Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-07-04
POETA NAsCITUR, NON FIT.
Read before the Tennessee Press Association, al KnO
UiUe, June 81, 1878.
By JOHN W. FAXON.

By JOHN W. FAxON
wreath of genius! culled from DER State,
From mountain high to bold and rapid stream;
From Holston's source-Clinch Mountains rugged
To where the Mighty rivers waters CLEAN.
Where wisdom's votaries slumber unforgot
IT'S we'll! The Press here spoke Its high commands
When HOlstOns waves were bound by tangled
wild;
To win an empire from the forest child.
Now to those spirits, grand in Drawn and brain,
We here should rear and consecrate fame.
Here Jackson, Blount and White and johnson dwelt
Endowed by Genius with wand of power;
T9eI Rrecepes Wise ana .ofee q snS1gn1 once iel
Their Deeds which Ranasey's Annals Illustrate,
Heroes and statesmen well may emulate.
Here dwelt a champion Of the Prsss's right,
A man who made his foemen feel his steel;
Yet while ne wrote an enemy to plight,
Peace to his ashes. We the cypress wave Ai'''
As friend and foe clasp hands at Brownlows grave.
Recall the hour! when loud the bugle's blast
Pealed out shrill tones of fratricidal war;
When startled thousands on abstraction cast
hope which lured, yet Knocked them from afar;
While desolation spread Its havoc wide
Ger fields where brave men fought and bled and
died.
In those sad days the thunder storm Of war
For onward. led by Hates malignant star,
Implying Slaughter stalked along the front.
When Union or Disunion was the CRY.
But smiling peace resumed her gentle reign
Art science, wealth, crushed by the dread turmoil
Returned to lire, and city, hill and plain
Are thronged once more by busy sons of toll;
And where, but now, we saw destruction rage,
Behold! the progress of peaceful age.
Reared from the ruins of those dlreful days,
This goOdly city-now In lroseate bloom
AS back to life returned he from the tomb
Seems grander far, than In those by-gone hours,
With female beauty wealth, commercial powers
Men of the Press may here a lesson learn;
This Union left you by patriot host,
Is yours to serve, to gOvern-therefOre yearn
To teach the youth what freemen lack the most.
Der your vast power resistance bears no sway,
So let your teachings be the proper 1cdy.
Lift up the Press, and, on its page unfurled,
Let fraud and falsehOod bear deeper brand;
Teach wisdom, honor to thOughtless world
And drive the demon diStrust from the land.
Be true to truth|the plainest task Is ours.
To weave for her a crown of fadelesS flowers.
And when your States fair credit is assailed,
Rush to the BREACH resist the wretched scheme,
REPUTATION! Gods! Who hath not quated
Before the monster Of that hideous dream?
Reputation must 10 honor yield
With this your motto rise and win the field;
But let me end this dull untutored lay.
wish the thing had never been begun.
This writing rhymes easy thing they Soy,
But, for my part, can not see the fun.
My winged horse the Scrub-hath neer wing,
And hence it is Il am saddest when 1 sing"
This muse of mine is, as you must have known,
The fright" among Mnemosyne's fair daughters;
And she, the wretch, hath led me, on and on,
Beyond my depth-in wholly unknown waters.
And there 1 founder, while she turns to fit
"POETA NASCITUR," you k7aoac, mon FIT"