Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1876-09-19
Centennial Ode.

., Rockville, by Henry Haowell, esq. form er-
yv If this city, but now Of Montgomery county,
Marylaud:
An Hundred Years! Aud Nature never old,
Still day by day, orders her myrlat wo' Ks.
The SUD rciIs on in famiug spleudor, from
Air and earth aad water, calling forth the
luuumcrabie mysteries oil lille;
The moon gids grassy slope aud wild ravlne
Api restless sea; al! the stars of Heaven
Rise aui set and rS,. again; Rivers How,
Bringing the drift and pebbles from the far
Snow mautied Mountaits; Oc,au's bosom
swells
Aud sluk> The seasons change; And all
moves Oh
A. 10 the years gone by.
4 Ccu,ury,
10 tic loug ages Of Creation 5 course,
l. but the fash of passing bird, the swing
o. pendulum, the ripple OF a wave.
len thousand thousand years has Nature 5
force
Transformed the elements, aud carrying on
\ vast, diversified, ordained plan,
Prepared this home for occupation;
Has embellished it with beauties countless
AZ the glitteriug sands on Aires desert.
And still through ages uum berless to come
Wilt silent, 81 W, unerrng energy
Work out peW lovellucSS Tor coming man.
Wild hurricanes will sweep Ger earth; her
face
Will seem all Scared and torn aud bleeding;
To the imperfect vision Chaos regus:
Yet all is part of Que grand schem; for good,
AS earth puts 90 her ta,rest robe OF green,
Bcdcckcd with jewels, after summer storm.
But where are those who Oh the day which We,
With patrlo: lustinc:S celebrate, tu tiled
Their varied duties The venerable
Sircs lous since have rested from th:lr laDors
The sta,w rt men aud noble mo:herS gave
Their lie work TO their kind, aud sank to
sleep;
Th. b .b: became buy boisterous boy,
o. romplng girl with u .rry sparkling eye,
.And 10y degrees assumed the cares OF lte,
Aud tcilcd, and mourned and smiled, then it
too Slept.
All who ooked abroad that day on n iture,
Now rest beneath h. sw!iog grassy waves
Of their ast home.
But yet to us they live
Mau passes tc his rest aod seems to die
Aud be forgotten, but his deeds remain.
The learned tell u that there Is no waste
Of force 10 Natule's wise economy
hat every motion is but vital power
Coeval with the origin OF things.
So every act of kindness, every word
Of love, each geotle minlsterlua to
The wauts and pains and sorrows OF our KIND,
Lives 10 a gentcr race, uobler lloe.
\ vrtuous and chiyalric father,
A mother true TO noble Womanhood,
Leave in successive ages far rcmo.e
races of goodness aud uUdylng worth.
No life so humble but it makes its mark
ror good or ILL., but helps to shape IN slight
Degree, the form and manners OF the age,
a, gram by grain the tloy insect rcars
The coral continents 10 troplc seas.
What is the lcSsou then for US to learn,
l., looking through the long array OF years
That stretch in hazy distance down the past
Is it not to gird the armor OF true
Manhood euergy and faith upon Us,
Mt satisfied TO idly drift along
The stream of life, bur taking up our work
Acknowledge each his debt to country, race ?
Nohy we commemorate the virtues
OF ancestral worth, by honest actions,
by elevated thoughts, by purer lives,
BY ccotle courtesy, by liberal deeds,
BY earnest trust 10 virtue, valor, truth.
AItho' at tins the outlook Ger the world
|, larkcucd by the prevalence OF wrong
Attho' the anxious heart grows taiut and SICK
AItho thc lover OF his race we'll nigh
UtsparS of man. $ regeneration; yet
\, certain as the light of coming dawn
l. progress 20 higher, better life.
He who has watched from lofty mountain
peak
The cdiyinr of the mist that shrouds the
vale.
Knows tha. its tcssiurs mark plastic power
,t,il i jrIf, cIOntS.
Tn" cxhalati, rs from the marShy shore:
) shall the light of coming ages show
Beneath the faults and errors OF to-day,
\ glorious heritage of Truth and Good.
The ra>t rctuns no more! With Hope and
Trust
We lace the tu'urc, striving for the best,
And 50 We offer TO the coming years.
Inc crl that beg to-day, our Hymn.
Hail Oa new and happy time
Welcome 10 this world OF our
Welcome to the Winter rime
Welcome to the Summer flowers
Tho no mortal eye may scan
All the threads of JOY and sorrow,
That diversity thy plan
As thou greetest each tomorrow
Tho the eyes that sparkle now.
Ere thy close may shut forever,
lho the iair, the manly brow.
Gain the wreath that fadeth never
Calmly 10 this thought we'll rest
While We humbly give the greetlng-
All Is ordered for the best,
THUS the wooI Of life completing.
rs the ages roll away,
O.hcr forms IN tur0 will meet thee,
Farcr scenes, brighter day.
Nobier races still will greet thee /!