St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-01-03
Plod.

OF the wise and holy Maker, of the good and gra.
cious God
Men can ask few higher blessings than the power
and grit to plod,
Snowy gift may be attractive glby talk of going
to do"
But it takes the solid lifting of old Plod to put
her through"
He is mightier than all genius, greater than all
boasted skill,
Having for his inspiration an indOmitable will
Genius is passing meteor-Plod, a never setting
sun,
Where all else hath failed and tainted Plod has
Just gone in and won
He hath reared the mighty cities, with a strength
gOd-like sublime
Made highway for the nations through the ancient
hills of time
He hath made the lightning serve him. counted
stars and measured space,
Wealth and genius fairly beaten in the middle of
lifes race!
Hard to rouse and slow to action, but when PlOd
says 81 will"
He is just as sure do it as the lightning is to kill
He busy at the building of the pyramids of old
And though kings sought deathless mention it's of
PlOd their tale is told.
Never yet hath wondring pilgrim meath their
gloomy shadows trod
Without feeling and believing the Omnipotence of
Plod.
He hath yet beheld mountains where his flag he
dared not plant,
just because he didn't whimper and sit down and
say 81 can't"
In the sober days of plodding thirty, forty years
ago,
We had more of solid progress, less of tinsel and
of show
Our old mothers taught their daughters how t.
scrub sew, chun and bake
How to take turn in hayng on the load or at the
rake,
Milk and drive the cows to pasture catch and har-
up old Bill
Crack the whip and take the produce to the market
or the mill.
Never smarter, wtter lasses traded at the country
store
And they more than matched the saucy, smooth
tongued peddlers at the door
Handsomer they were and nobler in the neat and
simple dress
Than the modern lady strutting in ruffled wilder
ness.
They would rather go to meeting, sitting with a
happy smile,
In the old pung, cracked and broken than to go in
debt for style.
Not dollar would they squander, not an extra
ribbon get
Till the parlor had been furnished, and the farm
out of debt
They'd have scorned the thought of sitting dress
ed in frills and bOughten curls
While the house to ruin by pack of hired
girls;
Or to be accomplished ladies' make an organ saueal
and moan
While old foll.S LOT ond
fingers to the bone.
Yet with all this sober plodding Nature had no
richer charms
Than she gave the happy madens on the grand
New England farms
But this age of great inventions, deeper thought
and clearer light
Has produced a patent lady and Dame Fashion
holds the right
Not content with sober ploddng, tired of loafing
and unrest,
All the boys taking tickets for the prairies of
the West
And they need but small persuasion to pull up their
stakes and 20
To whesr Nature yields harvest if she's tickIed
with hoe
But I've some how got the notion, that lad with
prospects fair,
Failing in New England valleys is a failure any
where.
He may have the mildest climate, he may have the
richest sod,
But it Just amounts to nothing if he hasn't got the
plod.
1t may he the aye is giving birth to more cnlight
ened views,
But it doesn't do to farm it in a pair of patent
shoes
And it simply stands to reason that man can't
till his ground
If one half the time he's loating and the other
riding round.
Barns well shingled thriving cattle stonelcss acres
rich and broad,
Come from nothing else believe me- but the steady
sober plod.
Plod can bring back for this nation solid wealth to
farm and mart
Lay cool hand on the throbbngs of her worldly
restless heart.
Cleanse the Senate, raise the people, make them
great as they free,
Lead her on with thoughtful courage to her glor-
Gus destiny.
Y