PS 3531 A323M3 1921 .Ho^ u 0^ •SX(^' "^OV* .°^^»" *^o^ ::;q^2*50:i^^2^:03:;/:2 H. K.W. Patterson 1303 Ling Street WEST SIDE BAY CITY, MICH. Uttlf its tompani^n mxh tdhx Jt^li.lt^'l^fW* Patterson ^rcacliev, ^oet, lEssagist, %tduttt I92I > To my beloved wife, whose sweetness and purity have been my inspiration and solace, since first we met, and loved, and mated, this poem is lovingly dedicated. 2 ^C!A656308 The most unique of God's creations^ the shrine of the most sacred and captivating emotions, and the casket concealing Love's rarest treasures, is the soul of a woman. Unfathomable, a very Pandora box of evil, when vitiated and debased ; pure as Heaven itself when innocent; the soul of a virgin is indeed an Eden, on which the eyes of angels dwell with ecstasy. Before such a shrine a man may w^ell ask himself a question, as to his fitness for the custodianship of so precious a gift, unless he brings a like stainless char- acter to the Altar of Wedlock. The soul of a woman just awakened to Love, is a spectacle calculated to inspire with reverence those who truly appreciate its innate delicacy and refinement. To the maiden herself the revelation is bewildering. She stands gazing out upon a sea of unknown depth, whose strange and witching beauty fascinates her. The surf laves her feet and the balmy breezes of the Orient seem v»'afted to her intoxicated senses. She hears the music of an anthem, the chords of which have never before vibrated in her soul, and she is entranced. She is held, enthralled by its witchery and asks herself, what does it all mean.^ Half awakened and timorous; fearing to trust herself to the strangely new experience, for the first time, in a new and intensive sense, she lives ! Ah, me ! The ecstasy in which the soul exults is exquisite. How it paints all Nature in radiant colors. What transcendent melody it lends to the carol of the birds, and how tunefully, harmonious "the music of the spheres." How sweet are the exhalations of the rose-twined garlands which broider the pathway of life. The spirit soars to hitherto untrodden heights, 3 and exults in the consciousness of twin fel- lowship with a kindred affinity, which needs no words to convey Love's messages, whose silence is an eloquent testimony of the bliss which speaks from a heart throbbing with joy, in the possession of Life's fairest heritage, the fruition of which means swing- ing back the gates of an earthly Paradise. Well has Victor Hugo said: "When two mouths, which have become sacred by Love, draw near each other to create, it is impossi- ble but that there is a tremor, above that ineffable kiss, in the immense mystery of the stars. These felicities are the real ones. There is no joy beyond these joys. Love is the only ecstasy. Everything else weeps. To love, or to have loved, that is enough. Search no further. There is no other pearl to be found in the dark folds of Life. To love is a consummation." (loli's orifokeat (iiff to ilan Creation's dawning glory saw the mystery unveiled^ Which gave to Earth an Eden^ and the firmament its stars; The flowers, breathing fragrance, sweetest messages exhaled, And Light, Heav'n's firstborn daughter, the celestial gate unbars : The "Music of the spheres" attests Omnipo- tence Divine; The birds, their carols chaunting, swell the universal praise: The Sun's supernal. splendor vies with moon- beam's softer shine. To crown with dazzling brilliancy the day's expiring rays. The mighty panorama at its Architect's com- mand. Unfolds its varied beauty as Aurora gilds the East; Revealing God's Omniscience in the work so nobly planned, As each new glory bursts upon the sight, the joy increased. Jehovah saw that it was good and blessed it with His love. Evinced in giving Paradise a King and Queen so fair ; The angels bent in rapture, while throughout the realms above. Reechoed hallelujahs as God crowned the royal pair. 'Twas fitting that this final act should tran- scend all the rest. And that the race progenitors should find in those alone, 5 Whom God in His own image made^ and unto whose behest All Nature bowed in suppliance^, placing them on the throne: Unlimited their sovereignty^ each boasted rarest grace, An incarnated majesty sat throned upon their brow; Both dowered with nobility, which Sin could not efface. They regnant reigned, nor lacked one vir- tue which God could endow. But though Adam was gifted with a dignity supreme. To walk the Earth in majesty and beauty, as its King, 'Twas lovely Eve, adorned with all the charms which poets dream. To whom our hearts are drawn, and round whom our affections cling; She is the choicest blessing Heaven e'er vouchsafed to man ; Her tenderness entreating is the lode-star of the race; She woos us from our sorrows, which her smiles like rainbows span. From the cradle to the grave, her sweet influence we trace. Like a snowdrop or a lily, sent a messenger Divine, When she opes her eyes the angels stand as sponsors at her birth; In her hands a scepter placing, at her feet all hearts recline. What are flowers, birds or music, to the joys she brings to Earth: Watch the baby, girl and maiden, as she blos- soms, like the rose. Into fuller sweetness growing as the years go gliding by; Purest innocence and virtue, like a vestal fire glows, 6 As her heart's imprisoned sunshine glances from her sparkling eye. Watch her bosom's wild emotion^ as she wakes to consciousness, 'Tis a story so entrancing that the angels catch the strain; [n her soul there lurks a tempest, wakened by the first caress, When she's jjast the realm of girlhood, won her heritage of pain : Standing On tiptoe, expectant, in the dawn of Life and Love; Filled with ecstasy, yet trembling, as the strangely potent spell Woes her with its fascination, e'en the heav- enly courts above Thrill with rapture as they picture joys no mortal tongue can tell. 'Tis a holy consecration which gives Earth its motherhood. And maternity ennobles, as the priestess of the race. Stands within her chosen temple, whence all influence for good Emanates, and crowns with glory ev'ry hope our lives embrace: Naught can tarnish this effulgence, e'en tho' libertine should blast. With his foul and hellish passion, woman's innocence and youth; He the culprit, she the victim, when the ordeal is past. Pays the penalty of trusting Manhood's Honor, Love and Truth. In Crime's dark and gloomy record, Judas stands the chief accursed. As the infamous betrayer of the Saviour of mankind ; But his name stands for all traitors ; in Sin's calendar the worst Of the centuries' malefactors, is he who to honor blind, 7 Violates the trust of Woman, stamps her as a thing impure; Makes of her a social leper, from whose presence innocence Flees to shun the dread contagion, thus its safety to insure; Yet the victim, damned and dreaded, should be deemed of least offense. Is their aught we know more cruel than the death knell of the hope Born of holy love and passion, in which self is merged and lost? Can we picture fiercer travail than the depths in which they grope. Who as Magdalenes wander, on Life's ocean tempest-tossed ? 'Tis an easy thing to shun them ; spurn them as a pestilence; Turn away with cold disdaining; crush them till they droop and die; But remember, they were tempted, and have lost their innocence Through their love; it leaves no refuge to which broken hearts can fly. Queens who rule where fashion's mandate is the fiat all obey; Where the rich are counted worthy, and the lowly poor are scorned ; Where the tinsel and the glitter are the im- pulses which sway; And the measure of Man's merit is the rank by him adorned (?) Ye who thus to folly wedded, judge frail woman in her sin. And yet welcome him who damns her if he be of wealth possessed, Purify your social ethics. Justice be to Mercy kin. And the roue, prince or peasant, of your presence go unblessed. Thus shall Woman be exalted, and her purity enthroned, 8 Elevate our moral standards, while her sympathy and love^, In all channels where their sweetness, as a ruling pow'r is owned, Dissipate the moral darkness, as the sun- shine from above, Scatt'ring Nature's gloomy shadows, ushers in the new-born day; Fills the world with vivid splendor; floods the universe with Light; So Society's pet vices shrink from innocence away. If its sisterhood, united, boldly champion the right. Home and mother, wife and children; words can never tell the bliss Which these blest relations foster ; they are heav'n on earth to men; Truth and Honor, noblest impulse, wakened by a mother's kiss. Are the safeguards of the Nation ; mightier than the sword or pen: In the chivalry they teach us, selfishness is lost in love; We are won away from sinning by "the light of her sweet smile" ; In our hearts fond mem'ries linger, like a message from above They disjDel the shades of sorrow; keep our spirits free from guile. As our watchful guardian angel, we have crowned her Sovereign Queen; To her virtue we pay homage, in her ten- derness we find All the inspiration needed to make Life sweetly serene ; Childhood's hopes and man's ambitions are so closely intertwined With her constancy and courage, that without their magic art. Noblest monuments of valor ne'er would grace the storied page, 9 And the characters whose greatness of the Nation forms a part Fail to reach their lofty stature^ or men's interest to engage. In the onward march of progress, in the thought life of the world, Guided by a hand so gentle that its pres- ence seems unfelt. Moral forces meet in conflict; from its ped- estal is hurled Throned and sceptered usurpation, 'gainst which fatal blows are dealt By the timid maid or matron, whose sweet consecration wins. Where the sterner means and methods of man's dealing with the wrong. Fail to reach the malefactor as he prospers in his sins; Virtue triumphs in the battle of the weak against the strong. Honor to thee, sister, sweetheart, thou hast ruled since first to man. As a gracious benediction thou wast sent to share his lot; With Creation's dawn thy glory as a mis- tress fair began, Of the destinies of Nations; never can there be forgot What devotion thou hast shown when the souls of men were tried; When sweet Liberty assaulted by those nourished at her breast. Tottered in her shaken Temple; than thee none more brave beside Held aloft thy Country's banner till the tossing waves to rest At the feet of Peace, triumphant, sunk in sullen silence lay; Then the heroes of the conflict, loving, crowned thee once again; 10 Thus the HomC;, the State^ the Nation, to thee highest tribute pay. And the paeans of the ages echo back the same refrain; History thy name has blazoned in the loftiest niche of Fame; 'Mid the battle's strife and tumult, gently hast thou won thy way; Soothed the anguish of the martj^red, friend and foe alike the same Succor at thy hands receiving, as in pain's embrace they lay. So we find in all relations. Woman is Man's polar star; Without her his higher nature, famished, yearns for peace in vain; With her, clouds have silver linings. Love's celestial gates unbar. And his i3athway gleams with sunshine, sweetening ev'ry hour of pain ; In prosperity her counsel guards against for- getfulness Of the pitfalls of destruction which lie yawning at our feet; In adversity she hovers, eager to relieve dis- tress. And her gentle ministrations soothe when tortured by defeat. Coronets could not ennoble those thus to the purple born. By Divine impress they're gifted with no- bility and grace; Ev'ry act attests the voucher and the jewels which adorn Character aglow with beauty, in whose virtues we can trace Lineage with clime celestial; lead the race to higher life; Broaden avenues of culture; inculcate sweet charity; Raise the ideal of manhood; exorcise all selfish strife; 11 Ush'ring in millennial dawning and the world's fraternity. Poet pen and artist pencil have in vain essayed the task Of portraying female virtue in its excel- lence and worth; Incarnation of celestial gifts and graces^ who could ask That her prototype on canvas^, or in poesy, give birth To a likeness which should measure up to God's ideal Art;, As she came forth from His fingers, angels envied man the bliss Of companionship with Woman; eye to eye and heart to heart; Waking tenderest resjDonses, consummating in her kiss. Last and best of God's creations ; Heav'n and Earth in unison Breathe a blessed benediction on thine ad- vent, and implore, Thornless roses 'neath thy footsteps, cloud- less skies thy horizon, And perennial spring and sunshine as thy portion evermore; Thus in Life a Queen unrivaled, thou shalt reign potentially; In thy death enshrined forever in the hearts thou lov'st so well: Paradise swing back its portals as thou ent'rest royally. And the angels singing welcome, thy celes- tial triumphs tell. 12 To the WoMAN^s Christian Temperance Union, from whose untiring effort, undaunted faith and consecrated zeal came the inspira- tion and heroic labors which finally culmi- nated in the victory of the prohibition forces and the adoption of the Eighteenth Amend- ment to the Constitution of the United States, this poem is most loyally and lovingly dedi- cated by the author. 13 The adulation of this God-given beverage, a marvel in its component elements, and per- fectly adapted to the cravings of a healthy and normal physical organization, co-relates every instrumentality which is fighting for its supremacy, and for the banishment of the vitiated and debasing, in the decoctions, man-made and demon-inspired, which have filled the world with sorrow and heartbreak. In conjunction with kindred spirits, the founders of the W. C. T. U. in Fredonia, New York, and afterward in formal con- vention in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1874, extended its field of operations, until it now compre- hends the entire world, its white-ribboned message encircling the globe. The boast of Bailey, "a saloonless nation and a stainless flag," has broadened in its significance, until, in its wondrous influence, the mighty moral propaganda it typifies shall eventually redeem a race ; effacing, in its power and majesty, the degeneracy and dis- sipation of thousands of years; enabling the world to rejoice in the rearing of its youth in an atmosphere untainted by the fumes of alcohol, in which the Bacchanalian revel and the horrors of delirium shall be unknown. The name of Frances E. Willard is asso- ciated so intimately with the history of the W. C. T. U. that to name one is to include and recall the other. The nation has hon- ored itself by placing her effigy, in marble, in Statuary Hall, Washington, D. C, so that, side by side with the heroes of the stern tests to which our form of government has been subjected, Illinois might proclaim to the world that this woman, in her life and char- acter, embodied the essential elements of nobility, virtue and consecration, to the high ideals, constituting the glory and sovereignty 14 of American womanhood. She belongs to the noble galaxy of those who have laid the gen- erations under a tribute of gratitude. To them we ascribe heartfelt gratitude and appreciation^ and, in our heart of hearts, enshrine their names and memories. Queens in the circles in which they moved, their regnancy was undisputed and their influence irresistible. God hasten the day when sane legislation and an awakened public conscience shall unite in compelling the observance of a universal prohibitory statute, for which they are fighting, thus freeing America and the world from the effects of this infamy. 15 Water^ limpid, pure and crystal, as the skies which gave thee birth; In thy depths there lurks no poison; naught but joy thou giv'st to earth; Blending in thy liquid beauty, rainbow- tinted loveliness, Those who quaff thee from the goblet, bless the glass whose brim they press. Singing in the tiny streamlet, dashing down- ward in the storm; Gleaming in the sj)arkling dewdrop ; freezing in fantastic form; Tow'ring high in mighty iceberg; falling in the cooling show'r; Ever cheering, always welcome. Earth thou bringest richest dow'r. Mountains only bar thy progress, gently as thou fall'st in rain; Puny are man's mighty efforts on the ocean's tossing main; When, in tempest, angry swelling, mountain high the billows run. Like a bubble in thy depths he sinks, un- known and undone. Fitting symbol of thy Maker, when in majesty sublime, As old ocean's mighty volume, bound by neither space nor time. On its sandy beach thou breakest, chanting anthems loud and long, Thou the Almighty's face hast mirrored since Creation's morning song. Born amid the clouds and sunbeams, piled in tow'ring grandeur high, Pregnant in the womb which bore thee, lie the tints which charm the eye; Crystal jewels thou bestowest, when the Frost King reigns supreme, 16 And when Summer rules with sunshine^ rain- bows glitter in thy stream: To the flow'rs thou givest fragrance, and as they their sweets exhale^, 'Tis to thee they owe their beauty, pure and fair as it is frail: When with scorching heat the sunray parches Nature's verdant dress, 'Neath thy gentle touch upspringing, it blooms anew at thy caress. Votive off'rings thus we bring thee, Goddess with the rainbow crowned, And with Fame's bright laurel-wreath en- twined, we'll sing thy praise profound; Loudest plaudets we will yield thee, and the pleasing charm prolong. For the blessings thou art giving is the bur- den of our song: Age and childhood, maid and matron; youth- ful son and hoary sire, Laving in thy crystal coolness, quench their thirst, cool fever's fire; In their healthful hours they crave thee, yearning for thy wholesome draught, And, when fell disease hath seized them, oft have they thy pure stream quaffed. Blessing always, cursing never, fitting 'tis thou should'st be praised; That for thee and thy pure nectar, shouts and paeans should be raised; Brewed by God's own hand, in regions hidden far from mortal sight, In thy purity thou bearest proofs of the celes- tial light. Which has glistened thee with rainbows, robed thee in the brightest hues ; Shimmered thee with dazzling radiance as thy tear the rose bedews ; Fleeting as the misty vapor, gentle as the falling dew; Emblem art thou of thy Maker, good and pure as thou art true.. 17 3 6 36 , .^'% y/*/ N. MANCHESTER, ■"^^ INDIANA