'S 3515 .E22 05 L921 1 'Opy 1 llXtlOt: Ni'ltr '^lenv^ I Xi'.t. >, .:ic't3 \i mmmwmm^: lis, # -■ /t».-*^ OLD THOUgHTS FOR l^EW YEARS If he only knew Ecevyman Someday ihe Optimist V. W. B. HEDQEPETH JDaliimore 19 2 1 COPYRIGHTED 1021 BYVW. B. HEDGEPETH 0CI,A6O8397 FEB 19 1921 ''WO i4 Jrhilosophy of Life Dedicated to My Mother F tke soul is immortal, man skould pursue knowledge and understand- ing and not be rores7er cluttering about among tne pots and pans or Egypt. SelHskness, sordidness, bigotry, meanness and all tkeir pessimistic brood, \uvoe no place in an under- standing keart. IF HE ONLY KNEW If lie only knew thai neither li/e noc time began, That bicd and beast and oine and man TAnd all things else, ivhate'ec they be. Ace only bits of all Eternity. I hen, quickly Were his Soul released From fear of death and king and priest, And like the flowers in the garden grew, Man's soul Would blossom. If he only knew. HE waiTcious of Babylon are dust, and tne dreams of kec kings nav;e passed on to beconae tke dreams of otker kings. Heu inlgkty men and ket? sages are lougotten and es7en tkeiu names are undeclpkec- aole upon tke ruins of tke city's walls. EVERYMAN Ecetyman begins his life with dreams Of all thai Wealth and poWer means Bat at the last comes to his oU>n i4 mound an ucn or a cold white stone. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust" Few men willing but all men must, pfo matter by whom begot the man that Was is soon forgot. Vi/^hethec from palace oc field oc hut ihe dooc of his house is foceCev shut And all that remains of Wealth and fame Ave the mouldering lines of a fading name. The moonbeams show through the drifting snow A long gray shadow in a long long roW That marks the place and de/ines the plan Of the last known home of Ececyman. O believ7e tkat deatk is tke end of life is to make tke ways of tke InrLriite aimless, and tke stris?ings of man worse tkan foolisk. SOMEDAY Someday someone Will look at me and say (joodhye and faceWell, and be upon his Way T^mong the lioing, while I go mine among the dead. 7\nd someday someone will look at you When you are with the countless dead and he With the lioing few, nnd sigh, and pass on by, with measuved tread. Didst we sleep in potter's held or lie in state While round us gathered tears and looe or hate — For those who die what matters the how, the when, the why ? And 'twill matter not if songs Were sung or drums Were beat For sometime, somewhere, all men shall meet And life Will surge again for those who die. HE same inexplicable impulse tkat cluis^es constellations as parts or otkeu constellations about tkeit? mass ouLits tnrougn es?erlasting space and eternal tinae, nas toucnecL tke Soul of tke optimist wko kas built es7euy gueat building, dreaiiaed ev7euy great dream, fouioded eoevy great empire and laid e^^ery comer stone of civ?ili2ation, Tke image of God in man, is the impulse to create; wketker it be a migkty engine for tke betterment or tke race or a new toy for tke pleasure or a ckild. THE OPTIMIST TKe man v?no Kos rourul kls place in tne pecspectwe of tkings, poat, present and nxtuce, is an optimist. Tkat man knows tkat all merv ace only actors in tke nxos?ies of ev7ents. He steps in and. out of kis own reel Witkout ccow7cLing, attends to kis little job, sings kis little song, takes kis turn wpitkout complaining, and finally steps dow?n and out. Countless feet will pace oent8 of sand and ecect tkeic own kouses of cards, and Fatkec lime levels tkem, all. Yet, forester tke ckildren must keep on playing and tke daddies must keep on building, and foresJer Tim,e must keep on lev7eling I Kismet ; it is fate. TKe optimist blends tke secixjuaness of tkings wltk tkc fooliskness of tkings, estimates tke value of ecents by tke measure of all iim^, and goes unruffled on kls way. 'Wken tke kouse of tke optinxist falls dovJn., ke does not Weep noc wail noc tear kis kaic. He gatkers wkat ke can wkece ke can and puts up anotkec kouse tkat is better tkan tke old one if ke can. On tke site of all tke kouses tkat kas7e ev?ec fallen down stand all tke kouses tkat now ace, Tkey ace tke best tke wocld ev^ec knew arxA tkey spell civ?ilization. If our kouses nev;ec fell down tkece would now be no room, foe moce. If men nes?ec died and naode Way foe better m,en ouc little eactk would long ago kas^e been snxotkeced by tke stone katckets. Men nxixst fove^ev build and men na^^st focesJec die, else tkece is no pcogcess and no destiny. inis, too, is fate. Tke optinxist looks out frovn kis wiixdow and sees good in tke cain and tke sun; ke sees kope in tke failuces of men; kis nxind puts palaces wkece kuts now stand, and tkcougk teacing down and building better, tkcougk deatk and, bictk, ke sees in tkat distant futuce tke keacen or tke Gkcistian, tke kunting gcound of tke cednxan, tke nicvana or tke ocient, and, witk tkis glinxpse of tke unattained, tucns as did Tvtoses from Ganoan and witk an urvdecstariding mirvd finds kappiness in tke day's wock. fnji-: >^i'