Chapter 14
We can't always, even when accomplishing, have the ardor of accomplishment; we can only hold to the purpose formed in more inspired hours. After a work is finished, even though it be a good work which our final judgment will approve, we are likely to be oppressed for a time by the anxieties we have passed through; the comfort of effort has left us, and we recall our dreams, our intentions, beside which our actual achievement seems small. In such moments we should remember that just after the delivery of the Gettysburg Address Lincoln believed it an utter failure. Yet the address was a masterpiece of commemorative oratory.
We cannot kindle when we will The fire which in the heart resides; The spirit bloweth and is still, In mystery our soul abides. But tasks in hours of insight will'd Can be through hours of gloom fulfill'd
With aching hands and bleeding feet We dig and heap, lay stone on stone; We bear the burden and the heat Of the long day and wish 'twere done. Not till the hours of light return, All we have built do we discern.
_Matthew Arnold_
A HYMN TO HAPPINESS
A man who owed Artemus Ward two hundred dollars fell into such hard circumstances that Artemus offered to knock off half the debt. "I won't let you outdo me in generosity," said the man; "I'll knock off the other half." Similarly, when we resolve to live down our causes of gloom, fate comes to our aid and removes most of them altogether.
Let us smile along together, Be the weather What it may. Through the waste and wealth of hours, Plucking flowers By the way. Fragrance from the meadows blowing, Naught of heat or hatred knowing, Kindness seeking, kindness sowing, Not to-morrow, but to-day.
Let us sing along, beguiling Grief to smiling In the song. With the promises of heaven Let us leaven The day long, Gilding all the duller seemings With the roselight of our dreamings, Splashing clouds with sunlight's gleamings, Here and there and all along.
Let us live along, the sorrow Of to-morrow Never heed. In the pages of the present What is pleasant Only read. Bells but pealing, never knelling, Hearts with gladness ever swelling. Tides of charity up welling In our every dream and deed.
Let us hope along together, Be the weather What it may, Where the sunlight glad is shining, Not repining By the way. Seek to add our meed and measure To the old Earth's joy and treasure, Quaff the crystal cup of pleasure, Not to-morrow, but to-day.
_James W. Foley_.
From "The Voices of Song."
OPPORTUNITY
Procrastination is not only the thief of time; it is also the grave of opportunity.
In an old city by the storied shores Where the bright summit of Olympus soars, A cryptic statue mounted towards the light-- Heel-winged, tip-toed, and poised for instant flight.
"O statue, tell your name," a traveler cried, And solemnly the marble lips replied: "Men call me Opportunity: I lift My winged feet from earth to show how swift My flight, how short my stay-- How Fate is ever waiting on the way."
"But why that tossing ringlet on your brow?" "That men may seize me any moment: _Now_, NOW is my other name: to-day my date: O traveler, to-morrow is too late!"
_Edwin Markham._
From "The Gates of Paradise, and Other Poems."
TO A YOUNG MAN
"Jones write a book! Impossible! I knew his father." This attitude towards distinction of any sort, whether in authorship or in the field of action, is characteristic of many of us. We think transcendent ability is entirely above and apart from the things of ordinary life. Yet genius itself has been defined as common sense in an uncommon degree. The great men are human. Shakespeare remembered this when he said, "I think the king is but a man as I am." We should take heart at the thought that since the great are like us, we may develop ourselves until we are like them.
The great were once as you. They whom men magnify to-day Once groped and blundered on life's way, Were fearful of themselves, and thought By magic was men's greatness wrought. They feared to try what they could do; Yet Fame hath crowned with her success The selfsame gifts that you possess.
The great were young as you, Dreaming the very dreams you hold, Longing yet fearing to be bold, Doubting that they themselves possessed The strength and skill for every test, Uncertain of the truths they knew, Not sure that they could stand to fate With all the courage of the great.
Then came a day when they Their first bold venture made, Scorning to cry for aid. They dared to stand to fight alone, Took up the gauntlet life had thrown, Charged full-front to the fray, Mastered their fear of self, and then Learned that our great men are but men.
Oh, Youth, go forth and do! You, too, to fame may rise; You can be strong and wise. Stand up to life and play the man-- You can if you'll but think you can; The great were once as you. You envy them their proud success? 'Twas won with gifts that you possess.
_Edgar A. Guest._
SLOGAN
Some men want ideal conditions with pay in advance before they will work. But the world does not want such men, and has little place for them.
Don't prate about what is your right, But bare your fists and show your might; Life is another man to fight Catch as catch can.
Don't talk of Life as scurvy Fate, Who gave you favors just too late, Or Luck who threw you smiles for bait Before he ran.
Don't whine and wish that you were dead, But wrestle for your daily bread, And afterward let it be said "He was a man."
_Jane M'Lean._
SMILES
Smiles bring out the latent energies within us, as water reveals the bright colors in the stone it flows over.
Smile a little, smile a little, As you go along, Not alone when life is pleasant, But when things go wrong. Care delights to see you frowning, Loves to hear you sigh; Turn a smiling face upon her, Quick the dame will fly.
Smile a little, smile a little, All along the road; Every life must have its burden, Every heart its load. Why sit down in gloom and darkness, With your grief to sup? As you drink Fate's bitter tonic Smile across the cup.
Smile upon the troubled pilgrims Whom you pass and meet; Frowns are thorns, and smiles are blossoms Oft for weary feet. Do not make the way seem harder By a sullen face, Smile a little, smile a little, Brighten up the place.
Smile upon your undone labor; Not for one who grieves O'er his task, waits wealth or glory; He who smiles achieves. Though you meet with loss and sorrow In the passing years, Smile a little, smile a little, Even through your tears.
_Ella Wheeler Wilcox._
From "Poems of Power."
SIT DOWN, SAD SOUL
"A watched pot never boils." Though the pot be the pot of happiness, the proverb still holds true.
Sit down, sad soul, and count The moments flying: Come,--tell the sweet amount That's lost by sighing! How many smiles--a score? Then laugh, and count no more; For day is dying.
Lie down, sad soul, and sleep, And no more measure The flight of Time, nor weep The loss of leisure; But here, by this lone stream, Lie down with us and dream Of starry treasure.
We dream: do thou the same: We love--forever; We laugh; yet few we shame, The gentle, never. Stay, then, till Sorrow dies; _Then_--hope and happy skies Are thine forever!
_Bryan Waller Procter._
SONG OF ENDEAVOR
Don Quixote discovered that there are no eggs in last year's bird's-nests. Many of us waste our time in regrets for the past, without seeming to perceive that hope lies only in endeavor for the future.
'Tis not by wishing that we gain the prize, Nor yet by ruing, But from our falling, learning how to rise, And tireless doing.
The idols broken, nor our tears and sighs, May yet restore them. Regret is only for fools; the wise Look but before them.
Nor ever yet Success was wooed with tears; To notes of gladness Alone the fickle goddess turns her ears, She hears not sadness.
The heart thrives not in the dull rain and mist Of gloomy pining. The sweetest flowers are the flowers sun-kissed, Where glad light's shining.
Look not behind thee; there is only dust And vain regretting. The lost tide ebbs; in the next flood thou must Learn, by forgetting.
For the lost chances be ye not distressed To endless weeping; Be not the thrush that o'er the empty nest Is vigil keeping.
But in new efforts our regrets to-day To stillness whiling, Let us in some pure purpose find the way To future smiling.
_James W. Foley._
From "The Voices of Song."
KEEP A-GOIN'!
Some men fail and quit. Some succeed and quit. The wise refuse to quit, whether they fail or succeed.
Ef you strike a thorn or rose, Keep a-goin'! Ef it hails, or ef it snows, Keep a-goin! 'Taint no use to sit an' whine, When the fish ain't on yer line; Bait yer hook an' keep a-tryin'-- Keep a-goin'!
When the weather kills yer crop, Keep a-goin'! When you tumble from the top, Keep a-goin'! S'pose you're out of every dime, Bein' so ain't any _crime;_ Tell the world you're feelin' _prime_-- Keep a-goin'!
When it looks like all is up, Keep a-goin'! Drain the sweetness from the cup, Keep a-goin'! See the wild birds on the wing, Hear the bells that sweetly ring, When you feel like sighin' _sing--_ Keep a-goin'!
_Frank L. Stanton._
From "The Atlanta Constitution."
WHEN EARTH'S LAST PICTURE IS PAINTED
What is it that a human being wants? Most of us have something that we like to do more than anything else. We are not free to do it as we wish. We are handicapped by the need to earn a living, by physical weariness, by the carpings and scoffs of the envious, by the limited time we have at our disposal. But underneath all this is _the spirit of work_--the desire to take up our task for its own sake alone, to give our whole selves to it, to carry it through, not in some partial way, but in accordance with the fulness of our dream. We want to be free from distractions and interruptions; if we are driven at all, we want it to be by our own inner promptings, not by obligation or necessity. Of course these favorable, these ideal conditions belong to heaven, not to earth. Kipling here explains what they will mean to the artist, the painter; but in doing so he expresses the longings of the true workman of whatsoever sort--he sums up the true spirit of work.
When Earth's last picture is painted and the tubes are twisted and dried, When the oldest colors have faded, and the youngest critic has died, We shall rest, and, faith, we shall need it--lie down for an aeon or two, Till the Master of All Good Workmen shall set us to work anew.
And those that were good will be happy: they shall sit in a golden chair; They shall splash at a ten-league canvas with brushes of comets' hair. They shall find real saints to draw from--Magdalene, Peter, and Paul; They shall work for an age at a sitting and never be tired at all!
And only the Master shall praise us, and only the Master shall blame; And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame, But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate star, Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God of Things as They are!
_Rudyard Kipling._
From "Rudyard Kipling's Verse, 1885-1918."
INDEX BY AUTHORS
A
ADAMS, ST. CLAIR. Born in Arkansas, 1883. University education; European travel; has resided at one time or another in nearly all sections of America. Miscellaneous literary and editorial work. _A Problem to Be Solved; Essentials; Good Intentions; It Won't Stay Blowed; Jaw; Never Trouble Trouble; Ownership; The Rectifying Years; The Syndicated Smile; Tit for Tat; Wanted--a Man_.
ALEXANDER, GRIFFITH. Born at Liverpool, Eng., Jan. 15, 1868. Educated in public schools; came to the United States 1887; been connected with newspapers in great variety of capacities; President of the American Press Humorists. _Gray Days; Life; The Grumpy Guy_.
ANONYMOUS. _De Sunflower Ain't de Daisy; Hope; I'm Glad; Is It Raining, Little Flower?; Keep On Keepin' On; Playing the Game; To the Men Who Lose_.
APPLETON, EVERARD JACK. Born at Charleston, W. Va., Mar. 24, 1872. Very little schooling, but had advantages of home literary influences and a good library; at seventeen went into newspaper work in his home town; later went to Cincinnati, and worked on the daily _Tribune_, then on the _Commercial Gazette_; later connected with the Cincinnati _Times-Star_. For five years he wrote daily column of verse and humor; besides his newspaper work, he has written over one hundred and fifty stories, hundreds of poems, many songs, and innumerable jokes, jingles, cheer-up wall cards, and the like. Author of two books of poetry, "The Quiet Courage" and "With the Colors." With such intense work his health broke down, and for a number of years he has been a chronic invalid, but his cheer and his faith are as bright as ever. _Hold Fast; Meetin' Trouble; Steadfast; The Fighting Failure; The One; The Woman Who Understands; Unafraid; What Dark Days Do_.
ARNOLD, MATTHEW. Born at Laleham, Middlesex, Eng., Dec. 24, 1822; died at Liverpool, Apr. 15, 1888. Educated at Winchester, Rugby, and Oxford. Became Lord Lansdowne's secretary 1847; became inspector of schools 1851; appointed Professor of Poetry at Oxford 1857; continental tours to inspect foreign educational systems 1859 and 1865; assigned a pension of £250 by Gladstone 1883; lecture trips to America 1883 and 1886; retired as inspector of schools 1886. Among his works are "Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems," "Essays in Criticism" (first and second series), "Culture and Anarchy," "Literature and Dogma," "Discourses in America," and "On the Study of Celtic Literature." _Morality_; _Self-Dependence_.
B
BANGS, JOHN KENDRICK. Born at Yonkers, N.Y., May 27, 1862; died Jan. 21, 1922. Received Ph.B. degree from Columbia 1883; associate editor of _Life_ 1884-8; has since served in various editorial capacities on _Harper's Magazine, Harper's Weekly_, and the _Metropolitan Magazine_. Among his books are "The Idiot," "A House Boat on the Styx," "The Bicyclers, and Other Farces," "Songs of Cheer," "Line o' Cheer for Each Day o' the Year," "The Foothills of Parnassus," "A Quest for Song," and "The Cheery Way." _A Philosopher_; _A Smiling Paradox_; _If_; _The Kingdom of Man_; _The Richer Mines_; _The Word_; _To Melancholy_.
BARBAULD, ANNA LETITIA AIKIN. Born at Kibworth-Harcourt, Leicestershire, Eng., June 20, 1743; died at Stoke-Newington, Mar. 9, 1825. Poet and essayist. _Life and Death_.
BENÉT, WILLIAM ROSE. Born at Fort Hamilton, New York Harbor, Feb. 2, 1886. Graduated from Albany, N.Y., Academy 1904; Ph.B. from Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University 1907. Reader for _Century Magazine_ 1907-11; assistant editor of the same 1911-14. 2d Lieutenant U.S. Air Service 1914-18. Assistant editor of the _Nation's Business_ 1919. His books are "Merchants from Cathay," "The Falconer of God," "The Great White Wall," and "The Burglar of the Zodiac." _His Ally_; _Mistress Fate_.
BENJAMIN, PARK. Born at Demerara, British Guiana, Aug. 14, 1809; died at New York City, Sept. 12, 1864. Connected with various periodicals. _Press On_.
BINNS, HENRY BRYAN. _Ultimate Act_.
BRADFORD, GAMALIEL. Born at Boston, Mass., Oct. 9, 1863; privately tutored till 1882; entered Harvard College 1882 but was obliged to leave almost immediately because of ill health. Contributor of essays and poems to various magazines; has a remarkable insight into the characters of historical figures, and in a few pages reveals their inner souls. Among his books are "Types of American Character," "A Pageant of Life," "The Private Tutor," "Between Two Masters," "Matthew Porter," "Lee, the American," "Confederate Portraits," "Union Portraits," "A Naturalist of Souls," and "Portraits of American Women." _God; Heinelet; The Joy of Living_.
BRALEY, BERTON. Born at Madison, Wis., Jan. 29, 1882. Graduated from the University of Wisconsin 1905; reporter on the Butte, Mont., _Inter Mountain_ 1905-6; later with the Butte _Evening News_ and the Billings, Mont., _Gazette_; with the New York _Evening Mail_ 1909; associate editor of _Puck_ 1910; free lance writer since 1910; special correspondent in Northern Europe 1915-16; in France, England, and Germany 1918-19. Among his books are "Sonnets of a Freshman," "Songs of a Workaday World," "Things as They Are," "A Banjo at Armageddon," "In Camp and Trench," and "Buddy Ballads." _Opportunity; Playing the Game; Start Where You Stand; Success; The Conqueror_.
BRANCH, ANNA HEMPSTEAD. Born at New London, Conn. Graduated at Adelphi Academy, Brooklyn, 1893, from Smith College 1897, and from the American Academy of Dramatic Art, New York, 1900. Among her books are "The Heart of the Road," "The Shoes That Danced," "Rose of the Wind," and "Nimrod, and Other Poems." _Gladness_.
BROWNING, ELIZABETH BARRETT. Born at Coxhoe Hall, Durham, Eng., Mar. 6, 1806; died at Florence, Italy, June 30, 1861. A semi-invalid all her life. Married Robert Browning 1846, and resided in Italy for the remainder of her life. Author of "Casa Guidi Windows," "Aurora Leigh," and "Sonnets from the Portuguese." _Cares_.
BROWNING, ROBERT. Born at Camberwell, Eng., May 7, 1812; died at Venice, Italy, Dec. 12, 1889. Educated at home and at London University; well trained in music. Travel in Russia 1833; considered diplomatic career; trip to Italy 1838; married Elizabeth Barrett 1846, and during her life time resided chiefly at Florence, Italy. After her death in 1861, he lived in London and Venice. Among his works are "Pauline," "Paracelsus," "Strafford," "Sordello," "A Blot in the 'Scutcheon," "Colombe's Birthday," "Dramatis Personae," "A Soul's Tragedy," "Luna," "Men and Women," "The Ring and the Book," "Fifine at the Fair," "The Inn-Album," "Dramatic Idyls," and "Asolando." _Man, Bird, and God; Pippa's Song; Prospice; Rabbi Ben Ezra_.
BURNS, ROBERT. Born at Alloway, near Ayr, Scotland, Jan. 25, 1759; died at Dumfries, Scotland, July 21, 1796. Received little education; drudgery on a farm at Mt. Oliphant 1766-77; on a farm at Lochlea 1777-84, during which time there was a period of loose living and bad companionship; at the death of his father he and his brother Gilbert rented Mossgiel farm near Mauchline, where many of his best poems were written; winter of 1786-7 he visited Edinburgh, and was received into the best society; winter of 1787-8 revisited Edinburgh but rather coolly received by Edinburgh society; 1788 married Jean Armour, by whom he had previously had several children. Took farm at Ellisland 1788; became an excise officer 1789. Removed to Dumfries 1791; later years characterized by depression and poverty. Some of his best-known poems are "The Holy Fair," "The Cotter's Saturday Night," and "Tam O'Shanter"; wrote many of the most popular songs in the English language. _A Man's a Man for A' That; Borrowing Trouble; The Gift_.
BYRON, LORD (George Gordon Byron). Born at London, Jan. 22, 1788; died at Missolonghi, Greece, Apr. 19, 1824, and buried in parish church at Hucknell, near Newstead. Born with a deformed foot; much petted as a child; inherited title and estate at death of his granduncle, William, fifth Lord Byron, 1798. Studied at Harrow and at Cambridge University, receiving M.A. degree 1808. Traveled in Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Turkey 1809-11. In 1815 married Anna Milbanke, who left him 1816. In 1816 met Miss Clairmont at Geneva, who bore him an illegitimate daughter, Allegra, 1817; in 1819 met Teresa, Countess Guiccioli, at Venice, and remained with her during his stay in Italy. Joined the Greek insurgents 1823, and died of a fever in their cause of freedom from the Turks. Among his works are "Hours of Idleness," "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers," "Childe Harold," "The Giaour," "The Corsair," "The Prisoner of Chillon," "Cain," "Manfred," and "Don Juan." _Serenity_.
C
CARLYLE, THOMAS. Born at Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, Dec. 4, 1795; died at Chelsea, London, Feb. 4, 1881. Educated at Annan Grammar School and Edinburgh University; mathematical tutor at Annan 1814; teacher at Kirkcaldy 1816; went to Edinburgh to study law 1819; tutor in Buller family 1822-4; married Jane Welsh 1826; lived successively at Comely Bank, Edinburgh, and Craigenputtoch 1828-34; moved to Chelsea 1834; and remained there the rest of his life. Elected Lord Rector of Edinburgh University 1865. Among his works are "Life of Schiller," "Sartor Resartus," "The French Revolution," "Chartism," "Heroes, Hero Worship, and the Heroic in History," "Life and Letters of Oliver Cromwell," "Life of Sterling," "Latter-Day Pamphlets," and "Frederick the Great." _To-Day_.
CLOUGH, ARTHUR HUGH. Born at Liverpool, Eng., Jan. 1, 1819; died at Florence, Italy, Nov. 13, 1861. Went to school at Rugby and Oxford; accepted headship of University Hall, London, 1849; came to America 1852; health began to fail 1859. _Say Not the Struggle Nought Availeth_.
COATES, FLORENCE EARLE. Born at Philadelphia, Pa.; educated at private schools and at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, France; studied also at Brussels. President of the Browning Society of Philadelphia 1895-1903 and 1907-8; a founder of the Contemporary Club, Philadelphia, 1886; member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, and Colonial Dames of America. Among her books are "Mine and Thine," "Lyrics of Life," and "The Unconquered Air, and Other Poems." _A Hero; Courage; Per Aspera_.
COOKE, EDMUND VANCE. Born at Port Dover, Canada, June 5, 1866. Educated principally at common schools. He began to give lecture entertainments 1893, and has been for years one of the most popular lyceum men before the public. Frequent contributor of poems, stories, and articles to the leading magazines. His poem "How Did You Die?" has attained a nation-wide popularity. Among his books are "Just Then Something Happened," "The Story Club," "Told to the Little Tot," "Chronicles of the Little Tot," "I Rule the House," "Impertinent Poems," "Little, Songs for Two," "Rimes to be Read," "The Uncommon Commoner," and "A Patch of Pansies." _How Did You Die?; Laugh a Little Bit_.
CROSBY, ERNEST HOWARD. Born at New York City, Nov. 4, 1856; died there Jan. 3, 1907. Graduated from University of New York 1876, and from Columbia Law School 1878; lawyer in New York 1878-89; judge of international court at Alexandria, Egypt, 1889-94; returned to New York 1894, and interested himself in social reform. Among his books are "Plain Talk in Psalm and Parable," "Captain Jenks, Hero," "Swords and Plowshares," "Tolstoi and His Message," and "Labor and Neighbor." _Life and Death_.
D
DEKKER, THOMAS. Born at London, about 1570; died about 1641. Little is known of his life; imprisoned several times; had literary quarrels with Ben Jonson. Lived in the great period of the English drama (the age of Shakespeare); wrote many of his plays in collaboration with other writers of the period. Among his best-known plays are "The Shoe-makers' Holiday" and "Old Fortunatus." _The Happy Heart_.
DRAKE, JOSEPH RODMAN. Born at New York City, Aug. 7, 1795; died there Sept. 21, 1820. Author of "The Culprit Fay" and "The American Flag." _The Man Who Frets at Worldly Strife_.
E