeded to the Mica candlestick. Then one, 
 Green and nine and better understood by men. 
 Will tell the life of this beloved man, whose luminous 
 Face abides with me as spiritual father ever. 
 My mother, Geraldine, Euripides chose; 
 Her color blue I took, my father's brain 
 Inherited. Spiritual development and 
 His own vibration th' individual brings; 
 But an adequate instrument necessary 
 Is to proper manifestation in 
 Th' flesh. I thank my guide for giving me 
 So fair a start, surroundings so congenial 
 To my soul. Not too much gold and glitter; 
 No sordidness; no stint of food for bodily 
 Growth; and much of mental pabulum. 
 My parents both had faith in God and man, 
 And knew the best gift ever is a well 
 Stor'd mind. While much of knowledge recollection 
 Is, and hence must be educ'd, th' wise 
 Admixture of the present truth with that 
 Brought from th' past feeds best the brain, and aids 
 In mental growth. I seldom went to school. 
 My father kept my mind alert by frequent 
 Drills in mathematics, and taught me what 
 Was best in books; while tutors blest with classic 
 Training help'd to mould my taste in study. 
 My eldest brother, who was a sage of old, 
 
America 237 
 
 Later Gorgias and Guercino, brought 
 
 Such wisdom, eloquence and art with him 
 
 It proves a law not only that a letter 
 
 Is preserv'd in names, but all that is 
 
 Worth while in any life will live, becoming 
 
 Th' total of our good. 
 
 My guide had hoped that I might be a playwright, 
 
 But my dramatic talent insufficient 
 
 Was, e'en when inspir'd by Bacchus' youngest 
 
 Child. My plays were feeble efforts. I 
 
 Lost heart and strength. Then humble growing sought 
 
 Th' Fountain Head, and found by grace of God 
 
 A guide who understood my need. Of how 
 
 I long'd and prayed I've spoken in the prologue. 
 
 When Homer came he made me well, and taught 
 
 Me much to help Hereafter. 
 
 Th' scroll is fast unrolling whereon my past 
 
 Is written. Often I see myself in Egypt; 
 
 Early as the Libyan Sibyl; later 
 
 Asenath, daughter of the priest of On, 
 
 And many times in Greece; 
 
 Yet on Venus oftenest my home 
 
 Has been, for when I see her light my heart 
 
 With longing swells. I know and like my former 
 
 Venus friends, though Mars attracts me strongly. 
 
 Planetary attractions of the spirit 
 
 Are, while color are the astral, metal 
 
 Those of earth bodies. Countries claim us strongly 
 
 Where we've passed happy lives; repel. 
 
 When the life has been unhappy. Where 
 
238 The Child of the Nations 
 
 We have had no previous incarnation 
 Th' earth is better studied. 
 In Athens joyfully my footsteps turn 
 To th' Acropolis; there I seem to dance 
 For Pan; know there I have been born and buried. 
 In Rome upon the Appian way I felt 
 Th' clank of chains and weight of hidden crimes. 
 Having no emotions of self's past 
 Experiences in America, 
 
 I gain from th ' grovmd th' accumulated thought 
 Of those who made this country what it is, 
 And see the land as 'twas and is to be. 
 When the Northmen skirted th' eastern shores of this 
 Land, they found a barrier in the mountains high 
 That everywhere the seacoast faced. But these giant 
 Volcanoes had their work done ere Vespucius sighted 
 This continent; and when Hudson first the Palisades 
 And rocky Manhattan viewed, little did he realize 
 That all this land had come forth from the bowels of 
 Th' earth; for where the mighty furnace once had been 
 Now a peaceful river flowed. 
 
 Likewise in New England, once a rockbound coast, 
 Now lakes and hills and fertile fields, which in the fullness 
 Of time the white man came to take possession of, 
 Rooting out the redskins who America's 
 Autochthonous race were. As other races of 
 Like kind, coming in the pleistocene age, they 
 Were southward swept by glaciers; venturing north again 
 And again in interglacial periods, have 
 Left traces of their genius throughout our land. 
 
America 239 
 
 The degenerate descendants of this great 
 
 People built the mounds we find in various places, 
 
 And were the cave dwellers of two thousand years ago. 
 
 Th' remnant of this red race, conquer'd in the South 
 
 And West by Spaniards, in the North and East by English 
 
 And French men, cruelly crush'd out by the white man, will 
 
 Come again this land of theirs to inherit. When 
 
 Names like Daniel Boone and Henry Clay or Franklin 
 
 And Daniel Webster can no longer be conjur'd with; 
 
 When inventions of John Fitch,^^ will useless be, 
 
 For more easily, rapidly and safely will 
 
 Th' air be navigated than the water, when 
 
 Aviation ceases to be experimental; 
 
 When Marconi's wireless will have driven out 
 
 Th' poles and wires; when Edison, record preserving will 
 
 Have perfected; when a part of th' vigorous North 
 
 Polar race, who think themselves the only race 
 
 On earth to-day, have come to us; and also th' primitive, 
 
 Diminutive Antarctic peoples have been found ;^^ 
 
 When the Japanese come here as to their own. 
 
 Which will not be until the blacks have conquer'd th' 
 
 whites; 
 When th' Samoan and th' Nippon isles begin 
 To rise; then comes so vast a cataclasm it will 
 Rend this continent in twain. 
 
 All now west of the Father of Waters will be thrown 
 Off to form a second moon, wherein the great 
 Rockies, which their work have not yet finished, will 
 Be given another chance; for mountains even as 
 Individuals needs must do their work. Then th' wild 
 
240 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Prairies, oldest of all our country/^ will sink peacefully 
 
 To rest. Then all the land east of the Mississippi 
 
 Will that continent join which now is rising, whose 
 
 Submarine volcanoes make that current warm 
 
 In the South Atlantic, which we call th' Gulf Stream 
 
 For lack of knowledge as to planetary life. 
 
 It may be several centuries ere this continental 
 
 Split shall come, but already our old moon 
 
 Has changed its course, as if for th' new to make a place. 
 
 Also Juno is now rapidly nearing th' spheres, 
 
 Though she still obscures a part of Mars, a red 
 
 Hue o'er his more brilliant light is casting. When 
 
 This red spot moves off we'll plainly see the real 
 
 Mars, then planet Juno will disco ver'd be.^* 
 
 Our own planet shall at this time feel a quake 
 
 In every quarter, which will tell us Rhea is 
 
 Usher'd into th' second astral sphere of light. 
 
CANTO XV 
 The Ideal 
 
 Now upon her little end the dear earth rocks, which agitation 
 makes within, and the unrest augments which is 
 
 Apparent among her children. Not 'til Rhea sends her little 
 end to view the Polar Star will that upheaval come 
 
 Which makes the land and seas unite to form one continent 
 where the people of this globe shall all together dwell in 
 amity. 
 
 Ere we reach the ideal state, the nation that 
 Shall for emblem choose the dove, on Rhea's breast 
 Many changes will take place before she safely 
 Lands upon her side, which to her varied motions 
 Equihbrium gives. Less friction felt, the mother 
 Quiet and calm, the children will be peaceable. 
 As nearer to the sun the planet rides, more brightness 
 There will be by day and night and more real light, 
 For of th' intelligence Apollo still is god. 
 Then on every mount, in any clime, shall muses 
 Dwell, and all the children of the earth by them 
 Be fed. No longer here and there a seer; to all 
 Th' then and now and future will be clear; then all 
 Shall prophesy.^ Their instruments of war all piled 
 Upon the grave of Mars, the men of earth no more 
 An arrow or a sword, a cannon ball or musket 
 Use, but grasp each other's hands in friendship; 
 All one nation then, and rul'd by just two laws, 
 
 241 
 
242 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Love of God and love of man; no courts of justice, 
 
 No crimes and no complaints ; each man will love his neighbor 
 
 As himself, and hence delight to honor him; 
 
 Neither surgeons, hospitals nor medicine. 
 
 Every child then born without disease will grow 
 
 Strong, by love and wisdom foster'd; no old age. 
 
 No decreptitude, for where there is no strife, 
 
 Emulation, ill will, greed or bitterness. 
 
 Poverty, anxiety or hardship to sap 
 
 The strength, there will be much to foster it. When all 
 
 Rhea's children sail the seas or navigate 
 
 Th' air for recreation, their commodities 
 
 Exchanging with no thought of precedence or loss; 
 
 When each quarter of the globe shall vie with every 
 
 Other its best gifts as to an honor'd guest 
 
 Bringing; when all shall be captains in the army 
 
 Of the Prince of Light, all marshall'd under one 
 
 Flag, saluting all one standard; then indeed 
 
 Peace shall reign. The song the angels sang on Judah's 
 
 Plain so long ago was meant for all mankind; ^ 
 
 Stronger with the years its echo grows; in every 
 
 Land it is repeated as a good wish once 
 
 A year. The echo shall not die; it must come clearer; 
 
 Come not only Christmas day, but every day, 
 
 Until it takes such hold on man that with the angels 
 
 He shall sing. On earth be Peace. 
 
 Then the day will dawn which is to last a thousand 
 
 Years ;^ The Son of Man be seen by all whose eyes 
 
 Clear are made by faith, a glorious vision in 
 
 Th' clouds; a power descending, helping tardy climbers; 
 
The Ideal 243 
 
 A glory coming, quickening hearts of men and thrilling 
 
 Them with altruistic love. The dead indeed 
 
 Shall to life be warm'd by nearness of the sun, 
 
 By the vision glorious electrified. 
 
 Now the Son of Righteousness is born in every 
 
 Behever's heart; their ways by Him are guided; yea. 
 
 He shall rule all hearts; His law shall reign a thousand 
 
 Years. In that day every man shall Christ's brother 
 
 Be, each woman be His mother. Said He not, 
 
 They that know the will of God and do it, these 
 
 Are My mother and My brethren?^ When the people 
 
 Know the will of God Most High, and do it, then 
 
 And not till then, will be born the Child of Freedom. 
 
 For the nations must work together, together 
 
 Labor and each other love before they can 
 
 E'en conceive their child. Then all must have the same 
 
 Ideal ere they can produce an ideal child.* 
 
 Not to-day the history of the human race 
 
 May be known. In time the fragments we shall piece 
 
 Together. Much will still be buried when we have pass'd 
 
 Away. We can but know in part, but see in part 
 
 Th' history of our own dear Mother Earth, while between 
 
 Man and man such difference lies. The vast hordes must 
 
 Come within the temple gates. 
 
 That the multitude may after truth become 
 
 Seekers, teachers must arise! One man five thousand 
 
 Fed, to bread stones turning.^ Still the multitude 
 
 Must be fed by one man or one woman; for 
 
 Babes are yet the mass of men, and into infant 
 
 Minds we must not put too many truths or thoughts 
 
244 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Too strong for them to grasp. An esoteric circle 
 Needs yet be, to husband that which would be wasted, 
 Broadcast sown. In parables did Jesus speak 
 Fearing the multitude would understand. The higher 
 Wisdom twelve were taught;^ but only three were on 
 The Mount where He with Moses and Elias talked. 
 O! blest Peter, James and John! 
 Golden truth by infant races learn'd often 
 Lies for centuries hidden; Mother Earth herself 
 Buries some and keeps it screened. Till the children 
 All are ready for a share the harvest will 
 Not be; as queen Rhea for her offspring jealous 
 Is, and most desirous that one day they all 
 Shall be poets, priests and seers. 
 
 Though less than those now deem'd the prophets of the world. 
 He, whose life was threatened from his birth, 
 Who liv'd despite the verdict of the king 
 That all male babes of Hebrew mothers die, 
 Was by Seti's daughter spied when bathing 
 By th' sacred stream of Nile, in ark of rushes; 
 Home to th' palace she brought the child, and begged 
 To keep the babe whose tears her pity stirred. 
 She nam'd him Moses, from the water drawn, 
 His sister watch'd, his mother nurs'd th' boy. 
 He, rear'd in palace as the princess' son, 
 By Egypt's seers was taught the mystic lore; 
 So will'd th' Lord, that he might be prepared 
 When time was ripe to lead his people forth 
 To serve their Lord and God. From bondage freed, 
 Across the sea made dry by Aaron's rod 
 
The Ideal 245 
 
 Directed e'er by fire from Sinai's mount, 
 
 Th' chosen children safely trod their way 
 
 Where desert sand nor food nor water yields. 
 
 Hence all their wants must needs be met by him 
 
 Whom God had call'd, to lead them on and teach 
 
 Their stubborn, untamed wills dependence firm 
 
 On justice, mercy, beauty, right and truth. 
 
 On Abram's, Jacob's, Isaac's Lord and God. 
 
 For fourscore years Jehovah train'd the hand 
 
 And mind of him who held the rod of power, 
 
 That through this mighty leader Israel's host 
 
 Should standard-bearers be for all the world. 
 
 Grown strong through suffering much, and waiting long, 
 
 They conquer'd far and near with God's own might. 
 
 Nor e'er forgot to onward bear their ark. 
 
 Their covenant with light and righteousness. 
 
 But Moses oft was sorely tried by much 
 
 Of superstition brought from Pharaoh's land. 
 
 Far harder was the task to free their minds. 
 
 And bring their souls to knowledge of the light, 
 
 Than e'en to break the will of Egypt's king. 
 
 And make free men of those so long born serfs. 
 
 Often would he sit from morn 'til eve 
 
 Hearing plaints, and judging right from wrong. 
 
 Teaching those unlettered men the statutes 
 
 Of the Lord, a law that all must learn. 
 
 Zipporah's father gave him sage advice; 
 
 Th' aged priest saw Moses' strength would fail 
 
 If he decided all disputes; so heeding 
 
 Jethro's voice, that able men be placed 
 
246 The Child of the Nations 
 
 O'er tens, o'er fifties, hundreds and o'er thousands, 
 To judge in matters small at every season, 
 While he their leader bring the cases hard 
 To God, thus Moses Jethro's council taking 
 Gained time and strength to study nature's 
 Laws. To Sinai's temple of the moon 
 He oft repair'd to hear the voice of God's 
 Own angel, who was guiding him and helping 
 Him to find that inner shrine where God 
 Instructs each child who makes his tabernacle 
 Like that pattern seen upon the mount. 
 Moses saw and heard beyond what men 
 Oft see, and strove to teach his people laws: 
 Of health, that make the body strong and pure; 
 Of justice, that make keener, firmer minds; 
 Of beauty, that enlarge the soul forever; 
 And taught them reverence for law, and knowledge 
 Of God their Father, Ruler, Maker, Friend. 
 He dreamed not of the one predicted by Isaiah, 
 Giant prophet! Boldest bard of Hebrew 
 Race; who upward soar'd past ether blue. 
 And found the Hght which was and is and is 
 To be; who felt the pulse of God that throbs 
 In every sun and star, yet loudest beats 
 Within the heart of man; who knew the worlds, 
 That circle true and those that wander far; 
 Whose soul responded e'er to waves of light 
 That few can feel; who saw so much of hidden 
 Truth, and felt sincerely man's mistakes; 
 Who strove to show the better way; who spoke 
 
The Ideal 247 
 
 Out bravely, chiding all idolaters, 
 Pointing plainly where the darkness lay. 
 Telling that 'tis sin which hides the face 
 Of God from man. Isaiah, blest with vision, 
 Much thou urgest th' Israehte to rise 
 And shine; to see the value true of trees 
 And stones but worship only God, who giveth 
 Health, who bringeth all to noonday Ught 
 That follow truth, that feed the hungry, or 
 Cheer his heavy-laden children sore 
 AflElicted, through their sins gone far astray. 
 Thou seer of seers who saw the Holy One 
 Before his day, in vision clear thou sawest 
 Him who came with garments stain'd from Edom; 
 Thou knewest Him the One who came to save. 
 And strove to make Him known to sinful man. 
 Thy pen did paint a portrait fair and true; 
 His gentle spirit shines in all thou sayest 
 Of Him, the Bright and Morning Star, the Sun 
 Of Righteousness who came with healing wings, 
 On whom the spirit of our Father rests. 
 No veil restrain'd thy sight, no fear of ill 
 Befalling thee e'er kept the truth from hght. 
 Revealing what was told to thee to future 
 Races, thou hast ever comfort brought, 
 Hast given joy and peace to many weary 
 Hearts, reheving sadness, killing doubt. 
 Bringing faith, refreshment, hope to life — 
 A link in that great chain which binds us all to God. 
 One there was among the seers of old 
 
248 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Who sleeping or awake great visions had. 
 A man mysterious he saw in fairest 
 Linen clothed, with either hand upstretch'd. 
 He saw his angel guide, and felt his touch, 
 While on the ground with face cast down he lay. 
 Th' magic touch reviving him, he heard 
 Th' angel speak, and record bear of that 
 To come, e'en though not understood by him. 
 Daniel wrote what Gabriel said, and left 
 A page whereon the wise may read a wholesome 
 Lesson, when by faith their sight is cleared. 
 Many dreams for mighty kings he erst 
 Foretold, presaging troublous times; yet fear 
 Ne'er still'd his voice declaring truth. In writing 
 On the wall he plainly read dire portents. 
 When wicked men would him destroy, in firm 
 Reliance plac'd on God he pray'd, nor swerved 
 From faith, though lions' den awaited him. 
 When his deliverance Darius saw, 
 Th' king rejoicing worshipp'd Israel's God, 
 Th' Almighty, who to other lands also sent seers. 
 0! thou great prophet! contemplative mind, 
 Siddartha, noble born, with princely mien 
 And mood, the Buddha called, rightly named, 
 For knowledge came as easily as came the breath! 
 Freed from superstition, truthful, pure, 
 Hurting nothing, firm in self-control. 
 Watchful ever, with highest thought aspiring, 
 Often lost in wonder, pondering nature's 
 Laws, thou sought'st and found'st that realm within, 
 
The Ideal 249 
 
 Whence a channel upward leads to light. 
 
 In meditation lost, as placid lake 
 
 Set deep amid green hills reflects the sun 
 
 By noon, the moon and stars by night, and gives 
 
 Th' color back of every cloud at dawn, 
 
 Or eve, so sees this soul the varied light. 
 
 How came this lake so still, so mirror Hke 
 
 Whose waters cool much slime and ooze conceal? 
 
 Once with fearful storm and stress the rocks 
 
 Flew forth, now hidden where tall cypress grow 
 
 'Mid moss and hchen rare. The fire long quenched 
 
 Had burned for ages, ere the rocks and lava 
 
 Rich were driven forth from crater vast, 
 
 To form this fair protective outer wall, 
 
 Of green, which keeps the lake in shade secluded. 
 
 So the Buddha after suff'ring long. 
 
 Much resigned, emptied much from head 
 
 And heart that barr'd th' way to radiant hfe! 
 
 Then built a shell around his soul for shelter; 
 
 Lived within his temple, where the fires 
 
 Burnt low with richest glow, both warm'd his heart 
 
 And lent a brilliant light unto his eyes 
 
 Which told that all within was glorified. 
 
 Th' king upon his throne did rule his realm, 
 
 And knew the way to God's vast kingdom; 
 
 Knew while earthly shroud encas'd his soul 
 
 The joy of union with the Three in One; 
 
 Lov'd that pasture green where rich refreshment 
 
 Never fails; understood the going 
 
 "In and out" which is the true Nirvana.^ 
 
250 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Though call'd by other name this path was known to thee, 
 O great Hellenic bard, thou child of rosy- 
 Dawn, who taught'st the sisters nine to sing; 
 Who gave'st to Greece her gods; who told'st of men 
 A race heroic past belief, made strong 
 By prayer, brave by faith in gods who hear 
 And help all those who humbly ask their aid! 
 O Homer, greatest poet earth has known! 
 Come once again, and sing or whisper low 
 
 • Th' secret, hidden long from muse and man. 
 Of power to see beyond the veil, to presage 
 Good or ill to come, to hide in loftiest 
 Verse rare gems of thought, which come to light 
 When sought by earnest man, yet lie concealed 
 'Til time is ripe for truths so bright to burn. 
 Great Ionian prophet, thou with satire 
 Sure, disclos'dst wherein the weakness lay 
 Of polytheistic creeds; thou sawest in all 
 Above, below, the threefold life; didst teach 
 Not only trinity of heaven, but earth, 
 That man within him holds a light divine. 
 By which he knows he is the son of God, 
 
 Which tells him there's a Highest Good : as taught by one 
 Of Kalandri, sweet village of the Attic 
 Plain, whose name remains as birthplace of 
 One good and great, who chose an humble walk 
 In life, yet rose a star of magnitude 
 So vast we fail to class him, whom we love 
 And venerate so greatly. Teacher of 
 Truths sublime, thou didst unlock new doors 
 
The Ideal 251 
 
 Of thought to all the sages of thy day, 
 
 And led the youth of Athens partly on 
 
 The road to those high summits, where the laws 
 
 Of love and life unfold as flowers unfold 
 
 In sunlight. When thine eyes, so full of sacred 
 
 Flame, the heavens searched for fuller truth. 
 
 Thou sawest that same pattern on the mount 
 
 Which had of old led wise men on, and still 
 
 Will lead. Thou to Apollo's far-famed shrine 
 
 Didst oft repair, where voice oracular thee 
 
 Declar'd wisest far of mortals deemed 
 
 Great and wise. Thy pupils were the orators. 
 
 Poets and philosophers of Athens, 
 
 Who shone by borrow'd Hght; while thou, their sun, 
 
 Went'st meekly through the streets, so poorly clad 
 
 Thy tatter'd garments oft made sport for youths, 
 
 Who needed rich adornment, having naught 
 
 Within themselves whereby to mark them men. 
 
 Feehng no resentment, these and others 
 
 Thou didst ply with playful questions, then 
 
 Mildly laughing when their answers clearly 
 
 Showed grave ignorance, with patient pains 
 
 Thou would'st explain, with further questioning draw 
 
 Out whate'er of knowledge each might have, 
 
 Helping one and all, who came to thee. 
 
 To learn that knowledge oft is recollection. 
 
 Led by voice of woman, gone before. 
 
 Once of Manteneia, Diotima 
 
 Call'd, her faintest whisper in thine ear 
 
 Was more to thee than all the clamor of 
 
252 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Th' crowd — yea, more than minstrel song or solemn 
 Chant of choir. Poetic dialogue 
 Nor disputations philosophic held 
 Such charm as e'er to cause thee to neglect 
 Th' admonitions of thy daemon, sweet 
 Spirit guide, thy other half perchance, 
 At least the strongest force in all thy life 
 This voice, which guided and sustained thee 
 'Mid distraction dire and much perplexity. 
 Ever thou a seeker after truth. 
 Ever helper, counsellor and friend 
 To those in need of consolation or 
 Of light! Thou gavest freely of thy best; 
 Far greater was thy gift than silver, gold 
 Or costly jewels, for of these we oft 
 Are robbed, while at death they surely go; 
 But wisdom flowing from thy tongue homes 
 Found in many weary hearts, and still 
 Flows on through poets' pictured scene and Plato's 
 Page, where those who will may find great pearls 
 Still wet with tears that thousands, yea ten thousands, 
 Wept at thy sublime heroic end! 
 For more have needful lessons learn'd o'er thy 
 Last cold slumber couch, than from thy most 
 Burning words! In life a seeker after 
 Truth; in death a truth revealer thou! 
 Thy thought in ether halls fell earthward on a seer 
 Who many days and nights entranced lay, 
 His spirit bath'd in that same vivid light 
 Which blinded Saul. His ears attuned caught 
 
The Ideal 253 
 
 Faintest strains of perfect harmonies. 
 
 The angel choirs were very near to him, 
 
 They fed his rapturous soul with heav'nly meat 
 
 Sustaining him in manner marvellous 
 
 To simple folk, who fain would wake their seer 
 
 From dreams celestial, earthly fare to give 
 
 Him, not knowing that imperishable 
 
 Meat and drink which oft sustain'd th' gentle 
 
 Nazarene, and which He bade us seek. 
 
 But Swedenborg had learn 'd to "enter in"; 
 
 He knew the way to pastures green where living 
 
 Waters flow; he sought and found the way 
 
 To portals fair where truth is kept for those 
 
 Who would be free. The door is open wide. 
 
 The veil is very thin that parts the worlds 
 
 Called Here and Over There. The light 
 
 We fail to see so blinded by our tears. 
 
 And downward look where clay is lain in grave. 
 
 Thus losing chance to peer beyond the mortal 
 
 Bar; where only those with vision cleared 
 
 May see in happy days the face and form 
 
 Though familiar, glorified, may touch 
 
 Th' vanish'd hand; with breath controll'd and passion 
 
 Held in check, may spirit voices hear 
 
 And learn, when time is ripe, great lessons taught 
 
 By seers in other worlds, to help make better 
 
 This. For God sends forth His ministers 
 
 As flames of fire,^ to warm the hearts and hght 
 
 Th' minds of men, when they, with patient toil 
 
 And anguish oft, have hewn the trees, have hoed 
 
2 54 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Th' tares that clog the path to sunlit heights. 
 Th' rain descends, but only harrow'd ground 
 Can hold a heavy shower; where hard the earth 
 Th' water runs away, the sun but harder 
 Makes the ground. Thus 'tis with man, so taught 
 Th' seer of Sweden nam'd Emanuel. 
 
 And though these latter days the mystic rarer grows, 
 To British isles, where queens oft rul'd, there came 
 In good Victoria's day a poet-prophet. 
 Vers'd in classic lore, in modern thought 
 And mediaeval mysticism, with Christian 
 Grace endued and understanding of 
 Th' Word wherewith God light'neth feeble man. 
 He saw the temple of the living God 
 Wide as walls of world, its priests all men 
 And women who together work for good. 
 He chose a woman for his fireside mate. 
 Whose genius was so rare, both brain and heart 
 Upon her tender breast might rest secure, 
 For she his soul had seen in verse ere she 
 Beheld his face, nor failed to fan the fire 
 Of thought in him she loved; while he, imlike 
 Those artist souls who turn one face to wives 
 And still a fairer keep for other love, 
 Was sent to show the world howe'er so great 
 Th' genius is; he needs but one to share 
 His life. So Robert Browning fram'd for his 
 Ideal of womanhood a double halo. 
 
 As one in Germany years before had striven to do. 
 Luther, fearless soul, who delv'd for truth 
 
The Ideal 255 
 
 Harder than his father dug for ore, 
 Found at length the Hght that comes to every 
 Earnest seeker; saw the truth that freedom 
 Yields; then with Herculean strength and Pauline 
 Courage to Germany gave his burning message; 
 Th' hearts of princes and dull peasants stirring, 
 As the lightning which had killed his friend 
 In youth, first prick'd th' conscience of th' man. 
 Made him seek monastic life, where python 
 Upon python vex'd his fervent soul 
 Driving him to Hght. At Rome his full 
 Awak'ning — he seeing canker at the core 
 Home return'd, and fain would heal the wounds, 
 Nor the body Catholic dismember. 
 Yet as surgeon skilled life to save 
 Does not hesitate to burn and sever. 
 So this brave physician of the spirit 
 Cut the habit cord and burn'd th' papal 
 Bull; nor deem'd there was such rottenness 
 Beneath the cloak of seeming saintliness. 
 Openly now he work'd and plainly spoke; 
 Naught abash'd to pope or king or scholar 
 Wrote, as knowing whence his high commission 
 Came: to make the common people reahze 
 Gospel word, that all their doubts and burdens 
 They should bring to Him their heav'nly King. 
 Luther fram'd a Hturgy in German 
 Tongue, thereby enriching language and 
 Helping to democratize salvation: 
 Hell was very real to him: God's 
 
256 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Mercy larger! Faith the one redeeming 
 Factor. Luther lov'd to preach in language 
 Plain, that unlearn'd men might know their Saviour, 
 Ever urging peace and good will, praying 
 Princes not to slaughter, begging peasants 
 Patiently bear burdens 'til a better 
 Day should dawn, when all obey the Master 
 Who to Peter said, Put up thy sword; 
 Which precept now is urged by modern prophet's voice. 
 As Habakkuk of old to Israel's God 
 Did cry, lamenting violence in the land. 
 Predicting woe to those who builded towns 
 With blood, whose people labor in the fire 
 To 'stablish by iniquity their kings. 
 So Tolstoy, standing now on watch, does write 
 Of crimes in Christian lands. In trenchant words 
 He pleads with men to lay down arms, and live 
 In peace, believing non-resistance is 
 The way the Master taught; whose words undying 
 Life and spirit are;^" who said no jot 
 Of law should pass until it be fulfill'd. 
 One step past .Luther, Tolstoy stands; yet he 
 Resists th' laws his country makes, and teaches 
 Evil comes of patriotism, not seeing 
 Fearful consequences following doctrines 
 That unbind the ties of tribal love. 
 Again the mountains tremble, while the sea 
 On high lifts up her hand; yet powerless is 
 Man's prophetic voice to still the waves. 
 While ignorance and doubt obscure the light. 
 
The Ideal 257 
 
 Some still say it thunders when an angel speaks! 
 Of dispensation new art thou the fullest 
 Teacher, who the light saw, heard the voice 
 Of one, the greatest of the sons of men, 
 When He had risen from earth-life to spheres 
 Where souls, whose work is done, are bathed in light 
 Celestial. From on high thou heardest His 
 Dear voice. O! blest the ears that hear, the eyes 
 That see; but far more blessed those that give; 
 And thou, O Paul, hast freely given thy 
 Vision rare to all who read the sacred 
 Page; hast record borne of all thou heard'st. 
 Thou a Jew, well vers'd in Moses' law, 
 A Roman, free-born, learn'd in classic lore, 
 A vessel fit for highest use, with ardor 
 And with vim thou sought'st to root out wrong. 
 Believing superstitious error wrapt 
 In teaching of the Nazarene, thou worked'st 
 With all thy might to persecute the men 
 Who preach'd His word, disciples of the Lord, 
 Until the light which blinded thee thy spirit 
 Flooded; while the voice so fill'd thy soul 
 That truth was seen, and henceforth thou becamest 
 A follower of the Lamb. Apostle great, 
 Who preach'd th' Christ, who hfted veil on veil 
 That hid the ark from man, vast debt we owe 
 To thee, great Saul of Tarsus, that thou feared'st 
 Not to break the warp and woof of old-time 
 Prejudice, and plainly set the lamp 
 Of life before all nations. The light of Him 
 
258 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Who walks in midst of golden candlestick ^^ 
 No longer is for Jew alone, nor Greek, 
 Nor Roman, but for all the world. Blest John 
 So said. But thou removest veils of fear, 
 Telling us of soul and spirit bodies 
 That live beyond the grave, when man has put 
 On immortality; conquering thus the sting. 
 Thou makest us see that death is e'en a victory! 
 Though souls like stars in brightness differ ever, 
 From glory unto glory shall we go. 
 Until the vision all behold as did St. John, 
 Belov'd disciple of the meek and lowly 
 One. He saw the dove descending, heard 
 Th' voice, and knew the Word had come to dwell 
 On earth in fleshly habit veiled; come 
 To bring the light in fuller force, to fallen 
 Man. Great truths didst thou behold, blest John, 
 Well call'd Divine; for thou didst see in every 
 Son the potencies of God, though clad 
 In clay so long. That we should be as gods 
 Thou dared'st proclaim! Dear prophet thou of hidden 
 Truths, so deep God's children scarcely yet 
 Believe that all are incarnations bright 
 Of one great Light. Some feebly shine, 'tis true, 
 Some still are sunk so deep in mire no pure 
 Bright ether fans the spark divine to flame. 
 But thou the Word Incarnate saw; then knew 
 Each child of God must hold within some part 
 Of perfect substance, knit with cords unseen 
 Except by Love, our Father, whose breath we are; 
 
The Ideal 259 
 
 Who sent the Pattern Man, our Elder Brother; 
 Receiving whom, we all like Him shall be, 
 When we have left our mortal shrouds for robes of light. 
 O! Thou Eternal Word of God, Most Holy 
 One! Before all worlds thou wast, and knew 
 The reason man had stray'd so far from heaven 
 And chosest to come in human form, to lead 
 Thy wayward brothers home again. Not past 
 Belief this act of thine, in lowly sphere 
 To dwell on earth awhile, to teach mankind 
 How best to conquer sin, and climb to better 
 Worlds. Thy coming was predicted many 
 Times ! Thy birth and life and death foretold 
 By prophets manifold, who knew the need 
 Of fuller light for races held in darkness long. 
 By faith they saw thy star arising. 
 Before it shed its Hght o'er Bethlehem. 
 When thou in human form wast born of Mary 
 Angels sang rejoicing, heralding 
 The long-expected King to farthest Sun 
 And star. Thou cam'st fulfilling, not destroying. 
 Law; who knewst the order, strength and force 
 Of God's most holy laws; who addedst grace, 
 Mercy, truth and love to all the seers 
 Had taught in bygone days; who livedst a Hfe 
 Of temperance, of meekness, full of faith 
 And goodness manifest; the gentlest man 
 In action, judgment, speech, long-sufi'ring thou, 
 With fruits of spirit filled. Thou didst feed 
 The hungry, heal the halt and lame and blind, 
 
26o The Child of the Nations 
 
 Anointing those with oil made ready for 
 
 Thy word; that they might hand the precious balm 
 
 To other souls, when time had mould'd them. 
 
 Thy wisdom flow'd in streams so full and pure 
 
 That all may drink, and strength imbibe, from that 
 
 Great fountain, which to those who freely take 
 
 Gives life and light and immortality. Jesus, 
 
 Perfect Man- God, thou to show the way 
 
 Didst come. And shall thy coming be in vain 
 
 Because old Adam lures his seed the same 
 
 To-day as in times past, to taste the fruit 
 
 Forbidden? Then in death's firm clutches held, 
 
 His children cry aloud for help, yet fail 
 
 To walk the way that thou hast shown, a path 
 
 All pav'd with sacrifice and suff'ring. This 
 
 Thou didst tread; thy tender feet were pierced; 
 
 Thy fair white hands did bleed; from out thy side 
 
 Flowed forth the precious blood, and thorns 
 
 Thy brow adorn'd — all this, and more, to show 
 
 To erring man the way thou suffered'st. 
 
 To learn vast truths God's children struggle on; 
 
 Yet, fighting on earth's pleasure ground, they fail 
 
 And fall, to rise and fight again. So bruis'd. 
 
 So blind, they seldom see the narrow gate^^ 
 
 That leads to heights and vantage ground, which gain'd, 
 
 Thy promised light beheld, they travel swiftly 
 
 Towards the truth, and know the way eternal 
 
 Life is given. Though steep the path, and hard 
 
 To climb, yet light grows brighter step by step, 
 
 While here and there a thorn from out thy crown 
 
The Ideal 261 
 
 Still tells thy faithful followers thou hast gone 
 Before! So precious truth, so blessed life, 
 Why hesitate when shown the only way. 
 All hail ! Thou greatest prophet of God's grace, 
 So full of truth and life thou wast and art. 
 Our priest and king, blest Saviour of mankind, 
 Who the perfect fruit of chosen people art. 
 Not without deep meaning was one couple placed 
 'Midst scenes peculiarly adapted to their needs, 
 That through them God might make a special race. 
 Th' people from this pair descended, who in Eden 
 Found their covering coats of skin prepar'd by God, 
 Th' poet said, were called chosen naturally 
 Enough; for over and over again we see some part 
 Of this rare race miraculously saved, then 
 Separated and educated for particular 
 Careers, consciously or unconsciously directed 
 By God's minist'ring spirits,^* led in all their ways — 
 Though the leading sometimes is mysterious. 
 Often strange, the goal is something much desired. 
 Individuals singled out the bidding of 
 Th' Lord to do are always men of faith. Had Abram 
 E'en a little deviated from directions 
 Given him when told to sacrifice his son. 
 He would not have found the magic rod for centuries 
 Hidden in Moriah's land, whose power, like 
 That of many another mystic force, increased 
 By wisely exercising it. 
 
 After Daniel's time, for full five hundred years, 
 No one arose who understood its use. Awaiting 
 
262 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Then the day of Aaron's reappearing, 'twas 
 
 In the temple at Jerusalem preserved/^ 
 
 There by Joseph found and with him buried. The chosen 
 
 People guided by their Lord, through leaders who 
 
 The rod did wield, their mission had fulfill'd on earth. 
 
 Separated from the races barbarous. 
 
 In the fullness of time this people produced a woman 
 
 Fit to be the mother of th' Messiah; so 
 
 Israel's Child was born on earth. 
 
 After many settings here and elsewhere, on 
 
 Rhea's breast, the Sun of Righteousness arose! 
 
 A second Adam, prophet, priest and king. He came, 
 
 Not as Adam did to Eden, but in lonely 
 
 Cave; was of a Virgin born, a woman pure 
 
 Enough a hero to produce. By His desire 
 
 An obscure life He led; but was in all things tempted 
 
 Like as we are; willingly did suffer death, 
 
 That the prophecies concerning him fulfill'd 
 
 Might be. He descended into hell and the third, 
 
 Day He rose again, first fruits of them that sleep. 
 
 Having given to earth this Pattern Man, the mission 
 
 Of the chosen people is fulfilled. Scattered 
 
 Hither and thither among the less progressive peoples 
 
 Of the earth, the remnant of this race, the seed 
 
 Plant of Righteousness. Their tree its fruit has borne. 
 
 Nations that an ideal have must lend a helping 
 
 Hand to weaker and less favor'd sister nations. 
 
 As our blest country ministers now to feebler powers. 
 
 For America has conceiv'd a child, a goddess. 
 
 Liberty named. She has not yet been born, nor can 
 
The Ideal 263 
 
 Be 'til liberty realized is. She is the greatest 
 
 Child that any nation will produce; greater 
 
 Than Athene born from Zeus' head; yes, greater 
 
 Than Saint George who kill'd th' dragon; greater than 
 
 Saint Patrick or the mighty Thor, yet she is not 
 
 Great enough. The Child of th' Nations must combine 
 
 Knowledge, wisdom, loyalty, beauty, all the best 
 
 Thoughts conceiv'd by each alone; the union of 
 
 Strength in peace, the sum of virtues when they love. 
 
 Th' Child that shall be born on Rhea's breast, when good 
 
 will 
 Reigns on earth, is Freedom. Only one is greater 
 Than this God of Freedom, which will be the Cosmic 
 Child, and not on Rhea born; while dream'd of on 
 Every sphere, and longed for by many, it can 
 Only realized be when souls from dross are all 
 Freed and married as Eros and Psyche were in heaven. 
 Planets likewise mates are seeking, craving union, 
 So through many changes go and disciplines 
 Stern, not always singing as they shine, but sometimes 
 Wailing, sometimes crying loud with agony keen. 
 Going through experiences that at last will quite 
 Wear out their frames. A very short-lived sphere is Rhea. 
 After the thousand years of peace mankind forever 
 Will this planet leave. Her work for others done, 
 Low will burn her fires and gradually die. 
 Then her mountains, hills and plains, will all sink down 
 Towards her great heart. The seas will once again 
 Cover all the land. When every spark of fire 
 Has been extinguish'd, and the earth has fold'd her arms 
 
264 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Closely, th' waters will come up and cover her 
 
 Worn-out body, like a winding-sheet for burial. 
 
 As the individual's body, when the fire 
 
 Is gone, returns to earth, the ashes to ashes and 
 
 Th' dust to dust; the planets each in turn, when their 
 
 Fire, which is their life, dies out, return to the sun. 
 
 Earth to earth and water to water. 
 
 Only a few more thousand years, and Rhea called 
 
 Home will be, her work at end. We, who perchance 
 
 Have many times enjoyed life here, will not mourn 
 
 For her, while from a higher planet or the spheres 
 
 We watch her flight through interstellar space, and see 
 
 Her drop into the sun. Her day is done; her night 
 
 Now Cometh. She will be one to hear the words "Well 
 
 done" 
 In the glad morn; for so many wayward, prodigal, 
 Sons of God our Father have liv'd and loved, pillow'd 
 On her bosom, and produc'd through her the great 
 Child, the God of Freedom; Child of all the Nations 
 Of the earth, which to the greatest child of all, 
 Love, the Cosmic Child, is kin. 
 After birth of freedom love is then first seen. 
 Not on any planet, nor on any sun, 
 Not until the days of earth are done, can this 
 Child of Love be born. When all have reach'd th' last 
 Terrestrial sphere, where spirits answer each to each, 
 There uniting go into the purging fire, 
 Th' second death, which hurts none who has overcome^^ — 
 Only now of love the meaning can the soul 
 Comprehend. From that great tree of life, whose leaves 
 
The Ideal 265 
 
 Healing give to nations, the fruit they pluck, which when 
 
 Partaken of makes one those whom before all worlds 
 
 God has destin'd each for each. These souls united 
 
 Know the sum of those experiences each 
 
 Upon the way has gain'd. They give to one another 
 
 All the best, desiring each to see the other 
 
 First, to feel the other blest. At last the soul 
 
 Sees its other self, and that so often longed 
 
 For is realized, which cannot be possessed 
 
 Until the soul is whole. United now they rise 
 
 To spheres celestial, and know that God is good. 
 
 Love of father, mother, brother, friend or child. 
 
 Love of earth-mates here or mates in other spheres — 
 
 All are rounds upon the ladder stretched from 
 
 Earth to heaven, aids in climbing steep ascents, 
 
 Help for those who grasp the rounds together; whether 
 
 Joy or sorrow be their portion, love is still 
 
 Stamping its indelible mark upon their hearts, 
 
 Slowly moulding souls; for love is part of God. 
 
 As a single ray of light, that through the casement 
 
 Blinds comes peeping, on which the motes of dust are dancing, 
 
 Is the same as that which beams upon the clearest 
 
 Lake : so love is one, though just a slender thread 
 
 Often mix'd with clay, and never fully felt, 
 
 'Til the ladders all are left behind, the mountains 
 
 Gained whose rocky sides by pilgrims best are climbed 
 
 Who unburden'd walk with naught of earth attire. 
 
 Just before the topmost peaks are reach'd, the last 
 
 Great giant rocks are scaled, refreshment meets th' aspiring 
 
 Soul; for through the gap is seen a dazzling vision. 
 
266 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Space is naught in these celestial spheres; no distance 
 Baffles sight. Though separated by a vast 
 Sea of glist'ning light so white it almost blinds 
 One unus'd to actual light, when spiritual 
 Sight is ours we may behold across this shining 
 Sea (which none can pass before the second death) 
 The city of our Father and our God, outlined 
 In light, but little builded. Amaz'd we ask the reason 
 Why, and read the answer in our guide's kind eyes. 
 For souls redeem 'd is that fair land, for God's dear children 
 An everlasting habitation when their wand'rings 
 All are over. To it each child must bring a stone, 
 A metal, fruit and flower, gather'd on the way. 
 Some, not all, bring trees and lights and jewels bright. 
 Many children still are loit'ring in the valleys; 
 Only a few have cross'd th' shimm'ring sea, and fewer 
 Have gone home to stay. Th' faithful ones of that 
 Chosen race now light the golden candlestick. 
 Which in centre of the four-square city stands, 
 Fashion'd like the one upon the mount, which Moses 
 Saw, and pattern'd for the ark. Twelve others, in 
 Shape and size alike though each of different metal, 
 Will light the city's stately gates, when you and I 
 Shall, with others yet unborn, our places take 
 On flowers that now for fruits are waiting that we are work- 
 ing 
 To produce. The base that holds the branches up 
 Is three steps high; each centre is a lamp with seven 
 Flames; beside the lamp two trees do grow,^® for golden 
 Candlestick the olive, cypress for the copper. 
 
The Ideal 267 
 
 By various metals other trees attracted are, 
 
 Whose topmost leaves the lamps o'erlap; they speak of 
 
 those 
 Anointed ones, on whom the holy oil descends 
 And burns them into one. The lamps on either side 
 Are deck'd with branches three, each crown'd with seven- 
 
 petal'd 
 Flowers which have for centre candles three by myriad 
 Color'd lights surround'd. Some are stars, some meteors. 
 Comets, diamonds, squares and leaves or bars of varied 
 Brilliance; worn on forehead of each one who a crown 
 Has gain'd, won on battlefields of earth where dragons 
 Dwell, and carried it to dizzy heights. Each flower 
 By thousands of such Hghts illumined is, while two 
 Flowers o'er each pearly gate their lights do shed. 
 Copper and aluminum, with Aryan or Teutons 
 Fill'd, join hands. The silver for Caucasian with 
 Teuton intertwines. In groups of three the corners 
 Of the four-square town are build'd. Pelasgic lead, 
 Saracen of steel and Cyclopean iron, 
 Races past and gone; Turanian creto. Etrurian 
 Sterile, Gallic radium undevelop'd here; 
 Slavic bronze, Mongolian brass, Malaysian zozo, 
 Metals much resembling one another. These 
 Races twelve on their respective candlesticks 
 Keep the gates of New Jerusalem; while Semitic, 
 Separated from the other peoples of 
 Th' earth, their golden candlestick upon the golden 
 Street with crystal river flowing underneath, 
 Have Orion, noble fighter, with belt and sword 
 
268 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Undimmed — though among zodiacal signs no longer 
 
 He holds his true position first upon the Spiral 
 
 Stairs; for from the centre candlestick two spiral 
 
 Flights of iridescent mica steps to nine 
 
 Branched mica candlestick ascend, where three 
 
 Laurel trees about its nine-flam'd lamp do stand. 
 
 The lyre its constellation is, with Vega bright. 
 
 From its centre glist'ning epho stairs go upwards 
 
 In three spiral flights to epho candlestick, 
 
 Like in pattern to the mica, and with flowers 
 
 Petall'd nine, and trees of Greek pink myrtle, with 
 
 Ursa Minor and the Polar Star, great Saa! 
 
 Epho and mica lighter, brighter are than gold. 
 
 Yet far more radiant metals are, whose names on earth 
 
 Will not be known, which form three candlesticks with 
 
 branches 
 Twelve and flowers petall'd twelve. No lamp have these, 
 Constellation none; but vines with pure white flowers 
 Cluster around the Triune throne, where three great flowers 
 Unite: the Dion, Sion, Lion, Source of Light! 
 These no mortal eye may see. 
 Beyond our comprehension nine dimensions, three 
 We know, and dimly apprehend the space between 
 Th' atoms; but the note has not been blown which shall 
 Break the walls that hold us down to seven tones. 
 Slower sound precedes the swifter light; then blow, 
 Bugle, lead us on to sight. 
 
 Wave on wave of shimm'ring light must beat upon 
 Th' shore, the rocks to sand be ground, and welded into 
 Stones again and o'er again in ceaseless round, 
 
The Ideal 269 
 
 Ere the children of our God be gather'd all 
 
 There to see a spectacle sublime, which will 
 
 Only come when planets, moons, and suns have finish'd 
 
 Work; when all the worlds in arms of Saa rest; 
 
 When Fedrus stars their atoms all have burnt of metal, 
 
 Wood and earth. When fire and water reunite. 
 
 Making great electric lights, and not till then, 
 
 Comes the crack of doom! Then having finish'd giving 
 
 Birth to stellar systems, on its little end 
 
 Th' cosmic egg will stand. The larger end, the great 
 
 Dome that forms the canopy of sky, will then 
 
 Break! The shell will roll away, consum'd by real 
 
 White light, which is heat and light and love combined. 
 
 All we call material here, the universe 
 
 Visible to earth eyes, will forever pass. 
 
 We no more shall miss it than the butterfly misses 
 
 Its cocoon, than chestnuts miss their burrs, than bodies 
 
 Miss their worn-out clothes, than spirits miss their shrouds 
 
 Of clay. The visible universe is but the garment 
 
 Of the Most High God, the shell of the cosmic egg; 
 
 Its purpose will have serv'd when all created souls 
 
 To bear white light are strong enough. Its use has been 
 
 God's weak creatures to conceal and shelter, as 
 
 Tiniest shell the smallest protoplasm doth protect 
 
 'Til consum'd to serve upon a higher plane. 
 
 Here below all but reflection is of that 
 
 Above; nothing is manifest without a cause. 
 
 Every wee flame threefold is : The inner red. 
 
 Then yellow light; from red and yellow which combined 
 
 Make the orange, blue proceeds. The first division 
 
270 The Child of the Nations 
 
 Then of light will ever give these three prime colors, 
 
 The source of heav'nly fire a triune force. The centre 
 
 Which sends forth and ever feeds the flame, the great 
 
 Heart, the Core, the Maker of the Chords, is red; 
 
 Yellow, the Light Begetter, Holy One, Eternal 
 
 Logos! World Creator, Son upon the Throne; 
 
 While the Host, the Holy Ghost, proceeding from 
 
 Father and from Son, who with the Father and 
 
 Th' Son together will be glorified, is blue, 
 
 Th' base of light's triangle. These are not three gods 
 
 But One, dependent each upon the other. For 
 
 Th' Most High God cannot be Father 'til the Son 
 
 Comes forth. Unless His creatures live, no true Creator 
 
 Is the Son. The Holy Ghost can ne'er be holy 
 
 Until it is entire. This negative, feminine portion 
 
 Of the Godhead is dispersed now throughout 
 
 The whole creation. By it all things are conceived, 
 
 Spirit of the Living God, which animates 
 
 All of Nature, holds the dust, and forms it into 
 
 Myriad shapes and hues until the dust by light 
 
 Is transformed. Each atom of the flame must glow, 
 
 Cling close each to each, and show its color true. 
 
 When time is ripe, when seed and stem and bud and flower 
 
 Give to fruit the place, this spirit which of God's 
 
 Nostrils is the Breath, is Man! 
 
 Much divided now this spirit is; a few 
 
 Only have forever shed their shells. These are 
 
 Nam'd th' heavenly host. But one has gone to highest 
 
 Place, our Leader, Lucifer, The First Begotten 
 
 Of the Father, Fallen One; who rising with 
 
17 
 
 The Ideal 271 
 
 Healing in his wings became Redeemer and 
 
 Lover of earth-man. The Alpha and Omega - 
 
 Now in centre of the golden candlestick 
 
 Walking, carries in his hand the lamp with seven 
 
 Flames, and bears in his immortal body wounds, 
 
 With whitest hght transfigur'd, which he bore for us. 
 
 Others still are fighting in dark caverns of 
 
 Planetary spheres; they fight and fall and rise, 
 
 Fall again and battle on and on, until 
 
 Light within them overcomes the dark; until 
 
 Th' ember flames and rises, fann'd with breezes which 
 
 From on high will surely come to each aspiring 
 
 Soul. To will the right, to shun the wrong will always 
 
 Conquer. Though the night be long the day will dawn. 
 
 Some there be who sin against the Holy Ghost, 
 
 The god within; through self-will from th' vine they're 
 
 sever 'd; 
 Souls cut off from God are blotted out. Each child 
 Is free to choose; but every one who goes astray, 
 Every one who loiters on the way, retards 
 Th' upward march of all the host. The note of triumph 
 Which the leaders long to hear, cannot be sounded 
 'Til the children all accord. As yet but few 
 There, and fewer Here, the thought of universal 
 Love possess; when born, on all the earth shall reign 
 Peace and good will. When all think love, not till then, 
 By all Humanity can the Child conceived be. 
 All that holds the Three in One is Love, the One 
 In Three, the Child which is to be. 
 
NOTES 
 PROLOGUE 
 
 I. knocked: 
 
 St. Matthew vii. 
 
 2. enter in: 
 
 St. Matthew vii. 13. 
 
 3. has produced: 
 
 Israel. 
 
 4. Semele: 
 
 Semele, daughter of Cadmus, King of Thebes, asking Zeus to 
 appear in all his glory, was killed by lightning. Read Schiller's 
 drama Semele. 
 
 "For Semele once to vengeance given 
 Now waves her flowery locks in heaven." 
 
 — Pindar's First Olympic Ode, II strophe. 
 
 5. Daphne: 
 
 Nothing remains of Daphne's epic of 1 1,000 lines. A hill north 
 of Athens still bears her name. Near by, on the sacred road to 
 Eleusis, is the convent of Daphne, built over an ancient temple 
 to Apollo. 
 
 6. deemed mad: 
 
 "And in proportion prophecy is more perfect and august than 
 augury, both in name and fact; in the same proportion, as the 
 ancients testify, is madness superior to a sane mind, for the one 
 is only human, but the other of divine origin." — Socrates, in 
 the Phaedrus. 244. 
 
 "The third kind is the madness of those who are possessed by 
 the Muses; which taking hold of a delicate and virgin soul, and 
 there inspiring frenzy, awakens lyrical and all other numbers, 
 with these adorning the myriad actions of ancient heroes for 
 the instruction of posterity. But he who has no touch of the 
 Muses' madness in his soul, comes to the door and thinks that he 
 will get into the temple by the help of art — he, I say, and his 
 poetry are not admitted." — Plato's Phaedrus. 245. Jowett's 
 translation. 
 
 273 
 
2 74 Notes 
 
 CANTO I 
 
 1. The Creator: 
 
 Colossians i. 15. 16. 
 
 2. before created worlds: 
 
 Psalms xc. 2. 
 
 3. to be like Him: 
 
 Genesis i. 26. 27. I John iii. 2. 
 
 3. attracted water: 
 
 The mother star of our Sim is the center of the Southern Cross. 
 
 5. not all are suns called: 
 
 The Pleiades are asteroids, Aldebaran is a planet! 
 
 6. electric lights: 
 
 Vega in Lyra is one of these. 
 
 7. oft repeated lives: 
 
 Thought for Help, by William C. Comstock, 1913, page 67: 
 Eleanora. 
 
 "Each of our terrestrial existences is but an episode of our im- 
 mortal life." — Here and Hereafter, page 133, Leon Denis. 
 Translated by George G. Fleurot. Brentano, 1909. 
 
 8. lower lives had lived: 
 
 That is, on other planets. 
 
 9. Noe, whose ramparts were the sea: 
 
 Nahum iii. 8. 
 
 10. before they are unrolled: 
 
 The record of our deeds in all our lives is on a scroll which we 
 sometimes call the subconscious mind. This we may unroll 
 when the way we have learned. 
 
 11. Born in Skien: 
 
 Ibsen. 
 
 12. in spirit belongs to Germany: 
 
 Thorwaldsen, the Danish sculptor. See Canto XII. 
 
Notes 275 
 
 13. their town's late tribute: 
 
 On the sooth anniversary of the birth of Petrarch the citizens 
 of Padova unveiled a statue of the poet. 
 
 14. in Antenor's town: 
 
 Padova was founded by Antenor, a brother of Priam, shortly 
 after the Trojan War. 
 
 In the Chapel of Santa Maria del Arena, Giotto has painted 
 Dante as one of the Saints going to heaven. (This at the time 
 of Dante's exile from Florence.) 
 
 CANTO II 
 
 1. O great negative mother! 
 
 Not Rhea, the earth mother, but that primeval stuff which 
 
 enters into the being of each one of us. 
 
 "And the great Mother, full of divinity, who comes forth 
 
 through life, standing hid in secret, who was born through 
 
 creatures." — From the Upanishads, "In the House of Death." 
 
 Part II. Translated by Charles Johnston. 
 
 The poet of Genesis undoubtedly thought that God was male 
 
 and female. Genesis i. 26. 27. 
 
 2. twin lights: 
 
 Phoebus Apollo and Artemis. 
 
 3. Rhea: 
 
 The name of this planet on which we now live. 
 
 4. Pleistocene: 
 
 Post-tertiary age. "Pre-Indian Inhabitants of North Amer- 
 ica." — N. Horace Winchell. 
 
 5. still upright: 
 
 Genesis iii. 14. 
 
 6. one with wisdom: 
 
 Sap — sapient. 
 
276 Notes 
 
 7. in Greece: 
 
 "Many great and wonderful deeds were recorded of your state 
 in our histories. But one of them exceeds all the rest in great- 
 ness and valour. For these histories tell of a mighty power 
 which unprovoked made an expedition against the whole of 
 Europe and Asia and to which your city put an end." — Plato's 
 Timaeus. 25. 
 
 8. second on our planet: 
 
 Canto I. 120-24; also 155-58. 
 
 "There have been, and will be again, many destructions of 
 mankind arising out of many causes; the greatest have been 
 brought about by the agencies of fire and water and other 
 lesser ones by innumerable other causes ... in the first 
 place, you remember a single deluge only." — Plato's Timaeus. 
 
 23- 
 
 9. e'en serpents came: 
 
 In the Acropolis museum at Athens is a gigantic serpent with 
 three human heads, sculptured from Egyptian porous rock. 
 
 ID. cult was uppermost: 
 
 "The Dawn of Astronomy." Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer. 
 Macmillan, New York, 1894. 
 
 11. three seasons to the year: 
 
 This was so for a long time in Greece. The three Hours pre- 
 sided over the seasons as well as the day. 
 
 12. in his native land: 
 
 Numbers xiii. 23. 24. 
 
 13. Hathor: 
 
 A favorite name for Isis. 
 
 14. many veils: 
 
 Exodus xxvi. zZ-i xxxiv. 33-35. St. Matthew xxvii. 51. 
 
 15. the sign of life: 
 
 Usually of bronze, containing a number of loose hooks. Seen 
 to-day in many museums. A large number in the Thermae of 
 Diocletian at Rome. 
 
Notes 277 
 
 16. sacred serpent: 
 
 The Uraeus. 
 
 17. mighty Menes: 
 
 Lamed, in "Seventy Centuries," calls this king Mena. See 
 National Geographical Magazine, September, 1913, page 1041. 
 
 18. Ptah-hotep: 
 
 "The primitive archet)T)e of all gentlemen." — A Multitude of 
 
 Counsellors. — J. N. Larned, 1901. 
 
 Instruction of Ptah-hotep, translated from the Egyptian by 
 
 Battiscome G. Gunn. — E. P. Button & Co., 1910. 
 
 Records of the Past, new series, London, 1890. 
 
 19. great obelisks: 
 
 One was afterwards sent to London, and one to New York. 
 
 20. its history telHng: 
 
 A careful reading of the Old Testament with knowledge of the 
 KabbaUstic signs in it will give the history of Adam's rod. 
 Introduction to the Kabbalah. Christian D. Ginsburg. 
 London. 
 
 21. to divide the waters: 
 
 Exodus xiv. 21-28. Joshua iii. 16. 
 
 Egyptian Tales of the Magicians from the Westcar papyrus. 
 In Baufra's Tale we read of a man who by magic speech di- 
 \aded the waters of a lake. 
 
 CANTO III 
 
 1. to Hfe on Rhea: 
 
 The Malaysians, Uke aU other autochthonous races, had lives 
 elsewhere before coming here. See Canto I. 85-92. 
 
 2. the earhest: 
 
 Persia, Egypt, and Greece. See Canto I. i45~48- 
 
 3. the Upanishads: 
 
 The dramatic element in the Upanishads. — Monist, April, 1910. 
 
278 Notes 
 
 4. e'en though unrecognized: 
 
 From the Upanishads, translated by Charles Johnston. 
 Mosher, 1897. 
 
 5. Vyasa's bouquet of verses: 
 
 Translator's Epilogue. The Maha-bharata condensed into 
 English verse by Romesh Dutt, C. I. E. Dent, 1898. 
 
 6. peace at last: 
 
 The Bhagavad Gita. Translated by Lionel D. Barnett. 
 Dent, 1905. 
 
 7. migrated into India: 
 
 Canto III. Lines 19-24. 
 
 The Iranians began to settle in the Punjab about 1400 B. C. 
 The Uterature of India, especially the Malaysian drama, was 
 many centuries earHer than the Engish critics of to-day admit. 
 
 8. the cause of suffering: 
 
 Book Eighth, The Light of Asia, Sir Edwin Arnold. 
 
 9. the valor of a queen: 
 
 Chand Bibi, queen of Ahmadnagar, page 137, A Brief History 
 of the Indian Peoples, Sir WiUiam Wilson Hunter, 1897. 
 
 CANTO IV 
 
 1. Gave them light: 
 
 Laotse never claimed to have written the works on Taoism now 
 frequently accredited to him. 
 
 2. cult of Shu: 
 
 Canto II, 90-97. Canto III, 1-9. The Shu-King, translated 
 from the Chinese by James Legge. Sacred Books of the 
 East, Vol. III. 
 
 3. ablest of the Mongol leaders. 
 
 Genghis Khan. 
 
Notes 279 
 
 CANTO V 
 
 1. Firdausi's poetic page: 
 
 The Shah Nameh, translated by James Atkinson, Esq. 
 
 2. robes resembling fish: 
 
 Layard's Nineveh. Colored plate of Temple of Nun. 
 
 3. Assyria: 
 
 Genesis x. 1 1 . 
 
 4. Peleg's day: 
 
 Genesis xi. 16-19. 
 
 5. condemning to virginity : 
 
 Judges xi. 37-39. 
 
 The unsexing of maidens was thought by the Greeks to be 
 pleasing to Artemis. Iphigenia in Aulis, Hecuba, Euripides. 
 Pompeian frescoe, the sacrifice of Iphigenia. 
 
 6. Ephod: 
 
 Exodus xxviii. 4. 30. Judges xvii. 5. I Samuel xxx. 7. Ezra 
 ii. 63. Nehemiah vii. 65. 
 
 7. the mantle which was Aaron's rod: 
 
 II Kings ii. 14, iv. 29. 
 
 WiUiam Blake's picture of EUjah's chariot where the rod is seen 
 
 descending. 
 
 8. Judith: 
 
 Book of Judith, Apocryphal Old Testament. 
 
 9. to God present: 
 
 Book of Tobias, Apocryphal Old Testament. 
 Protevangelion, Apocryphal New Testament. 
 
 10. the measure of man: 
 
 Ezekiel x. 21., xli. 8-11. Revelation xiii. 11. 17. 18. The 
 esoteric value of any number is the sum of its digits. 
 
 11. seven-flamed lamp: 
 
 Exodus XXV. 37. Numbers viii. 2. Zechariah iv. 2. 
 
28o Notes 
 
 CANTO VI 
 
 1. Hamaguchi: 
 
 This tale is related in Unfamiliar Japan, Lafcadio Heam. 
 
 2. the blossoms might defile : 
 
 "If I pluck them the touch of my hand will defile; therefore 
 standing in the meadows as they are I offer these wind-blown 
 flowers to the Buddhas of the past, the present, and the future." 
 — Ideals of the East, page 129. Kakasu Okukura. 
 
 3. Aaron's rod of old: 
 
 Exodus vii. 10-12. 
 
 4. or almond: 
 
 Jeremiah i. 11. 
 
 5. one body to another: 
 
 "As the Body's Tenant goes through childhood and manhood 
 
 and old age in the body, so does it pass to other bodies." — 
 
 Lesson the Second. Bhagavad Gita. 
 
 "Many times the soul returns to be each time reclothed in 
 
 another mantle." — ^Thought for Help, page 65. William C. 
 
 Comstock. 
 
 The Child of the Dawn. A. C. Benson. 
 
 CANTO VII 
 
 1. Antyos: 
 
 A rock portrait of this Titan, in the Museum at Athens, marked 
 800 B. C, is evidently a replica of a much older statue. 
 
 2. Tethys: 
 
 A rock portrait in the Museum at Athens of the same age as 
 Antyos is marked "Demeter (?)," a bad guess of the archaeol- 
 ogists. 
 
 3. Peleg was divided: 
 
 Genesis x. 25. 
 
Notes 281 
 
 4. first in lore historic: 
 
 The Ante-Hellenic Pelasgians. Grote's History of Greece 10 
 Volumes, 1888. Vol. II, page 189. 
 
 "They are the earliest race which appear to have exercised a 
 dominant power in Greece." Athens, Its Rise and Fall, 
 Edward Lytton Bulwer. Page 5, Vol. I. 
 
 5. his palace rose: 
 
 When Cecrops' palace on the Acropolis of Athens was excavated 
 it yielded many interesting Egyptian antiquities. 
 
 6. Solemnized: 
 
 Eleusinian Mysteries, Isaac Taylor. 
 
 "Thrice happy they who having seen these rites 
 
 Then pass to Hades; there to these alone 
 
 Is granted life! All others evil find." Sophocles, fragment. 
 
 "Blessed is he who having looked on them 
 
 Passes below the hollow earth, for he knows Ufa's true end and 
 
 Zeus-given sov'reignty." — Pindar. 
 
 7. to save her spouse: 
 
 Alcestis, Euripides. 
 
 For dramatic effect the poet substitutes Herakles for ^scula- 
 
 pius as the deliverer of Alcestis. 
 
 8. was drowned: 
 
 The well is still shown at Corinth in which Glauke is said to 
 have drowned. 
 
 9. Amazon's son: 
 
 Hippolytus Crowned, Euripides. 
 
 10. left his Helen: 
 
 Page 156. Vol. I. Grote's History of Greece. 
 Life of Theseus, Plutarch. 
 
 11. Electra said: 
 
 Orestes, Euripides. 
 
 12. Polyxena suffered: 
 
 Canto V. Note 6. The sacrifice of Polyxena was supposed to 
 appease the shade of Achilles. Hecuba, Euripides. 
 
2»2 
 
 Notes 
 
 13. tragic poems: 
 
 The Iliad and Odyssey, first written in dramatic form, were 
 acted in the streets of Miletus during the lifetime of their 
 author, Homer, an Hellenic Greek bom on the island of Chios. 
 He wrote on parchment in ideograms, using the Akkadian 
 language. What we call Homeric Greek is of the time of 
 Pisistratus the tyrant of Athens, who was induced by Solon to 
 have the Homeric poems transcribed. They were much 
 mutilated, and at this time given epic form. 
 
 14. Minos' laws: 
 
 Since the finding of Minos' palace at Knossos in Crete (1907) he 
 and his laws can no longer be called mythic. — ^The Sea Kings of 
 Crete, by Rev. James Baikie, National Geographic Magazine, 
 January, 191 2, September, 19 13. 
 
 15. rocks of time: 
 
 Prometheus Bound, ^schylus. 
 
 16. Bacchus' Youngest Child. 
 
 Euripides. 
 
 17. never has been mute: 
 
 On the Pythian Responses. Theosophical Essays, Plutarch. 
 
 CANTO VIII 
 
 1. Etrurian art: 
 
 The city of Cumae, buried by an eruption of Mt. Avernus, 475 
 B. C, in the 19th century A. D. 3delded rare art treasures now 
 in the Museum at Naples. 
 
 2. change its name: 
 
 Now the Tiber called. 
 
 3. iEtna vomiting fire: 
 
 This eruption was witnessed by Pindar and iEschylus, who 
 both allude to it: ist Pythian Ode, II strophe, Pindar; 
 Prometheus Boimd, ^schylus. 
 
Notes 283 
 
 4. plains of Sicily: 
 
 Greece and Sicily, 2 Vols. John Addington Symonds. 
 
 5. A lasting name: 
 
 I St Olympic Ode, I antistrophe. Pindar. 
 
 6. famed speech: 
 
 Book XXXIV. History of Rome, Livy. 
 
 7. dream came true: 
 
 Scipio's dream is given in full by Cicero, in his "de Divina- 
 tione." 
 
 8. Pharsalus was: 
 
 See epic poem by Lucan (Pharsalia), too little read. 
 
 9. his pastorals: 
 
 The Georgics. 
 
 10. shines on forever: 
 
 Book Vr. iEneid, Vergil. 
 
 11. Anne and Joachim: 
 
 The Protevangelion and Gospel of Mary. Apocryphal New 
 Testament. 
 
 12. ever call her blessed: 
 
 St. Luke i. 28-48. 
 
 13. dove did perch: 
 
 Isaiah xi. i. 
 
 Giotto's fresco in Santa Maria del Arena at Padova. 
 
 14. with Moses and Elias talked: 
 
 St. Matthew xvii. 3. St. Mark ix. 4. 5. 
 
 15. imputed to another: 
 
 "All thou seest doth with God abound. God is alike in all 
 and always to be found." — Spoken by Cato in Lucan's Phar- 
 salia, Book IX. 
 
284 Notes 
 
 16. worship of Isis he explained: 
 
 Plutarch's Theosophical Essays. 
 
 17. virility: 
 
 I Corinthians vii. 37. 
 
 Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Book I. Sec. xiv. 
 
 18. ministering angels: 
 
 Hebrews i. 7. 14. St. Luke xxii. 43. 
 
 On the Cessation of Oracles X, Theosophical Essays, Plutarch, 
 
 19. Beatrice Cenci's grave. 
 
 In the Church of St. Peter Martyr on the Janiculum at Rome — 
 perhaps the oftener shown because unnamed. 
 
 CANTO IX 
 
 1. Atlantides: 
 
 (See Canto II. 1 21-149.) 
 Plato's Timaeus, 25. 26. 
 
 2. three of Rome's emperor's: 
 
 Trajan, Hadrian, Theodosius. 
 
 3. Arab leader: 
 
 Tarif. 
 
 4. Albion: 
 
 The earliest name we know for England. 
 
 5. Isabel: 
 
 A Queen of Queens and The Making of Spain. Christopher 
 Hare. 
 
 6. guiding Voice: 
 
 (See Canto VII. 893-95.) 
 
 I Samuel iii. St. Luke ix. 35. St. John xii. 28. Acts ix. 4. 
 
 Plato's Symposium. 
 
Notes 285 
 
 7. angel guide: 
 
 Genesis xxii. 11-15, xxiv. 7. Psalms xci, xxxiv. 7. Exodus 
 iii. 2, xiv. 19. Acts x. 3. 
 
 8. Kublai Khan: 
 
 (See Canto IV. 11 5-1 7.) 
 
 9. Maximilian's son: 
 
 Philip, son of Maximilian and Mary of Burgundy; m. Joan, d. 
 of Ferdinand and Isabella. 
 
 CANTO X 
 
 1. ambition of a man: 
 
 Cardinal Wolsey. 
 
 2. thraldom of Rome: 
 
 In the reign of Edward VI. the Book of Common Prayer was 
 compiled, the Psalms translated. 
 
 3. misguided Mary: 
 
 "Mary Tudor" in Queens of Spain, Martin Hume. 
 
 4. pastoral verse: 
 
 When Sir William Jones sent home his translation of the 
 Sakoontala the English public refused to beHeve it was from 
 the Sanskrit, it was so much like Shakespeare. 
 
 5. satiric strain: 
 
 Milton in trying to undermine Calvinism cloaked his weapon 
 so cleverly that the satire was not recognized. 
 
 6. another planet: 
 
 Uranus, called at first "Herschel" after its discoverer. 
 
 7. Landseer moulded: 
 
 Nelson's monument, Trafalgar Square, London. 
 
 8. the great prose writer: 
 
 Thomas Babington Macaulay. 
 
286 Notes 
 
 g. Nettleship: 
 
 No other English scholar has so well vmderstood the spirit of 
 Plato. Richard Lewis Nettleship, Letters and Remains, 2 
 Vols. London, 1897. 
 
 10. saintly Catherine: 
 
 Life of Catherine Booth, 2 Vols, F. de L. Booth-Tucker. 
 
 CANTO XI 
 
 1. martyred maid: 
 
 Jeanne d'Arc, Mark Twain. 
 
 2. Avignon: 
 
 The papal residence and large church in which a pope is buried 
 are the chief attractions of this French village. 
 
 3. three successive kings: 
 
 Charles VIIL, Louis XII., Francis I. 
 
 4. Louis Conde de Bourbon: 
 
 The great Huguenot leader, assassinated 1569. 
 
 5. Rachel: 
 
 Sketch of her life in Comedie Frangaise. Arsene Housaye. 
 "And where she (Rachel) was it was impossible to care much 
 for the presence of any other woman." — ^Letters of Charles 
 Eliot Norton, 1913, Vol. I., page 311. 
 
 6. Emperor evermore: 
 
 Napoleon III. in Italy, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 
 
 CANTO XII 
 
 I. on British isle his home: 
 
 Wordsworth, bom 1770, in spirit belongs to Germany, as 
 Sebastian Bach was probably a greater incarnation for him. 
 "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting." Stanza V., Ode on 
 Immortality. 
 
Notes 287 
 
 2. Thorwaldsen: 
 
 (See Canto I. 482-83.) 
 
 3. part of Christus: 
 
 Anton Lang, 1900 and 1910. 
 
 4. Tusk of boar: 
 
 The wound by tusk of boar signifies excess of passion. 
 
 5. brazen serpent: 
 
 By this symbol Moses taught the Israelites the value of self- 
 control. 
 
 6. highest joy: 
 
 (See Canto X. 227-34). 
 
 CANTO XIII 
 
 1. breaking laws: 
 
 "When law perishes lawlessness falls upon the whole stock. 
 When lawlessness comes upon it, O Krishna, the women of the 
 stock fall to sin."— Lesson the First, Bhagavad Gita, trans- 
 lated by Lionel D. Bamett. 
 
 "Do you think that a state can exist and not be overthrown 
 in which the decisions of law are of no force, and are disregarded 
 and set at naught by private individuals? . . . For a man 
 who is a subverter of law may well be supposed to be a cor- 
 rupter of the young and thoughtless."— Plato's Crito, trans- 
 lated by F. J. Church. 
 
 2. still is action: 
 
 "Without undertaking works no man may possess workless- 
 ness, nor can he come to adeptship by mere casting off of 
 works." — Bhagavad Gita. 
 
 CANTO XIV 
 
 I. credit to herself: 
 
 The hfe of Mary Baker Eddy, by Georgine Milmine, in Mc- 
 Clure's Magazine, February, March, May, 1907. 
 Letters by Julius Dresser, Boston Post, Feb. 24, 1883. 
 The Divine Law of Cure, Rev. Warren F. Evans, 1881. 
 
!88 Notes 
 
 2. unlock the gates: 
 
 (See Canto VIII. 598-601.) 
 
 3. men equal are: 
 
 The New Testament does not so teach. St. Matthew xiii. 11 
 St. Luke viii. 10. 
 
 4. in female form : 
 
 Susan B. Anthony, George Eliot, George Sands, are some of the 
 mascuUne spirits incarnating in a woman's body. There are 
 many on earth to-day. 
 
 5. and Cain's descendants: 
 
 "And God cursed Cain." Genesis iv. 11. 15. This curse was 
 that Cain's descendants shovdd be black. 
 
 6. and not the best: 
 
 The Great Psychological Crime. T. K. The Indo-American 
 Pub. Co., Chicago. 
 
 7. who fail in faith: 
 
 Hebrews xi. 6. 
 
 8. number have and color: 
 
 Number and color taken together show the quantity and quality 
 of work required during the soul's progress. 
 
 9. color: 
 
 There are three prime colors: red, yellow, and blue. The 
 prism divides these into seven. The black lines that show on 
 the spectrum are produced by rays of "earth red " ; mingling with 
 the prime colors these produce the prismatic colors. The first ad- 
 mixture gives brown; this is usually the earliest color the unfold- 
 ing soul shows. The earth red worked off, we have the pure 
 flame red; this, mixing with yellow, gives the different shades of 
 rose and pink . Where the earth red mixes with the yellow we have 
 orange. Yellow and blue combined give green; where the earth 
 red mixes with green it gives a dull, cloudy green; when with 
 dark blue it produces indigo; or when more of the earth color 
 touches the blue, purple is the result. 
 
 There are seven shades to each prismatic color except blue, 
 which has fourteen shades. Where the earth red touches the 
 
Notes 
 
 lightest shade of the first seven shades of blue it makes Ulac. 
 This is often mistaken for the highest color, as the seven light 
 blues or "N" waves are not visible on the spectrum, the 
 vibration becoming too rapid. When the earth color touches 
 the "N" or Ughtest blue waves they turn black. Young souls 
 who are brown do not mind coming to earth again and again. 
 Even orange is comparatively easy to work off leaving yellow. 
 Purple takes longer, often requiring a number of lowly lives 
 to clear and leave the blue. Black must come to earth again 
 and again as grey, and finally begins its upward path, coming 
 into red when some great trial, some upheaval of the spirit, 
 comes which fans the apparently dead embers into flame once 
 more. 
 
 10. then number too is given: 
 
 While the seed is germinating, before the blade is above ground, 
 the soul does not show color. During this period come our 
 cipher lives. First three, then two, then one cipher, then 
 numbers, as 20>^, lyj^ or 39>^. The first whole number given 
 to us is 39, part of which is worked off in successive lives until 
 such a number is attained as can be finished in one lifetime. 
 3, 7, Q, II, 13, 17, 19, 21, 27, are all numbers of the first order. 
 3, 7, 9 are of the first class, first order; 11, 13, 17, second class 
 first order; 19, 21, 27, third class, first order; 5, 10, 15, first class, 
 second order; 4, 6, 8, first class, third order, and so on. Even a 
 five with a good color may do a better work than a 7 or 9 with 
 a poor color. Certain numbers are good only in connection 
 with certain colors. Three is the highest number for a genius; 
 9 and II the next; 7 and 13 make the greatest psychics, and so 
 on. 
 
 11. candlestick: 
 
 St. Luke xi. 33-36. 
 
 12. every cycle: 
 
 There are seven cycles or petals to each flower. Each flower 
 has three candles and three inner circles; then the circle of 540, 
 and lastly the outer circle of 5040. 
 
 13. conscious souls: 
 
 When souls have received number and color they are said to be 
 budding or unfolding. When they have gone as high as the 
 seventh sphere they are called developed souls. All threes, 
 most blue and yellow sevens, and some blue and green nines, are 
 
290 Notes 
 
 developed souls. There are manly degrees of developed souls. 
 Socrates (3 and light blue) was so fully developed as to be nearly 
 conscious. On reaching the ninth sphere souls become con- 
 scious. Usually conscious souls coming to earth have no 
 number, though rare, conscious souls have come in every 
 age. Tao, Elisha, Buddha, John the Baptist, Joan of Arc, 
 Swedenborg, Tolstoy, Baha UUah, are some of these. 
 
 14. to all nations: 
 
 Abdul Baha visited the United States in 191 2. 
 
 15. perfected soul: 
 
 Perfected souls are those who have completed their work in the 
 terrestrial spheres and are ready to be archangels, yet choose to 
 incarnate for a special work. Abdul Baha is the first one of 
 these since Mary of Nazareth, who came for the purpose of 
 highest motherhood. Jesus, the Perfect Man, was an arch- 
 angel, the only one ever bom on this planet. 
 
 16. John Fitch: 
 
 See Historical Collections of Connecticut. 
 
 McMaster's History of the United States, Vol. I., pp. 432-35. 
 
 Life of John Fitch, Westcot. 
 
 17. Have been found: 
 
 While this was being written the news came that Cook and 
 Peary both claim to have discovered the North Pole, which 
 assuredly neither one found, though Peary did good work. 
 Later comes the news of the discovery of the South Pole by 
 Amundsen; yet he has failed to find the Antarctic people. 
 
 18. oldest of all our country: 
 
 I count Yucatan as part of Egypt. 
 
 19. Juno be discovered: 
 
 A planet nearer to this earth than Mars has been observed by 
 several astronomers. It will probably receive the name of its 
 first discoverer and later be called Juno. 
 
 CANTO XV 
 
 I. then all shall prophesy: 
 Joel ii. 28. 
 
Notes 291 
 
 2. for all mankind: 
 
 St. Luke ii. 14. 
 
 "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good- will 
 towards men," is the version of the angel's song in the Prot- 
 estant Bible. The Catholic Bible gives another translation of 
 these verses: 
 
 "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of 
 good will." Some day these verses will read thus: 
 "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will to 
 Mary." 
 
 3. a thousand years: 
 
 Revelation xx. 4. Rhea will then be in the third sphere. 
 
 4. my mother and my brethren: 
 
 St. Matthew xii. 50. St. Luke viii. 21. 
 
 5. ideal child: 
 
 (See Prologue, 71-72.) 
 
 Rhea's ideal child is Freedom. The cosmic ideal child is Love. 
 
 6. to bread stones turning: 
 
 In the account of the feeding of the five thousand, St. Mat- 
 thew xiv. 16-21, we usually think of the multiplication of 
 loaves and fishes; yet no doubt Jesus could have turned the 
 stone to bread as the Tempter suggested earlier, St. Matthew 
 iv. 3. 
 
 7. the higher wisdom twelve were taught: 
 
 St. Matthew xiii. 1 1 . 
 
 8. Nirvana: 
 
 "If any teach Nirvana is to cease, say unto such they lie. If 
 any teach Nirvana is to live, say unto such they err." — Light 
 of Asia, Book the Eighth. Sir Edwin Arnold. 
 Nirvana is one of the most misunderstood words used by mod- 
 em writers. The teaching regarding this was the same as that 
 of the Lord Jesus who admonished His disciples to go in and 
 out and find pasture. St. John x. 9. The word Nirvana in 
 Sanskrit means going in and out. The Chinese call it The Yin 
 and the Yang. When the secret of this going is known and 
 practiced properly, with closed door, there is a union of the 
 incarnate ego with the Over Soul which makes for spiritual 
 advancement. 
 
292 Notes 
 
 9. flames of fire: 
 Hebrews i. 7. 
 
 10. life and spirit are: 
 
 St. John V. 63. 
 
 11. golden candlestick: 
 
 Revelation i. 12, 13, 20. Exodus xxv. 31. 
 
 12. narrow gate: 
 
 St. Matthew vii. 13. 
 
 13. ministering spirits: 
 
 St. Luke xxii. 43. Hebrews i. 14. 
 Psalms xxiv. 7. 
 
 14. preserved: 
 
 The Apocryphal New Testament. 
 
 Giotto's fresco in Santa Maria del Arena at Padova. 
 
 15. overcome: 
 
 Revelation ii. 11. 
 
 16. two trees do grow: 
 
 Zechariah iv. 3. Revelation xi. 4. 
 
 17. He bore for us: 
 
 Romans v. 6-21. Revelation iii. 21. 
 
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