Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1903-07-09
A RambIe Through Wonderland.

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For like a blooming flower my mind
Drinks i'll the radiant beauty of tht
world
And gorgeous scenes of nature.
This day commentaries the Holy One
and Just,
Who wore the crown of thorns will
bleeding brow,
But now enthroned in glory's damlina
height
Rules natures universe.
Amid the groves, God first temples,
pause and mediate and wonder;
Above, beneath me, and around,
Are the works Of Him
Who formed this world from chaos
Sound logic to convince the Atheist foo
Who in his heart hath said:
There is no God"
The blue ethereal armament,
The rock bound hills, with the wales
Stretching in grandeur and loveliness
Andthe green earth that seems as peace
full
As a dreamers paradise,
Lifts as it were, my soul
To commune with Him
Who is the Eternal and Iuvincible,
The only wise God,
To whom be glory, praise and honor
Forever.
Along the cool mcauderiug banks of the
Antietam swift current stream)
Where oft in boyhood's happy days
I wandered, and bathed beneath its
Limpid waters, with fond companions,
The most of whom have passed
To the Great Beyond,
Ny eager feet were wont to stray
Amid the calm serenity of nature.
Along these cliffs which skirt this
Grand historic stream,
Where near half century ago
The din of battle, the roar Of
Musketry and artillery,
The bugle's clarion blast,
The shrieks and groans Of those
Who in the conflict fell, was rife,
I view sweet spring time,
Clad in all her brilliant robes Of green
The lovely ferns which lift
Their graceful fronds i'll air,
The crocus and anemone,
The first spring flowers,
With the modest violet,
Half hidden in its messy bower,
Chant, mid the clear Antietam
Ripping by,
A song of praise to Him
Who is the creative power
Here OH this Craggy cliff
no discordant sounds are heard
Amid the solemn quiet of the air,
Yet methinks l hear faint voices
Which seem like echoes of unseen music
Borne on the melodious breeze
That fit through the leafy trees.
The voiceess petals Of flowers,
a leaf, a bud, a tree,
And every animate thing
Adds a language to the world,
And makes me feel
That am a part Of earth and sky,
OF truth and noble knowledge.
lis here I learn the simple lesson of
truth,
And listen to the notes of forest birds
That cheer the spring and summer
With their songs Of melody and praise
to Cod
I dream that am borne through space
To Amarauthine Bowers
OF Ofspotless purity,
Far above the mists and obscurities
OF this mundane sphere,
Where souls exist in bodiless beauty,
Where life is a stern reality
Without substance.
These cliffs which rise in majesty and
grandeur,
Clothed in botanical verdure,
Seems to me a translucent fairyland,
Wherein the infinite powers of nature
Move alone to marvellous
And mysterious issues.
Fond memory leads me back
To bewitching tales
OF that mysterious race
Who once roamed DER these hills and
dales
With stealth and noiseless tread,
But who today now dwell
In that mysterious bourne
From which none e'cr return.
My life is borne and hoated like bird
Throughout, as it were, this fairyiand,
Aud as I gaze upon the magic
OF material things,
The symmetry and beauty Of nature
In all her trauscendent loveliness,
The colors Of the earth,
The elements Of air,
The truth, the wisdom, and the knowl-
edge
OF the Infinite and the Eternal,
With the psalmist my heart exclaims:
What is man ~ In image how like God
Then, with this thought
My soul mounts up to lotier contem-
plation
OF Him who is the Light, the Truth, the
Life.
JoHN PHILEMON SMITH.
June 10, 1908.
Mr.. Nokoyne-I'll give you the
money for a new hat next week.
Mrs. Nokoyne-But that's what