Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1902-06-27

When the first peak looked DER the ocean
gray,
upshouldering from a wild but voiceless
Whose dreamless ooze held all the yet tol
be-
Cycle to cycle of unending strife,
Ever relentless death pursuing life,
IN seeming loss the birth of certain gain
The epic swelling to a loftier strain.
Beauty of order out of chaos grows
Through branching forms the vibrant life
streams flows;
From the dull brute Of Shiny fen andI
brakes
Behold the man, the reasoning mind
awakes;
Yet scarcely more than brute he wars and
kills
And with red terror all his small world
fills
Bands tribe. builds state and braves the
stormy sea
On foes to bind the yoke of tyranny;
Himself thrall of superstition. quakes
Before the terrors of god he makes;
Tho dcgmas of a priesthood to maintain
Spreads desolation over land and main.
yet each new period knows some new
truth learned,
Some new height won, some new advan-
tage earned
And shall we fretful of the long DELAY.
Doubt of the coming of the better day?
Quarrel with God and fight against His
laws
In hope to speed tho triumph of His cause?
From Patmos borne by angels to the place
Where dwelt his Father by the Fathers
In answer to his constant prayer and fast
The blest apostle through seven heavens
passed
From glory unto glory flaming bright
So that he dared not look upon the sight
And when, at least, the words fell on his
ear:
Look, son. and fear thou not. for I am
here"
Trembling. he drew his hands from DER
his face
To- shadows of darkness filled the holy
place!
His work performs, and only dimly we
At best. the courses that he takes may see
Eut know thou this, that Truth is His and
flies
The arrow of His truth and error dies.
Fear not if in the growing light of day
Mankind shall cast some outworn creed
A thin shell burst to spread daring
wing
Nor think thou God is in the empty thing.
Creeds strow the upward track of man and
mark
1 ne nara fought battlehelds of Light and
Dark.
Fear not for as from universal seas
The continents arose by slow degrees
So Justice, Truth and Love shall surely
gain
Still more and more from Evil their do
main.
SLOW march the centuries with majestic
tread.
Truths flaming torch held high above the
head.
Light farther flashing DER waking land
As on it passes from each mighty hand.
With n new purpose each new century
thrills.
The hope Of each the coming one fulfns;
And OH the shining peaks who wishes NAV
Behold the dawnlight of the better day.
Hail mother, and farewell Our courses
run
Down the swift incline with the westering
sun
To the low meadows where in silence glide
The darkling waters of the Lethean tide
Along whose banks in drowsy idleness
Nod the pale popnies of forgetfulness
Hail and farewell For when another year
Shall fill its found, how many of us here
Joying with thee upon thy festal day
Shall greet thee once again? All, who
shall say?
Upon how many eyes shall Death express
The healing balm of sleep? All. who may
guess
But not for thee the minor note: for thee
The joy triumphant of the symphony
When DER the breeding bass and frettlng
strings.
The flute as some sweet voice. from
Heaven sings
A song Of hope alluring to the skies:
The Viols answer with eXultng cries.
The hautboys join the glad, tumultuous
throng.
And storm the harmonious host the
heights of song.
Their banners DER the airy bastions fling
While "Victory, Victoryv clarion trum-
pets ring.
For thee the future and its glories wait;
Thine Is the privilege and high estate
To spread the light whose swift actinic
rays
Shall, unperceived. in secret silent ways
CAS- the suns beam through darkness
shifting far
Creates and rccreates the things that are
Into new forms Of beauty the dead mass
OF ignorance move to life and bring to-
pass