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diff --git a/77843-0.txt b/77843-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f18b4e --- /dev/null +++ b/77843-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6779 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77843 *** + + + + +Transcriber’s Note: Poems are ordered by publication year (goal is the +earliest available at least with legible text), then alphabetically +intrayear (ignoring “A”, “An”, and “The”). Poems appear as printed in +source unless changes are given in the notes; however, to avoid much +repetition in the notes, here it’s stated that all poem titles have been +standardized for consistent appearance. Investigation of spelling +involved Google’s Ngram Viewer. Where Mr. Flynn reused a title, the +version is indicated by the year in the title (e.g. title v1921). +Alternative text was created for illustrations. Appendix 1 was created +for this book and is ordered alphabetically by poem title. Appendix 2 +also was created for this book. Additional new material, and the +compilation, are granted to the public domain. This plain text version +of the book uses an underscore (_) to denote the start and end of +italicized text, a hyphen for en-dash, and two hyphens (--) for em-dash. + + + + +COLLECTED POEMS OF CLARENCE EDWIN FLYNN + +Second Edition, 1930 and Earlier + + + +First Edition, 1929 and Earlier +Second Edition, 1930 and Earlier + + + + +ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS +PREFACE +POEMS +APPENDIX 1: BYLINES, BIBLIOGRAPHY, NOTES +APPENDIX 2: INDEX +APPENDIX 3: UPDATES & REVISIONS WITH 2ND EDITION +APPENDIX 4: INACCESSIBLE POEMS + + + + +ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS + + +I would like to thank several librarians. Geoffrey Ross (History, +Philosophy, and Newspaper Library at the University of Illinois +Urbana-Champaign) scanned the necessary documents allowing “The Measure +of Life” to appear in the first edition. Terese DeSimio (Greene County +[OH] Public Library) saved resources in the intercity transfer of an +extract about Clarence Edward Flynn. Lauren Day (University of Michigan +Library) verified the bottom of their physical publication containing +“The Age of a Heart” had been cut off, making the last line of the +poem unrecoverable. + + + + +PREFACE TO 1ST EDITION WITH ADDENDUM + + +Clarence Edwin Flynn (1886-1970) was an American Methodist Episcopal +clergyman, writer, hymnist and lecturer. He’s described as a “writer of +stories, articles and verse appearing in periodicals and anthologies” +and is “represented in anthologies of verse. General character writing, +religious, educational.” [1] [2] His poetry alone appeared in more than +300 different domestic and international publications. A book of Flynn’s +other writings, _Collected Writings of Clarence Edwin Flynn_, is +available on the website Project Gutenberg. His biography is available +on the website Prabook. + +Mr. Flynn’s bylines have varied over his career. Specifically, the +variation in middle name/initial in the first edition amounted to +E (186), Edwin (4), none (3), and F (1). To put those numbers in a +wider context, the variation associated with poetry published in 1930 +and later shows the following preliminary results: Edwin (415), E (98), +Edward (15), none (3), and conflicts within the same publication (2). +“Edward” appears in bylines between 1931-1954. There was an educator +named Clarence Edward Flynn (1890-1956), but one description of his +authorship published a year before his death is very specific and does +not mention verse: “A County Plan of Work for Elementary Schools; A +Workbook for Elementary and High Schools.” [3] It may be that bylines +with “Edward” are due to error and name interchangeability. This brief +analysis is limited by A) the absence of Clarence Edwin Flynn’s +personal papers (their status is unknown to me) and B) only rare +inclusions of his blurb in publications to which he contributed. + + [1] _Who’s Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable +Living Men and Women_. Vol. 24, 1946-1947, Two Years. Chicago: +The A. N. Marquis Co., 1946. p. 780 + [2] Lawrence, Alberta, ed. _Who’s Who Among North American Authors_. +Vol. 5, 1931-1932. Los Angeles: Golden Syndicate Publishing Co., 1931. +p. 1089 + [3] _Who’s Who in the East_. Vol. 5. Chicago: The A. N. Marquis Co., +1955. p. 268 + + + + +POEMS + + + Si Gidders (1902) + + There’s an old man named Si Gidders lives on Uncle Henry’s place, + Jest a common farmer feller, that is all; + Tall, an’ lean, an’ lank in figger, with an awful homely face, + But as much as you could estimate of gall. + Gidders has one wretched failin’, that of wonderin’ at things, + An’ it takes most all his time to humor that, + For it’s wonder, wonder, wonder till yer ear jest fairly rings, + With the how, an’ who, an’ which, an’ where, an’ what. + + He will wonder why the sun don’t shine by night as well as day, + An’ why all the leaves ain’t red instid o’ green; + Why them brindled kind o’ chickens air the ones that allers lay, + An’ why Johnny Smith ain’t fat instid o’ lean. + He will wonder why the sky is blue an’ why it isn’t brown, + An’ why twelve o’clock don’t come at early morn; + He will wonder why things don’t fall up instid o’ fallin’ down, + An’ why Seckel pears don’t grow on stalks of corn. + + He will wonder why Jim Perry’s hair ain’t black instid o’ red, + An’ why summer don’t start in at Christmas time; + Why it is that folks can’t never go to heaven till they’re dead, + An’ why three times three ain’t ten instid o’ nine; + Why don’t daisies bloom in winter, an’ why don’t we have no snow + When the temperature’s a hundred in the shade; + Why don’t tomcats never whistle, en why does a rooster crow + When his mate has just informed him that she’s laid. + + So Si Gidders’ tongue is runnin’ an’ each new thing he may see + Allers sets a wonder workin’ in his head, + He will wonder what it is an’ how it ever came to be, + An’ why it ain’t painted black instid o’ red. + An’ I ’spect that when he dies an’ comes to heaven’s pearly gates + That he won’t find time to step inside at all, + For he’ll want to stop an’ wonder why they hain’t all made of tin, + An’ nailed up with old shoeleather to the wall. + + + + + Hagar’s Song (1906) + + Thou God of mercy, Thou who art + To Abraham a sword and shield, + Must I myself, an infant, yield + Unto the desert’s burning heart? + + Have I been so undutiful + That this death be my recompense, + That Ishmael in his innocence + Should die so young and beautiful? + + Is he so worthless in Thy sight, + Is all that he might do and be + So insignificant to Thee + Who lovest justice, truth, and right? + + But though I crave Thy tenderness, + No longer will I plead with Thee + Whate’er Thy will so let it be. + For even death can bring but rest. + + So not unto the burning sands + Do I commend my dearest joy, + My innocent, my precious boy, + But into Thy most gracious hands. + + But I am like a wreck at sea; + My throat is parched, my heart is sore; + I sigh for rest, not that of yore. + Do to me, Lord, as pleaseth Thee. + + + + + The Cry of a Human (1906) + + When the cares of life are heavy and the world looks dark to me, + When board is high and funds are running low, + I can look back at the faces that I used to love to see-- + The faces of the balmy long ago. + I can wander back along the brooks I loved when but a boy, + When I didn’t have to mend my shirts and sew + The buttons on I busted off, ah! those were days of Joy, + When I lived, a careless laddie, in the happy long ago. + + Somehow, when my dinner’s heavy, then my heart gets heavy, too. + And I long to see the cooky jar again. + It isn’t any wonder that the world looks black and blue, + When you owe at least a half dozen men. + I am longing for the good old days when I could live care free, + And when I was hungry I could just tiptoe + Into the dark old pantry, and eat all that I could see, + And only get my britches fanned in the happy long ago. + + Give me back the nice hot biscuit, give me back the fresh clean clothes, + Give me back the swimmin’ hole and all its joys, + Give me back the tenderness that a mother only knows + Makes the very life and soul of sturdy boys. + Give me back the apple-butter, and I’ll stir it till I die. + Give me back the places that I used to know. + Give me back the fresh fried sausage and the yellow pumpkin pie + That I used to do the chores for in the happy long ago. + + The joy of being grown up has lost all its charm for me, + Since my clothes are growing threadbare down the seams, + And my Sunday hat needs darning, and my necktie seems to be + Drawing near the murmur of Elysian streams. + I am longing for the good old days, when life was new to me, + And the parties where I used to love to go, + The old-time apple cuttin’ and the jolly huskin’ bee, + Where I used to swing the lassies in the happy long ago. + + + + + Child’s Prayer (1907) + + Now I lay me down to sleep + ’Mid the twilight’s gentle gloom, + Soothing me to slumbers deep + In my angel-guarded room, + While the stars look tenderly + Down upon the world and me. + + I pray the Lord my soul to keep + While the shadows hover near. + O, may angel pinions sweep + Where an evil would appear, + Angel footsteps softly press + ’Round my bed in watchfulness. + + If I should die before I wake, + And lightly leave my snowy bed, + And wander out, my way to take + Unto the side of Him who said + Beside the lake of Galilee: + “Forbid them not to come to me.” + + I pray the Lord my soul to take + To walk with him ‘neath clearer skies + Where only joyful souls awake, + Where grander, sweeter songs arise, + Through all the years to come, the same + I humbly pray in Jesus’ name. + + + + + My Father’s House (1908) + + Some times I see in quiet, thoughtful hours + Adown the winding journey of the years, + Beyond a valley full of faded flowers + Whose petals still are wet with human tears, + + An open door that looms beside the way, + And many weary pilgrims entering where + A glad face waits to welcome them alway, + And then I know my Father’s house is there. + + I care not whether it be built of gold, + With pearly gates and shining sapphire walls, + Or whether it be humble, low, and old, + With footworn thresholds and with homely halls. + + I only ask that when my feet have pressed + The journey through, and I have come alone + Unto my Father’s house, that I may rest + Among the loved and lost, and feel at home. + + + + + Hope (1909) + + When every flower has shed its bloom + Afar upon life’s changing ground, + And in the chilling autumn gloom + Their leaves are drifted all around. + One blossom still will lift its eyes + Unto the changeless summer skies. + + When life’s poor lyre has ceased to play, + When faith and love no longer sing, + Still through the shades of closing day + Will tremble one unbroken string + To make life’s music still ascend + In harmony unto the end. + + Oh, flower of hope with deathless hue, + Oh, song of hope, unsilenced still, + Beyond the vast, eternal blue + Ye shine and echo on until + The journey’s ended and the way + Leads into God’s eternal day. + + + + + The King (1909) + + When the King came + He was so like His own, they knew Him not; + And cast in ways of poverty His lot. + There was no blazoned heraldry of fame + When the King came. + + When the King died + Not many wept. The memory of His years + Did not bring many blossoms dewed with tears + Unto the new tomb in the mountainside, + When the King died. + + When the King rose + ’Twas not to go to some far distant land, + Nor yet to dwell within a palace grand, + ’Twas to the palace of the hearts of men + He rose again. + + + + + Battle Hymn (1914) + + The world has seen from age to age + Two marshaled hosts upon the plain + Each other in a war engage, + And strew the years with heroes slain; + And though they seem at times to fail, + The hosts of God shall still prevail. + + Between the hosts of right and wrong + The conflict long has raged afield. + It still must rage, however long, + Till one shall see the other yield. + But, though a countless horde assail, + The hosts of God shall still prevail. + + The days of blood are in the past, + And gone the conflict of the sword. + Unseen the lines of war are cast + Against the armies of the Lord. + But, though their words be fiery hail, + The hosts of God shall still prevail. + + By night and day the conflict goes, + Unheard, unseen, but great and real; + And back and forth God’s friends and foes + Contend for this world’s woe or weal. + Fear not their weapons nor their mail, + For we shall see God’s hosts prevail. + + Hearts, lose not courage. Brains, take fire, + And grow not listless in the fight. + The arms of God shall never tire, + And nothing can withstand His might. + What though at times our banners trail + In dust, our God shall still prevail. + + The world shall know the ways of God. + The nations all shall walk in peace. + Wherever human foot has trod, + The sway of selfishness shall cease. + No more shall horse and rider pale + Go forth, when God’s hosts shall prevail. + + Beneath serene and peaceful skies, + And from an earth without a stain, + Redemption’s anthem shall arise + Throughout the years, for God shall reign. + His cause shall not forever fail, + For, soon or late, He shall prevail. + + + + + Song of the Dove (1914) + + O DOVE, whom do you woo + With your soft and gentle coo + In the freshness of the morning ’mid the sunlight and the dew? + When the first Spring flow’rs are fair + And your voice floats everywhere + On the bosom of the palpitating air? + + O dove, how glad the note + That echoes from your throat + When the lazy clouds like castles of the sunny islands float + In the azure Summer sky, + Ah, let your joy run high, + For the dreary Winter’s coming by and by. + + O dove, how sad the tone + As you sit and grieve alone + In the gathering of the twilight, in your sad, sweet monotone, + With the Autumn hillsides gray + Stretching far--so far away, + But the joys of Spring and Summer gone for aye. + + + + + The Gateway of the Kingdom (1915) + + THE gateway of the Kingdom + It bendeth very low, + Within the reach of every place + Where common people go. + ’Tis grand, but grandly simple. + ’Tis great, yet very small, + Though wide enough that ever + There’s passage-way for all. + + The gateway of the Kingdom + Is not of common gold. + Its pearl is far more precious + Than earthly realm can hold. + It has no rusty hinges. + No marble steps are piled. + The gateway of the Kingdom + Is the spirit of a child. + + + + + Magi and Shepherd (1915) + + There’s a Babe within the manger. Humble men are on the hills. + Where the sheep are safely folded, there the silver moonlight spills. + There’s a rift across the heavens. There’s a light along the sky. + There’s a glory in the valley. There’s an angel song on high. + There’s a Babe within the manger. On the hills are humble men. + “Peace on earth,” rings forth the chorus, and their hearts respond, “Amen!” + + There’s a Babe within the manger. There’s a star that shines above. + ’Tis a star of age-long promise. ’Tis the morning star of love. + There are wise men. They are kneeling. They have brought their tribute there-- + Gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. Behold the majesty they wear. + There are wise men. They are kneeling. Wisdom comes upon its knees. + In its simple recognition of the birth and reign of peace. + + Humble men are on the hillsides, men of wisdom in the stall + Where the new-born King of Glory deigns to find His earthly all. + High and low have met together. There before a common shrine + Rich and poor, unlearned and lettered, each has found the King Divine. + Christ is Lord of humble peasant. He is Lord of royal son. + At His feet all men are equal. In His way all men are one. + + + + + The Open Tomb (1915) + + A thousand gates + Lead to the grave; and through the weary years + The race of men, through bitter, blinding tears, + Have seen the forms they loved most enter there + Where ever waits + An open road on which all feet must fare. + + One only gate + Leads from the grave; one portal outward swings. + ’Tis one alike for peasants and for kings. + Beside it lies a stone that’s rolled away; + And, soon or late, + God’s people shall fare forth into the day. + + O, Mighty One, + We praise thee that when we have finished all + The day’s full hours will hold, and night shall fall + That we may see, although we die upon + A bed of stone, + One door that opens outward on the dawn. + + + + + A Price Unpaid (1915) + + Upon one battlefield is writ in blood + The story of more woe than all the years + Can wash away, e’en with the cleansing flood + Of centuries of peace. Blind, sickening tears + Are caused to flow that never mailed hand + Will seek to dry. There glassy grows the eye + Of him who looked with joy upon the land, + Rich now with death’s ripe harvest. One weak sigh, + Then fades the sky, the fields, and all--and then + The awful silence which alone will say + To those at home, he died, but how or when + Remains a secret of the bloody day. + What logic is there that can justify + The wasting harvest field, the empty home, + The blank despair that comes at last to lie + On faces left to fare their way alone, + Widowed and orphaned--and for naught but this-- + To keep a royal throne from tottering down, + To hold a mile of boundary where it is, + To save a scepter, or preserve a crown? + + + + + Two Princes (1915) + + The War Lord dwells within his palace walls + In all the bright insignia of power; + He gives the word by which a city falls, + Or ships go thundering through Death’s awful hour. + The Prince of Peace knew not an earthly throne, + Had not one resting place to call his own. + + The War Lord in the pomp of place doth ride + Across the borders of the blood-drenched land. + On splendid charger, strong and fiery-eyed + In every place he keeps a presence grand. + The Prince of Peace knew but a humble seat + And walked the earth with weary, dusty feet. + + The War Lord hears the plaudits of the crowd. + Unnumbered men would perish for his name. + To keep his royal robes they wear a shroud, + And bleed to save him from an hour of shame. + The Prince of Peace with thorns upon his head, + Unfriended, through the hard-eyed crowd was led. + + The while the War Lord speaks the myriad waits, + And at his word it cannot choose but die. + His armored hand is laid upon the gates + Of life and death. What matter reasons why? + In one dark hour of loving agony + The Prince of Peace expired upon a tree. + + + + + The Voices of God (1915) + + A THOUSAND voices speak of God. + The gayest flower, the meanest clod, + The highest hill, the deepest sea + Proclaim his messages to me. + I read his story in the Book. + I hear it in the babbling brook; + ’Tis written all across the sky, + And in the silent majesty + Of mountains, lifting from the land. + A note of his undying word + Is in the song of every bird, + And but to-day my Saviour smiled + From out the features of a child. + + + + + The Wealth of Cheer (1915) + + What’s the use of weeping + When the day goes wrong? + Better to be keeping + Pace with mirth and song. + December is December, + But May is always May, + And shine and shade, remember, + Will each come in its day. + + Gloom’s an old, old story, + As ancient as the earth. + And men with heads now hoary + Have measured out its worth. + They speak with one opinion + That, not in gloom and mists, + But in sunshine’s dominion + The wealth of men consists. + + + + + True Values (1916) + + One day an angel came and asked a king, + Sated with power, with love of pomp and gold, + Four things that God must dearly love, to bring + And set them in his presence, so ’tis told. + The king went forth and came again ere night, + And set before the angel in that hour + A jewelled crown, a scepter gleaming bright, + A battle weapon, and a throne of power. + + The angel’s face grew shaded as he gazed + Upon the king’s poor playthings gathered there. + At last again his countenance was raised. + He said: “These are the trappings pride may wear, + But God’s great kingdom knows a richer worth: + A truer value is its high concern.” + “Go”, pled the king, “and from the mighty earth + Bring me those things. I wait for thy return.” + + “Nay, come with me”, the angel said, “and I, + Though I may lead a long and weary way, + Will show you what is best beneath the sky.” + These are the things he showed the king that day: + A kindly life that served unselfishly, + A flower that grew in sweetness undefiled, + A fireside where were love and purity, + The unspoiled spirit of a little child. + + + + + Pictures (1918) + + _The days are pictures, and they pass + As comes and goes some mirage sheen, + As fireflies in the tangled grass, + Or shadows thrown upon the screen. + + Pictures they are of love and care; + Pictures of toil and happiness; + Of mighty men, of ladies fair-- + Incarnate strength and gentleness; + + Pictures of battle and the night + That touches woe with cooling breath; + Of calm years following the fight, + When blossoms deck the fields of death; + + Pictures of paths that wind, and meet + Where Fate’s decrees have willed it so, + Or where erstwhile companion feet + Are led in separate ways to go. + + The days are pictures, and they run + Their hastening course of smiles and tears. + As shadows flit ’twixt sun and sun, + So pass the ever-dying years_. + + + + + When the Curtain Falls (1918) + + When the end is reached, and the curtain falls, + And the echoes die from the voiceless walls, + This is the thing that alone will tell: + The actor’s part--has he played it well? + + A few swift scenes and the course is run; + A few brief facts and the play is done. + May it be well when the far voice calls, + And the lights go out, and the curtain falls. + + + + + The World’s Drama (1918) + + The world’s a screen. Across it flit the shadows + Of all the multitudes that come and go. + They move in dusty lanes, o’er sunny meadows, + And where the hand of toil moves to and fro. + + There is the mourner and the long procession; + There is the maid with joy of which to sing; + There is the warrior, with his blood-possession; + There is the shade of some forgotten king. + + Soon is each gone. Soon yonder in the distance + Each comes amid the mists to disappear, + Where dying light falls on his face or glistens + For one brief moment on his helm or spear. + + Yet as each goes another is approaching. + A multitude is shadowed on ahead; + So moves the line, forevermore encroaching + Upon the borders of the silent dead. + + Thus goes the drama, each his fond part playing, + For what he plays to him is all in all-- + Striving, pursuing, loving, toiling, praying, + Until the darkness overshadows all. + + + + + Jim (1919) + + A chicken-hearted boy was Jim, + A lad with a gentle face and eye. + The boys all joined in a laugh at him + Whenever he chanced to be passing by. + He wouldn’t set foot on a helpless thing. + For a crawling worm he’d turn aside. + He was always making a splint or sling + For some wounded creature that else had died. + + Well, Jim grew up, and the war came on. + Justice and right in the dust lay low. + One day they noticed that Jim was gone, + And wondered if he could face the foe. + It was said that no braver soldier fought + In all the marshaled ranks than Jim; + From many battles he finally brought + The name of a hero home with him. + + We looked to see a steely eye + And a hardened face from his soldier ways, + But the same old lad came marching by + With the gentle eyes of his boyhood days. + He had heard the voices of battle ring; + He had faced the peril from death’s grim shore; + But to-day he treads on no helpless thing, + Though they call him chicken-heart no more. + +[Two illustrations cover the time span of the poem. The first +illustration’s foreground has a boy facing the viewer, walking along a +neighborhood street, and approaching a small, sitting dog whose back +faces the viewer. The street bends right and into the background past +homes and a few neighbors looking in the boy’s direction. A church +steeple is prominent above the homes and trees. The second illustration +has the same viewpoint of the neighborhood. People line the side of the +street, their backs to the viewer, as a troop formation carrying an +American flag parades towards the viewer.] + + + + + Let Us Be Right (1919) + + Let us be right, though all the world may follow + The broken fabric of some failing dream. + As sounds upon our ears its outcry hollow, + And men lose all for some deceiving scheme, + Let us forsake the gold and tinsel masking, + And live for things enduring and secure. + Whate’er the prize the idle crowd is asking, + Let us be right. The path of truth is sure. + + Let us be right, whatever seem our losing, + Some day the tide will turn, and men will know + The thing abiding. Then the common choosing + Will be the substance, not the empty show. + Let us be right. When self’s poor plans are shattered + And all the castles lifted mountain high + By evil hand, are broken down and shattered, + The right shall stand beneath the mighty sky. + + + + + Light and Shadow (1919) + + A BIT of sunshine and a bit of shadow, + And each succeeds the other on the screen. + They chase each other over hill and meadow, + Alternate triumph through each act and scene. + The smile and tear has each in turn its season, + The right and wrong their coronation day, + And foolishness contends for place with reason + --such is a play. + + A bit of gladness and a bit of sighing, + A warm sun’s beaming and the cloudland’s chill + Each comes and goes the while the day is dying + From western hill to farther western hill. + So runs the tale as passing years grow hoary; + So will it be forever and for aye. + A bit of sorrow and a touch of glory + --such is a day. + + + + + The New Day (1919) + + Put up your guns, ye nations, and lay your swords away. + Forget the roar of battle ye heard but yesterday. + Forget the vanished era of autocrats and kings + And turn to face a future of better, finer things. + + We strung our rows of crosses on Flanders’ flow’ry plains. + We touched the fields of Europe with our hearts’ reddest stains. + We walked the shadowed valley: we felt its deadly chill. + Some lingered on its bosom with voice forever still. + + Among the wreck of empires, the dreams of yesterday. + Built on self’s foundations (the dreamers: where are they?). + We face a dawning future upon a shattered earth. + ’Twill be as we shall make it--a thing of threat or worth. + + O ye returning manhood, baptized in battle flame, + Ye who have fought for honor and saved the world from shame, + Ye who have stood for justice beyond the mighty seas, + Come to the task awaiting on battlefields of peace. + + Put up your guns, ye nations, and lay your swords away. + ’Twas yours to live beholding the world’s redemption day. + Let now the earth, forgetting its reign of strife and blood, + Welcome the dawning era--the day of brotherhood. + +[Poem is on cover page with the following additional text: The Sunday +School Journal, March 1919, Volume Fifty-One, Number Three. The poem +overlays an illustration of the Statue of Liberty.] + + + + + The New Year (1919) + + _Each New Year day Time cuts the thread + That binds us to the vanished past. + Its tears, and cares, and pangs are fled. + Its woes are gone, its troubles dead, + And we are free at last. + + It is the road ahead we scan + Whene’er the year is new. + Again we gird our hearts, and plan + For better days. We hope again + In things secure and true. + + Thanks for the hand that steals away + The cares of moments sped. + Thanks for the years we leave today, + But more for all that seems to say: + “’Tis better on ahead_.” + + + + + God’s Garden (1920) + + There blooms a lovely garden + Beneath the smile of God, + Where fairest flow’rs are nodding + Above the smoothest sod. + From it has come the harvest + Of everlasting worth, + Enriching yonder heaven, + As well as hither earth. + + Kind friendships are the breezes + That come with soothing breath; + Love is the life stream, springing + Where else had been but death; + A teacher is its gard’ner; + Its sunlight is the truth; + And in its soil doth blossom + The flower of lovely youth. + +[Poem is framed by illustrated flowers. Outside the frame--from +middle-left to middle-top--is an illustration of two young, smiling +girls standing in the midst of flowers. The older girl is cradling +several picked flowers in one arm while her other are is extended and +selecting another.] + + + + + The Open Soul (1920) + + There is a way + That leads to some rich joy in every day, + To where through immemorial ages gone + Calm Peace has sat upon her regal throne. + There is a road to joy’s supremest goal, + But pilgrims say + It is discerned but by the open soul. + + There is a song + That has the power to scatter courage strong + Through all the moments of the busy day, + And blunt the thorns along the weary way. + Its music always lessens sorrow’s toll, + Though suffered long. + It is no secret to the open soul. + + There is a gleam + That lights with loveliness the hill and stream, + Blesses the days with hours supremely rare, + And threads a line of gladness through each care. + Before it all the shadows swiftly roll + From fettered beam. + It breaks like morning on the open soul. + + + + + The Outcome (1920) + + Life’s always at its best upon the screen. + It is not perfect. Life is never so. + There runs a struggle thru each shifting scene, + And shadows often come, their pall to throw + Across the landscape. Things go wrong a while. + But always comes at last the shine’s glow, + And gloom is followed by the song and smile. + + In every drama wrong must have its reign, + In every tale the villain has his day; + Gladness we see, contrasting it with pain, + And truth is valued but by error’s sway. + The right and wrong are alternate in power, + The scene is now in sun, now shadow cast, + But tho the wrong may triumph for an hour, + The right is seated on the throne at last. + + + + + The Silent Drama (1920) + + Out of the silence often comes + A voice that breaks the stillness deep, + And with an eloquence unheard + Calls hidden mem’ries from their sleep. + It carries power unknown to speech; + It speaks directly to the heart, + Grown thoughtful in the silences. + Such is the screen’s appealing art. + + It calls the strong to lost resolve. + It thrills the weak to better things, + It touches sleeping hopes to life + And in the songless heart it sings. + It opens scenes of loveliness + For eyes long used to barren spot, + This sacred silence that is heard + Where thought is all and voice is not. + + + + + A Trouble Making World (1920) + + There’s a word that keeps us from the best of things, + Making some men peasants, making others kings, + Making all to sorrow, forcing some to die, + For uncounted sorrows the one reason why. + + There’s a word begetting bitterness and strife, + Evermore beclouding all the sky of life, + Driving men to battle when they ought to be + Linked in soul together by fraternity. + + There’s a word that enters in the holy place, + Writes its tale of trouble on the fairest face; + Makes of life a struggle, fraught with grasping greed, + When its years were given for high thought and deed. + + There’s a word that robs us of the happy song; + Makes the earth a treadmill, elevates the strong; + Drives the weak from justice; grinds the poor and worn; + Fills the years with hatred; seeds the world with scorn. + + There’s a word absorbing manhood’s fruitful hour, + Careless of life’s meaning, prodigal of power, + Making regal spirits satisfied with pelf, + It is short but powerful, and its name is self. + + + + + The Builders (1921) + + Each stone that goes into the wall + And lifts it higher from the clay + Is but a life that heeds the call + To serve its God from day to day. + No hammers on their anvils beat, + Yet in some wondrous time to be + The finished work will stand complete-- + The temple of humanity. + + The patient builders--who are they, + Whose hands have toiled and oft alone, + Through many a hard, discouraged day + To set e’er night another stone? + They are the teachers who have brought + The word of righteousness and truth, + The great ideal, the noble thought, + And dropped them in the heart of youth. + +[Poem is on cover page with the following additional text: The Sunday +School Journal, August 1921. Cover has an illustration of a path, lined +by bushes and trees, leading to a large church. The view of the church +is partially obscured by the trees, but its steeple rises above them. +The sky is dominated by tall, white, billowing clouds.] + + + + + The Children v1921 + + WHEN two gray-haired old parents meet + In quiet home or busy street, + The talk will run in formal style + On formal things a little while. + Then, following a silent spell: + “The children, are they doing well?” + + Then faded eyes grow quickly bright. + Worn features take a sudden light, + As they recount with pride and joy + The story of each girl and boy. + How these old parents love to tell + That every child is doing well! + + The great All-Father up above, + I often think, in words of love + Recounts each vict’ry and success, + Joys in His children’s happiness. + I think He, too, delights to tell + That all His own are doing well. + + + + + Climaxes v1921 + + One climax comes in every play, + And only one; + And after it has had its day + The struggle’s won. + Untangled is each vagrant thread; + Sad hearts to happiness are led; + And, with the days all fair ahead, + The play is done. + + One climax comes in every life, + And only one-- + The apex of our human strife, + The race we run. + Then woes are banished; tears are dried; + Our answered questions put aside; + Life’s dearest hope is satisfied; + Then life is done. + + + + + Home v1921 + + _The joy that some hearts treasure, the hope that others prize; + The wistful wish that, buried deep, sometimes in others lies; + A word so dear that men will die with gladness for its sake; + The forge at which are welded strong the ties that naught can break; + + A garden in the wildest waste of this world’s desert life; + A spot where dwell both peace and calm amid the fiercest strife; + A refuge from each storm that beats; the place in all the land + Where there are souls who sympathize and hearts that understand; + + The rock whereon the anchors hold that keep us safe and fast + When else would perish all we are and have amid the blast; + The shrine before whose holy light does fondest worship come; + The choicest ideal of the heart--its sacred name is HOME_. + + + + + The Magic Gateway (1921) + + I turned the cover of a book, + And found it was a gate + Into a field where one might look, + Unwearied, soon and late. + The dreams of every land and sea + Were all about me there. + Kind spirits came and talked with me, + And flowers bloomed everywhere. + + I saw the years that long had sped, + The wondrous scenes of yore. + The mighty past gave up its dead, + They lived and spoke once more. + The greatest minds that ever thought, + And hearts that ever beat, + Came, and their richest treasures brought + To lay them at my feet. + + + + + Shadows v1921 + + We are moving shadows cast + On the world’s great picture screen; + Shadows in a drama vast, + Filled with varied act and scene. + + Shadows flitting in the sun + Like the bees among the flowers; + Shadows hast’ning one by one + Down the course of passing hours. + + Shadows in the sunny space; + Shadows on the tangled grass; + Shadows on the river’s face; + Shadows in the winds that pass. + + Shadows playing in the lane; + Shadows fighting battles brave; + Shadows walking ways of pain; + Shadows falling in the grave. + + Shadows moving in the grove, + Falling on the summer lawn. + On and off the screen they move, + But the play goes ever on. + + + + + The Sunbeam and the Shadow (1921) + + The sunbeam and the shadow + Are met upon the screen. + Each mingles in the making + Of yonder lovely scene. + If all were only shadow, + A leaden cloud would pall. + If it were only sunshine, + ’Twould be no scene at all. + + In life are intermingled + The sunshine and the rain. + In each day strangely blended + Are happiness and pain. + Where’er is told life’s story, + However grave or fair, + The sunshine and the shadow + Succeed each other there. + + + + + The Teacher v1921 + + WHO shapes a mind doth shape the years + That are to be, the joys and tears + Of those unborn. He lays his hand + Upon the future of the land + And turns by thought’s resistless force + The stream of hist’ry in its course. + + Who shapes a life, its hopes, its worth, + Doth shape the future of the earth. + His is a sculptor hand, to mold + The periods as they unfold. + His hand is laid upon the rod + That speeds the purposes of God. + + + + + After-Images (1922) + + The lights go low, the organ swells, + And pours its rhythm everywhere-- + Now thunder, now the ring of bells, + Sounding at twilight o’er the dells, + Now but a whisper in the air. + The whisper and the thunder loud + Are both reflected on the crowd. + + The pictures come, and pass away, + As morn departs or evening stills. + Ambition fights its fevered fray. + The wrong and right have each their day. + Love walks with love upon the hills + Life’s long procession there appears. + And hurries onward thru the years. + + The music dies. The crowds depart. + Each goes his way, pursues his aim; + But something in the thing of art + Has left a mark upon his heart. + Somehow the world is not the same. + The music and the scenes so fair + Have left their after-imagine there. + + + + + Almost (1922) + + The fish we almost captured, + The race we almost won, + The task we almost finished + Before the day was done. + The plan almost accomplished, + The dream almost come true-- + These bring but little comfort + Or help to me and you. + + Near heroes win no laurels; + Near victories are cheap; + And near achievements bring us + No crowns we care to keep. + To come but near is failure. + A miss is like a mile. + The word “almost” can rob us + Of all that is worth while. + + + + + Along the Road (1922) + + The folks we meet along the road, + They are a varied throng-- + A pilgrim struggling with his load; + The singer of the song; + A youth with bright, expectant gaze, + His face with hope alight; + An old man bowed with many days, + And stumbling toward the night. + + The rich, the poor, the high, the low; + The faithless and the true; + The face of joy, the form of woe, + All pass in grand review + We meet, and see their forms no more; + But when the eve is gray + The sweetest thought we ponder o’er + Is whom we’ve helped today. + + + + + A Call for Substitutes (1922) + + There are substitutes for coffee; there are substitutes for tea; + But there’s none for right, or honor, love, or truth, or liberty. + There are substitutes for honey; there are substitutes for soap; + But there’s none for peace, or kindness, or the clinging ray of hope. + There are substitutes for paper; there are substitutes for wheat; + But there’s none for little children with their tiny, toddling feet. + There are substitutes for leather and materials of dress; + But there’s none for kindly service or a heart of happiness. + + There are substitutes for butter; there are substitutes for cream; + But there’s none for aspiration or the wonder of a dream. + There are substitutes for beefsteak; there are substitutes for bread; + But none for the vanished sweetness of a moment that has fled. + There are substitutes for jewels; there are substitutes for gold; + But there’s none for honest thinking or for friendship tried and old. + There are substitutes for rubber and the shining of the sun; + But there’s none for love-lit firesides or the sense of duty done. + + + + + Compensation (1922) + + For everything that happens wrong + A dozen things go right. + For every tear a flood of song + Rings out across the night. + For every dark and stormy day + A week of days are fair. + However chill the clouds and gray, + ’Tis always bright somewhere. + + For every heart of bitterness + A host of hearts are light. + For every hour of deep distress + A whole long day is bright. + For every faithless friend we find + That many friends are true. + So, after all, God’s mighty kind + To such as me and you. + + + + + A Creed (1922) + + I DO believe + That, while in this old world few things are sure, + Right, truth, and love forevermore endure; + That these are ’mongst the things most worth our while + --A song, a smile, + The wiping of a tear from eyes that grieve. + + I do believe + That in the day of famine or of feast + That one is richest who has sought the least; + That, spite of all earth’s woes, and tears, and pains, + Love is, and reigns; + And sunshine through the ages Time doth weave. + + I do believe + God plants some seeds of gladness in each day, + And smiles on children happy at their play; + That living men, though paupers, churls, or slaves, + Are more than graves + To which the grass and mosses damply cleave. + + + + + The Engineer (1922) + + I MUST not be a minute late, + Nor yet too hasty be. + I have a load of human freight + Depending upon me. + I know that loving eyes tonight + Are all along the line, + Waiting to see them each alight-- + These passengers of mine. + + When at the finish of my run + I reach the hour of rest + I want to think on what I’ve done, + And know it was my best. + Of hearts that never felt a fear + I want to dream tonight, + Hearts that were sure the engineer + Would bring them through all right. + +[Illustration of a head crowned with a wreath made from a plant. The +person is facing the viewer. A tree (perhaps the source for the wreath) +is shown next to the head.] + + + + + The Flag at Sea (1922) + + Have you ever felt a craving + On the vastness of the sea, + To behold the silken waving + Of the banner of the free? + Have you searched with tired precision, + Far from where the land unbars, + For a passing moment’s vision + Of the flag of stripes and stars? + + Does it thrill you to remember + When it stood against the sky, + How your heart was like an ember + And a tear was in your eye? + How the old flag thrilled your spirit, + How it made you feel at home, + When your ship that day sailed near it + On the wideness of the foam? + + + + + The Gift of the Farm (1922) + + We thank you, old farm, forever + For the gift you have freely made + To the world and its hard endeavor, + Of the boys and the girls who played + On your beautiful hills and meadows, + Who digged in your kindly soil + And who learned in your sun and shadows + The lesson of honest toil. + + We thank you for hands so ready + Their manifold tasks to do, + For minds that are keen and steady, + For hearts that are strong and true, + For people of lowly station, + For those who have won renown, + For the best who have served the nation + In the country and the town. + + + + + The Gifts of the Church (1922) + + _The dearest friends that life has known + In any time or place + Were made before the wondrous throne + Of mercy and of grace. + The bonds of brotherhood were wrought + In high communion there + Where we have walked with God in thought, + And bowed in common prayer. + + The sweetest mem’ries of the years, + The joys most keen and true, + The kindest words that blessed our ears + The sanctuary knew. + The highest peaks our hearts have scaled, + The fairest roads we trod, + The hours by which all others paled + Were in the house of God_. + + + + + God of To-Day (1922) + + OUR THANKS are thine, + O Mighty One, that thou has safely led + Our fathers through the grim and trying past + And made a way for us in days now dead. + Our gratitude before thy throne we cast, + That hands divine + Have kept our feet and ordered all our ways, + God of the yesterdays. + + We thank thee, too, + For that blest hope we treasure fond and deep-- + The hope our worn hearts lean so heavy on-- + That somewhere in time’s mighty onward sweep + The day of God and righteousness shall dawn + Serene and true. + For all of this we bring our thanks to thee, + God of the years to be. + + But most of all + We thank thee for the golden fruitfulness + Of fields now rich with grain or bright with flowers, + For grace and pardon, joy and blessedness, + And every good that even now is ours. + And so we call + In confidence that thou dost bless our way, + God of this present day. + + + + + The Heart of a Child Is a Scroll (1922) + + THE HEART of a child is a scroll, + A page that is lovely and white; + And to it, as fleeting years roll, + Come hands with a story to write-- + A story of laughter and mirth, + A story of sorrow and tears, + Of love that encircles the earth, + Or sin that embitters the years. + + Be ever so careful, O hand; + Write thou with a sanctified pen. + Thy story shall live in the land + For years in the doings of men. + It shall echo in circles of light, + Or lead to the death of a soul. + Grave here but a message of right, + For the heart of a child is a scroll. + +[Illustration of a mother looking at an infant cradled in her arms. +Backdrop is an unrolled scroll, feather pen, and inkwell. Infant’s +shadow is cast onto the blank scroll.] + + + + + His Epitaph (1922) + + _HE wasn’t rich; he wasn’t great, + His place was lowly and obscure. + His clothing was not up-to-date, + His house was tumble-down and poor. + No honor did he claim. + He never walked with lords and kings. + No glory has illumed his name, + But he was kind to helpless things. + + He won no victories to boast. + He made no conquests, waged no strife. + He never led a conquering host; + He lived an unpretentious life. + But, when is writ the judgment scroll, + And Time its final verdict brings, + This will be said of him: his soul + Was rich in love for helpless things_. + + + + + The Lens (1922) + + Here is a little piece of glass + Set in a tube of shining brass. + Through it had passed in grand review + All that the world’s heart ever knew + Of joy, hope, sorrow, love and fears, + The ceaseless struggle of the years, + The darkest schemes the evil know, + The noblest service men can show. + + Through it the risen dead have walked, + The spectres of the past have stalked. + Hope realized has lingered there, + Likewise the shape of dark despair. + This bit of glass is seasoned well, + For human tongue could never tell + The half it knows of peace and strife, + And all that makes the old world’s life. + + + + + The Magic of the Screen (1922) + + WE look down summer lanes on winter days, + We see the snow amid the summer’s heat. + Far lands are brought and laid before our gaze. + The woodland stream runs by the city street. + The light of noonday breaks the shades of night, + And then is softened to the starlight’s sheen. + The dawn and twilight mingle in our sight, + Such is the fairy magic of the screen. + + THE heavy-hearted slip away from tears + And find the gladness of a fleeting hour + In fairer spaces and more peaceful years, + Where is no dearth of laughter, sun, and flower. + Youth sees the future. Age with faded eye + Looks back in joy on many a vanished scene, + And walks again among the days gone by. + Such is the fairy magic of the Screen. + +[Photo of palm trees with the caption: Photography by Rice, Los +Angeles] + + + + + The Making of Heaven (1922) + + GOD took the paths we longed in vain to go, + And built a golden street beside a river. + He took the gates Time closed to us below, + And built a portal that shall stand forever. + + He took the longings that were vague and dim, + And hedged about by human limitation; + And built a world without a scar or rim + To be our everlasting habitation. + + He took the bitter pangs that life has cost; + Transformed them into joy, and song, and wonder. + He took the treasured blessings we have lost, + And planted them beside the waters yonder. + + He took our thoughts of hills, and woods, and streams; + And made them real, with added beauty given. + He took the shattered fragments of our dreams, + And built a city fair, and called it Heaven. + + + + + The Man Who Knows (1922) + + We owe our debt to the man who thinks, + For he leads our minds afar + Till they stand and tremble on the brinks + Of the strangest things that are. + We owe our debt to the man who hopes, + For he keeps our courage strong. + He speaks his cheer to the soul that gropes, + And it wakens into song. + + And here’s to the man whose soul believes, + In whose heart convictions burn + Through the day of life, and who dying leaves + Them to others in their turn. + But the old world’s mighty tasks are planned + And done, as it onward goes, + By the balanced mind and the steady hand + That belong to the man who knows. + + + + + The Marine (1922) + + He has made a hundred harbors. + He has sailed the seven seas. + He has trod the Arctic ice fields. + He has felt the tropic breeze. + He has dwelt in peaceful cities. + He has taken shade and sun-- + He has never hunted trouble + Nor from trouble ever run. + + Grim and rugged are his features, + Brown his arms and hard his hands; + Yet his eyes are frank and winsome, + With a boyish air he stands. + Readiest of all our fighters, + True his aim, and dread his gun-- + He has never hunted trouble + Nor from trouble ever run. + + + + + The Measure of Life (1922) + + Not what I get, but what I give + As days go fleeting past. + Not how I feel, but how I live + Must tell the tale at last. + Not what I have, but what I do, + The loads I bear, the paths I hew + Through forests no man ever knew, + The highways that I cast. + + Not the advantage that I take + But give amid the strife. + The service for some others’ sake + Where selfishness is rife. + The effort that I make to bless + My time and fellows with success, + And brotherhood, and happiness, + Measures this little life. + + + + + Monuments (1922) + + Sometimes the angels go searching + For the graves of the sons of God. + They traverse the reaching mountains, + The sea, and the rolling sod. + They never on earth would find them + By the marks we so long have known, + For they never stop to decipher + Our records in bronze and stone. + + They find the graves of God’s children + By the monuments builded fair + Through years of struggle and toiling + By the hands that are buried there + Or words that were fitly spoken, + Of service devoted, true. + We mortals may never see them, + But God’s messengers always do. + + + + + My Riches (1922) + + In no triumphal line I ride, + No praise falls on my ears; + But I’ve a flag that waves in pride, + Above me through the years. + A flag whose folds are dear to me, + Whose glory I confess-- + The symbol of my liberty, + And peace, and happiness. + + Little of riches have I known, + Little perhaps deserve; + But I’ve a land to call my own, + A people I can serve. + A country that’s as broad and fair, + As any on the ball; + With happy people everywhere-- + An equal chance for all. + + + + + A Parents’ Prayer v1922 + + God bless our little ones tonight, + Our little ones--and thine. + Protect their slumber by thy might. + Grant them thy peace divine. + Help us no duty to forget + We owe to them or thee, + And leave us nothing to regret + In years that are to be. + + God, bless our little ones tonight, + Our little ones--and thine. + Help us to rear them true, and right, + And clean, and strong, and fine. + Lead them in ways more beautiful + Than we have ever seen, + And make them each more dutiful + Than we have ever been. + + + + + Patchwork (1922) + + A bit of cloud and a bit of blue + Make the wide and mighty sky. + A touch of drought with the rain and dew + Make the seasons passing by. + A bit of black and a bit of white + On the canvas make the scene. + A bit of shade and a gleam of light + Make the drama on the screen. + + A bit of toil and a bit of rest + Make our winding human way. + The rosy East and the flaming West + Make the glory of a day. + A bit of hope and a bit of fear + Make the heart’s eternal strife. + A song of joy and a falling tear + Make the daily round of life. + + + + + A Perfect Day (1922) + + A PERFECT day is made of perfect hours, + And perfect hours of perfect moments run. + Of blessings realized and gathered flowers + Between the rising and the set of sun. + Soon they are gone. Swiftly the light that played + On crests of gladness all has passed away. + Dawn turns to Noon. Noon dies to Evening’s shade. + Each at its best helps make a perfect day. + + A perfect day is in the reach of all + Who will but fill each moment to the full + With joy, and meaning, thought, and dream, and all + That makes life deep, and rich, and wonderful. + It is within the reach of all who hold + The will to serve, and laugh, and sing, an play + Until the sunset covers all with gold, + And darkness falls upon a perfect day. + + + + + Picture Books (1922) + + THEY are long gone, those pleasant hours, + When we as girls and boys + Turned from our play among the flowers, + From all our painted toys, + To turn the leaves of picture books, + To live with lords, and kings, + Swineherds, and chimney sweeps, and cooks, + Soldiers, and such like things. + + How still they stood! From day to day + No figure ever stirred. + The armies never marched away, + Nor ever spoke a word. + Now soldiers march with fife and drum. + Men move in every scene. + The picture books of old have come + To life upon the screen. + + + + + Picture Writing (1922) + + Of old our fathers wrote in pictures. + ’Twas in an age of savage men. + The years have rolled a mighty cycle, + And we’ve got round to it again. + They carved their story on the mountain + Where it for ages might be seen. + We write ours on a filmy ribbon, + And throw it on a silver screen. + + If they who carved on cliff and hillside + Might but return today and see + The picture writing of the present, + Big with surprise their eyes would be. + We learned their message from the pictures, + Tho tiresome was the task and slow; + But we shall pass along a story + That all the world may read and know. + + + + + A Prayer for Thanksgiving (1922) + + _While we are seated at our board + In comfort here today, + With happy face, and kindly word, + Let us not fail to pray + For all who do not have their share + Of comfort and of gain, + For troubled people everywhere + In hunger or in pain. + + Where weary mothers toil unfed + In places foul and dim, + Where little children cry for bread + And none is given them, + Lord, let Thy mercy have its way. + Sow plenty in the land, + And teach us in our joy today + To lend a helping hand_. + + + + + A Psalm of the Movies (1922) + _(With all due apologies.)_ + + Tell me not in sturdy measure + What it says upon the screen. + It does damage to my pleasure, + And the words are plainly seen. + + I am really in earnest, + As the titles onward roll; + And so, when to me thou turnest, + Do not read aloud their scroll. + + Many peevish eyes remind us, + Tho each passage be sublime, + Folks before and folks behind us + All can read both prose and rhyme. + + In the scene of love and battle, + As the swift film pictures life, + If you do not cease your prattle, + There most surely will be strife. + + Let us watch and see what’s doing + Till the hast’ning drama ends, + And not work the play’s undoing, + Reading titles to our friends. + + + + + The Radio Neighborhood (1922) + + While we have struggled patiently + Toward the larger good, + Friendship on every land and sea, + A world-wide neighborhood, + Space set its limits everywhere, + Its hedging curtains swirled; + But now we speed o’er land, through air, + And talk around the world. + + Who is our neighbor? Yesterday + It was the man whose home + Was down the road or o’er the way + Where we might often come. + Today the golden tie that binds + Men’s souls in joy or care, + The word uniting hearts and minds, + Is vibrant everywhere. + + + + + The Section Foreman (1922) + + “I LIKE to have my section here + The cleanest on the line. + I tell the men to keep it clear + Of every weed and vine. + The ties are new. The rails are bright. + The ballast’s firm and strong. + The road’s a shining groove of light + The trains may slip along.” + + “And on the road we all must take, + The journey all pursue, + Though ’tis not marked by line or stake, + I have a section, too. + ’Twill be inspected some bright day + By the Great Judge divine, + And how I’d like to hear Him say: + ‛The cleanest on the line’!” + + + + + The Shadow World (1922) + + There is a world of shadows; + We see it on the screen + --A world of grassy meadows, + With sunlit streams between, + Streams flowing to the ocean. + They come from everywhere. + Love, hope, despair, devotion, + Joy, sorrow--all are there. + + This world of wondrous seeming + Is not a distant place. + ’Tis a new way of dreaming + To walk in it a space, + To tread its flow’ring meadows, + To sit beside its streams. + It is a world of shadows, + And yet how real it seems! + + + + + The Stars and Stripes for Me (1922) + + I bare my head to banners + That others know and love, + But one I hold the fairest + That decks the blue above. + Whatever be their emblems, + Wherever they may be, + Stand, if you will, beneath them-- + But the Stars and Stripes for me. + + It stands for all I covet, + It leads in all I seek; + Its folds afford protection + And succor to the weak; + It stands for right and justice, + And peace and liberty. + To others you are welcome-- + But the Stars and Stripes for me. + + No flag shall wave above it + On any purpose bent, + Nor snatch its honor from it-- + At least with my consent. + It speaks of proud traditions, + High hopes for years to be. + No other scheme or banner + But the Stars and Stripes for me. + + + + + The Station (1922) + + THIS is a place of endings and of startings, + Of journeys finished, journeys just begun. + It is a place of meetings and of partings, + Of heart-ties welded and of struggles done. + It is a place of laughter and of sighing, + And both commingled in some heart that swells; + A place of whispered questions, low replying, + Lost in the clanging din of engine bells. + + It is a place of partings and of meetings, + A place of hoping and a place of fear, + A place of farewells and a place of greetings. + The mountain crests of life are rounded here. + Here does the world pass by in long procession. + Here do the heart’s tides ebb, and flow, and surge. + Earth’s best and worst are mingled in the station. + Here do the paths of all the world converge. + +[Poem title in cursive font is above an illustration surrounding the +author’s name. Left side has city skyscrapers and a dollar sign. Middle +has a train station. Right side has a simpler home in the countryside +and a heart. White, billowing clouds form a prominent background for +the city and country settings. One double-line encircles all structures +and the author’s name.] + + + + + The Teacher v1922 + + The eyes of the ages are toward him. + The love of the race is his own. + The heart of the world will reward him + With a name that is more than a throne. + The life that he lives is unending, + For he is the servant of youth. + Earth is lit by the flame he is tending + --This priest at the altar of truth. + +[Poem is on cover page with the following additional text: The Sunday +School Journal, August 1922. The cover has an illustration of a +historical setting. A man wearing robes and headband, sitting in a +prominent stone chair on a raised platform, is looking at an unrolled +scroll in his hands. He faces the viewer while four nearby children +dressed in chitons and sandals look at him: one stands on each side of +the chair, the third sits in front, and the fourth stands in front. The +chair and people are left of center. A large column frames the right +side. The poem is between the people and column and prominently +displayed in a housing resembling the facade of a temple. A tiger +skin--head attached with gaping mouth--is in the foreground. +Immediately behind all this is a stone wall with an engraving of a +person whose activity is obscured by the publication’s title.] + + + + + The Temple (1922) + + _When each home is a temple, + Its every room a shrine, + Its hearth a sacred altar + Inscribed to things divine; + When each eye in the circle + Reflects that altar flame, + Each mealtime sacramental + Unto the Wondrous Name; + + When each morn is a prayer-time + Each evening hour is blessed + With all the grace of kindness + And all the peace of rest; + When each task is a service, + Each word a psalm of praise, + The world will swing in sunshine + Through all the golden days_. + + + + + Voices of the Dawn (1922) + + Soft breaths of wind that gently pass, + Sigh in the branches of a tree, + And whisper in the tangled grass; + The early droning of a bee, + Shaking the dew from dripping wings + Among the blossoms on the lawn; + The sprightly chirp of waking things. + These are the voices of the dawn. + + The falling of a loosened leaf, + That seems loud where all is so still; + A field-mouse rustling in a sheaf; + The low of kine around the hill; + A little tinkling waterfall, + Whose bubbles gurgle and are gone; + A skylark’s song; a robin’s call. + These are the voices of the dawn. + + + + + The Watchdog of the Sea (1922) + + Her silent body, slim and gray, + Hangs grimly off the bar, + Then, like a wraith, she slips away, + Through mist to ports afar. + She tells not where her course may lie, + Nor cares what perils be, + She goes, nor ever questions why-- + The watchdog of the sea. + + She plows alike through light and dark, + She scents the far wind’s breath; + Only at foemen does she bark, + And then her bark is death. + She keeps our coasts from every threat, + Guards home and liberty; + Her courage has not failed us yet-- + The watchdog of the sea. + + + + + Where Is Heaven? (1922) + + WHO has not heaven in his soul + May seek o’er land and main, + From East to West, from Pole to Pole; + But he will seek in vain. + He may traverse the mighty sky, + Ascend through spaces dim; + But heaven with all its ecstacy + Will not exist for him. + + Who carries heaven in his heart, + Its sunshine in his breast, + Need never seek a place apart, + For every place is blest + --The hill, the vale, the sea, the air, + The stream, the forest dim. + The light of God from portals fair + Shines everywhere for him. + + + + + Climaxes v1923 + + We live thru drab, prosaic days + That slowly come and go; + We tread a thousand weary ways, + And heavy burdens know; + We toil in patience thru the years, + Alike in sun and shower, + Paying the price of blood and tears + For one climactic hour. + + We tread the boards thru action long, + Face conflict grim and hard, + To gain one triumph over wrong, + One moment of reward. + We move upon the mighty screen + From dawn to set of sun + To make one little perfect scene + Before our part is done. + + + + + The Creator (1923) + + I looked in the face of a rose + As it nodded in springtime and smiled. + I saw where eternity glows + In the sweet, tender eyes of a child. + I looked in a sunbeam in air. + They each bore an image divine. + The Creator was everywhere. + + I looked at the set of the sun, + And the crag that reflected its light. + I thought on the day that was done, + And I pondered the stars of the night. + And I looked in the eyes of a man + Who had stumbled through sinning to prayer. + God’s fingerprints there I could scan. + He awaited me everywhere. + + + + + Electricity (1923) + + Mankind’s great servant I, + A servant long unknown + And still unseen, save in the sky + When I illume its zone. + I sweep around the stars, + Ascend through spaces dim. + I light my lamps where night unbars + Above the mountains grim. + + But still my chief delight + Is not to rock the deep, + And flash my fires across the night + Where angry tempests sweep. + It is to drive the keel, + Bear words from place to place, + To swing the beam, and turn the wheel, + And serve the human race. + +[Illustration of a stormy night. Foreground fills bottom third of the +frame with wind-swept grass. Pine tree fills the frame and is +illuminated by a single lightning bolt. Behind the tree whiteness fills +the middle third of the frame; its rounded top together with its +juxtaposition with the rounded foreground gives it a crescent shape +(the moon?). A few stars are visible.] + + + + + An Electric Personality (1923) + + A most _electric_ gentleman + He was his whole life through. + Down busy ways his _current_ ran, + As all his friends well knew. + He was _live wire_, so to say, + He liked to see things go, + _Magnetic_ in most every way + --_A human dynamo_. + + One day a blue coat collared him + When on some mischief bent, + And in a jail cell dark and dim + His next few days were spent. + What was the _charge_ against him? Yes + ’Twas natural, you see, + So much so you could really guess + --Assault and _Battery_. + + + + + The End of the Trail (1923) + + I must travel the miles till the journey is done, + Whatsoever the turn of the way. + I shall bring up at last at the set of the sun, + And shall rest at the close of the day. + Let me deal as I journey with foeman and friends + In a way that no man can assail, + And find nothing but peace at the roadway’s last bend, + When I come to the end of the trail. + + We are brothers who travel a great, common road, + And the journey is easy for none. + We must succor the weary and lift on the load + Of the pilgrim whose courage is done. + Let me deal with them each on my way to the West + With a mercy that never shall fail, + And lie down to my dreams with a conscience at rest + When I come to the end of the trail. + + + + + + If Christ Is Not Divine (1923) + + If Christ is not divine, + Then lay the Book away, + And every blessed faith resign + That has so long been yours and mine, + Through many a trying day; + Forget the place of bended knee; + And dream no more of worlds to be. + + If Christ is not divine, + Go seal again the tomb; + Take down the Cross, Redemption’s sign; + Quench all the stars of hope that shine; + Forget the upper room; + And let us turn and travel on + Across the night that knows no dawn. + + + + + It Might Be Worse (1923) + + The cost of living hits us here. + Taxes are climbing out of sight. + This hasn’t been a good crop year. + The season didn’t turn out right. + We had a drouth and then a flood. + Spring was too hot and fall too chill. + But we have shelter, clothes and food, + And all our dear ones with us still. + + We still have friends to share our way. + We have the glory of the day, + The freedom of the hill and plain. + We have the beauty of the sky, + God’s love through dawn and evenfall. + And so, though same things seem awry, + We’re pretty lucky after all. + + + + + The Making of Home (1923) + + God took a hearth-fire, warm and bright, + And planted love beside it; + Spun happy laughter through its light, + So gay no gloom could hide it. + He wove a golden thread of song + Among the flick’ring shadows, + Like that where days are bright and long + Upon the summer meadows. + + He made a sanctuary fair + With His own presence gifted. + He built a holy altar there + Where hearts should oft be lifted. + With His watch-care perennial + He wrapped it ’round and framed it. + He flung a roof above it all, + And Home was what He named it. + + + + + No Room in the Inn (1923) + + _The stars in the heavens were gleaming + On mountains, and meadows, and rills. + The song of the angels was streaming + While shepherds kept watch on the hills. + The wise men bent low by a manger, + Apart from Earth’s striving and din, + To welcome the Heavenly Stranger, + For there was no room in the inn. + + The years have not halted their sweeping, + It is Christmas again on the earth. + Again the glad season we’re keeping, + Recounting the tale of His birth. + Let not our hearts be, as He sees us, + So crowded with pleasure and sin + They can offer no welcome to Jesus. + Lord, let there be room in the inn_. + + + + + Our Hearts Forget (1923) + + _Our hearts forget, + Amid the daily round of toil and fret. + They are so weak, so prone to lose their hold + On dreams of yesterday, and treasures old. + The thoughts that thrilled them in a vanished day, + Forgotten now, are cold in ashes gray. + Life brings us wondrous days and hours, but yet + + Our hearts forget + The times of joy and vision we have met, + The binding vows we once so bravely made, + The fond petitions that we trembling laid + Before the Great, White, Shining Throne above, + The tender, wistful, clinging bonds of love, + Contrition’s anguished and tear-washed regret + Our hearts forget_. + + + + + A Prayer (1923) + + We thank Thee, Father, for the care + That did not come to try us, + The burden that we did not bear, + The trouble that passed by us, + The task we did not fail to do, + The hurt we did not cherish, + The friend who did not prove untrue, + The joy that did not perish. + + We thank Thee for the blinding storm + That did not loose its swelling, + And for the sudden blight of harm + That came not nigh our dwelling. + We thank Thee for the dart unsped, + The bitter word unspoken, + The grave unmade, the tear unshed, + The heart-tie still unbroken. + + + + + The Second Wind (1923) + + When “Lizzie” starts to climb a hill + Too hard to make “on high,” + She goes it very well until + Her power begins to die. + Then, shifting to another gear, + She leaves the slope behind, + And hustles on without a fear + Upon her second wind. + + I notice it is so with men. + They start out with a will, + They go it well awhile, and then, + Slow down midway the hill. + But, seeing that their strength is run, + They change their gear, and find + The world’s best work is often done + On people’s second wind. + + + + + The Serving Giant (1923) + + The mighty giant of the air, + More ancient than the sun + Whose power is vibrant everywhere + That restless force may run + Shakes the foundation of the hill, + Or rends the ground in twain, + Or blasts the forest at his will + And levels all again. + + And yet he stoops to hold the light + That aged eyes may see. + He warms the baby’s feet at night, + And cooks for company. + He does a thousand little things + To help the world along. + He who the most of service brings + Is strongest of the strong. + + + + + The Teacher v1923 + + HE NEVER wandered far from his own town, + The little hamlet where he lived and died, + And yet his pupils traveled up and down + The whole wide world of town and countryside. + He sought no honor to adorn his name + Nor dreamed of crowns that tarnish and grow dim; + But those he taught achieved undying fame + And in their triumph hour remembered him. + + He had no time to mold the wide world’s life + Or take a hand in the affairs of state; + But others did he send into the strife + And through them helped to shape his people’s fate. + He won no earthly riches for himself. + He had no time to waste in seeking gold + But every day bestowed on him a pelf + Of love whose value never could be told. + +[Poem is on cover page with the following additional text: The Sunday +School Journal, September 1923. The cover has an illustration of a +rural scene. Bottom third is landscape. A dirt road in the foreground +gradually descends into a town having a church on its outskirts. The +road is lined with bushes. Fields extend from the bushes. A large oak +tree in the foreground frames the scene’s left side and top half.] + + + + + Transforming Love (1923) + + _Love transforms all things. + Lone days are touched with light, + And trying moments lose their stings, + And vexing things come right. + Love’s ointment to our eyes applied, + We see with vision glorified. + + Love transforms all things-- + Worn faces, hardened hands. + To the poor hovel glory clings, + For Love’s heart understands. + Whatever it beholds is fair; + It sees each hidden beauty there_. + + + + + The Window of Dreams (1923) + + There is a little window. + ’Tis called, I think, a screen. + Thru it the strangest people + And fairest things are seen. + Calm valleys, silent woodlands, + Tall summits, shining streams, + Long roads and busy cities + Are in this world of dreams. + + There weary hearts may travel, + Each to its wonted place; + And lonely ones may revel + In pictured act and face. + There to our hidden longings + The waiting answer gleams + The while our thoughts inhabit + This pictured world of dreams. + + + + + Brotherhood (1924) + + _Let black be black and white be white, + As they were meant to be; + But let the hearts of men be right + On every land and sea. + Let brown and yellow boast their race, + Their blood no taint e’er tell; + But let them each possess the grace + To wish a neighbor well. + + Let us forget our foolish strife, + And all our groundless hate. + We needs must live a common life, + And share a common fate. + Whatever troubles we must stem, + Whate’er our place or name, + Beneath the crust that covers them + Our hearts are all the same_. + + + + + The Builder v1924 + + _The builder of the future + Is not the trader keen, + The driver of the turbine, + Nor any swift machine; + Not he who rides in triumph + Through the admiring town, + Fawning for public praises + And seeking for renown. + + The builder of the future + Sits not upon a throne. + He toils among the shadows, + His struggles oft unknown. + He is the one who kindles + And keeps the fires of truth, + The teacher who is molding + The plastic heart of youth_. + + + + + Childhood on the Farm (1924) + + In many a crowded city + Where moves the human tide, + Eyes look with eager longing + To some old countryside. + Hearts that have long been sated + With earth recall the charm + Of life’s morning splendor + In childhood on the farm. + + From many a path of glory + And many a throne of power + Is still recalled the wonder + Of some dear, distant hour. + Men look through years of toiling, + Of sorrow, strife, and harm, + And treasures unforgotten + Their childhood on the farm. + + + + + The Clock (1924) + + WHAT is the matter with our clock + I cannot understand. + It sounds its steady old tick-tock + With mien and manner grand. + To look at its great open face + You’d think it truthful quite. + I’m sorry such is not the case. + It’s hardly ever right. + + Just yesterday when I was blue + Because Tom didn’t call + To play with me when work was through, + Its hands scarce moved at all. + When I went to his house today + To spend an hour or so, + We’d scarce got started at our play + Till it was time to go. + + + + + The Dream (1924) + + I had a dream the other night, + Too sweet for word of tongue, + Of days when, beautiful and bright, + The children all were young. + I saw them playing on the floor + And ’mongst the dooryard flowers. + Soft baby voices came once more + From unforgotten hours. + + I came from work when eve was late + And all the sky was gold. + They ran to meet me at the gate + With greetings as of old. + I helped to tuck them in at night + With prayers of happiness, + But my arms ached when dawn was bright + With a great emptiness. + + + + + An Easter Vision (1924) + + Whene’er I hear the Easter Bells + Ring out their carols gay, + The graves from all the hills and dells + Dissolve from sight away. + I see the mighty planet left + Without a marble stone + To tell of death, or one bereft + Who comes to weep alone. + + Dear hands, long folded to their rest, + Return to touch my own, + And voices memory has blessed + In each familiar tone + Speak as in other days to me; + While on the springtime’s breath + Is borne to every land and sea + The news: “There is no death.” + + + + + The Electric Spark (1924) + + SEE this snappy little spark + Flashing pertly in the dark; + Coming with its sudden gleam + Out from nowhere, it would seem; + Glowing here against the shade, + Fire unkindled, light unmade, + Brother to the bolt’s fierce blow + And the driving dynamo. + + Here is hid the mystery, + Mayhap, of the land and sea. + All creation’s story may + Hide within this flashing ray. + Light, and heat, and force it holds; + Boundless energy unfolds; + Tells the secret, if we find it, + Of the God who stands behind it. + + + + + Fade-Outs (1924) + + Faces, like stars, rise on our little ken; + Shine on our souls with warm and cheering ray. + Then, like the stars, they pass from us again, + Leaving the dreary world of yesterday. + Friends slip into our little world awhile. + Joys come to thrill us with their rapture keen. + The friends go trudging on their winding mile + The joys fade as a picture on the screen. + + Altho unseen, they are not wholly gone. + A friendship once established cannot die. + A joy once tasted sweetly lingers on, + A perfumed presence never seen but nigh. + In the great drama of the fleeting years + They come upon the stage and play their part. + Then, tho each wondrous vision disappears, + It leaves its deathless image on the heart. + + + + + Film Judgment (1924) + + The man who reads the titles, + The man who tramps our toes, + The man who holds the end seat + Whatever comes and goes, + The man who laughs so loudly + That all the house can hear, + The man who with his snoring + Outrages every ear. + + All died, and took their journey + Where the unseen begins, + And stood before the judgment + To answer for their sins. + They got a common sentence. + Each one was ordered flat + To sit and fume forever + Behind a picture hat. + + + + + Finding God (1924) + + I found Him in the whisp’ring pines, + And in the beauty of the rose; + I found Him where the first star shines, + Above the Summer day’s soft close; + I found Him where the storms grew wild; + I found Him in the happy face + And manner of a little child, + Revealing loveliness and grace. + + I found Him in the swinging suns + That wheel their way through endless space, + And in the humblest path that runs + To love’s sequestered dwelling place; + I found Him where the violets dwell, + And where the bluebirds wheel and dart; + But never really knew Him well + Until I found Him in my heart. + + + + + The Firefly (1924) + + We’ve never gotten to it, + With all our learning keen. + We simply cannot do it + With any fine machine. + Old Nature’s lanterns greet us + When dusk succeeds the sun. + A thousand miles they beat us + On all we’ve ever done. + + In spite of shining crescent + And starbeam’s boasted light, + The firefly’s incandescent + Most glorifies the night. + Across the meadows flying + Cold light it generates. + We, too, have long been trying, + But Time still stands and waits. + + + + + The God of the Beginning (1924) + + IN the beginning was God. Beyond Time’s threshold he hovered, + Back of the earliest dawn or the flush of the first fair spring. + Farther than eye has disclosed or the keenest thought has discovered, + Moved in the silences vast the Maker of everything. + Back of the first heart-ties and the first warm heart-fires lighted, + Back of gleaming sky, the sea, and the shining sod, + Back of the first fond dream that a hopeful heart e’er sighted, + Lingered the Soul Divine and brooded the Love of God. + + IN the beginning was God. O’er struggle and strife diurnal, + The void, and the mist, and the darkness, the mire, and the slime, and the clay, + Through the long course of the ages has watched the Spirit Eternal + Seeking for men the dawn of a better and kindlier day. + Brooding, watching, and hoping--but, withal, ever beseeching, + Over the track of time a saving shade it has cast, + And into the distant future as far as the years are reaching. + In the beginning was God, and God shall be at the last. + + + + + Jove’s Plaint (1924) + + The good old days have vanished, + And I suppose forever. + My thunderbolt once quivered + O’er mountain, plain and river. + But now they have it captured, + These humans so audacious. + They dole it out through cables, + To serve their plans rapacious. + + They sell it through a meter, + Howe’er the gods may scoff it. + They send a monthly statement, + And make a profit off it. + Alas, my bolt of thunder + (And what worse could befall it?) + Is hopelessly commercialized. + “Juice” now I think they call it. + + + + + The Land of Heart’s Desire (1924) + + There is a land of wonder + With fields and towers agleam. + I often see it yonder + Beyond the Hills of Dream, + Touched by the glow of morning, + Lit by the sunset’s fire, + Or with starbeams adorning-- + The Land of Heart’s Desire. + + Along the road of duty + We daily struggle on; + But e’er we touch its beauty, + Eluding us, ’tis gone. + Yet through the clinging shadows, + The brambles, and the mire, + It lures us toward its meadows-- + The Land of Heart’s Desire. + + + + + Minds (1924) + + SOME minds are flaming rockets + That flit among the stars; + And some are gaily nickeled + And painted motor cars; + And some are lumbering wagons + That slowly make their way, + With nothing keen to offer + And nothing fine to say. + + THE swiftly flaming rocket + Loses its brilliancy. + The fine car is supplanted + By one more fair to see. + But the slow-moving wagon + That lumbers down the road + Is certain of arrival + And bears the heavy load. + + + + + Miracle (1924) + + Whoever saw a garden grow, + Or watched a robin build her nest, + Or lingered in the flaming glow + Of sunset blazing in the West; + Whoever walked the fruitful plain, + And saw the green stalks reach, and swell, + And ripen to a field of grain + Knows earth is full of miracle. + + Whoever wandered in the wood, + And rambled down its aisle of dreams, + Or sought the orchard path, or stood + Where falls the murmur of a stream; + Whoever watched a cloudland wild, + Or sensed the twilight’s gentle spell, + Or prattled with a little child + Knows life is full of miracle. + + + + + The Picture’s Lament (1924) + + They take great liberties with me, + Nor ever ask me yea or nay. + I’m just as weary as can be + From prancing on a screen all day. + I’ve dug, and climbed, and laughed, and wept, + Loitered, and danced to make a show; + And not a moment have I slept. + They keep me always on the go. + + No choice is mine. I needs must move, + Swiftly, obedient, silently. + No fields of freedom do I rove. + My course is parceled out for me. + But this I cannot quite forget + --If I can wake some old refrain + Or still a rush of wild regret, + I shall not then have toiled in vain. + + + + + Prayer for Normal Men (1924) + + For every poor, defective soul that wanders + In the dark shades of subjectivity, + For each deluded mind that glibly flounders + In the foul mire of abnormality, + Give us a host who cheerful laughter scatter, + Whose willing hands toil on in love’s sweet right, + Who plant the roses, guide the feet that patter + Around the hearth of happiness at night. + + Give us, O God, a race of normal people + Who walk no paths of morbidness apart; + Who dwell not in the bog, nor yet the steeple, + But in the dusty way, the busy mart; + Who like their work, care for the folks about them, + And make each day a thing of joy and song. + This world of our’s could never do without them. + They are the men who make it move along. + + + + + The Railroad (1924) + + WHERE do they go, these shining rails + That ramble so far away + That seem to reach where the twilight pales + At the beautiful gates of day?” + “They run to the wider world, my boy, + Of dreaming, and strife, and again, + With its mingling of weariness and joy, + To the city--and back again. + + Out of the valley and o’er the hill + Where childhood has had its day, + Out of the hamlet so small and still + And into the far away, + On, on to the world of toil, my lad, + With its struggle of brawn and brain, + Some of it good and some of it bad, + To the city--and back again. + + + + + Shadows on the Wall (1924) + + Coming, going, thru the play, + Flashing on the screen, + Do the actors take their way. + Briefly each is seen. + What are they--these shapes that move, + Forms that rise and fall, + Urged by hope, or fear, or love? + Shadows on the wall. + + In the daily strain and strife + Shift and change appear. + On the larger stage of life + Mingle smile and tear. + Here our little race we run, + Then are vanished all. + What are we when all is done? + Shadows on the wall. + + + + + Sorrow (1924) + + God sometimes drops the shadows o’er us, + And leaves them for a space, + That we may clearly see before us + The image of the love he bore us + Reflected on his face. + + He sometimes sends us hours of grieving, + That we may slip away + From sounds and voices so deceiving, + And once again in faith believing + Kneel at his throne and pray. + + He sometimes leaves us to our weeping, + Though bitter seem our tears, + That briny drops from we eyes creeping + May wake some happiness long sleeping + For gladder, sweeter years. + + + + + The Things That I Believe (1924) + + The things that I believe + --These things are life to me. + Some all the senses might deceive, + For some I cannot see; + But in the tempest fierce and old + I feel their strong truth grip and hold. + + The things that I believe + --I cannot let them go; + And empty-hearted grope and grieve + In darkness and in woe. + So, God, I thank my every star + They are no fewer than they are. + + + + + Today and Tomorrow (1924) + + Could something only make today + As lovely as tomorrow, + As free from care and shadows gray, + As void of tears and sorrow, + The world would be a perfect place, + Without a woe to blight it. + Earth would be rich in every grace, + With happiness to light it. + + Yet day is day, and life is life. + Time e’er repeats its story. + Each morning brings its toil and strife, + Likewise its gleam of glory. + Each brings its mingled shine and shade, + Its mingled joy and sorrow, + For each today God ever made + Was wrought from a tomorrow. + + + + + The Tree (1924) + + It stood upon a meadow fair, + A green and leafy tree. + Gaily it met the breezes there, + Lovely it was to see. + One night a storm of wind and rain + Rent it from earth apart. + The reason then was very plain. + Decay was at its heart. + + He was a youth of promise fine, + The strongest of the crowd. + His features wore the stamp divine, + His eye was clear and proud. + He could have lived to purpose high + And played a noble part. + But no, he fell. The reason why? + Decay was at his heart. + + + + + The Unknown Soldier (1924) + + The guns are silent in the valley now. + The river creeps serenely on its way. + Still clings the ivy to the rugged brow; + Of yonder hill, and roses grace the day. + No grave was heaped. No word of prayer was said. + No stone was reared against the pitying sky. + None ever knew where rests the silent dead + As unrevealing years go drifting by. + + And yet he is not lost. This quiet sod; + Can rest him quite as well as anywhere, + Beneath the gentle, sleepless eye of God, + Whose robins sing for him when Spring is fair. + His life is wrought into the victory. + Glory is his. He need not urge his claim. + He lives on in the better age to be, + Though sleeping in a grave without a name. + + + + + What Does It Matter? (1924) + + What does it matter if here or there + Is a strand of joy or a thread of care, + If when the web has been finished all + The final pattern is beautiful? + The One who weaves on the world’s great loom + Must make His fabric of shine and gloom. + It takes the gold and the somber hue + To make it lovely when He is through. + + What does it matter if there or here + Is a song of joy or a falling tear, + If at the hour of the setting sun + A lovely product is held forth done? + The One who orders the passing hours + With ceaseless cycle of sun and showers + Fashions the color and rare design + Of a growing tapestry divine. + + + + + Why We Are Here (1924) + + OUR minds were made to search the deeps + Of Truth’s clear-flowing stream; + Our feet to scale the rugged steeps + Of faith and hope and dream; + Our hands to toil and serve and lift, + To help and heal and bless; + Our hearts to bring the priceless gift + Of love and tenderness. + + Our lives were made to struggle on, + The upward path to plod; + Our souls to catch the glint of dawn + From the white throne of God; + Our lips the helpful word to speak, + The tender song to sing; + Our eyes to search the world and seek + The good in everything. + + + + + The Age of a Heart (1925) + + SO LONG as stars are bright and fair + And skies are blue and clear; + So long as joy is in the air + And Dreamland hovers near; + So long as roses blossom gay + And song is on the tongue-- + Tho brow be lined and hair be gray + That long the heart is young. + + But when the sky grows dull and sere + And roses fade and die; + When song no longer holds the ear + Nor Dreamland hovers nigh; + When passing days no wonder bring, + No great adventure hold-- + In spite of time or anything + [Transcriber’s note: Last line is missing from source.] + + + + + Blossoms (1925) + + Blossoms growing on the stem, + Blue and white and red and gold. + What a brush has painted them + With their colors manifold! + Planted by the garden way + Underneath a smiling sky, + Do they nod and smile all day + For the weary passer-by. + + Blossoms growing by the gate, + Dear and quaint, old-fashioned flowers. + They reck not of time or fate, + Seek no kingdoms, thrones, or powers. + They are well content to bloom + Far from mad ambition’s stress + And to give of their perfume + For a stranger’s happiness. + + + + + The Children v1925 + + The dear little children that climb on the knee, + The promise and hope of the morrows to be + --Their song is unfailing; their spirits are bright; + Their hearts are courageous from morning till night, + How helpless they are! On our mercy they wait. + The hands of their elders must fashion their fate. + They are frail little barks to be launched on the sea + --These dear little children that climb on the knee. + + Oh guide them with hands that are tender and true. + The voyage is long and the lighthouses few. + What struggles await them! What conflicts and fears! + What dream castles shattered! What heartaches and tears! + Their skies will have clouds, and the clouds will bring rain. + Then all will give way to the sunshine again. + Bound upon their souls are the ages to be + --These dear little children that climb on the knee. + + + + + Credo (1925) + + Lord, I believe + That thou hast made the earth, the sky, the sea, + And all the members of immensity, + The rose that blooms beside the traveled way; + That thou didst weave + The fabric of the dawn and close of day. + + Lord, I believe + That thou hast fashioned me to be thine own, + Hast made my human heart to be thy throne, + Hast made this voice of mine that it should sing + From morn till eve, + These hands the precious gift of love to bring. + + Lord, I believe + That yonder, past the valley’s shaded rim, + The lifting crest that seems so cold and dim + Is but the outlines of another shore + That doth receive + The loved and lost of earth forevermore. + + + + + The Easter Message (1925) + + She stood before the empty tomb, + Wond’ring and half afraid, + And peered into the clinging gloom + Where he was lately laid. + Only the linen cloths were there, + But something like a breath + Whispered across the morning air + And said: “There is no death.” + + Across the troubled centuries + That word has made its way, + And like a fragrant summer breeze + It comes to us to-day. + Where’er our hands have reared a stone, + Now as of old it saith + To those who come to grieve alone: + “Take heart. There is no death.” + + + + + The Fabulous City (1925) + + There rises in the distance + Across the Vale of Dreams + A fair and lovely city, + Built on get-rich-quick schemes. + Its towers are bright and shining. + Its streets are paved with gold, + Paid for by mine promotions + And stock sales bad and bold. + Wondrous that shining city + Before our vision stands, + But when we come to touch it + It crumbles ’neath our hands. + Ethereal its fabric, + Intangible its soil. + ’Twas builded with the fortunes + We never made in oil. + + + + + Home v1925 + + Standing beside a quiet path they found it. + A humble little house it was, and low. + With patient hands they planted flowers around it, + And flung its windows to the sun’s warm glow. + They laid an open book upon the table, + And hung a simple picture on the wall. + They trained a vining rose around the gable. + They built a throne and crowned love Lord of all. + + They kindled on the hearth a fair flame gleaming, + And set a row of chairs before its light + Where happy eyes should cast their cheerful beaming + With rest and song that come with falling night. + They reared with loving hands a fireside altar + Where hungry hearts in reverence might come, + Where trembling lips might their petitions falter + Before the Throne of Grace, and lo, ’twas HOME. + + + + + Palm Sunday v1925 + + Adown the ringing street he came, + The Lord of all the years. + A thousand voices of acclaim + Were ringing in his ears. + Silent was he who knew his way + Of mingled joy and loss + Began where Bartimaeus lay, + And ended at a cross. + + And ever it has been as then. + The path of triumph trod + Amid the loud acclaim of men, + Beneath the smile of God, + Begins where need holds forth its hands, + And pleads with weary eyes, + And ends where, grim and silent, stands + The Hill of Sacrifice. + + + + + Roads v1925 + + There is a road to happiness; + There is a road to pain; + A road to failure and success; + A road to loss and gain; + A road to meadows gay with flowers; + A road to evenfall; + A road to bright and shadowed hours-- + God lets me tread them all. + + There is a quiet road that finds + The little singing streams; + A road that reaches till it winds + Along the Hills of Dreams; + A road to hope, to duty done, + And to that last clear call + Across the gates of setting sun-- + God lets me tread them all. + + + + + The Teacher’s Reward (1925) + + Who dwells with everlasting truth + And lets that truth possess his soul; + Who has companionship with youth + To keep him young as swift years roll; + Who writes his story on the page + Of history by labor hard; + And builds his life into his age, + Has his reward. + + Who opens eyes that else were blind + Till they behold the earth and sky; + Who wakens interest in the mind + That else were barren, dead, and dry; + Who gently takes a weary hand + And lays it in the Palm that’s scarred; + Though others own the gold and land, + Has his reward. + + + + + Via Dolorosa (1925) + + Out the Damascus Gate it ran, + A weary, cheerless road + Along which stumbled once a Man, + A cross-tree for His load. + The street was teeming with the throng. + The air was chill and gray, + The hour when Jesus passed along + That Dolorosa Way. + + It wound a slope that flung its height + Against a sullen sky. + Upon a summit--tragic sight-- + Three crosses lifted high. + But lo, beyond them, manifold + The lifting glow of day. + It ended at the gates of gold, + That Dolorosa Way. + + + + + The Chameleon (1926) + + Upon a green leaf he is green, + Upon a red one ruddy. + He suits his color to the scene-- + Blue, brown, or grey, or muddy. + + Wherever he may chance to go + He meets the crowd’s demanding. + In Rome he does as Romans do, + And so he keeps his standing. + + I know not his philosophy-- + Platonic or Aurelian. + No matter. Who would want to be + Reputed a chameleon? + + + + + The City’s Nerves (1926) + + Somewhere is closed a circuit, + And miles and miles away + A filament is lighted; + A wheel goes into play; + A thought is carried quickly, + In clearest tones expressed, + Because an impulse flashes + North, South, or East, or West. + + And how? Beneath the pavement, + Away from human gaze, + Across the humid darkness + Wires run in countless ways. + In cables, ever-reaching + Through subterranean curves, + They carry thought and action. + They are the city’s nerves. + +[Illustration’s upper half depicts an above-ground daytime view of a +cityscape. The lower half depicts a below-ground view cast in darkness +except for two unclothed men; bolts of electricity extend from their +hands. The art is signed “Pancoast.”] + + + + + Doing It Well (1926) + + I SAW him do his act before a large and motley throng + That sought relief and laughter in the house of dreams and song. + Just who he was or whence he came of course I cannot tell. + He only played a banjo, but he played the banjo well. + + I saw her washing dishes in a simple little cot. + Her life was spent in toiling there upon the selfsame spot. + Her face was furrowed, and each line a story had to tell. + She only kept a household, but she kept the household well. + + I saw him fire an engine in a vast and grimy room, + Though it was hard to see him in the still and dusty gloom. + He watched each motion keenly as the pistons rose and fell. + He only fired an engine, but he fired the engine well. + + I saw him digging ditches with the mud upon his hands, + And with that steady motion that a digger understands. + He claimed no fame nor fortune; only brawn he had to sell. + He was but digging ditches, but he dug the ditches well. + + It matters rather little what task one may choose to do, + So long as it is honest and his purposes are true. + The years will ring his story far upon their golden bell, + If he will only do the thing he may be doing well. + + + + + Enslaved Lightning (1926) + + A nature worshipper, long dead, + Came back in ghostly form, + To visit where, in ages sped, + He bowed before the storm. + The city streets with radiance burned + Through every darkened hour, + And every busy wheel was turned + By harnessed lightning power. + + “Ah me,” he said, “The times do change. + This is a different ball. + So altered everything, so strange, + I’m not at home at all. + These moderns have audacious wills; + The gods we served aright, + They’ve put to work to turn their mills + And light their streets at night.” + +[Illustration of a window view of a city’s downtown on a stormy night. +A generator is in the foreground next to the window. The window frames +a skyscraper, other buildings, and street lights; they are all filled +with light. A bolt of lightning extends from the sky to the generator. +The art piece is signed “A Sturges” and below it the caption reads, +“Decoration by A Sturges.”] + + + + + Flowers Are Thoughts of God (1926) + + The flowers are the thoughts of God. + They bloom in sun and shadow, + By traveled path, or virgin sod, + In every lovely meadow; + In dooryards where the children play, + And hours are swiftly winging; + And Love comes at the close of day, + Its selfless tribute bringing. + + Silent they grow, each in its place, + With cheer for all who love them, + Breathing their perfume in the face + Of all who bend above them. + They blossom where the weary plod + Their ways of toil and duty. + The flowers are the thoughts of God; + His love speaks in their beauty. + + + + + A Grace for Meals (1926) + + _Thou who doest hold all things at Thy command + The blessing of the sunshine and the rain, + Thou never hast withheld Thy kindly hand + From giving us the fruitage of the plain. + Long hast Thou sheltered us from every storm. + Long hast Thou seen that we were duly fed. + Long hast Thou kept our fireside bright and warm. + And so we thank Thee for our daily bread. + + As we assemble at our simple board + In all the gladness that is ours today, + We thank Thee for Thy presence with us, Lord, + And ask that Thou wilt be our guest alway. + May all Thy children, wheresoe’er they be, + Share in Thy bounty, by Thy hand be led, + And lift their hearts from every land and sea, + With us, to thank Thee for their daily bread_. + + + + + The Grey Host (1926) + + From the silent Southern river, + From the reaching Western plain, + From the quaint New England hillside + Comes a host to march again. + From Manila and El Caney, + From the depths of many a sea, + From the flow’ring fields of Flanders, + Come the sons of Liberty. + + Who are these that tread the silence? + They are our departed brave, + Who, despite their years of dreaming, + Still are troubled in the grave. + See, they bear a flaming banner, + These who died for us of yore. + This the message that it flashes: + “Brothers, dream of war no more.” + + + + + Heart Gates (1926) + + There is a wondrous country, + A city built foursquare. + And each and all are welcome + To find a dwelling there. + The nations gather homeward, + Peoples from far and wide. + Directions do not matter + With gates on every side. + + And is not this the mission + That God to us has given-- + To make the world we live in + Seem more and more like heaven? + Shall we not seek the friendship + Of peoples far and wide, + And let the heart’s fair city + Have gates on every side? + + + + + The High Tension Line (1926) + + It has no boast to make at all. + Patient it holds unto its task + Summer and Winter, Spring and Fall, + With naught to tell and naught to ask. + + Humble and steady, sure and true, + Seeking no change of work or place, + It has its given work to do, + And does it with a changeless grace. + + In its deep channel underground + It serves its purpose day by day, + Without a stir, without a sound, + Though days be fair, though days be gray. + + And yet what power is carried down + The conduit through which it runs + To turn the factories of the town, + And flood its streets with blazing suns. + + I know some men who are the same. + They make no boast with foolish lips, + But all their spirits are aflame. + Power tingles to their finger tips. + + + + + “I am not eloquent” (1926) + + “I am not eloquent,” he said. + “I cannot spin of thought’s fine gold + A sentence lovely to be read, + A story wondrous to be told.” + Thus did he answer God one day + Upon a new Tiberian shore. + And God said, “No, but you can say + The word of love. I ask no more.” + And so across the hurried years, + Across the mighty land and sea, + Through calm and tempest, joy and tears, + He bore the message faithfully. + He bore it till the set of sun, + Until his time and strength were spent. + Today the service he has done, + Beyond all speech, is eloquent. + + + + + Knocking (1926) + + THERE’S a sign that always thrills me + When its pounding threat I hear, + One that always rudely thrills me + With the clutching grip of fear. + Though the thought of it be shocking, + And the homeward journey long, + When I hear the engine knocking + I am certain something’s wrong. + + I have known a lot of people, + High and low, and near and far, + On the street, beneath the steeple, + Who were like a motor car. + Though successes may come flocking, + And though he be going strong, + When I hear a person knocking + I am certain something’s wrong. + + + + + Life (1926) + + I said to God: “Life is a wine-cup, + A thing to be drained while we may; + And those who can drink it most deeply + And emptiest cast it away. + The ones who have claimed the full measure + Of all the joy it can give, + Are those who have learned most completely + What it means to be conscious and live.” + + But God said: “No, life is a picture, + A thing you may paint as you will. + Your colors are of your own choosing, + And yours is the measure of skill. + You may paint, and the curse or the blessing + With all of their burden or worth, + When your brush has been dropped will be treasured + As your gift to the children of earth.” + + + + + The Question v1926 + + THE women are cutting their tresses + To look just the same as the men. + They have thrown away skirts, and have taken to shirts, + And collars, and neckties; and then + The men have begun wearing knickers, + With hose of elaborate art. + They radiate bliss, but the problem is this: + How are we to tell them apart? + + One day when I saw a young lady + Drop a handkerchief, quickly I ran + And returned it to her with my heart all astir, + But lo, when I spoke, ’twas a man. + Then I slapped a young man on the shoulder, + And he turned with a manner most tart. + ’Twas a lady attired as the fashion required. + Say, how do you tell them apart? + + + + + The Rooster (1926) + + HE RISES at the break of day, + Sometimes a little bit before it, + To tell us that the dawn is gray + And he is proudly gloating o’er it. + He makes his boast that nothing’s wrong + About him or his constitution. + His voice proclaims with accent strong + That he’s a going institution. + + He has been whipped a hundred times, + A hundred times run helter-skelter, + But still his raucous challenge chimes + As though he’d never sought for shelter. + He has the courage to arise, + And sally forth, and be a booster, + Though gray or sunny be the skies. + Here’s to the spirit of the rooster. + + + + + The Rulers of the Earth (1926) + + Jim Jones with a will undivided + Toiled on with his reaper and plow. + He brought up his brood, and provided + For them by the sweat of his brow. + Whenever some plan was in question, + In kindly and old-fashioned way + He gave this unchanging suggestion: + “Whatever the women folks say.” + + The world with its strife and its glory + Goes seeking for treasure and charm. + The tale of its years is the story + Of Jim Jones who toiled on the farm. + The men wield the shovel and hammer, + But if we should ask them the way + The world should be run, they would stammer: + “Whatever the women folks say.” + + + + + Sing a Little Song (1926) + + When the heart is weary + And the road is long; + When the day is dreary, + Sing a little song. + Sing it in the spirit; + Let joy linger near it; + And your heart will hear it, + Hear it and be strong. + + When your hope is paling, + When your plans go wrong, + When your dreams are failing, + Sing a little song. + Send it thrilling, winging, + Sunshine with its bringing. + It will wake to singing + Others in the throng. + + + + + Team-work (1926) + + I take my horses out to plow, + Or sow, or run the mower. + One pulls away right down the row, + One goes a little slower. + They’ve often taught me in the past, + Pulling in double leather, + They only get along as fast + As both can go together. + + In every human progress we + Together do the striving. + And toward the better day to be + Together we are driving. + By team-work we must win at last, + Whatever be the weather. + We only get along as fast + As all can go together. + +[Illustration of a farming scene. Bottom third of frame is landscape. +The foreground features a farmer walking behind and controlling a plow +being pulled by two horses. Middle ground has gently rolling hills and +a group of trees. Background has mountains. Upper two-thirds of frame is +sky with white, billowing clouds. Art piece is signed “McV” (stands for +G. R. McVicker).] + + + + + Their First Meal (1926) + + The ham was cold. The milk was blue, + The biscuits all were hard. + The eggs and the potatoes, too, + Were strong with rancid lard. + Life leaned upon a slender staff + In that first offering, + But never banquet tasted half + So pleasant to a king. + + The years went by. They played the game, + And soon amassed a hoard. + The richest dainties skill could frame + Were found upon their board. + With choicest viands did they greet + The great who chose to come, + But never did they taste so sweet + As that first meal at home. + +[The first letter of the poem’s title overlays an illustration of a +house with a front porch.] + + + + + The Umbrella Mender (1926) + + “Have you any umbrellas to mend?” + He cries down the echoing street. + He travels the town to its end-- + The city of hurrying feet. + Why so, when the broad heavens wear + No cloud and no shadow of gray? + Because, when the weather is fair, + We must think of the rainy day. + + For the rainy season will come, + As it has since the world began. + And some will be ready, and some + Will have left it out of their plan. + When it comes, it is always too late + To appeal to our patient old friend. + We shall not hear his cry at the gate: + “Have you any umbrellas to mend?” + + + + + The Cross v1927 + Luke 22:42. “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” + + Upon some fateful hour and day + Each comes to roads that cross. + Blossoms and sunshine seems one way, + The other care and loss. + The spirit will be willing there + To take the road that’s best. + The flesh will weaken, and despair, + And falter in the test. + + Somewhere along the life we live + Each finds his Calvary. + There with himself each one must strive, + And win his victory. + How blessed is the pathway trod + When flesh ’neath spirit fails; + When cross the ways of self and God, + And God’s good way prevails. + + + + + Cupid’s Lament (1927) + + The coal oil lamp is now no more, + With flame to dimness fingered. + A gleaming chandelier is o’er + The spot where lovers lingered. + Where all is bright they will not go. + No one can change or doubt it. + They want to sit where lights are low. + What can I do about it? + + It was much easier for me + In days that now are olden, + When prying people could not see. + Then all love’s dreams were golden. + They sought a corner that the night + Had curtained--you have seen them; + But now the dusk-destroying light, + Alas, has come between them. + + + + + A Day at a Time (1927) + + A day at a time the world moves on; + A day at a time is our toiling done; + A day at a time do we have the dawn, + And come to the setting of the sun; + A day at a time our fate appears; + A day at a time do we build the years. + A day at a time is the only way; + Whatever we do must be done to-day. + + A day at a time is lifetime sent; + A day at a time we must be content. + However distant our dream may glow, + A day at a time is all we go. + A day at a time the stones are brought, + And life’s great mosaic grandly wrought. + A day at a time--but when all are past + We shall reach the goal of our dreams at last. + + + + + The Future (1927) + + A tyrant called, as tyrants used to do, + An artist, skilled in form, and tint, and line. + He bade him: “Paint for me a picture true + Of the tomorrow of this calm of mine. + Unfold for me the future’s portals wide. + Unlock the gateway of the years to be. + Whatever weal or woe they may betide + Return again and prophesy to me.” + + The painter went and sought the open street. + He lingered there through many a watchful day + Where sons of wealth and ragged urchins meet + To talk, and laugh, and sing, and dream, and play. + Then once again the tyrant’s room he sought, + Unveiled for him the finished task, and smiled. + Lo, on the canvas he had deftly wrought + The pictured features of a little child. + + + + + God’s Manners (1927) + + If you would learn God’s manners, + Fare forth some summer morn, + And see the roses cover + The sharpness of the thorn. + See the sun shining brightly, + Chasing the clouds away, + And hear the words of gladness + The little people say. + + Look at the green crops growing + Up through the dewy air, + And see the love and beauty + Around you everywhere. + No ugliness or evil + Appears in sky or clod. + Ask any summer morning, + If you would learn of God. + + + + + The Great Adventure (1927) + + The great adventure is not death, + ’Tis life. + It is to feel the pulsing round of breath, + To take a place and hold it in the strife. + To hope, and plan, and feel, and love, and dream, + To look and climb + To the far, rugged heights where visions gleam + Of things sublime. + Let us not live because we must, + But live + To feel the mighty challenge of a trust, + To have a work to do, a gift to give. + The pay may not be great in shining gold, + But may be had + Enough of satisfactions manifold + To make us glad. + + + + + The Heart of a Child (1927) + + Whatever you write on the heart of a child, + No waters can wash it away. + The sands may be shifted when billows are wild + And the efforts of time may decay. + Some stories may perish, some songs be forgot; + But this ingraven record, Time changes it not. + + Whatever you write on the heart of a child, + A story of gladness or care + That Heaven has blessed, or that Earth has defiled, + Will linger unchangeably there. + Who writes it has sealed it forever and aye. + He must answer to God on the Great Judgement Day. + + + + + How It Started (1927) + + WHEN Thales of Miletus + Went to the store one day + And bought a bit of amber, + In a real human way + He got a piece of woolen + To rub it up a bit, + And lo, the lint and dust grains + Were drawn at once to it. + + “Ha,” said old Thales, “’tis certain, + A man half blind could see, + This friction has begotten + Some unseen energy.” + To-day that power is doing + The labor of the earth. + How much were Thales’s amber + And piece of woolen worth? + + + + + In Conference (1927) + + JOHN JONES was head executive of a big city firm, + And countless times had set his heel on some poor human worm. + His office force was duly trained. Each knew just what to do + To turn the nonelect away, and let the chosen through. + + People with honest errands there, tired women, busy men, + Were told he was in conference, and couldn’t see them then. + “Come back a little later on,” the office girl would call, + And John would manage not to see the most of them at all. + + He passed away in course of time, as even rich men do, + And came up to the pearly gates as though to hurry through. + But lo, the way was firmly barred, and, sitting in a chair, + He saw a white-robed office girl who asked his errand there. + + “I hoped,” said he, “Saint Peter would be here and let me by.” + In standard office language she delivered this reply: + “Saint Peter is in conference. How long? I do not know. + Come back a little later--say a million years or so.” + + + + + Inventive Genius (1927) + + I’VE listed the inventions + Since ages far away, + And noted the discoveries + Down to the present day. + One little thing I’ve noticed, + Thus far, of every one. + It’s really very simple + --When you see how it is done. + + Somebody finds a secret + That no one else has seen, + Harnesses laws familiar, + And makes a new machine. + There’s not a task among them + Requiring so much wit, + But that I could have done it + --Had I but thought of it. + + + + + Morning Prayer (1927) + + Father, grant to keep and guide me + Through the moments of the day. + Let me know Thou art beside me, + That no evil can betide me + In my work or play. + + Teach my hands some good endeavor + While the golden hours shall run, + Something that will last forever + Let me bring to Thee, the Giver, + E’er the day is done. + + When at last the sun is wending + Down the sloping West, + And the evening shades descending + Tell the world the day is ending, + Watch above my rest. + + + + + Old-Fashioned Pictures (1927) + + The old plush-covered album + Upon the parlor stand + Is but a distant country, + A half-forgotten land + Inhabited by people + Strong as the sturdy oaks, + Firm as the hills they conquered, + --The dear old-fashioned folks. + + Look at the honest faces, + The quaint and homely dress, + The strained and studied postures + That once spelled loveliness. + Look at the solemn features. + They put away their jokes + To have their pictures taken + --The dear old-fashioned folks. + + They carved trails through the forests. + They seeded down the soil. + They built the busy cities + By unremitting toil. + They laid the firm foundations, + By honest, manly strokes, + On which we build the future. + --The dear old-fashioned folks. + + + + + The Problem (1927) + + THOU God of little children, + And Parent of us all, + Who knowest all our struggles, + And hearest every call, + Disclose to us the secret, + And tell us what to do + To keep our children little + And have them grow up, too. + + We treasure the devotion, + The little velvet hands, + The tender little greetings + Love always understands; + And yet we want them coming + To strength and prospects new. + How can we keep them little + And have them grow up, too? + +[Illustration of a young girl looking at a distant castle. She’s +standing next to a tree that frames the right and top. Her feet, in +heels, stand in the midst of scattered leaves. Her skirt and scarf wave +in the breeze coming from the castle’s direction. The middle ground is +rolling hills. The sky behind the castle has billowing clouds. Art +piece is signed “Harvey Fuller.”] + + + + + The Pupil (1927) + + A father’s highest vision, + A mother’s fondest prayer + Are centered in the future + Of that wee fellow there. + They roused him from his slumber, + And dressed him in his best. + They sent him out, and trusted + That you would do the rest. + + The weary planet needs him, + And patiently will wait + For him to bring his service + Down to the future’s gate. + He is the hope it treasures. + It wants him strong and true. + It sends him to your classroom, + And leaves the rest to you. + + + + + Requisition (1927) + + Give me a quiet road to take + Where roses deign to grow. + Where sunbeams fall, and robins wake, + And trees their shadows throw. + + Give me a little place to try + To do my human part, + And make my work as days go by + A picture of my heart. + + Give me a hearth where I may be + When twilight shrouds the West, + With dear ones there to sit with me, + And you may have the rest. + + + + + Sanctuary (1927) + + GOD has a place, and it is never far, + Where reach vast arches over golden gates, + Where quiet aisles and vaulted ceilings are, + And where a spacious altar always waits; + A place where weary souls may freely come, + Hearts torn by earth’s sharp thorns a refuge find, + Sad, lonely spirits feel again at home, + And all find rest and balm for heart and mind. + + It is a house of walls not made with hands. + None sees it save the broken child of care. + In every place of woe and need it stands, + Wherever sorrow dares to breathe a prayer. + The weakest, poorest, farthest spirit, tried + By grim pursuers of defeat and pain, + May claim its shelter. Then when tears are dried + It waits in silence till they fall again. + + + + + The Secret (1927) + + OLD Uncle John is a success, + And all his efforts have not hit it. + One day we asked him to confess, + To all of us just how he did it. + “I hardly know, myself,” said he, + “But my conviction still is growing, + That there’s no fancy recipe. + You just begin--and keep on going.” + + “Don’t wait for things to come just right, + For very seldom do they do it. + Select a road, then day and night, + Through storm and sunshine, still pursue it. + Don’t stand debating what is best. + The sands of life are swiftly flowing. + Most any worthy course is blest, + If you begin--and keep on going.” + + + + + Sight and Faith (1927) + + I WALKED by sight along the sunlit way, + Through pleasant fields and where the flow’rs were fair. + By quiet streams, through restful vales it lay, + And loveliness and joy were everywhere. + I walked by sight, so confident my soul, + Nor dreamed that it would ever diff’rent be, + As I moved onward to the shining goal + That through the distance seemed so clear to me. + + But lo, there came the hour when dusk increased, + And sunset slowly faded into night, + As hour by hour the strength of vision ceased, + And I no more could make my way by sight. + But when the day had failed to shadows dim, + Without a star to lend a flickering ray, + I took God’s hand and travelled on with Him, + And sudden glory flooded all my way. + + + + + Starting Things (1927) + + THE ghost of Father Gutenberg + Came back upon a visit. + He saw a modern printing press, + And cried, “Good sakes, what is it?” + He saw a linotype at work + On endless composition, + And said, “It must be that my mind + Is not in good condition.” + + He heard the newsboys hawk their wares, + And saw the bookstores busy, + Found magazines on every stand + Until it made him dizzy. + He said, “Whoever could have thought + All this I was imparting? + One never guesses, after all, + How much he may be starting.” + + + + + Success (1927) + + SUCCESS is not the garnering of gold + Wrung from the failing grasp of nerveless hands, + Nor grim advantage where are bought and sold + The cargoes of the fleets from distant lands. + It is not deafness to the anguished cry + Of blighting poverty or bitter need, + Nor a triumphal march to victory + Over pale lips and human hearts that bleed. + + Success is living to the full each hour, + Finding the richness of the joy it brings, + Leaving unheard no song, unseen no flower, + Unfelt no throbbing loveliness of things. + Success is soothing human hearts that ache + Breathing new hope into despairing ears, + Serving with willing hands for love’s dear sake, + And sowing happiness across the years. + + + + + Thanksgiving v1927 + + In all the pleasure, care, and stress + Of daily human living, + Preserve us from forgetfulness, + Blindness to heaven’s faithfulness, + And failure in thanksgiving; + Deliver us from every mood + That savors of ingratitude. + It is so easy to forget + The tempests that have swept us, + The barriers that we have met, + How much we are in heaven’s debt, + The goodness that has kept us. + However far we be from good, + Preserve us from ingratitude. + + + + + The Bantams (1928) + + We have got a bantam rooster with a funny little face, + And he tells us by his swagger that he thinks he owns the place. + He will lord it o’er the chickens with a mien and manner high, + And the strangest thing about it is he generally gets by. + We have Brahams, Rocks, and Cochins--big and strong and robust, all; + But they let this bantam run the place because he has the gall. + Big and lazy and good-natured, they seek out a shady spot, + Nor dispute the bold assumption of his right to rule the lot. + + And sometimes I think the whole world is a barnyard, wide and vast. + With the selfsame situation, as the ages hurry past. + People big and strong and able take the smooth and easy way, + While the fussy little fellows feather in and win the day. + Singular, at least, I call it that so oft the crown is worn. + By some self-elected demagogue, so oft the scepter borne, + Not by some one with the vision a commanding swath to cut, + But some cocky little bantam who was born to preen and strut. + + + + + Charge Account (1928) + + YOU may think you are getting by. You may get by awhile. + But do not snap your fingers in the face of Fate and smile. + Although she may not now demand of you the full amount, + Some day you will discover that she keeps a charge account. + + She never quarrels with us nor bestows unseemly looks, + But no one ever yet has found an error in her books. + She writes down every item very quietly, but still + There certainly will come a day when she presents her bill. + + She asks no more than is her due, for Fate is always square. + No tradesman yet in all the world has ever been more fair. + Good business methods, that is all. There is no other way. + You may get by awhile, my friend, but some day you will pay. + + + + + The Close-Up (1928) + + _There are many angel faces, + Viewed from places far away, + Which, upon a near vision, + Very quickly turn to clay. + There are many matchless heroes + Who can hold us in their spell, + But who fade away to weakness + When we really know them well. + + There are many hissing villians + Who, on closer view, are found + To possess a kindly spirit + And an honor quite profound. + So it runs throughout the picture, + As it probably is best, + That the close-up tells the story + Whether one can meet the test_. + + + + + Coming and Going (1928) + + I GO down when the train comes in, + No matter what the day, + Where some arrive amid the din, + And others go away. + + I see glad faces looking down + The track that rambles on + Far from the quiet little town, + Impatient to be gone. + + But oh, the eyes most full of mirth + I see upon the train + Have seen the wonders of the earth + And then come home again. + + Blest is the road that leads away + Where restless ones may roam; + But each loves best of all, one day, + The road that leads back home. + + Ambition makes us all to dare + The far, intriguing track; + But when we’ve had enough of care + The heart will bring us back. + + + + + The Day’s Success (1928) + + When sunset falls upon your day + And fades from out the West. + When business cares are put away + And you lie down to rest, + The measures of the day’s success + Or failure will be told + In terms of human happiness + And not in terms of gold. + + Is there beside some hearth tonight + More joy because you wrought? + Does someone face the bitter strife + With courage you have taught? + Is something added to the store + Of human happiness? + If so, the day that now is o’er + Has been a real success. + + + + + The Earth’s Plaint (1928) + + From ages immemorial they’ve scratched my patient face + With plow, and pick, and shovel, in all confidence and grace. + They’ve dug their springs, and sunk their wells, and made their post holes, too, + Wherever it has pleased their passing fancy so to do. + But here of late they seem to feel that more is wrong with me + Than to the specialists who came at first there seemed to be. + They’ve stopped the minor surgery--it seemed to be too light + --And started on a major scale to set my system right. + + They sink a shaft a solid mile through rock, and sand, and clay. + They go right into it with drills and bore the livelong day. + They cut a tunnel through a hill, and make the two ends fit. + They chop away as though they thought it didn’t hurt a bit. + They change the course of rivers and the shape of waterfalls. + They dig deep excavations for their bridges and their walls. + A major operation of some kind has come to be + A kind of daily diet, in these latter days, with me. + +[Poem is surrounded by photos of earth-working equipment in action +around the world (clockwise from top-right corner): Egypt, New Zealand, +Formosa, Chile, Rhodesia, Sicily, Dutch East Indies, Honduras, Ireland, +Nigeria, India, and U.S.A.] + + + + + Evolution (1928) + + A shining automobile + Was standing at the curb. + A glib and crafty salesman + Was handing out his blurb. + A bicycle was leaning + Its well-worn handle bar + Against a post--the early + Ancestor of the car. + + Then, snorting down the pavement, + A motorcycle flew, + Pausing between the cycle + And car so bright and new. + “Aha,” the auto whispered, + “I have evolved, I think, + From that bicycle yonder, + And here’s the missing link.” + + + + + Faith v1928 + + If you cast out + Into the outer darkness of your mind + All about which you can conceive a doubt, + Or find some strange and vain excuse to flout, + Or charge to ages credulous and blind, + All about which the whole world is not sure, + My friend, you will be pitifully poor. + + If your faith clings + To all the good, and beautiful, and right, + That the experience of ages brings, + And offers as the necessary things + That stand forever by truth’s simple might, + Believing each till it is found untrue, + The heart’s unmeasured riches are for you. + + + + + Freedom v1928 + + Freedom to make the sturdy climb + From sodden depths to heights sublime; + Freedom to seek Truth’s ready aid + In mastering a chosen trade; + Freedom to play an honest part, + And make some worthy work an art; + Freedom to struggle with a smile-- + That is the freedom worth the while. + + Freedom to keep a heart that sings + Amid the fret and drive of things; + Freedom to serve with heart, and mind, + And hand, the races of mankind; + Freedom to meet the fiercest test + Knowing that one has done his best; + Freedom to trudge the upward mile-- + That is the freedom worth the while. + + + + + The Harness (1928) + + “What means all this mass of wiring?” + Asked the visitor from Mars. + “We have nothing that is like it + In our section of the stars. + All these conduits and cables, + This machinery that sings + With its whirring wheels and motors + --What have they to do with things?” + + “Very much,” the earth-child answered. + “We’ve a giant, all unseen, + Who serves every little household, + Every factory and machine, + Does our work, transports our people, + Friendship’s kindly message bears. + All this wiring you have noted + Is the harness that he wears.” + + + + + His Great Hour (1928) + + He headed the procession + On many a parade. + He heard the ringing echoes + Where loud applause was made. + But naught has ever equalled + The time in early youth + When first his folks discovered + That he had cut a tooth. + + He published learned volumes + And speeches made galore. + He traveled and was feted + The land and ocean o’er. + But never was the hero + So praised and sung, forsooth, + As on that vanished midnight + When first he cut a tooth. + +[Illustration of a heart overlaid with a young child. The child sits +with legs straight out in front, right hand near mouth, and left hand +holding what appears to be a rattle.] + + + + + “I held a sea shell to my ears” (1928) + + I held a sea shell to my ears + A little while today, + And heard the echo of the years + Sounding from far away. + I heard ten thousand soft good-byes + To hearts that needs must roam, + Ten thousand weekly muffled cries + For ships that came not home. + + I heard the story of the dreams + Of those who journeyed far, + But brought not back Wealth’s shining gleams + To the home harbor bar. + I heard the story of the brave + Who Freedom’s burdens bore, + Who fought their battles on the wave + But struggle now no more. + + + + + Imminence (1928) + + Like to the circuit of a bright day’s glory, + Like to a shadow moving on the grass, + Like to the telling of an evening story, + God’s purposes all shortly come to pass. + + Like to the nearness of a dewdrop’s brushing, + Like to the nearness of a breath of May, + Like to the nearness of a wind uprushing, + God’s promised kingdom is not far away. + + Like to the vastness of the stars’ swift motion, + Like to the vastness of the course they swing, + Like to the vastness of a shoreless ocean, + God’s love is here enfolding everything. + + + + + Iron (1928) + + A piece of iron was refined + By highest skill of hand and mind, + To steel that formed the keenest blade, + Or instruments of wonder made, + Or strings awaking symphonies + From far across the centuries. + + Another piece lay dull and dead + As days of hope and wonder sped. + It felt no prompting of desire + For the refiner’s purging fire. + Passive it lay, nor ever wist + The thrill and gladness it had missed. + + I speak no word of praise or blame. + I only say it is a shame + That metal, made for wondrous things, + Keen instruments, responsive strings, + Should be, its aspiration spent, + Arrested in development. + + + + + I Want (1928) + + I WANT a deep mine where the gold knows no measure, + A house with the widest and rarest of rooms, + Replete with the objects of beauty and pleasure, + With tapestries done on the finest of looms. + I want a great fleet that will compass the ocean, + And bring me the choicest of all the world’s store. + I want a cortege, with the deepest devotion + Performing my bidding, my wishes--and more. + + I want a position of pow’r and of splendor, + An empire to rule with the will of a king. + I want the rich tribute that vassals can render, + The praise that the lips of the loyal can bring. + I want earth’s delights without limit or curbing, + The richest that skill can conceive or design. + One question alone is a little disturbing-- + Just what shall I do with them when they are mine? + + + + + The Lucky Man (1928) + + He struggled on and upward, + Impelled by high ambition. + He bent his strongest efforts + To better his condition. + He paid the price of labor, + As others had before him. + A rich and bounteous harvest + His earnest efforts bore him. + + Two loafers were exchanging + Their shallow talk one morning, + Their conversation ranging + From filthiness to scorning. + He passed. One said: “There’s Sweezy. + My way was always rocky. + But some folks have it easy. + That fellow sure is lucky.” + + + + + The Pioneer v1928 + + _HE marked a trail across the plains + In days now long ago. + He spared no labor and no pains, + Although the work was slow. + Today a highway broad is laid + To places far and near + Along the path he slowly made + --Thanks to the pioneer. + + HE found a green and smiling plot, + And built a cabin there. + He reared a family on that spot + Hallowed by toil and care. + Today a broad, smooth roadway lies + Where, in a vanished year, + He wrought an empire with his hands + --Thanks to the pioneer_. + + + + + The Recruit (1928) + + _Well, Bill has joined the navy, + His vessel sailed today. + He heard a ship’s band playing + One night across the bay. + He hurried to the office + And entered the command. + He had to take the navy, + You see, to get the band. + + He was that way in childhood. + When the town band would play, + Bill would just start out with it + And follow it all day. + He’ll have to peel potatoes + And scrub the decks by hand; + But he will think it’s worth it + If he can hear the band_. + + + + + Success and Failure (1928) + + Whoever builds a mighty name + And fills the country with his fame, + Who seeks and uses earthly power + To make a stately triumph hour, + Who rears a mansion rich and high + To frown against the kindly sky, + If he has not found happiness + Is still a failure none the less. + + Whoever dwells in humble walls + Where only toilsome care befalls, + Who plans when dear ones are in bed + Where shall be found to-morrow’s bread, + To cheer whose heart Life only brings + The humble joy of simple things, + If happiness has crowned his name, + He is successful just the same. + + + + + Sunshine and Shade (1928) + + The rarest picture Art has ever given, + On which the studied light has ever played, + Is made of these two simple gifts from heaven + A little sunshine and a little shade. + + The grandest day that ever lent its story + To the long scroll the hand of Time has made; + What is the fair effulgence of its glory? + A little sunshine and a little shade. + + The greatest life the world has ever cherished, + The memory that lives while others fade, + Is only this when its brief day has perished + A little sunshine and a little shade! + + + + + The Trouble with the Movies (1928) + + _The trouble with the movies, + As it appears to me, + Is not what the wise people + About me seem to see. + But I do raise objection + In accents bold and high + To one outstanding evil + The waste of custard pie. + + If all that precious pastry + Thrown with such ready grace, + Such technique and precision, + At some poor fellow’s face, + Were gathered all together + For my convenience, I + Would just retire from labor + And live on custard pie_. + + + + + Walking with God (1928) + + WHO walks with God must take his way + Across far distances and gray + To goals that others do not see, + Where others do not care to be. + Who walks with God must have no fear + When danger and defeat appear, + Nor stop when every hope seems gone, + For God, our God, moves ever on. + + Who walks with God must press ahead + When sun or cloud is overhead, + When all the waiting thousands cheer, + Or when they only stop to sneer; + When all the challenge leaves the hours + And naught is left but jaded powers. + But he will some day reach the dawn, + For God, our God, moves ever on. + + + + + Wander Lust (1928) + + “I want to go away somewhere,” + Cries every human heart of care. + “I want to go across the sea, + And find a place where hearts are free. + I want to look at bluer skies, + And stand where higher mountains rise. + To tropic scene, to arctic snow, + I want to go, I want to go.” + + And so we take our varied ways + Across the miles and through the days. + We see the wonders of the earth. + We share its sorrow and its mirth. + Time sends its snows upon our hair. + We stumble with our loads of care. + Then one day sounds a broken cry: + “Please, won’t you take me home to die?” + + + + + The Divine Image (1929) + + Something within me makes me love the roses; + Something within me makes me search the sky; + Something within me makes me roam the meadows; + The woodlands where the trees are still and high. + Something within me makes me sit at twilight + Enraptured with the starlight on the sod; + Something within me thrills at lovely music, + That something in me makes me kin to God. + + Something within me makes me like the brothers + Who share with me the path that I must tread; + Something within me wakens hope and longing + To struggle on to summits far ahead. + Something within me keeps me ever dreaming + Of heavenly things amid the thorn and clod; + Something within me speaks of light and beauty, + That something in me makes me kin to God. + + + + + Domsie (1929) + + Simple his habit, plain his wonted ration, + Humble the roof that sheltered him at night. + He sought no preferment of rank or station, + Save but to be a bearer of the light. + He dreamed out futures for the boys before him, + And led them ever onward toward the goal. + The heights they won the choicest gladness bore him + Whose faces were enshrined within his soul. + + In many a countryside and distant city + Were lived strong lives to which the light he gave. + Strong hearts beat and strong hands were reached in pity + He taught to bless, to brighten, and to save. + Upon a quiet hillside he is sleeping, + Content to rest, the final school day o’er, + But everywhere his boys the faith are keeping. + They hold his torch aloft forevermore. + + + + + The Happy Ending (1929) + + I LIKE to read a stirring tale of peril and of action. + I follow every character with heartfelt satisfaction. + If, truth and error, right and wrong, defeat and triumph blending, + The story rambles steadily toward a happy ending. + + No matter what vicissitudes the hero strong engages, + No matter how the conflict runs across the crowded pages, + If at the close all comes out right, with every wrong defeated, + Each happy dream at last come true, each worthy task completed. + + They tell me it is not the style in these days so to write it. + The proper thing, they say, is with a smirch of wrong to blight it, + To leave the tears unwiped, the wrong unrighted, and the error + Unbanished in the general reign of trouble and of terror. + + But I still have the faith to cling to childhood’s deep conviction + That somehow justice does get done in life as well as fiction, + That there is more of right than wrong, of pleasure than of weeping, + And that a kindly Providence still has us in its keeping. + + I think when all the years are through the world’s heart will be singing, + That bells of bounding happiness will everywhere be ringing, + And the great Author of the tale of life, His mercy lending, + Will bring the story of the world down to a happy ending. + +[Illustration of an armored knight riding a galloping horse and holding +a woman seated in front of him. The knight’s right hand holds a long +staff tipped with a small flag, while his left hand secures the woman. +His cape flaps in the wind. The horse is dressed with coverings from +head to hind quarters. They are centered in the frame with a billowing +cloud rising behind them. The lower-right part of the frame has nearby +vegetation. The upper-left part has a castle on a hill a small distance +away. The artwork has a printed signature, but the stylized last letter +of the last name is uncertain; an “R” would complete the name “Stanley +Hunter.”] + + + + + Have You Tried? (1929) + + Are you sure you cannot do it? + Are you really satisfied + That you never can go through it? + Have you tried? + + Do a thousand doubts assail you + With their darts from every side + Till your hope and courage fail you? + Have you tried? + + Have you ceased to dream of winning? + Have your expectations died? + Have you really had your inning? + Have you tried? + + + + + Memorial Day v1929 + Exodus 12:14. “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial.” + + Their drums are still. Their banners all are furled. + They feel no more the battle’s fiery breath. + Theirs is the vastest army in the world, + Encamped upon the silent fields of death. + + Of peace and happiness they paid the price. + Their Via Dolorosa did they tread. + They climbed the Calvary of sacrifice, + And found a place among the mighty dead. + + The years roll on, but as they pass away + Let not this tender memory grow old. + By the sweet, smiling blossoms of the May + Let their fair story be forever told. + + + + + The Modern Pupil (1929) + + I’ve had a new school teacher + Now for a week or two. + She seems to be quite clever, + And knows her subject, too. + She’s pleasant and attractive, + As far as I can tell. + There’s just one trouble with her. + She doesn’t mind me well. + + In fact, she has a notion, + Saved from a former day, + That things about the schoolroom + Should go the other way. + And so the one objection + That any one could find + Is insubordination. + I cannot make her mind. + + + + + My Little Fire (1929) + + My little fire is cheerful, + Unchanging in its grace. + Whatever be the weather, + It keeps a shining face. + + It always has a welcome + For such as seek its hearth, + Afar from all the struggles + And strivings of the earth. + + It seems so understanding. + When ill has gone the day + And I recount my troubles, + It laughs them all away. + + So I forget the fever + Of false and vain desire, + And find that life is blessed + Beside my little fire. + +[Illustration of a man seated in front of hearth. He’s dressed in suit +and tie, smiling, and bent forward resting his elbows on his thighs. +The left hand holds long tongs pointed at the fire, and his chin rests +in his right hand. The hearth’s grate has two owl-shaped decorations, +and a log carrier with extra logs sits nearby. A plant is on the +mantle. The background has a window--drape open--decorated with a +wreath. A candelabrum with five lit candles is in front of the window, +and both ends are flanked by a candlestick with a lit candle. The +artist’s cursive signature makes the name uncertain.] + + + + + The Red Bird (1929) + + I heard a redbird singing + Beside my door to-day. + Bright his coat of scarlet, + And happy was his lay. + He trilled and chirped and twittered + In varied note and key. + It was a great example + Of birdland minstrelsy. + + Then I beheld before me + That vast, unnumbered throng + Whose weary, sodden voices + Have never learned a song; + And while I heard the redbird + Stand forth and greet the spring, + I wished that all earth’s children + Were glad enough to sing. + + + + + The Road to Tomorrow (1929) + + THERE is a road that stretches + Through sunny yesterdays, + Adown remembered vistas, + And over long lost ways. + My feet would tread it always, + If they could have their will, + But Wonder comes to call me + Across the future’s hill. + + THE road to the tomorrows + --Its challenge is supreme. + I do not know its windings, + Its hidden wood and stream, + Its distances alluring, + Its vales of mystery. + But I shall drive and find them. + It is the road for me. + +Photo of car on country road. Landscape occupies bottom quarter of +frame. Flat road extends from foreground straight into background and +towards foothills. One tall, narrow tree is on each side of road, +framing the sides and extending to the top of the frame. Car is on right +side of road. A part of a building is shown to the right of the car, +about five yards off the road, and is partially obscured by the tree. +Photo is copyrighted by “Tod Powell.” + + + + + Thankfulness (1929) + + I HEARD a tiny sound to-day. + The flowers all had stopped to pray. + Lily, and rose, and goldenrod + And violet were thanking God. + For what? The sun, and rain, and dew, + That had not failed the season through, + The soil, the winds with their caress; + And simple daily happiness. + + I blushed, whose thought had found no wings + To thank God for the simple things. + No sudden fortune had bestowed + On me a rich and golden load. + But I had known the rain, the sun, + Shelter and rest when day was done, + Raiment, and food, and happy hours. + I was less thankful than the flowers. + + + + + “Whatever he may wish or plan” (1929) + + Whatever he may wish or plan, + Three things will make or break a man: + The work to which he gives his hand, + To make a living in the land. + The friends to whom his heart gives toll, + Whose shadows fall across his soul. + The goal by which through toil and strife + He gives direction to his life. + + + + + God and Spring (1930) + + Though there were no hint of glory + In a pebble or in clod, + Though the circling of the planets + Gave no evidence of God, + Though the wisdom of the ages + Not a word of faith could bring, + How could one be unbelieving + Who had ever seen the Spring? + + In the Spring God spreads the verdure + On a thousand hills and leas. + In the Spring he paints the roses, + Hangs the clouds, and builds the trees. + In the Spring he weaves the wonder + Of a flitting redbird’s wing. + How could one be unbelieving + Who had ever seen the Spring? + +Illustration of a girl sitting under a tree that has a spiderweb +hanging from its foliage; all elements are silhouetted. The girl’s hair +is kept up with a bow, and she is slightly looking up at a spider +hanging from the web. At her feet is a basket containing flora; its +handle also has a bow. The tree foliage occupies the top of the +portrait frame, the large web occupies the top half, and the girl +occupies the bottom half. The artwork has the printed signature, +“Nelson White.” + + + + + The Handicap (1930) + + Whatever foe may meet me, + Whatever game I play, + I’d rather he’d defeat me + Than win a walkaway. + I do not want an inning + With never a mishap. + No game is worth the winning + Without a handicap. + + So in the mighty contest + That runs across the years, + I’d rather wage my conquest + In toil and sweat and tears, + Than have success’s measure + Tossed lightly in my lap, + And win life’s golden treasure + Without a handicap. + + + + + The Mixture (1930) + + A little bit of Saxon + And a little bit of Gaul, + A little bit of Latin + And a touch of Celtic small; + A little bit of Norman + And a dash of Scottish clan, + Mixed with a bit of Teuton, + Makes a good American. + + The best of all the races-- + Let us hope, without the worst-- + Is mingled in his making + By the whole earth he was nursed. + So who is there beneath us? + Who is there we should ban, + When all the world is living + In a good American? + + + + + Sunsets For Sale (1930) + + I heard a man in Paradise + Say this to God: “Let’s advertise! + You’ve got a proposition here + On which you’d make a billion clear + If I could manage things my way. + My plan is this: Make earth-folks pay + For what you give them, night and day. + For instance, take the Milky Way; + To see that glittering display + I’d charge them fifty cents a night; + To purchase tickets folks would fight. + We’ll charge for flowers, and song of bird-- + Why give them free? Why, it’s absurd! + One dollar for each sunset view, + The same for every sunrise, too. + Fall landscapes will be costly sights, + We’ll reap a sum from mountain heights. + Green curving breakers will come high, + And men will pay to hear winds sigh.” + Then God replied, when he had done, + “I charge for all these things, my son. + And costly--costly is my fee: + A heart of childlike purity!” + + + + + Thanksgiving v1930 + + _I thank Thee, Lord of earth and heaven, + For all the blessings Thou hast given. + + Some marched in such a shining line + I knew their banner and their sign. + + Some came to my bewildered eyes + Dressed in a fanciful disguise. + + Some came attired as Bitterness, + But stayed to strengthen and to bless. + + Some nameless came, and passed away, + Unknown till after many a day. + + Some came so silently that I + Did not suspect that they were nigh. + + Some were the blessings, strong and sure, + Of things that I did not endure. + + And so, however they befall, + Dear Lord, I thank Thee for them all_. + +[Illustration of a church. People, in three groups of three, are +approaching the entry. Trees are leafless. The writing at the bottom of +the illustration states, “Come Ye Thankful People, Come.”] + + + + + Two Teachers + + One peddled facts with learned air, + Intoned with most impressive sound, + His pupils timidly would bear + Witness to scholarship most profound. + In him. Time passed. They older grew. + Still passed, and one day he was not. + Then what became of all he knew + So glibly once? It was forgot. + + Another dreamed of life supreme, + Sun-crowned and strong, for those he taught. + The larger manhood was his scheme, + Armed with the power of honest thought. + He builded souls for service true, + Wrought them of fabric real and sure. + He also passed, as teachers do. + But through the years his works endure. + + + + + Two Youths (1930) + + One said, “Youth cometh but once to me, + So I shall play, and laugh, and sing; + I own no chains. I will be free, + None shall deny me anything.” + He had his fling, then worn and gray, + With weary soul and eyelids wet, + He tried to wash the tears away, + And stem the tide of vain regret. + + One said, “My youth comes not again, + I must not spoil it as it goes. + I must not live a day in vain, + Nor stain a page, nor mar a rose.” + The future found him glad and strong, + Unbound by weariness and fears, + Treading his journey with a song, + Heir to the gladness of the years. + + + + + What Do You Know? (1930) + + I DO not care a single wink + To hear, my friend, what you may think. + I’ve heard opinion till I’m sore + Please do not give me any more. + Your syllogisms all are weak. + You slip the track whene’er you speak. + Too many people think, of late, + And not enough of them think straight. + + What do you know? I wait to hear + A tale of knowledge ringing clear. + If you have anything to say + That puts a new light in the day, + That makes me feel because of it + The world is changed a little bit, + Then speak. I hark with eyes aglow, + If you will tell me what you know. + + + + +APPENDIX 1: BYLINES, BIBLIOGRAPHY, NOTES + + +After-Images. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion Picture + Magazine_. Vol. 23 No. 6. Jamaica, NY: Brewster Publications, Inc., + Jul 1922. p. 7 + +The Age of a Heart. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal + Efficiency_. Vol. 15 No. 1. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, + Jan 1925. p. 37. Note: Illustrated dropped initial in first verse + normalized for e-readers. + +Almost. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Princeton, Ind. Source: _The + Christian Advocate_. Vol. 97 No. 39. New York: The Methodist Book + Concern, Sep 28, 1922. p. 1211 + +Along the Road. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Miami Daily + Metropolis_. Vol. 27 No. 161. Miami, FL: Metropolis Publishing Co., + Jun 17, 1922. p. 6 + +The Bantams. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Northwest Poultry + Journal_. Vol. 33 No. 6. Salem, OR: Northwest Poultry Journal + Publishing Co., Jun 1928. p. 15 + +Battle Hymn. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Western Christian + Advocate_. Vol. 80 No. 17. Cincinnati: Methodist Book Concern, + Apr 29, 1914. p. 524 + +Blossoms. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Christian Advocate_. + Vol. 86 No. 21. Nashville: Lamar & Barton, May 22, 1925. p. 751 + +Brotherhood. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Boys’ World_. + Vol. 23 No. 12. Elgin, IL: David C. Cook Publishing Co., Mar 22, + 1924. p. 4 + +The Builder v1924. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Juvenile + Instructor_. Vol. 59 No. 8. Salt Lake City: Deseret Sunday School + Union, Aug 1924. p. 411. Note: Stanzas’ original layout of + side-by-side is presented in this compilation as follows: left + stanza as first stanza, right as second. + +The Builders. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Sunday School + Journal_. Vol. 53 No. 8. Cincinnati: The Methodist Book Concern, + Aug 1921. Cover page + +A Call for Substitutes. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Epworth + Herald_. Vol. 33 No. 3. Chicago: The Methodist Book Concern, Jan 14, + 1922. p. 56 + +The Chameleon. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Commonweal_. + Vol. 5 No. 4. New York: Calvert Publishing Corp., Dec 1, 1926. + p. 105 + +Charge Account. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal + Efficiency_. Vol. 18 No. 1. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, + Jan 1928. p. 7. Note: Dropped initial in first verse normalized + for e-readers. + +Childhood on the Farm. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Hoard’s + Dairyman_. Vol. 67 No. 9. Fort Atkinson, WI: W. D. Hoard & Sons Co., + Mar 14, 1924. p. 332 + +The Children v1921. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Christian + Herald_. Vol. 44 No. 32. New York: Christian Herald, Aug 6, 1921. + p. 546. Notes: 1) Dropped initial in first verse normalized for + e-readers, 2) Extra spaces in body of poem were deleted. + +The Children v1925. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The + Pathfinder_. Vol. 32 No. 1668. Washington D.C.: Pathfinder + Publishing Co., Dec 19, 1925. p. 21 + +Child’s Prayer. Byline: Clarence Edwin Flynn. Richmond, Ind. Source: + _The Epworth Era. _Vol. 17 No. 32. Chicago: Jennings & Graham, + Jan 5, 1907. p. 830. Note: Stanzas’ original layout of 2x2 is + presented in this compilation as follows: top-left stanza as first + stanza, bottom-left as second, top-right as third and bottom-right + as fourth. + +The City’s Nerves. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Edison + Monthly_. Vol. 18 No. 6. New York: The New York Edison Co., + Jun 1926. p. 143 + +Climaxes v1921. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion Picture + Magazine_. Vol. 22 No. 11. Jamaica, NY: Brewster Publications, Inc., + Dec 1921. p. 93 + +Climaxes v1923. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion Picture + Magazine_. Vol. 26 No. 1. Jamaica, NY: Brewster Publications, Inc., + Aug 1923. pp. 41, 86 + +The Clock. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Beacon_. Vol. 14 + No. 26. Boston: The Beacon Press, Inc., Mar 30, 1924. p. 111. Note: + Dropped initial in first verse normalized for e-readers. + +The Close-Up. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Movie Makers_. Vol. 3 + No. 6. New York: Amateur Cinema League, Inc., Jun 1928. p. 397 + +Coming and Going. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _New York Central + Lines Magazine_. Vol. 9 No. 3. New York: New York Central Lines, + Jun 1928. p. 14. Note: Dropped initial in first verse normalized + for e-readers. + +Compensation. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Princeton, Ind. Source: + _The Christian Advocate_. Vol. 97 No. 41. New York: The Methodist + Book Concern, Oct 12, 1922. p. 1273 + +The Creator. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Sedalia Democrat_. + Vol. 17 No. 40. Sedalia, MO: Sedalia Democrat Co., Feb 15, 1923. + p. 2 + +Credo. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _North Carolina Christian + Advocate_. Vol. 70 No. 46. Greensboro, NC: Nov 12, 1925. p. 8 + +A Creed. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Christian Century_. + Vol. 39 No. 7. Chicago: Disciples Publication Society, Feb 16 1922. + p.200 + +The Cross v1927. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Expositor_. + Vol. 28 No. 6. Cleveland: F. M. Barton Co., Mar 1927. p. 710 + +The Cry of a Human. Byline: Clarence Flynn. Source: _Richmond Daily + Palladium_. Richmond, IN: Palladium Printing Co., Mar 5, 1906. p. 3 + +Cupid’s Lament. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Edison + Monthly_. Vol. 19 No. 5. New York: The New York Edison Co., + May 1927. p. 105. Note: Stanzas’ original layout of side-by-side is + presented in this compilation as follows: left stanza as first + stanza, right as second. + +A Day at a Time. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Sanford + Herald_. Vol. 17 No. 20. Sanford, FL: Apr 7, 1927. p. 4. Note: + Duplicate “at” (A day at at time) in second verse replaced + with “a”. + +The Day’s Success. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Carp + Review_. Vol. 24 No. 30. Carp, Ontario: James A. Evoy, Aug 16, 1928. + p. 8. Notes: 1) Apostrophe removed from “measure’s” in fifth verse, + 2) Comma removed after “failure” in sixth verse. + +The Divine Image. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Grade + Teacher_. Vol. 46 No. 9. Boston: Educational Publishing Corp., + May 1929. p. 745 + +Doing It Well. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Child Welfare + Magazine_. Vol. 20 No. 7. Philadelphia: The Child Welfare Co., Inc., + Mar 1926. p. 438. Notes: 1) Dropped initial in first verse + normalized for e-readers, 2) E-readers might not correctly present + “saw” in first verse with small caps, which is used for emphasis. + +Domsie. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The American School Board + Journal_. Vol. 78 No. 2. Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Co., Feb 1929. + p. 174. Note: The poem might be referring to a character in Ian + Maclaren’s _Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush_ (1894). + +The Dream. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Bloomington, Ind. Source: + _Christian Advocate_. Vol. 85 No. 44. Nashville: Lamar & Barton, + Oct 31, 1924. p. 1388 + +The Earth’s Plaint. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Excavating + Engineer_. Vol. 22 No. 6. Milwaukee: The Excavating Engineer + Publishing Co., Jun 1928. p. 212 + +The Easter Message. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Christian + Advocate_. Vol. 86 No. 15. Nashville: Lamar & Barton, Apr 10, 1925. + p. 462 + +An Easter Vision. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Sedalia + Democrat_. Vol. 17 No. 98. Sedalia, MO: Sedalia Democrat Co., + Apr 23, 1924. p. 2. Note: Two-space indentation of second stanza’s + first verse was deleted. + +Electricity. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Edison Monthly_. + Vol. 15 No. 5. New York: The New York Edison Co., May 1923. p. 107 + +An Electric Personality. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Edison + Monthly_. Vol. 15 No. 7. New York: The New York Edison Co., + Jul 1923. p. 148 + +The Electric Spark. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Beacon_. + Vol. 14 No. 23. Boston: The Beacon Press, Inc., Mar 9, 1924. p. 99. + Note: Dropped initial in first verse normalized for e-readers. + +The End of the Trail. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Liahona: The + Elders’ Journal_. Vol. 21 No. 3. Independence, MO: Zion’s Printing + and Publishing Co., Jul 31, 1923. p. 49. [Published earlier in + _Oakland Tribune_ (May 31, 1923) but without a title and partly + illegible.] + +The Engineer. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _New York Central + Lines Magazine_. Vol. 3 No. 9. New York: New York Central Lines Co., + Dec 1922. p. 55. Note: Dropped initial in first verse normalized + for e-readers. + +Enslaved Lightning. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Edison + Monthly_. Vol. 18 No. 7. New York: The New York Edison Co., + Jul 1926. p. 167 + +Evolution. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American Motorcyclist + and Bicyclist_. Vol. 24 No. 11. New York City: The Cycling Press + Inc., Nov 1928. p. 27 + +The Fabulous City. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Commercial Law + League Journal_. Vol. 30 No. 1. Chicago: Commercial Law League of + America, Jan 1925. p. 29. Note: Editor prefaces the poem under + the section title, “FORTUNES MADE IN OIL”: “The arrest, trial, + conviction and commitment to the penitentiary of the super oil + swindler, Leo Koretz, calls to our mind the following poem:”. + +Fade-Outs. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion Picture + Magazine_. Vol. 26 No. 6. Jamaica, NY: Brewster Publications, Inc., + Jan 1924. p. 84 + +Faith v1928. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Congregationalist_. + Vol. 113 No. 5. Boston: Congregational Publishing Society, Feb 2, + 1928. p. 142 + +Film Judgment. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion Picture + Magazine_. Vol. 27 No. 5. Jamaica, NY: Brewster Publications, Inc., + Jun 1924. p. 109 + +Finding God. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Freeman’s Journal_. + Vol. 74. Sydney, Australia: Herbert Daniel Polin, Oct 2, 1924. p. 3 + +The Firefly. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Boys’ World_. + Vol. 23 No. 23. Elgin, IL: David C. Cook Publishing Co., Jun 7, + 1924. p. 8 + +The Flag at Sea. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Our Navy_. Vol. 16 + No. 13. Washington D. C.: Men o’ Warsmen Inc., Oct 14, 1922. p. 2 + +Flowers Are Thoughts of God. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The + Progressive Farmer_. Raleigh, NC: The Progressive Farmer Co., + Jul 3, 1926. p. 733 + +Freedom v1928. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal + Efficiency_. Vol. 18 No. 10. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, + Oct 1928. p. 230 + +The Future. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The + Kindergarten-Primary Magazine_. Vol. 39 No. 3. Manistee, MI: + J. H. Shults Co., Jan-Feb 1927. p. 69 + +The Gateway of the Kingdom. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The + Sunday School Times_. Vol. 57 No. 29. Philadelphia: The Sunday + School Times Co., Jul 17, 1915. p. 1. Note: Dropped initial in + first verse normalized for e-readers. + +The Gift of the Farm. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Farm Life_. + Vol. 41 No. 5. Spencer, IN: Farm Life Publishing Co., May 1922. + p. 25 + +The Gifts of the Church. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Princeton, India. + Source: _The Congregationalist_. Vol. 107 No. 49. Boston: + Congregational Publishing Society, Dec 7, 1922. p. 736. Note: + Stanzas’ original layout of side-by-side is presented in this + compilation as follows: left stanza as first stanza, + right as second. + +God and Spring. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Stepping Stones_. + Vol. 18 No. 18. Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, May 4, + 1930. p. 139. Note: Replaced comma with period after “trees.” + +The God of the Beginning. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The + Church School_. Vol. 5 No. 11. New York: The Church School Press, + Aug 1924. p. 491. Notes: 1) Stanzas’ original layout of + side-by-side is presented in this compilation as follows: left + stanza as first stanza, right as second, 2) Dropped initial in + first verse of both stanzas normalized for e-readers. + +God of To-Day. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Sunday School + Journal_. Vol. 54 No. 11. Cincinnati: The Methodist Book Concern, + Nov 1922. p. 656. Note: Dropped initial in first verse normalized + for e-readers. + +God’s Garden. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Sunday School + Journal_. Vol. 52 No. 7. Cincinnati: Methodist Book Concern, + Jul 1920. p. 407 + +God’s Manners. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Baptist Record_. + Vol. 49 (old series) 29 (new series) No. 9. Jackson, MS: Mississippi + Baptist Convention Board, Mar 3, 1927. p. 11 + +A Grace for Meals. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Girls’ + Companion_. Vol. 25 No. 28. Elgin, IL: David C. Cook Publishing Co., + Jul 10, 1926. p. 7 + +The Great Adventure. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Uplift_. + Vol. 15 No. 4. Concord, NC: Stonewall Jackson Manual Training and + Industrial School, Jan 8, 1927. p. 17 + +The Grey Host. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The + Congregationalist_. Vol. 111 No. 44. Boston: Congregational + Publishing Society, Nov 4, 1926. p. 589 + +Hagar’s Song. Byline: Clarence Flynn. Bloomfield, Ind. Source: _Western + Christian Advocate_. Vol. 72 No. 11. Cincinnati: Western Methodist + Book Concern, Mar 14, 1906. p. 13. Note: For context see + Genesis 16, 21:1-20. + +The Handicap. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Instructor_. + Vol. 65 No. 9. Salt Lake City: Deseret Sunday School Union, Sep + 1930. p. 564. Note: Stanzas’ original layout of side-by-side is + presented in this compilation as follows: left stanza as first + stanza, right as second. + +The Happy Ending. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Youth_. Vol. 3 + No. 8. Kansas City, MO: Unity School of Christianity, Aug 1929. + pp. 14-15. Note: Dropped initial in first verse normalized + for e-readers. + +The Harness. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Edison Monthly_. + Vol. 20 No. 11. New York: The New York Edison Co., Nov 1928. p. 260 + +Have You Tried? Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal + Efficiency_. Vol. 19 No. 11. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, + Nov 1929. p. 251 + +Heart Gates. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Herald of Gospel + Liberty_. Vol. 118 No. 43. Dayton, OH: The Christian Publishing + Association, Oct 28, 1926. p. 1018. Note: For context of first + stanza consider Revelation 21:9-27. + +The Heart of a Child. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The + Kindergarten-Primary Magazine_. Vol. 39 No. 3. Manistee, MI: J. H. + Shults Co., Jan-Feb 1927. p. 72 + +The Heart of a Child Is a Scroll. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: + _The Sunday School Journal_. Vol. 54 No. 8. Cincinnati: The + Methodist Book Concern, Aug 1922. p. 473. Note: Dropped initial in + first verse normalized for e-readers. + +The High Tension Line. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Edison + Monthly_. Vol. 18 No. 4. New York: The New York Edison Co., + Apr 1926. p. 92. Note: For examples of context of last stanza + consider Mark 16:14-18 and Acts 3:1-10. + +His Epitaph. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Our Dumb Animals_. + Vol. 55 No. 3. Norwood, MA: Massachusetts Society for the Prevention + of Cruelty to Animals, Aug 1922. p. 45. Note: Dropped initial in + first verse normalized for e-readers. + +His Great Hour. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Oral Hygiene_. + Vol. 18 No. 11. Pittsburgh: Nov 1928. p. 2122 + +Home v1921. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American Messenger_. + Vol. 79 No. 9. New York: American Tract Society, Oct 1921. p. 172 + +Home v1925. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _South Florida + Developer_. Vol. 5 No. 33. Stuart, FL: South Florida Developer, + Inc., May 12, 1925. p. 6 + +Hope. Byline: Clarence Edwin Flynn. Greencastle, Ind. Source: _The + Christian Advocate_. Vol. 84 No. 43. New York: Eaton & Mains, + Oct 28, 1909. p. 1706 + +How It Started. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal + Efficiency_. Vol. 17 No. 12. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, + Dec 1927. p. 277. Note: Dropped initial in first verse normalized + for e-readers. + +“I am not eloquent”. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The + Expositor_. Vol. 28 No. 3. Cleveland: F. M. Barton Co., Dec 1926. + p. 360. Note: For context see Moses in Exodus 4:10. + +If Christ Is Not Divine. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _America_. + Vol. 29 No. 13. New York: The America Press, Jul 14, 1923. p. 306. + Note: For context see 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. + +“I held a sea shell to my ears”. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: + _North Carolina Christian Advocate_. Vol. 73 No. 36. Greensboro, NC: + Sep 6, 1928. p. 20. + +Imminence. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _New Orleans Christian + Advocate_. Vol. 75 No. 40. New Orleans: Publishing Committee for the + Louisiana, Mississippi, and North Mississippi Conferences, + Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Oct 4, 1928. p. 11 + +In Conference. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal + Efficiency_. Vol. 17 No. 9. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, + Sep 1927. p.214. Note: Dropped initial in first verse normalized + for e-readers. + +Inventive Genius. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal + Efficiency_. Vol. 17 No. 2. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, + Feb 1927. p. 34. Notes: 1) Dropped initial in first verse + normalized for e-readers, 2) Stanzas’ original layout of + side-by-side is presented in this compilation as follows: + left stanza as first stanza, right as second. + +Iron. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal Efficiency_. Vol. 18 + No. 12. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, Dec 1928. p. 286 + +It Might Be Worse. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Farm Bureau + Monthly_. Vol. 4 No. 7. Riverside, CA: Riverside County Farm Bureau, + Jul 1923. p. 5. Note: Comma changed to period after “way.” + +I Want. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Youth_. Vol. 2 No. 1. Kansas + City: Unity School of Christianity, Jan 1928. p. 22. Note: Dropped + initial in first verse normalized for e-readers. + +Jim. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Youth’s Companion_. Vol. 93 + No. 44. Boston: Perry Mason Co., Oct 30, 1919. p. 612. Note: + Stanzas’ original layout of 1-over-2 is presented in this + compilation as follows: top stanza as first stanza, bottom-left as + second and bottom-right as third. + +Jove’s Plaint. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Edison + Monthly_. Vol. 16 No. 6. New York: The New York Edison Co., + Jun 1924. p. 129 + +The King. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. De Pauw, ’10. Source: _The Phi + Gamma Delta_. Vol. 31 No. 4. Indianapolis: Phi Gamma Delta + Fraternity, Feb 1909. p. 362. Note: He ended up graduating from + DePauw in 1911. + +Knocking. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal Efficiency_. + Vol. 16 No. 7. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, Jul 1926. + p. 436. Note: Illustrated dropped initial in first verse normalized + for e-readers. + +The Land of Heart’s Desire. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Santa + Ana Register_. Vol. 19 No. 153. Santa Ana, CA: Register Publishing + Co., May 26, 1924. p. 18 + +The Lens. Byline: C. E. Flynn. Source: _Photoplay Magazine_. Vol. 22 + No. 4. Chicago: Photoplay Publishing Co., Sep 1922. p. 109 + +Let Us Be Right. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Christian + Sun_. Vol. 71 No. 38. Burlington, NC: Sep 17, 1919. Cover page + +Life. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Congregationalist_. + Vol. 111 No. 41. Boston: Congregational Publishing Society, Oct 14, + 1926. p. 504. Notes: 1) Removed comma at end of third verse, + 2) Replaced comma with period at end of fourth verse. + +Light and Shadow. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Photoplay + Magazine_. Vol. 16 No. 2. Chicago: Photoplay Publishing Co., + Jul 1919. p. 104. Note: Dropped initial in first verse normalized + for e-readers. + +The Lucky Man. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal + Efficiency_. Vol. 18 No. 11. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, + Nov 1928. p. 248 + +Magi and Shepherd. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Indianapolis, Ind. + Source: _The Christian Advocate_. Vol. 90 No. 51. New York: + Methodist Book Concern, Dec 23, 1915. p. 1734 + +The Magic Gateway. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Princeton, Ind. Source: + _The Christian Advocate_. Vol. 96 No. 48. New York: The Methodist + Book Concern, Dec 1, 1921. p. 1506 + +The Magic of the Screen. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Photoplay + Magazine_. Vol. 21 No. 2. Chicago: Photoplay Publishing Co., + Jan 1922. p. 62. Note: Dropped initial in first verse of both + stanzas normalized for e-readers. + +The Making of Heaven. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Christian + Century_. Vol. 39 No. 24. Chicago: Disciples Publication Society, + Jun 15, 1922. p. 745 + +The Making of Home. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Box 97, Bloomington, + Ind. Source: _The Railway Maintenance of Way Employes Journal_. + Vol. 32 No. 10. Detroit: Oct 1923. p. 11. Note: “Employes” in + publication title is as printed. + +The Man Who Knows. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Princeton, Ind. Source: + _The Christian Advocate_. Vol. 97 No. 36. New York: The Methodist + Book Concern, Sep 7, 1922. p. 1110 + +The Marine. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Our Navy_. Vol. 16 + No. 17. Washington D. C.: Men o’ Warsmen Inc., Dec 15, 1922. p. 2 + +The Measure of Life. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Indiana + Farmer’s Guide_. Vol. 34 No. 25. Huntington, IN: The Guide + Publishing Co., Jun 24, 1922. p. 658. Note: Liberty was taken + with several end-of-line punctuation marks due to source’s + poor legibility. + +Memorial Day v1929. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Expositor_. + Cleveland: F. M. Barton Co. Inc., May 1929. p. 924 + +Minds. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal Efficiency_. Vol. 14 + No. 2. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, Feb 1924. p. 73. + Note: Illustrated dropped initial in each stanza’s first verse + normalized for e-readers. + +Miracle. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Los Angeles Times_. + Vol. 43. Los Angeles: The Times-Mirror Co., Jul 13, 1924. p. 37. + Note: Changes made to punctuation in second stanza for consistency + with first stanza: comma added to end of first verse, and period + changed to comma at end of sixth verse. + +The Mixture. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Railway Clerk_. + Vol. 29 No. 10. Cincinnati: Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship + Clerks, Oct 1930. p. 452. Note: A. M. Jackson included the poem in + a letter to the editor writing, “The following verse . . . explains + how and why [Northern Pacific Railway] Lodge No. 1124 is able to get + along so nicely.” + +The Modern Pupil. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The American + School Board Journal_. Vol. 78 No. 1. Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing + Co., Jan 1929. p. 198 + +Monuments. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Textile Worker_. + Vol. 10 No. 9. New York: United Textile Workers of America, + Dec 1922. p. 559 + +Morning Prayer. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The + Kindergarten-Primary Magazine_. Vol. 39 No. 3. Manistee, MI: + J. H. Shults Co., Jan-Feb 1927. p. 80 + +My Father’s House. Byline: Clarence Edwin Flynn. Source: _Western + Christian Advocate_. Vol. 74 No. 17. Cincinnati: Western Methodist + Book Concern, Apr 22, 1908. p. 12 + +My Little Fire. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American Mutual + Magazine_. Vol. 9 No. 4. Boston: American Mutual Liability Insurance + Co., Dec 1929. Back cover + +My Riches. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Our Navy_. Vol. 16 + No. 18. Washington D. C.: Men o’ Warsmen Inc., Dec 30, 1922. p. 2 + +The New Day. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Sunday School + Journal_. Vol. 51 No. 3. Cincinnati: The Methodist Book Concern, + Mar 23, 1919. Cover page + +The New Year. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American Messenger_. + Vol. 77 No. 1. New York: American Tract Society, Jan 1919. p. 6 + +No Room in the Inn. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Beacon_. + Vol. 14 No. 12. Boston: The Beacon Press, Inc., Dec 23, 1923. p. 56 + +Old-Fashioned Pictures. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Farm Life_. + Vol. 46 No. 3. Spencer, IN: Farm Life Publishing Co., Mar 1927. + p. 62 + +The Open Soul. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American Messenger_. + Vol. 78 No. 6. New York: American Tract Society, Jun 1920. p. 86 + +The Open Tomb. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Sunday School + Journal_. Vol. 47 No. 4. Cincinnati: Methodist Book Concern, + Apr 1915. title page. Note: Stanzas’ original layout of 2-over-1 + is presented in this compilation as follows: top-left stanza as + first stanza, top-right as second and bottom as third. + +Our Hearts Forget. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American + Messenger_. Vol. 81 No. 3. New York: The American Tract Society, + Mar 1923. p. 40 + +The Outcome. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion Picture + Classic_. Vol. 9 No. 5. Bayshore, NY: M. P. Publishing Co., + Jan 1920. p. 90 + +Palm Sunday v1925. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The + Congregationalist_. Vol. 110 No. 13. Boston: Congregational + Publishing Society, Mar 26, 1925. p. 398. Notes: 1) Stanzas’ + original layout of side-by-side is presented in this compilation as + follows: left stanza as first stanza, right as second, 2) Jesus + healed Bartimaeus of blindness (Mark 10:46-52). + +A Parents’ Prayer v1922. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Herald + of Gospel Liberty_. Vol. 114 No. 16. Dayton, OH: The Christian + Publishing Association, Apr 20, 1922. p. 372. Note: The sixth + verse’s lack of indentation (half a space) was not replicated. + +Patchwork. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion Picture + Magazine_. Vol. 24 No. 7. Jamaica, NY: Brewster Publications, Inc., + Aug 1922. p. 121 + +A Perfect Day. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Princeton, Ind. Source: _The + Epworth Era_. Vol. 29 No. 2. Nashville: Lamar & Barton, Oct 1922. + p. 63. Notes: 1) Stanzas’ original layout of side-by-side is + presented in this compilation as follows: left stanza as first + stanza, right as second, 3) E-readers might not correctly present + “perfect” in first verse with small caps, which is used + for emphasis. + +Picture Books. Byline: C. E. Flynn. Source: _Photoplay Magazine_. + Vol. 22 No. 2. Chicago: Photoplay Publishing Co., Jul 1922. p. 101. + Notes: 1) Dropped initial in first verse normalized for e-readers, + 2) Stanzas’ original layout of side-by-side is presented in this + compilation as follows: left stanza as first stanza, right as + second. + +Pictures. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Photoplay Magazine_. + Vol. 15 No. 1. Chicago: Photoplay Publishing Co., Dec 1918. p. 40. + Notes: 1) Stanzas’ original layout of 2-over-2-over-1 is presented + in this compilation as follows: top-left stanza as first stanza, + middle-left as second, top-right as third, middle-right as fourth + and bottom as fifth, 2) The fourth stanza’s second verse’s + indentation by one space was deleted. + +The Picture’s Lament. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion + Picture Magazine_. Vol. 27 No. 3. Jamaica, NY: Brewster + Publications, Inc., Apr 1924. p. 102 + +Picture Writing. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion Picture + Magazine_. Vol. 24 No. 8. Jamaica, NY: Brewster Publications, Inc., + Sep 1922. p. 109 + +The Pioneer v1928. Byline: Clarence C. Flynn. Source: _Motor Land_. + Vol. 22 No. 5. San Mateo, CA: California State Automobile + Association Inc., May 1928. p. 9. Note: It’s assumed the source made + a typographical error with Flynn’s middle initial. _Motor Land_ got + it right in Flynn’s byline for “The Road to Tomorrow.” + +A Prayer. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Warsaw Daily Times_. + Warsaw, IN: Reub. Williams & Sons, Nov 29, 1923. p. 6 + +Prayer for Normal Men. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Princeton, Ind. + Source: _The Congregationalist_. Vol. 109 No. 4. Boston: + Congregational Publishing Society, Jan 24, 1924. p. 118 + +A Prayer for Thanksgiving. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American + Messenger_. Vol. 80 No. 11. New York: The American Tract Society, + Nov 1922. p. 179 + +A Price Unpaid. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Northwestern + Christian Advocate_. Vol. 63 No. 41. Chicago: Methodist Book + Concern, Oct 6, 1915. p. 969 + +The Problem. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The American + Tyler-Keystone_. Vol. 41 No. 9. Mount Morris, IL: Tyler + Publishing Co., Sep 1927. p. 194. Note: Dropped initial in first + verse normalized for e-readers. + +A Psalm of the Movies. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion + Picture Magazine_. Vol. 23 No. 5. Jamaica, NY: Brewster + Publications, Inc., Jun 1922. p. 105 + +The Pupil. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Kindergarten-Primary + Magazine_. Vol. 39 No. 3. Manistee, MI: J. H. Shults Co., + Jan-Feb 1927. p. 87 + +The Question. v1926 Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal + Efficiency_. Vol. 16 No. 12. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, + Dec 1926. p. 715. Notes: 1) Stanzas’ original layout of side-by-side + is presented in this compilation as follows: left stanza as + first stanza, right as second, 2) Dropped initial in first verse + normalized for e-readers. + +The Radio Neighborhood. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The + Wireless Age_. Vol. 9 No. 11. New York: Wireless Press Inc., + Aug 1922. p. 90 + +The Railroad. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _New York Central + Lines Magazine_. Vol. 4 No. 11. New York: New York Central Lines, + Feb 1924. p. 25. Note: Dropped initial in first verse normalized + for e-readers. + +The Recruit. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Our Navy_. Vol. 22 + No. 10. Brooklyn, NY: Our Navy, Inc., Mid-Sept, 1928. p. 10 + +The Red Bird. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Woman’s Home + Missions_. Vol. 46 No. 4. Cincinnati: Woman’s Home Missionary + Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Apr 1929. p. 18 + +Requisition. Byline: Clarence F. Flynn. Source: _The Summary_. Vol. 45 + No. 46. Elmira, NY: New York State Reformatory, Nov 12, 1927. p. 3. + Note: Byline’s middle initial is as printed. + +Roads v1925. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Presbyterian + Standard_. Vol. 66 No. 9. Charlotte: Presbyterian Standard + Publishing Co., Mar 4, 1925. p. 9. Note: Indentation given to sixth + verse of second stanza. + +The Road to Tomorrow. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motor Land_. + Vol. 25 No. 5. San Mateo, CA: California State Automobile + Association Inc., Nov 1929. p. 4. Note: Stanzas’ original layout of + side-by-side is presented in this compilation as follows: left + stanza as first stanza, right as second. + +The Rooster. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal Efficiency_. + Vol. 16 No. 7. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, Jul 1926. + p. 436. Note: Illustrated dropped initial in each stanza’s first + verse normalized for e-readers. + +The Rulers of the Earth. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Pacific + Rural Press_. Vol. 111 No. 9. San Francisco: Pacific Rural Press + Co., Feb 27, 1926. p. 289 + +Sanctuary. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Ave Maria_. Vol. 26 + No. 21. Notre Dame, IN: Nov 19, 1927. p. 648. Note: Illustrated + dropped initial in first verse normalized for e-readers. + +The Second Wind. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Railway + Maintenance of Way Employes Journal_. Vol. 32 No. 7. Detroit: + Jul 1923. p. 39. Notes: 1) For context of first stanza consider + Jennifer Rosenberg’s article, “Why the Model T Is Called the Tin + Lizzie,” on the website ThoughtCo (accessed + May 25, 2025), 2) “Employes” in publication title is as printed. + +The Secret. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal Efficiency_. + Vol. 17 No. 1. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, Jan 1927. + p.21. Note: Dropped initial in first verse normalized + for e-readers. + +The Section Foreman. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _New York + Central Lines Magazine_. Vol. 2 No. 12. New York: New York Central + Railroad Co., Mar 1922. p. 44. Notes: 1) First stanza’s opening + quotation mark was corrected from being upside down, 2) Closing + quotation mark added to end of first stanza for consistency with + second stanza, 3) Dropped initial in first verse normalized + for e-readers. + +The Serving Giant. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Edison + Monthly_. Vol. 15 No. 2. New York: The New York Edison Co., + Feb 1923. p. 34 + +Shadows v1921. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion Picture + Magazine_. Vol. 22 No. 11. Jamaica, NY: Brewster Publications, Inc., + Dec 1921. p. 114 + +Shadows on the Wall. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion Picture + Magazine_. Vol. 27 No. 2. Jamaica, NY: Brewster Publications, Inc., + Mar 1924. p. 98 + +The Shadow World. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion Picture + Magazine_. Vol. 22 No. 12. Jamaica, NY: Brewster Publications, Inc., + Jan 1922. p. 108 + +Sight and Faith. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Catholic + World_. Vol. 126 No. 751. New York: The Paulist Fathers, Oct 1927. + p. 84. Note: E-readers might not correctly present “walked” in first + verse with small caps, which is used for emphasis. + +Si Gidders. Byline: Clarence Flynn. Bloomfield, Ind. Source: _The + Indianapolis Journal: The Sunday Journal_, morning ed. Vol. 52 + No. 306. Indianapolis: Journal Newspaper Co., Nov 2, 1902. + p. 10 of Part 2. Note: In response to an editor’s request for + biographical information, Mr. Flynn responded, “My first work was + published in a little farm paper in 1901. By 1902 I got into the old + _Indianapolis Journal_. . . .” (_American Astrology Magazine_. + Vol. 13 No. 6. New York: Clancy Publications, Inc., Aug 1945. + p. 16). + +The Silent Drama. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion Picture + Classic_. Vol. 9 No. 5. Bayshore, NY: M. P. Publishing Co., + Jan 1920. p. 79 + +Sing a Little Song. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Stepping + Stones_. Vol. 14 No. 3. Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, + Jan 17, 1926. p. 20 + +Song of the Dove. Byline: Clarence Edwin Flynn, ’09. Source: _Earlham + Verse_. Richmond, IN: John Dougan Rea, 1914. p. 38. Notes: 1) He + attended Earlham during 1905-1907 (_The Earlham College Bulletin: + The Directory_. Vol. 13 No. 5. Richmond, IN: Earlham College, + Aug 1916. p. 58), 2) Dropped initial in first verse normalized + for e-readers. + +Sorrow. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Continent_. Vol. 55 + No. 44. Chicago: McCormick Publishing Co., Oct 30, 1924. p. 1331 + +The Stars and Stripes for Me. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: + _Education_. Vol. 43 No. 3. Boston: The Palmer Co., Nov 1922. + p. 147. Note: Commas preceding em dashes were removed. + +Starting Things. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal + Efficiency_. Vol. 17 No. 8. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, + Aug 1927. p. 175. Note: Dropped initial in first verse normalized + for e-readers. + +The Station. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _New York Central Lines + Magazine_. Vol. 2 No. 12. New York: New York Central Railroad Co., + Mar 1922. p. 46. Note: Dropped initial in first verse normalized + for e-readers. + +Success. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal Efficiency_. + Vol. 17 No. 2. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, Feb 1927. + p. 47. Note: Dropped initial in first verse normalized + for e-readers. + +Success and Failure. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal + Efficiency_. Vol. 18 No. 8. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, + Aug 1928. p. 176 + +The Sunbeam and the Shadow. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion + Picture Magazine_. Vol. 22 No. 9. Jamaica, NY: Brewster + Publications, Inc., Oct 1921. p. 107 + +Sunsets For Sale. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The American + Herdsman_. Vol. 5 No. 11. Peoria, IL: American Livestock Publishers, + Inc., Nov 1930. p. 23 + +Sunshine and Shade. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Sabbath + Recorder_. Vol. 104 No. 7. Plainfield, NJ: American Sabbath Tract + Society, Feb 13, 1928. p. 206. Note: Comma removed after “long.” + +The Teacher v1921. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Sunday + School Journal_. Vol. 53 No. 11. Cincinnati: The Methodist Book + Concern, Nov 1921. p. 651. Note: Dropped initial in first verse + normalized for e-readers. + +The Teacher v1922. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Sunday + School Journal_. Vol. 54 No. 8. Cincinnati: The Methodist Book + Concern, Aug 1922. Cover page + +The Teacher v1923. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Sunday + School Journal_. Vol. 55 No. 9. Cincinnati: The Methodist Book + Concern, Sep 1923. Cover page. Note: Dropped initial in first verse + normalized for e-readers. + +The Teacher’s Reward. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Juvenile + Instructor_. Vol. 60 No. 4. Salt Lake City: Deseret Sunday School + Union, Apr 1925. p. 188 + +Team-work. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal Efficiency_. + Vol. 16 No. 9. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, Sep 1926. + p. 567. Note: Art piece signature of “McV” stands for + G. R. McVicker. + +The Temple. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Congregationalist_. + Vol. 107 No. 35. Boston: Congregational Publishing Society, Aug 31, + 1922. p. 269 + +Thankfulness. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Ave Maria_. + Vol. 29 No. 25. Notre Dame, IN: Jun 22, 1929. p. 779. Note: + Illustrated dropped initial in first verse normalized for e-readers. + +Thanksgiving v1927. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Twentieth + Century Progress_. Vol. 27 No. 6. Washington, D.C.: International + Reform Federation, Inc., Nov 1927. p. 16 + +Thanksgiving v1930. Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Pilot_. Vol. 11 + No. 2. Minneapolis: Northwestern Bible and Missionary Training + School, Nov 1930. Cover page + +Their First Meal. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Own Your Own + Home_. Vol. 2 No. 4. Jamaica, NY: The Constructive Publishing Corp., + Aug 1926. p. 7 + +The Things That I Believe. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: + _America_. Vol. 32 No. 11. New York: The America Press, Dec 27, + 1924. p. 258 + +Today and Tomorrow. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American + Cookery_. Vol. 29 No. 1. Boston: The Boston Cooking School Magazine + Co., Jun-Jul 1924. p. 21. Note: Stanzas’ original layout of + side-by-side is presented in this compilation as follows: left + stanza as first stanza, right as second. + +Transforming Love. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American + Messenger_. Vol. 81 No. 2. New York: The American Tract Society, + Feb 1923. p. 23 + +The Tree. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Personal Efficiency_. + Vol. 14 No. 6. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, Jun 1924. + p. 424 + +A Trouble Making World. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The + American Friend_. Vol. 27 (old series), Vol. 8 (new series) No. 17. + Richmond, IN: The Friends Publication Board, Fourth Month (Apr) 22, + 1920. p. 385 + +The Trouble with the Movies. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: + _Amateur Movie Makers_. Vol. 3 No. 5. New York: Amateur Cinema + League, Inc., May 1928. p. 355. Note: Stanzas’ original layout of + side-by-side is presented in this compilation as follows: left + stanza as first stanza, right as second. + +True Values. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Sunday School + Journal_. Vol. 48 No. 5. Cincinnati: The Methodist Book Concern, + May 1916. p. 337 + +Two Princes. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Northwestern Christian + Advocate_. Vol. 63 No. 34. Chicago: Methodist Book Concern, Aug 18, + 1915. p. 800 + +Two Teachers. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Georgia Education + Journal_. Vol. 23 No. 2. Mason: Georgia Education Association, + Oct 1930. p. 26 + +Two Youths. Byline: Clarence Flynn. Source: _The Sabbath Recorder_. + Vol. 109 No. 18. Plainfield, NJ: American Sabbath Tract Society, + Nov 3, 1930. p. 575. Notes: 1) Source did not provide a poem title. + A later publication provided a poem title (used here), author’s + middle initial “E,” and cited _Young People_, which has not been + found (_The Parish Broadcaster_. Vol. 5 No. 7. Philadelphia: Church + of St. John the Evangelist, Jul 1931. p. 5), 2) Comma replaced with + period after “rose.” + +The Umbrella Mender. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Christian + Register_. Vol. 105 No. 52. Boston: The Christian Register Inc., + Dec 30, 1926. p. 1186 + +The Unknown Soldier. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Daughters of + the American Revolution Magazine_. Vol. 58 No. 3. Albany, NY: The + National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, + Mar 1924. p. 148 + +Via Dolorosa. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _America_. Vol. 32 + No. 24. New York: The America Press, Mar 28, 1925. p. 570 + +The Voices of God. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Sunday + School Journal_. Vol. 47 No. 6. Cincinnati: Methodist Book Concern, + Jun 1915. p. 420. Note: E-readers might not correctly present + “thousand” in first verse with small caps, which is used + for emphasis. + +Voices of the Dawn. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American + Cookery_. Vol. 27 No. 2. Boston: The Boston Cooking School Magazine + Co., Aug-Sep 1922. No page number + +The Watchdog of the Sea. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Our Navy_. + Vol. 16 No. 17. Washington D. C.: Men o’ Warsmen Inc., Dec 15, 1922. + p. 2 + +Walking with God. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Herald of + Gospel Liberty_. Vol. 120 No. 35. Dayton, OH: The Christian + Publishing Association, Aug 30, 1928. p. 807. Note: Dropped initial + in first verse normalized for e-readers. + +Wander Lust. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Farm Life_. Vol. 47 + No. 5. Spencer, IN: Farm Life Publishing Co., May 1928. p. 34 + +The Wealth of Cheer. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Indianapolis, Ind. + Source: _Southwestern Christian Advocate_. Vol. 44 No. 27. + New Orleans: The Methodist Book Concern, Jul 8, 1915. p. 5 + +What Does It Matter? Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Bloomington, Ind. + Source: _Christian Advocate_. Vol. 85 No. 44. Nashville: Lamar & + Barton, Oct 31, 1924. p. 1387 + +What Do You Know? Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Psychology_. + Vol. 15 No. 3. Jamaica, NY: Psychology Publishing Co., Inc., Sep + 1930. p. 14. Note: Dropped initial in first verse normalized for + e-readers. + +“Whatever he may wish or plan”. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The + Progressive Farmer_. Vol. 44 No. 8. Birmingham: The Progressive + Farmer Co., Feb 23, 1929. p. 19. Note: The poem appears in four + parts interspersed in a third-party sermon. Transcriber is + uncertain if they constitute the entire poem. + +When the Curtain Falls. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion + Picture Magazine_. Vol. 16 No. 9. Bayshore, NY: The M.P. Publishing + Co., Oct 1918. p. 123 + +Where Is Heaven? Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Beacon_. + Vol. 13 No. 7. Boston: The Beacon Press, Inc., Nov 12, 1922. p. 26. + Note: Dropped initial in first verse normalized for e-readers. + +Why We Are Here. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Princeton, Ind. Source: + _The Epworth Era_. Vol. 31 No. 3. Nashville: Lamar & Barton, + Nov 1924. p. 118. Notes: 1) Stanzas’ original layout of side-by-side + is presented in this compilation as follows: left stanza as first + stanza, right as second, 2) E-readers might not correctly present + the “ur” of “Our” in first verse with small caps, which is used + for emphasis. + +The Window of Dreams. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion + Picture Magazine_. Vol. 26 No. 5. Jamaica, NY: Brewster + Publications, Inc., Dec 1923. p. 126 + +The World’s Drama. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Motion Picture + Magazine_. Vol. 15 No. 5. Bayshore, NY: The M.P. Publishing Co., + Jun 1918. p. 99. Notes: 1) Stanzas’ original layout of + 1-over-2-over-2 is presented in this compilation as follows: top + stanza as first stanza, middle-left as second, bottom-left as + third, middle-right as fourth and bottom-right as fifth, + 2) Illustrated dropped initial in first verse normalized for + e-readers. + + + + +APPENDIX 2: INDEX + + +Categories are not mutually exclusive. Some poems are followed by +bracketed text indicating humor and/or other descriptions. + + accountability + ancestors + attitude + behavior + character + community + consolation + duty + electricity + entertainment + evolution + faith + fashion + fellowship + fortitude + God + grace + gratitude + heart + heaven + home + hope + legacy + life + love + military + mortality + nature + parenting + patriotism + people + prayer + sorrow + special occasions + success + talent + teaching + thought + time + values + war + +accountability + Charge Account [fate] + The Section Foreman [train] + +ancestors + The Flag at Sea [patriotism; immigration; ship] + Old-Fashioned Pictures + +attitude + A Perfect Day + Sing a Little Song + The Wealth of Cheer + +behavior + The Fabulous City [speculation] + Film Judgment [humor; theater] + Knocking [humor; car] + The Modern Pupil [humor; insubordination] + A Psalm of the Movies [humor; theater] + The Umbrella Mender [procrastination] + +character + Almost + The Bantams [humor; fauna; confidence] + The Chameleon [fauna; integrity] + The Close-Up [duplicity] + The End of the Trail [service] + The Handicap [adversity] + His Epitaph [compassion] + In Conference [humor; haughtiness] + Iron [potential] + I Want [greed] + Jim [honor] + Prayer for Normal Men + The Tree [corruption, flora] + A Trouble Making World [self] + Two Princes [self; sacrifice] + +community + Along the Road [service] + Magi and Shepherd [equality] + The Radio Neighborhood [connection] + Team-work [farm, teamwork] + +consolation + It Might Be Worse + My Little Fire + +duty + Doing It Well + The Engineer [train] + The Lucky Man + +electricity + The City’s Nerves + Cupid’s Lament [humor] + Electricity [lightning; anthropomorphic] + An Electric Personality [humor; pun] + Enslaved Lightning [humor] + The Harness [humor] + The High Tension Line [anthropomorphic; miracle] + Jove’s Plaint [humor; anthropomorphic] + The Serving Giant + +entertainment + After-Images [theater] + The Magic of the Screen [theater] + Picture Books [theater] + The Picture’s Lament [humor; theater; anthropomorphic] + The Shadow World [theater] + The Trouble with the Movies [humor; theater] + The Window of Dreams [theater] + +evolution + The Electric Spark [creation] + Evolution [humor; technology] + The Firefly [fauna] + Picture Writing [theater] + +faith + Credo + Faith v1928 + The Gateway of the Kingdom + The Happy Ending + The Man Who Knows + Sight and Faith + The Things That I Believe + +fashion + The Question v1926 [humor] + +fellowship + Brotherhood [equality] + Fade-Outs [memory] + The Gifts of the Church + Heart Gates + The Mixture [diversity] + +fortitude + Climaxes v1923 + The Cross v1927 + Have You Tried? + The Rooster [humor; fauna] + The Second Wind [car] + Walking with God + +God + The Creator [omnipresence] + Flowers Are Thoughts of God [flora] + The God of the Beginning [Providence] + God’s Garden + Imminence + The Voices of God + What Does It Matter? [Providence] + +grace + The Divine Image + Freedom v1928 + The Open Soul + +gratitude + Childhood on the Farm + Compensation + The Cry of a Human + The Gift of the Farm + God of To-Day + A Grace for Meals + A Prayer + Thankfulness [flora] + Thanksgiving v1927 + Thanksgiving v1930 + +heart + The Age of a Heart + Finding God [nature] + The King [Jesus Christ] + No Room in the Inn + Our Hearts Forget + Sunsets for Sale [humor] + +heaven + The Land of Heart’s Desire + The Making of Heaven + My Father’s House + Where Is Heaven? + +home + Coming and Going [train] + Home v1921 + Home v1925 + The Making of Home + The Temple [reverence] + Their First Meal + Wander Lust + +hope + Climaxes v1921 [theater] + A Day at a Time + The Easter Message [resurrection] + An Easter Vision [resurrection] + Hope + The New Year + The Open Tomb [resurrection] + The Outcome [theater] + Roads v1925 + The Unknown Soldier [war] + Via Dolorosa + +legacy + Domsie + Life + Monuments [angel] + The Pioneer v1928 + +life + The Great Adventure + The Lens [theater] + Light and Shadow [theater] + Patchwork + Pictures + The Railroad [train] + Shadows v1921 [theater] + Shadows on the Wall [theater] + The Station [train] + The Sunbeam and the Shadow [theater] + Sunshine and Shade + Today and Tomorrow + Why We Are Here + +love + Palm Sunday v1925 + Transforming Love + +military + The Marine + The Recruit [humor; navy] + The Watchdog of the Sea [navy; ship] + +mortality + When the Curtain Falls [theater] + The World’s Drama [theater] + +nature + Blossoms [flora] + The Earth’s Plaint [anthropomorphic; technology] + God and Spring + God’s Manners + Miracle + Song of the Dove [fauna] + Sunsets for Sale [humor] + Voices of the Dawn + +parenting + The Children v1921 + The Children v1925 + The Heart of a Child + The Heart of a Child Is a Scroll + His Great Hour + A Parents’ Prayer v1922 + The Problem + +patriotism + The Flag at Sea [ancestors; immigration; ship] + My Riches + The Stars and Stripes for Me + +people + Gutenberg, Johannes + Starting Things [humor] + Jesus Christ + The Easter Message [hope] + An Easter Vision [hope] + If Christ Is Not Divine + The King [heart] + Magi and Shepherd [community] + No Room in the Inn [heart] + The Open Tomb [hope] + The Outcome [hope] + Palm Sunday v1925 [love] + Two Princes [character] + Via Dolorosa + Moses + “I am not eloquent” [talent] + Thales of Miletus + How It Started [thought] + +prayer + Child’s Prayer [nighttime] + Credo [faith] + God of To-Day [gratitude] + A Grace for Meals [gratitude] + Hagar’s Song [trust] + Morning Prayer [petition] + A Parents’ Prayer v1922 [parenting; nighttime] + A Prayer [gratitude] + Prayer for Normal Men [character] + A Prayer for Thanksgiving [mercy] + The Problem [parenting] + Sanctuary + +sorrow + The Dream + “I held a sea shell to my ears” + The Red Bird + Sorrow + +special occasions + birth of a child + The Children v1925 [parenting] + The Future [time] + The Heart of a Child [parenting] + The Heart of a Child Is a Scroll [parenting] + Christmas + No Room in the Inn [heart] + Earth Day + The Earth’s Plaint [nature] + The Firefly [evolution] + God and Spring [nature] + God’s Manners [nature] + Miracle [nature] + Song of the Dove [nature] + Voices of the Dawn [nature] + Easter (see Hope) + Flag Day (see Patriotism) + funeral + The Making of Heaven [heaven] + Monuments [legacy] + Roads v1925 [hope] + Sorrow + When the Curtain Falls [mortality] + Independence Day (see Patriotism) + Labor Day (see Duty) + Martin Luther King Day + Team-work [teamwork] + Memorial Day + The Grey Host [war] + Memorial Day v1929 + The Unknown Soldier [hope] + National Inventors’ Day (Feb 11) + Inventive Genius [thought] + Starting Things [thought] + National Static Electricity Day (Jan 9) + How It Started [thought] + Naturalization + The Flag at Sea [ancestors; patriotism] + The Mixture [fellowship] + New Year’s Day + The New Year [hope] + Thanksgiving (see Gratitude) + Valentine’s Day + Cupid’s Lament [electricity] + Veterans Day (see also Military) + Jim [character] + The New Day [war] + +success + The Day’s Success [positive impact] + The Secret [initiative and perseverance] + Success [joy and love] + Success and Failure [happiness] + +talent + “I am not eloquent” + The Rulers of the Earth [women; farm] + +teaching + The Builder v1924 + The Builders + The Pupil + The Teacher v1921 + The Teacher v1922 + The Teacher v1923 + The Teacher’s Reward + Two Teachers + +thought + How It Started [discovery] + Inventive Genius [humor] + The Magic Gateway [books] + Minds + Si Gidders [humor] + The Silent Drama [theater] + Starting Things [humor] + What Do You Know? [humor] + +time + The Clock [humor] + A Day at a Time [hope] + The Future [children] + The Road to Tomorrow + +values + A Call for Substitutes + A Creed + Let Us Be Right + The Measure of Life + Requisition + True Values + Two Youths + “Whatever he may wish or plan” + +war + Battle Hymn + The Grey Host [peace] + The New Day [peace] + A Price Unpaid + + + + +APPENDIX 3: UPDATES & REVISIONS WITH 2ND EDITION + + +Eighteen poems were added to the second edition: + + A Call for Substitutes (1922) + It Might Be Worse (1923) + Blossoms (1925) + The Easter Message (1925) + Thanksgiving v1927 + The Pioneer v1928 + The Recruit (1928) + Sunshine and Shade (1928) + The Red Bird (1929) + The Road to Tomorrow (1929) + God and Spring (1930) + The Handicap (1930) + The Mixture (1930) + Sunsets for Sale (1930) + Thanksgiving v1930 + Two Teachers (1930) + Two Youths (1930) + What Do You Know? (1930) + +Here are the other changes. The named edition has been moved from the +front cover to the interior front matter and to a new list of editions. +The index incorporates three changes. First, the categories have been +collected at the beginning of the index and linked to their respective +locations within the index. Second, Naturalization is a new subcategory +under special occasions. Third, some bracketed descriptors have been +added and others revised. The appendix of inaccessible poems now +includes the poems. + + + + +APPENDIX 4: INACCESSIBLE POEMS + + +This collection of poetry is incomplete for a couple of reasons. First, +there may be poems unknown to the transcriber. Second, some publications +for known poems within the date range of this edition are inaccessible. +Here are the inaccessible poems published in 1930 or earlier: + +“The Age of the Heart.” _Personal Efficiency_. Vol. 15 No. 1. Chicago: + LaSalle Extension University, Jan 1925. p. 37. This poem’s last line + is cutoff. HathiTrust’s scans are stamped with “University of + Michigan” (UM). A UM librarian confirmed for me that the bottom of + their physical copy is cutoff. + +“Maker of the Country.” This poem allegedly appeared in promotional + literature for Mattituck and Eastern Long Island realty circa + 1920. + +“Nothing Like the West.” _Western Story Magazine_. Vol. 48 No. 2. + Street & Smith Corp., Dec 6, 1924. p. 42 + +“An Outdoor Prayer.” _Western Story Magazine_. Vol. 76 No. 4. + Street & Smith Corp., Mar 10, 1928. p. 94 + +“When Bill Went West.” _Far West Illustrated_. Vol. 4 No. 6. + Street & Smith Corp., Jul 1927. p. 129 + +“The Yes Man.” _Columbia_. Vol. 9 No. 2. New Haven: Knights of Columbus, + Sep 1929. p. 40 +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77843 *** |