Hello, Boys! Part 10

There is no potion I have not tasted Of all the bitters in life's large store; And never a drop of the gall was wasted That the lords of Karma saw fit to pour, Though I cried as my Elder Brother before me, 'Father in heaven, let pa.s.s this cup!'

And the only response from the still skies o'er me Was the brew held close for my lips to sup.

Yet I have grown strong on the gall Elysian, And a courage has come that all things dares; And I have been given an inner vision Of the wonderful world where my dear one fares; And I have had word from the great Hereafter - A marvellous message that throbs with truth, And mournful weeping has changed to laughter, And grief has changed into the joy of youth.

Oh! there was a time when I supped sweet potions, And lightly uttered profound belief, Before I went down in the swirling oceans And fought with madness and doubt and grief.

Now I am climbing the Hills of Knowledge, And I speak unfearing, and say 'I know,'

Though it be not to church, or to book, or college, But to G.o.d Himself that my debt I owe.

For the ceaseless prayer of a soul is heeded, When the prayer asks only for light and faith; And the faith and the light and the knowledge needed Shall gild with glory the path to death.

Oh! heart of the world by sorrow shaken, Hear ye the message I have to give: The seal from the lips of the dead is taken, And they can say to you, 'Lo! we live.'

THE DEADLIEST SIN

There are not many sins when once we sift them.

In actions of evolving human souls Striving to reach high goals And falling backward into dust and mire, Some element we find that seems to lift them Above our condemnation--even higher Into the realm of pity and compa.s.sion.

So beauteous a thing as love itself can fas.h.i.+on A chain of sins; descending to desire, It wanders into dangerous paths, and leads To most unholy deeds, And light-struck, walks in madness toward the night.

Wrong oft-times is an over-ripened right, A rank weed grown from some neglected flower, The lightning uncontrolled: flames meant for joy And beauty, used to ravage and destroy.

For sins like these repentance can atone.

There is one sin alone Which seems all unforgivable, because It springs from no temptation and no need And no desire, save to make sweet faith bleed, And to defame G.o.d's laws.

Oh! viler than the murderer or the thief Who slays the body and who robs the purse, Is he who strives to kill the mind's belief And rob it of its hope Of life beyond this little pain-filled span.

G.o.d has no curse Quite dark enough to punish such a man, Who, seeing how souls grope And suffer in this world of mighty losses, And how hearts stagger on beneath life's crosses, Yet strives to rob them of their staff of faith And make them think dark death Ends all existence; think the wors.h.i.+pped child Cold in its mother's arms is but a clod And has not gone to G.o.d; That souls united by love undefiled And holy can by death be torn asunder To meet no more.

It must be true that under This earth of ours there lies a Purgatory For those who seek to rob grief of the glory That s.h.i.+nes through hope of life immortal. In Sin's lexicon this is the vilest sin - Needless and cruel, ugly, gaunt and mean, Without one poor excuse on which to lean, A vandal sin, that with no hope of gain Finds pleasure only in another's pain.

G.o.d! though all other sins on earth persist, Strike dumb the blatant, loud-mouthed atheist.

THE RAINBOW OF PROMISE

In the face of the sun are great thunderbolts hurled, And the storm-clouds have shut out its light; But a Rainbow of Promise now s.h.i.+nes on the world, And the universe thrills at the sight.

'Tis the flag of our Union, the red, white, and blue, Our Star-spangled Banner--our pride; Fair symbol of all that is n.o.ble and true, Flung out over continents wide.

Flung out in its glory o'er land and o'er sea, With a message from G.o.d in each star; And a glorious promise of peace yet to be In the fluttering folds of each bar.

A Rainbow of Promise, bright emblem of hope, Fair flag of each cause that is just; No longer in doubt or in darkness we grope - In the Star-spangled Banner we trust.

THEY SHALL NOT WIN

Whatever the strength of our foes is now, Whatever it may have been, This is our slogan, and this our vow - They shall not win, they shall not win.

Though out of the darkness they call the aid Of the evil forces of Sin, We utter our slogan unafraid - They shall not win, they shall not win.

We know we are right, and know they are wrong, So to G.o.d above and within - We make our vow and we sing our song They shall not win, they shall not win.

It rises over the shriek of sh.e.l.l, And over the cannons' din: Our slogan shall scatter the hosts of h.e.l.l - They shall not win, they shall not win.