^°-v 
 
 
 
 

 <{5^^ 
 
 
 
 ^v-< 
 
 
 \V^ 
 
 °^**^^~'-'"/ V^*^?t?^\^^ °<^**^*\f° ., V'^«>T 
 
 /b^ 
 
 Ay - 
 
 t „" 
 
 V--^\/ ^o^*^-'/ 'V''^'/ °-*- 
 
 (• %.^* -'A"" ^^/ •'«•' "^W" .'J!»i'» ^^- 
 
 
 » 
 
 
 ^^ .0^ oil"" "^o ^-2^^ ,. 
 
i)a.'^ 
 
 
 THE MISSION OF BEAUTY 
 
THE MISSION OF BEAUTY 
 
 A POEM 
 
 By CARLETON SPRAGUE 
 
 1905 
 
 THE MATTHEWS-NORTHRUP WORKS 
 BUFFALO, N. Y. 
 

 Copyright, 1905, 
 Bv Carleton Sprague 
 
 ■ r 
 
 -P^yn M 
 
 1"' 
 
NOTE 
 
 THIS POEM IS PRINTED AT THE REQUEST 
 OF THE THURSDAY CLUB, BUFFALO. 
 
 
I 
 BEAUTY 
 
 II 
 
 NATURE 
 
 III 
 
 LIFE 
 
 IV 
 MIND 
 
 V 
 
 ART 
 
 VI 
 
 IMMORTALITY 
 
BEAUTY 
 
 O, subtle touch divine, 
 
 Caress of God, 
 His hand laid lightly 
 
 On the wakening world. 
 His word soft spoken 
 
 Unto awed mankind : 
 Beauty, 
 
 Thou tender mantle Nature weaves 
 For all her tenderer moods, 
 
 Protecting mantle Nature wears 
 In all her sterner ways: 
 
 Thou revelation clear, 
 God's pledge to earth 
 
 That life is not in vain, — 
 Along thy healing paths 
 
 Direct our steps, 
 Open our weary eyes 
 
 That we may clearly see, 
 Speak! and thy language 
 
 Make us understand. 
 Enter our hearts 
 
 And therein kindly dwell. 
 
II 
 
 NATURE 
 
 In lavish splendor through His worlds, 
 
 In infinite variety, 
 Redeeming beauty reigns 
 
 And naught in Nature lacks. 
 
 In grains of dust invisible; 
 
 In stern heights piling heavenward; 
 In pencil touch on throat and wing; 
 
 In sweeping strokes of sunset hues; 
 In blue arched dome of summer noon; 
 
 In deep blue dome of summer night. 
 Whose silent, age defying stars 
 
 Deny our mute, unspoken cry 
 For light, more light, 
 
 Ere we too die! 
 And on and on 
 
 The great, still harmony rolls, 
 And the morning breaks. 
 
 And the big, hot sun 
 Restores, renews, and answers — 
 
 Life, more Life! 
 
[ '- ] 
 
 In secret petals 
 
 Mountain grown in chasms inaccessible; 
 In gardens where the single rose 
 
 With sheen of circling dove competes; 
 In forests deep, dark, murmuring 
 
 With whisperings of the night; 
 In lacework of wide spreading trees. 
 
 Pale moonlight filtering through 
 And sparkling on sad Evening's tears 
 
 The gently fallen dew; 
 In bending, sighing, storm rocked pines. 
 
 That catch the music of the winds. 
 And rearing high their crested tops 
 
 Sing in earth's symphony of sound; 
 In myriad moss and lichen forms 
 
 That carpet earth's untrodden ways. 
 Where dwells a marvellous insect world. 
 
 Unknown, unseen, that wondrous life, 
 That counterpart of fairyland; 
 
 In every growing, life stirred thing; 
 In every beat of every wing; 
 
[ ^3 ] 
 
 In poise of startled, listening deer; 
 
 In glistening rush of gleaming fish 
 That thread the many mooded sea, — 
 
 Now sunlit, trackless, blue and mild, 
 Now surging, dark, relentless, wild, — 
 
 Eternal mother in whose heart 
 All waters find their final goal; 
 
 In cool, secluded mountain lakes. 
 Where live again in azure hues 
 
 The grassy shores and rocks and hills, 
 And high set peaks of mountain land; 
 
 In hurrying, sparkling, forest streams 
 That add their constant tribute 
 
 To the deep, wide river, — 
 Flowing now, in placid stream. 
 
 By well tilled shores. 
 Now torn in steep, and rock strewn bed. 
 
 With flashing, broken spray tossed high, — 
 Now, seeming poised, — 
 
 As suddenly. 
 With swift, relentless, sweeping rush, 
 
 It falls with palpitating roar, 
 Far down the sheer cut precipice, 
 
 And carves its course through canyons deep 
 Down to the mighty inland lakes, 
 
 Down to the ocean's outstretched arms, 
 To lose itself, at last, far off, 
 
 In the engulfing sea; 
 
[ H ] 
 
 In fertile valleys forest bound, 
 
 Where gleams the green of succulent spring; 
 In fertile prairies golden toned, 
 
 Their wide spread acres lost to view 
 In shimmering growth of harvest suns, — 
 
 Those fertile lands, where, year by year, 
 Is writ, as on a fading scroll. 
 
 In track of furrow, tramp of feet. 
 The story of man's husbandry; 
 
 The crop is garnered, cold and frost 
 Erase the story of the toil, — 
 
 The spirit of the conqueror 
 Survives the generation through! 
 
[ ^s ] 
 
 O, endless wealth of loveliness 
 
 So lavished on our blinded view, 
 Our halting words inadequate 
 
 Fail utterly to speak thy due; 
 We live our little span, constrained 
 
 By limits set beyond our will, 
 We fail, and fall, and fear, and hope 
 
 With inward view, nor see until 
 We raise our gaze, then meets the eye 
 
 The bow that God has set on high. 
 
Ill 
 
 LIFE 
 
 The miracle the first man saw 
 
 In endless repetition we too see, 
 But appreciation due 
 
 In long familiarity is lost; 
 Wise Nature's law, affinity, 
 
 Love, union, birth, 
 The seed, the soil, the sun, 
 
 The gentle rain from heaven. 
 The miracle and mystery of kindled life! 
 
 These wonders on a sudden 
 Burst upon our view. 
 
 And all life's beauty thrills us through 
 With throbs of happiness and awe. 
 
 Uplifts the sympathetic mood 
 And bears the soul on outstretched wings 
 
 Aloft to regions high of larger view. 
 Aloft to regions vast of understanding mind. 
 
[ i8 ] 
 
 Our vision clears, the Spirit hovers near; 
 
 We see it rest upon true lovers' vows ; 
 Upon pure love 
 
 We see it press its precious kiss 
 To consecrate a new life's dawn; 
 
 It glorifies the mother's eyes 
 That confident the future view, 
 
 Wherein she sees that nestling form 
 With virtue, goodness, wisdom clad, 
 
 A fearless, conquering, well girt knight, 
 Redressing wrong, upholding right. 
 
 The victor 
 Crowned at honor's goal. 
 
 Rejoice! O, winners in the race. 
 And every laurel leaf rejoice! 
 
 And every vein of every leaf. 
 And every vein of every stem. 
 
 The Spirit folds you in her wings! 
 Those wings that touch the maiden's face 
 
 And softly wave her sunlit hair, 
 And gently sweep her graceful form 
 
 So subtly moulded, hand of man, 
 With brush and chisel, vainly strives 
 
 To cast in more enduring mould. 
 Fair attitude and vision fair. 
 
 Thy fortune is the future's bond; 
 Men kneel before thy shrine and pray 
 
 For worthiness, for purity, 
 For absolution and for thee; 
 
 Goddess adored, vision supreme, 
 The world grows dark and cold 
 
 While they, in all unworthy 
 Save in love. 
 
 Trembling and faint, cowards to hear. 
 From ice to fire 
 
 Leap at thy soft spoke word. 
 
[ '9 ] 
 
 We see it in the radiant face 
 
 Of budding manhood 
 Looking out along life's pathway but begun ; 
 
 His manly vigor shines and glows 
 With every muscle well in tune, 
 
 And all the complicated scheme 
 Of marvelous structure 
 
 Beats and bends 
 In unison complete and weird 
 
 To the controlling mind; 
 And every mountain looks a hill, 
 
 And widest rivers, tiny brooks. 
 And densest forests, pleasant glades. 
 
 And fiercest beasts and birds seem tame; 
 And all the yawning gulfs are bridged, 
 
 And every man stands forth to lend 
 A helping hand along the way, 
 
 Along the way where flowers grow. 
 No wonder 
 
 All the gods are young. 
 No wonder 
 
 God is made a man, 
 The perfect man has lived, — 
 
 Was God! 
 
[ 2°] 
 
 We see it in strong purposed men, 
 
 The product of the life matured, 
 Through face revealed 
 
 Where conquering strength 
 Has set the print of victory ; 
 
 All fallen foes forgiven are, 
 The summit stands in clear outline. 
 
 Strong, well poised, sure. 
 Trained and controlled, 
 
 Revered, respected, resolute 
 To listen, answer, and to act; 
 
 The crisis rises, lesser men 
 Stand trembling, pale, inadequate, 
 
 Dreading the future's unknown fate, 
 Powerless to think, to speak, to do; 
 
 Then stands he forth 
 And hope is bred. 
 
 And craven fear retreats, abashed, 
 And sullen envy reason learns. 
 
 And discontent to reason turns, 
 In wise and generous leadership 
 
 An honorable peace is born; 
 While by his side, 
 
 Hand strong in hand, 
 A woman wise sustains, upholds, 
 
 A woman counsels, cares, consoles. 
 
[ ^I ] 
 
 Ah, Love, 
 
 Upon the altar of thy happiness 
 This day, dear heart, 
 
 Once more 
 I consecrate my love for thee ; 
 
 For all the treasure of thy constant love, 
 Which year by year, unstintingly, 
 
 Thou givest me so far beyond my due, 
 I only bring the tribute of my love; 
 
 Wherein this gladdens thee, 
 Wherein it adds in any way 
 
 To thy dear life, which, day by day, 
 I watch unfold, expand, and open to my view 
 
 The fruits of all thy well spent years, 
 The fruits of thy maturing mind. 
 
 Thy goodness, wisdom, charity. 
 Unselfishness and self restraint. 
 
 Thy sweetness and thy modesty. 
 Therein, dear, am I glad; 
 
 And always when I fail, dear heart. 
 To be 
 
 That which thy love 
 Has made it possible 
 
 For me to be, 
 Then in thy charity, 
 
 Once more forgive. 
 And of thy treasure 
 
 Give me yet again. 
 
[ ^^ ] 
 
 Old Age The shadows lengthen, day declines, 
 
 From out the hush 
 A wondrous stillness reigns, 
 
 From out the dusk 
 A wondrous peace prevails; 
 
 An influence benign 
 O'er hill and vale serenely rests ; 
 
 Breathless, suspended. 
 Evening-tide, calm and content, 
 
 Aw^aits the enfolding night; 
 The boisterous winds 
 
 Have sped to brighter suns 
 Their flying steeds; 
 
 The mounting clouds, in dark dismay. 
 In heaven's far confines huddled, 
 
 Hide their disastrous breath; 
 The chariots of the sun 
 
 Beyond earth's borders flee, 
 Summoning new lands to life 
 
 And warmth and stern activity. 
 Enthroned in age, — 
 
 Before the darkness falls, — 
 O, Spirit, 
 
 Hear our prayer on bended knee; 
 Thy crown of peace be ours, 
 
 Wrought from the gold of pure desires. 
 Studded with gems of good accomplishment. 
 
 Untarnished by the breath of all unworthiness. 
 Strong in the interwoven strands 
 
 Of charity for all. 
 Peace and good will to men. 
 
[ ^3 ] 
 
 Death From earth to leaf, 
 
 To earth and ash ; 
 The sword suspended falls, 
 
 The golden thread gives way, 
 The tiny flame burns dim and fails; 
 
 The final dreaded mystery 
 Stands out before the expectant soul; 
 
 O, Spirit, 
 Childlike make ouf final sleep ; 
 
 The key is thine, — 
 Against the greater knowledge 
 
 Rises the portal vast, — 
 Rare spirits forge the key, 
 
 The key is love ; 
 Strong in the strength of it. 
 
 Borne on the wings of it. 
 Step the undaunted 
 
 Forth 
 Into the dark. 
 
IV 
 MIND 
 
 Out of the whirl of worlds, 
 
 Out of the hand of time, 
 Order evolved; 
 
 Out of the birth of man, 
 Out of the rise of man, 
 
 Law of his life; 
 Out of the grain of sense 
 
 Man's highest recompense 
 Reasoning mind; 
 
 God, Thou hast ordered it. 
 Thine is the law of it. 
 
 Beauty the awe of it 
 Thine be the praise. 
 
[ ^6] 
 
 Limitless, eternal, 
 
 Space bounded by space. 
 Age piling on age, endlessly, 
 
 Vastness inconceivable, infinite 
 Hot whirling nebulae. 
 
 Mother of suns. 
 Parent of planets, 
 
 Set in fixed courses. 
 Turned to the harmony 
 
 Of plans eternal: 
 Birth of great teeming lands, 
 
 Molten and barren : 
 Birth of wide waters. 
 
 Seething and vaporous : 
 Age of the giant plants, 
 
 Age of the monster life ; — 
 Step rising on step 
 
 Higher yet higher; 
 Man last in all the scale, 
 
 Pausing an age, — 
 God's moment, — 
 
 Waiting a destiny 
 Felt in rare hours. 
 
 Low whispered prescience 
 Of loftier life. 
 
[ 27 ] 
 
 The winter passes, magic powers 
 
 In silence stir all slumbering life, 
 The potent bud unfolds and flowers 
 
 To leaf and fruit, and branch and stem; 
 And bird calls bird, and bee seeks blossom. 
 
 And every timid, wild born thing. 
 By appetite and instinct led. 
 
 Pursues the way of fate ordained. 
 
[ ^8;] 
 
 Amidst these moving marvels 
 
 Man 
 Alone perceives and understands, 
 
 Alone in his high heritage 
 The privilege of Mind. 
 
 Born to an unstable grasp 
 Of a short allotted day, 
 
 Cast out on existence's sea, 
 Saved by that one attribute, — 
 
 Power from a source supreme, — 
 Man divinely justified 
 
 For his right to be. 
 Secrets of life's hidden wonders 
 
 Slowly to his mind unfold. 
 Glimpses of the mighty power 
 
 Which shall lead the race to truth 
 Spirit of the law of beauty 
 
 Thine the star to light the v/ay, 
 In thy fair and perfect image 
 
 Man shall test his right to live. 
 
[^9] 
 
 Into his hands committed earth's millions, 
 
 Generation following generation 
 Time without end; 
 
 Out of his hands flowing 
 World weal for woe; 
 
 Reason succeeding instinct, 
 Order quelling riot; 
 
 Out of the seething mass 
 Of men savage, men lustful, men brutal, 
 
 Out of their envy, out of their hate. 
 His to evolve order and tolerance. 
 
 Justice and temperance, liberty and peace, 
 Laws for the common good; 
 
 His to evolve charity and patience, 
 Benevolence and mercy. 
 
 Virtue and the sacrifice of self; 
 Wise government of united peoples. 
 
 Honesty and chastity, 
 The joy of work, the joy of play. 
 
[ 30 ] 
 
 Nature the prodigal, — 
 
 Millions unfruitful, — 
 One seed to beauty flowers, 
 
 One man in wisdom blooms; 
 Rose begot of seed excelling, 
 
 Violet joyous for a day, 
 Bloom unconscious for the ages. 
 
 Waft their perfume for alway; 
 Captains and their hosts in armor 
 
 Shining with the light of faith, 
 Brave, unselfish lives they offer, 
 
 Dying that the right may live; 
 Toilers at the stubborn fortress, — 
 
 Baffling heights where science hides,- 
 Silent battles fought in secret, 
 
 Victory won by single hand; 
 Giant boulders burst asunder, 
 
 Pure the crystal lies revealed, 
 One more costly jewel added 
 
 To the diadem of truth. 
 
[ 31 ] 
 
 Deeper delving, higher climbing, 
 
 More revealed and clearer sight, 
 Man with added knowledge marching 
 
 Towards the goal which fades from view 
 In the mists which veil life's secrets, 
 
 In the sunset's gorgeous hues. 
 Where the pathway leads in splendor 
 
 To the citadel of light, 
 Whence man's heavenly given power 
 
 Shall so wisely rule mankind, 
 Peace of heaven on earth descended 
 
 Through the miracle of Mind. 
 
V 
 
 ART 
 
 Light of the summer sun, 
 
 Breath of the wandering breeze, 
 Rain of the vaporous sky. 
 
 Earth's beauties multiply 
 In nature's perfect plan. 
 
 Born of the ardent mind, 
 Imagination, — fruitful child, — 
 
 Striving for utterance. 
 Raises the works of man 
 
 Into the lofty realm where beauty dwells. 
 Into the kingdom where 
 
 Art sits enthroned. 
 Virgin, high and fair and pure. 
 
 At thy feet thy votaries 
 Sit in all humility. 
 
 Listening for thy sacred word. 
 Listening for thy sacred note. 
 
 Watching for thy sacred fire. 
 Thine the magic wand to change 
 
 High built dome to shrine of God; 
 Thine the vital soaring flame 
 
 Which instills cold sculptured clay 
 With the living, breathing fire; 
 
 Thine the tender touch which guides 
 Stroke and brush of master hand; 
 
 Thine the magic tongue which speaks 
 In enduring words of men ; 
 
 Thine the holy beat which throbs 
 In the highest note of song. 
 
[ 34] 
 
 Architecture Faced to the light 
 
 The Temple Qf ^y^^ declining dav, 
 
 of Jutio ^^ , . . , . 
 
 at Girgenti Glowing With rosy tints,— 
 
 Those first fair promises of sleep, — 
 Set on commanding heights 
 
 And born to proud command, 
 Through twice twelve hundred years 
 
 The pillared temple stands. 
 Out of the East the builders came 
 
 And on the shining shore 
 Of the wide inland sea 
 
 They pitched their camps, 
 Then builded to the gods 
 
 As they were wont to do on Attic shores 
 Where beauty held its sway. 
 
 Mighty the task 
 By mighty minds inspired, 
 
 And great was their content, 
 For in their hearts they knew 
 
 That what they did was good 
 And pleasing to great Jove, 
 
 To whom they made 
 The living sacrifice of beeves 
 
 And full libations poured of ruddy wine. 
 
[ 35] 
 
 On nestling slopes and pleasant plain 
 
 The teeming city life 
 Was born and grew, 
 
 And waxed and waned in power, 
 And throbbed 
 
 With love, and hate, and wealth, and pride. 
 Then from the North 
 
 And from the South 
 Came warring hordes 
 
 And stilled the urban heart; 
 And in their lust 
 
 They smote and killed, 
 And left nor town nor man. 
 
 But through the softening years 
 The kindly hand of nature 
 
 Laid a pall of flowers wild. 
 And grasses of the field 
 
 Upon the land, 
 And to the fertile soil 
 
 The nestling slopes and plain 
 Once more returned. 
 
[ 36 ] 
 
 Against the temple high, — 
 
 In impotence and fear, — 
 The leveling blow was stayed ; 
 
 Nor heavy hand of time. 
 Nor wanton war, nor covetous man. 
 
 Nor surging winter blast, 
 Have ruin wrought complete; 
 
 In majesty and grace to the admiring day 
 The roofless columns rise. 
 
 In mystic splendor to the moon, 
 The phantom of the past 
 
 Raises its broken shafts. 
 While the confiding wind 
 
 Whispers the tale through centuries toldj 
 And every listening ear hears. 
 
 And all men understand; 
 While far below. 
 
 Beneath the selfsame stars, 
 The silver sea the triremes rode 
 
 Sounds on the selfsame shore. 
 
[ 37 ] 
 
 Sculpture 
 Michael 
 Arigeld' s 
 Greek 
 Slave 
 
 Through untold years a slave 
 
 By thought set free ; 
 To stand again a slave, — • 
 
 The dead stone vibrant, throbbing. 
 Impotent against the encircling bands; 
 
 What man art thou ! 
 An image merely, made of stone! 
 
 A faithful counterfeit of living flesh! 
 Enduring copy of a transient life, 
 
 Limb like to limb, 
 And every feature 
 
 But the duplicate of an external man, 
 So deftly done 
 
 The one who sees 
 Is lost in wonder 
 
 At the external likeness! 
 Or, in thee shall we see, — 
 
 Closing the visual eye 
 And letting fancy free 
 
 To revel in the halls of our imaginings, — 
 The soul of man 
 
 In eagerness and all in vain 
 In combat to be free; 
 
 Unending strife to 'scape the encumbering clay. 
 The secret learn. 
 
 And in the perfect peace of perfect knowledge 
 Strong and assured 
 
 To rest content. 
 
[ 38 ] 
 
 Or spirit of the good 
 Entangled in the mesh of all the evil nets 
 
 Set for unwary man; — 
 The strife perpetual 
 
 Which is the cost of righteous living; 
 Or what thy hidden tale! 
 
 A mean, bound slave art thou! 
 Then whence thy subtle power 
 
 To set men free, 
 To loose them from themselves, 
 
 To summon from their minds 
 Their unused consciousness of higher things, 
 
 To light appreciation's lamp 
 Upon the altar of dulled senses. 
 
 So that joy to beauty wed 
 Steeps men in self-forgetfulness. 
 
 Enthralls and glorifies their lives 
 For one brief hour 
 
 In beauty's realm in thee create! 
 
[ 39 ] 
 
 The master set thee free 
 
 Thy moulded form, 
 
 Conceived in genius' brain, 
 Sprang from the rough hewn block 
 
 'Neath his unerring hand 
 Into thy quivering shape; 
 
 He breathed the potent spell upon thy brow. 
 And his the subtle power which dwells in thee, 
 
 Which lets thee laugh at death 
 From thy high vantage ground 
 
 Of art immortal; 
 And in thy presence makes men stand 
 
 In reverence and awe, 
 As stood the Greeks 
 
 In Attic days 
 Before the marble forms 
 
 Of living gods. 
 
[40] 
 
 Painting Through sunlit woods where dryads dwell, 
 Botticelli's Beneath the blossoming trees 
 
 spring ,, , 1 • 1 1 
 
 Where gentle birds to gentle mates 
 
 In tender song 
 Their loving hearts pour forth; 
 
 Where Pan unto the woods 
 Enchanted music makes, 
 
 Until all living things and earth and air 
 With happy chorus ring; 
 
 Where naiads live in sparkling, laughing streams ; 
 Where placid pools reflect the summer clouds, 
 
 The flight of silent wings. 
 And quivering leaves and swaying boughs; 
 
 Where graceful ferns 
 'Neath tall stemmed lilies droop, 
 
 And daffodil and violet, like bright hued gems, 
 Earth's vivid green 
 
 Of crowded moss and new grown grass 
 Are patterned o'er; 
 
 Where all the hosts of fairy folk 
 Play in the glistening dew; 
 
 And where, — at intervals, — there reigns 
 A stillness so intense. 
 
 The sympathetic ear is filled 
 With that vast hymn of myriad sounds 
 
 Pervading earth and air, — 
 The blasts of all Earth's heralds 
 
 Blended in glorious melody, — 
 The splendid note that nature strikes, 
 
 Proclaiming — 
 Spring is come! 
 
[ 41 ] 
 
 See where she stands! 
 
 Nor stands, but forward bends, so quietly 
 The eye of man no movement notes; 
 
 With flowers bedecked ; — from bounteous ston 
 She strews the earth, — 
 
 A maiden fair, smiling and tender; 
 Forces irresistible, in gentleness concealed, 
 
 Earth's fruitfulness portend; 
 Her sisters gone before, she heeds them not, — 
 
 The breath of icy March, 
 Nor April of uncertain mien, — 
 
 'Tis lovely May, a smile upon her lips. 
 And all the wealth of summer in her eyes ; 
 
 Potent and powerful, gladly expectant. 
 Her destiny unfulfilled, 
 
 The maiden mother, calm and serene, 
 The parent of the yielding year. 
 
Attend upon her now, ye summer days, 
 She gave thee birth, and light, and life; 
 
 Ye sisters three, in circling rythm 
 Tread out the langorous days 
 
 Of summer suns and vaporous skies ; 
 'Neath starlit nights pursue your way 
 
 Through dewy grass and ripening fields, — 
 The winged messenger of love attends your steps, 
 
 And guards the birth, and light, and life of untold 
 years; 
 Attend upon her now, ye autumn days, — 
 
 The end attained, the maid matured, — 
 Pluck from the laden boughs the ripened fruit, 
 
 And each shall be 
 The promise of another spring, — 
 
 The lovely, blushing bride 
 Of all the year. 
 
[43 ] 
 
 Thus man, 
 
 His aspiration soaring in the heights of thought, 
 To find expression other than in words. 
 
 In deep sincerity has wrought; 
 Has builded monuments of use. 
 
 Added thereto all things of loveliness, 
 Cut from reluctant stone fair sculptured forms 
 
 Instinct with life and power, — 
 Products of minds trained in the school 
 
 Where beauty is the theme of all endeavor; 
 With brush and pigment reproduced 
 
 For man's delight 
 The passing scenes of life. 
 
 The face of those beloved. 
 And those ideal themes 
 
 Born and alive in brains imaginative, 
 To stimulate the one who sees. 
 
 To answer in responsive mood 
 The problems genius offers to his mind. 
 
[ 44 ] 
 
 While in man's speech, and in his written word, 
 
 There dwells such marvelous power, 
 Such strength to sway whole empires. 
 
 To stir men's souls, 
 To bend them to the right. 
 
 To make them smile and weep. 
 And hate, and love, and pray. 
 
 That all the assembled hosts 
 Of glittering arms the world has ever seen, 
 
 In influence and potency. 
 To pygmies shrink 
 
 Before Christ's single word. 
 
[45 ] 
 
 Play on, ye tuneful pipes, 
 
 Add your deep harmony 
 To the inspired melody 
 
 Which music lends 
 To beautify our lives. 
 
 There comes a time when mere words fail ; 
 Emotions, like the flush of morn, 
 
 Elusive, swift, intangible. 
 The love light in the lover's eyes, 
 
 The heart with speechless sorrow rent. 
 The formless prayer where aid is none, 
 
 Thy province are. 
 Play on, ye pipes! 
 
 Play martial airs, play hymns of praise! 
 They hear, the soldiers of the Cross, 
 
 Play love, and joy, and peace 
 To all mankind. 
 
VI 
 IMMORTALITY 
 
 In all, through all, which way we turn, — 
 
 Part seen and understood, and part not fathomed, 
 In us the fault may lie; — 
 
 Great stretches far beyond our ken. 
 Where, groping darkly, 
 
 Rises a cry of joy in minds surrendered. 
 Rises a cry for aid in minds dumfounded; 
 
 Ever the tongue of man 
 Framing a word 
 
 Born of his heart's desire, 
 Stay of his wavering sense, — 
 
 Love! Christ! God! 
 Humbly we name it. 
 
 Deep in our heart of hearts 
 Humbly receive it. 
 
[48 ] 
 
 Whence come and whither bound 
 
 Denied us, 
 There is that within us tells the story; — 
 
 Far above the human life 
 A glory 
 
 Filled with wisdom infinite 
 Frames a plan majestic, 
 
 Sets the stars in Heaven, 
 Keeps them in their courses. 
 
 Wills the human sacrifice, — 
 Earth's poor contribution to the building 
 
 Of the consummation forged on high. 
 Seek ye the proofs? 
 
 Look to the beauty of the summer night, 
 See but the beauty of all living things. 
 
 Search in the beauty nature spreads. 
 Lavish handed, over land and sea, 
 
 Contemplate the beauty of the mind. 
 The lives of those who follow Christ among mankind. 
 
[49] 
 
 Past usefulness, 
 Silently they fade away, — 
 
 The violet's petals, human heart beats, 
 The great white moon, — the phantom of a world. 
 
 But in the ash of every sacrifice 
 There hidden lies 
 
 A grain of gold 
 Purified for the end inscrutable. 
 
[ 50] 
 
 Great heart beat of the eternal power, 
 What tiny drop of our poor blood 
 
 Can mingle in the mighty flow 
 Of life immortal! 
 
 Perchance an answer came 
 That Beauty is the name 
 
 Which holds the test; 
 If to the sum of things 
 
 The human being brings 
 Aught that can stand the rays 
 
 Of that keen, searching light. 
 Aught that retains a purity entire, 
 
 Such surely cannot die. 
 But to the heart eternal 
 
 Must rendered be. 
 That all unworthiness, that all unloveliness. 
 
 Through charity divine 
 Is lost in dreamless death. 
 
 Should that cause fear! 
 More dread in this, — 
 
 That all man's ugliness, 
 In that immortal beauty 
 
 Which is God 
 Should mirrored be. 
 
[ 51 ] 
 
 Ah, Love, give unto me thy hand, 
 
 Turn towards me thy strong gaze. 
 That I may read v^ithin those eyes 
 
 The truth that therein lies, — 
 I cannot doubt, 
 
 No beauty dies! 
 Thy hand in mine. 
 
 Dear friend; 
 Courage! 
 
 The failures were of yesterday, 
 Again the sun 
 
 Shall rise. 
 
H 70 86l 
 

 
 ■^ 
 

 •J*^ 
 
 i*r'» av ^ » ^^^^4 '■> -^ * 
 
 >o u <>^ *'i 
 
 '^PV^ 
 
 
 
 
 «>» 4^ o /r\^^^j^ Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
 
 Of* a ^iajTT^gfa Neutralizing Agent: Magnesium Oxide 
 
 -^ >. tV^^'^M.^We Treatment Date: .^-^n 
 
 
 IBbbrreeper 
 
 PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES, L.P. 
 Ill Thomson Park Drive 
 Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
 

 :^ '^. 
 
 
 . »* A 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * <^ 
 
 • ^--/ --A'" %/ -'A'- ^^/ •'^^'° %.** " 
 
 
 bV 
 
 0^ « » • o 
 
 
 ^0^ t' - " O-