The Washington herald., 1907-09-28
THE OPTIMIST.

Summer is done and autumn is with
US once more-the reaping time. fruit
laden autumn" as the poet sings. We
may If we are pessimists. cry
The melancholy days are come the saddest Of the
year.
OF wailing winds. and naked woods ar. r,ead0ws
brown and scar
That is one aspect in which to regard
IT, Too many have been the poets who
have regarded it thus, with a moan and
a sigh, as Wilson In his Autumn Song"
The Wind means in the Wood.
The Leaf drops from the Tree;
The cold rin falls the graves q the Good,
The cold mist comes up from the Sea
But The Optimist likes 10 think Of the
autumn in It's relation 10 nature as a
halting time. a time to take stock Of the
beauties. that have been enjoyed, Of the
beauties that are yet TO come. 1 like
20 think OF II with LongfeIIow:
That beautiful season
The summer Of AI-Saintsi
Filled was the air with dreamy and magical light.
Lay as if new-Geated in all the freshness Of child
hood
Peace seemed 10 reign upon earth. and the restless
heart of the ocean
Was for a moment ooBsoled- All sounds were in
harmony blended
and the great sun
Locked with the eyes Of love through the golden
vap0rs around hln;
While arraysd in is robes Of ussst and scarlet aud
yellow,
Bright with the sheen Of the dew each glittering
tree q the forest
Flashed like the plane-tree the Persian adorned
with mantles and Jewels.
II We will but think Of the autumn in
its relation to our lives, George Will
lam Curtis once said: "In the journey
OF the year the autumn is Venice. spring
is Naples, certainly, and the majestic
maturity Of summer Is Rome" So in
thinking OF autumn In relation to life's
Journey, spring Is the time Of starting
forward. summer the time for labor, and
autumn suggests a period Of rest and of
looking backward and taking stock.
Have we made the fullest possible use
Of the golden days Of summer? No. of
course not; for whatever we may have
meant 20 do we have failed tn, to some
degree That much is inevitable IN hu-
man affairs But though il is we'll TO be
dlscontented az our failure, so that We
may take heart Of grace and resolve 10
do better next time, it IS not Well to fall
into the "sere and yellow Leaf sort Of
mood, 20 let our minds become tinged
with the somber colors of the season.
Instead Of that. IL is for Us To remember
that autumn may be. should be, a
strengthening time, a time Of preparation
for the rigOTs of winter The trees ana
earth are arming themselves against the
time when winters blasts. the frost. the
hail. the snow shall assaH them. and we
may well learn a lesson from these
We. too. as We shoulder our burden OF
life and strive for progress through the
shortening DAYS, should arm ourselves
and strengthen our souls 20 bear valiantlv
whatever ills may frOnt US. II we have
lived, surely We have fought through
many fights, and in some OF them. no
doubt we have come of but second best.
in the fights 70 come. fights against temp
tatiOn, against slOthfu!ness. desire OF
ease. the call OF pleaSuTe-surely We shall
fail again and the winter OF despair will
seem for a time 20 settle upon US. But
well for Us that optimistic faith has
taught Us 10 hope on, strive on. keep up
the fight
The one thing necessary IS that W.
should not cease TO strive. No matter
how often or hOw hard we fall. let Us
be up quickly and off down the road
once more. And above all let us not
dwell too strongly on the sins and fail
ings Of the past. We were meant TO sin.
else we should have been born gods.
not men! We have sinned. well then
let US cry -pecCavi," and resolve 10 sin
no more. We know, even before we try.
that the resolution will be broken and
our leap toward virtue viii fall far short
Of what We may desire. but let Us make
the leap nevertheless, remembering that
Time is Fastening on and we
What 1lr f1-etathers are shall be-
Shad1E-shapes Of ulemorrt
Joiual u that great multitude
Where the great are bUt the good.