Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1878-05-28
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POET r. Y.

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PO E T r. Y.
ANNIVERSARY ODE.
Recited at the Fifth annual Celebration of tn,
< Philomat7tean Literary Society, of Bridge
aoater, Virginia, Friday, May 24th, 1878.
BY T. HUNTER FAUvER.
Der the mute chords of the fam'd Delphian
lyre,-
Whose magic strains breathed an ethereal fire
.On hero-spirits of the Olden day
But shall we let them sleep,
Or shall our fingers sweep
Across the silent strings?
We venture far;
But if the soul would reap
The need that honor brings,
1t must not quail, but dare!
Let duty, too, still bid us when she may,
And we will then, as now, humbly our task
assay.
To-day is ours; but, 1ningles with the Past!
AS the red light fades in its native West
The Present bids adieu, and sinks to rest;
Wanes the fair prospect on our vision cast.
The boon we grasp to-day may not be ours to.
morrow
And frail is he who clings to such hope,
For, darksome is the way that one must grope,
Who seeks but from the Future light to borrow:
For Time runs, fleeting his continuous course,
And in the Present bids us act our part;
The Futures fiattering promises depart
Leaving their votaries to tempest's force.
We're met to-day-not as the many meet,
Who come, as now we're come, to celebrate
Some like event, by deed to elevate
name to honor's portal, there to greet
The welcome plaudits of their noble peers,
Who, like brave, daring knights, have led the
way,
And have toiled upward in such bright array,
AS garbs in luster their devoted years:
1t is for them to bask in fortunes smile
To wear the chaplet they have nobly won
For they have striven meath a burning sun,
While struggling on through labor's lone defile.
For they alone have reach'd the spreading
Have won prospect of the promised goal
.Ofknowledge, who have sought it with soul
Bent on the high desire this prize to gain!
But, theirs is not our lot; nor do we crave
That such golden heritage were ours,
Possessed unmerited, for why should flowers
Be thus bestow'd, that brightest honor gave?
And has it been decreed that we must rest
Suplnely, thus, within this loathsome shade,
And watch the embers into blackness fade,
That were to kindle fire within the breast?
For who could stem with courage the dark
tide
Oflife, if cast asunder from the mystic guide,
Nay, tits not thus, for he who strives may win
Yes, even the brightest trophies may descend
AS the reward of honest TOLL and bend
A silver current to the soul within.
Then wherefore should we falter in our course? :?
May not what has been be again achievedo
Be not by croakers cunning art deceived!
They hang a1pon success. as round the source
OF An,pid stream the Shiny serpents feed;
Lu,riag tn uaaoasy By their subtle grace,
Dispensing poison to The human race,
A'ed uiro,Ot,ag blight upon each noble deed!
iSpurn them aeasparingly, and By yoisr scor7,
shoao them thei, tavors ~ are byyou re,oarded-
That ristae's attributes are firmly guarded
That hope, though they deride, is not torlo,n.
Press onward, comrades, with frm-set aim,
Nor timidly withhold, but, LAUNCH your bark /;
For though the world may seem SO cold and
dark
There beams beyond us still a beacon-flame
The Pharos OF our hopes, the light that guides
Our erring bark along the stormy main,
That we must traverse ere the glad refrain
Is waited to US from the port, where bides
All that ambitious longing may desire
A name aoith honor a0reath'di that secret power,
That guiding light is knowledge and her
dover
Falls richest to such souls as never tire.
Who would make smooth the rugged path we
treod,
And earn the sweet reward that efforts bring,
Must journey On to the Athenian spring
From out whose depths the crystal waters
thread
Their silent flow. and in their wanderings lave
That far-famed cline where wisdoms feet
have trod,
And blood of heroes dyed the verdant sod
Hellas the land that learnins's luster gave.
The stars that we may win will brighter shine,
If we for them have every nerve extended;
And only such success with labor blended.
Can throw refugence round life's decline.
Then, bend your energies and set your will
On high achievements,--alth they may
seem
Obscured by distance, they may richly teen,
With that which could alone our wishes fill.
Ye who bear signs of reienting heart,
When saceet-uoiced creatures whisper words OF
doubt,
Look to your laurels draw your colors out
Before you.--turn and nobly act your part!
Ah me! what disappointed hopes they would
appease,
How they would screen the venturer from the
thrust
OF would-be critics; how they only trust
mt oneiso hesh esteemed, 6y them. may not dis
: psease,5
Nor cast q shado,o DER true dignity,
Nor ever 'attse up the soul of h,.thn'
But, should we bow before their shrine, for
sooth,-
And in their lstri'a9 presence lose our entity?
But, now Pegasus wearies in his flight,
Beneath the burden of my idle song,
And sues for rest; but still the visions thrcng
Around me, while fond Memory sheds her light
Adown the vista of the Past! turn
To view the hallowed scenes of other days,
When met our humble band; and, through
the maze
| OF fancy, feel the happy hours return.
| Bright are the beams of light that softly rest
On pleasant recollectionsi May the hand
That waves us onward with its magic wand
Set up brighter light within each hopefu
breast!
To-day we part; each for himself to choose
| Some object-or some phantom he woult
chase
| His life's work and it's trial to embrace,
n