The courier., 1901-07-27
THE COURIER.

out OF the windows shall be darkened. j.
And the doors shall be shut in the
streets when the sound Of the grinding
is low. and he shall rise up at the voice
Of the bird, and all the daughters OF
music shall be brought low. And when
they shall be afraid OF that which is
high. and fears shall be In the way, and
the almond tree shall flourish, and the
grasshopper shall be burden, and de-
sire shall fail; because man goeth to his
long home, and the mourners go about
the streets. Or ever the silver cord be
loosed, or the golden bowl be broken.
or the pitcher be broken at the fountain,
or the wheel at the cistsrn: Then shall
tho dust return to the earth as it was;
and the spirit shall return unto God
who gave it."
\ more felicitous use Of metaphor
than is here presented, can not be found.
Remember now thy Creator when
the sun or the moon or the stars be not
darkened," refer to the springtime Of
life. "Noi the clouds return" typifies
the infirmities of old age, Of which win
ter is proper emblem. SIN the day
when the keepers Of the house shall
tremble." The body Of man is here
compared to house, the hands repre-
senting the keepers, or the watch. Here
is good scope for the imagination. We
are reminded Of the times, now consid-
cred almost mythical, when every mans
house was his castle, when each lordly
proprietor felt the independence OF a
king on his throne. Those feudal days
of the past have been prolific OF romance
and poetry.
"And those that look out of the win
dows shall be darkened. And the doors
shall be shut in the streets when the
sound of the grinding is low, and he
shall rice up at the voice Of the bird,
and all the daughters Of music shall be
brought low" The word windows" in
this case refers to the eyes, and to the
fact that in old age the cornea and the
humors of the eye lose their Transparent
cy. The doors mean the lips, and the
streets, the cavities OF the mouth and
throat. The teeth also are gone. and no
hard substance can be masticated;
hence the sound is low. An old mans
sleep is not sound; the chirping Of a
sparrow will awaken him. His voice,
once sonorous and musical, in old age
becomes harsh and querulous.
"Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or
the golden bowl be broken" The silver
cord is the spinal marrow. and the gold
en bowl the cavity of the Uranium, or
more properly its contents, the brain,-
the container being used for the thing
contained. "Or the pitcher be broken
at the fountain. or the wheel at the cis-
5ern." Here the pitcher typities the
Vena cava. which brings back the blood
10 the right ventricle Of the heart. while
the wheel represents the aorta, the dis
tributor of blood through the system.
The latter comparison is especially sug.
,estive. In imagination we can see in
he far, dim distance the land Of the
,live and the vine. the springing verdure
,f an oriental garden watered by hun
lred tiny rivers, each one going forth
,n it's errand of benevolence. willingly
.esigning its own existence for the bene-
it of surrounding life. When we trace
.hese streams Of water to the fountain.
We find the object of our search, the
Wheel at the cistern. With barred arms
Ind perspiring brow, at the crank of
he huge wheel tolls one torn from a