PS 3323 0471 "355 i THE SINGING PLACE AND OTHER POEMS LILY A. LONG v»^ V„»- '„.' Glass __ CopyiigM^N?. COPYRIGHT DEPOSfE Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/singingplaceotheOOIong The Little Bookfellow Series THE SINGING PLACE AND OTHER POEMS Other titles in this series: ESTRAYS; Poems by four Bookfellows, Thomas Kennedy, George Seymour, Vincent Starrett, and Basil Thompson. WILLIAM DE MORGAN, A POST-VICTORIAN REALIST; by Flora Warren Seymour. LYRICS, by Laura Blackburn. STEVENSON AT MANASQUAN, by Charlotte Eaton. CANDLES IN THE SUN, by William Griffith. LAUREATE ADDRESS, by John G. Neihardt. SAY NOW SHIBBOLETH, by Eugene Manlove Rhodes. THE SINGING PLACE AND OTHER POEMS BY LILY A. LONG CHICAGO THE BOOKFELOWS 1922 A number of the poems in this volume are included through the courtesy of the publishers of the Atlantic Monthly, the Century Magazine, Harper's Magazine, Poetry: a Maga- zine op Verse, and The Bellman. Five hundred copies of this first edition have been printed in the month of October, Copyright 1922 by Flora Warren Seymour THE TORCH PRESS CEDAR RAPIDS IOWA NOV 20 5 22 CIA 680 95 9 To Gloria and Aliena CONTENTS The Singing Place 11 Genius Loci 13 The Yellow Bowl ...... 14 ' ' Even the Night Shall Be Light About Me ' ' 15 Black Crows 16 In Time 17 The Sea Is Wild 18 Ebb-Tide at Clovelly 19 Away 20 Exegesis 21 Phyllys Speaks and Cleon Replies . . 22 The RrvER Enchanted 23 Sight Unseen 24 The Sign 25 Unseeing 26 The City Streets 27 In Retreat 28 A Heaven to Order 29 A Song 30 The Rose Jar 31 The Lone Guard 32 This Little World 33 Armistice ........ 34 The Earth Track . . . . . . 35 7 Tanka .... 36 Frustrate .... 37 "Each in His Separate Star' ) 38 Polarity .... 39 At the Railway Station . 40 The Poet's Part 41 The Unveiling . 42 When Aedh Died 43 Aliena .... 44 To Gloria 45 A Group of Birthday Songs 46 To a Maid op Eighteen . 48 Madonna .... 49 Contemporaries 50 The Captive Hours . 51 The Workers . 52 The Fallen 53 A January Face 54 Proof .... 55 By Searching . 56 The DrvER 57 Immured .... 58 He Buildeth His House . 59 Even Today 60 A Messenger 61 Transcript from the Ramayana 62 A Challenge . 63 THE SINGING PLACE AND OTHER POEMS THE SINGING PLACE Cold may lie the day, And bare of grace; At night I slip away To the Singing Place. A border of mist and doubt Before the gate, And the Dancing Stars grow still As hushed I wait. Then faint and far away I catch the beat In broken rhythm and rhyme Of joyous feet, — Lifting waves of sound That will rise and swell (If the prying eyes of thought Break not the spell,) Rise and swell and retreat And fall and flee, As over the edge of sleep They beckon me. And I wait as the seaweed waits For the lifting tide. To ask would be to awake, — To be denied. I cloud my eyes in the mist That veils the hem, — And then with a rush I am past, ■ I am Theirs, and of Them ! And the pulsing chant swells up 11 To touch the sky, And the song* is joy, is life, — And the song am I ! The thunderous music peals Around, o'erhead, — The dead would awake to hear If there were dead, But the life of the throbbing Sun Is in the song, And we weave the world anew, And the Singing Throng Fill every corner of space — Over the edge of sleep I bring but a trace Of the chants that pulse and sweep In the Singing Place. 12 GENIUS LOCI "Build here! Build here!" the Little People cried, And cast their magic wide. "The place is barren now, but here of yore A city rose, on dust that long before Had been an ancient city. Ages through Men here have cut the record of their will On wind and air and water, rock and hill, And on the heedful blue. Here we of old have watched with glee the strife Of mortals in their eager game of life, And danced to dizziness to see them come Or wander at our bidding, — we, the dumb ! We miss our ancient pastime. Build again, 0, children of the passing day of men!" The stolid men who plodded dully by Paused, as if startled by a wordless cry, And scanned the barren place with lifted head. "We choose to build a city here," they said. 13 THE YELLOW BOWL When first the Manchu came to power, A potter made this yellow bowl, With quiet curve, and border scroll, And here inlaid the imperial flower. The peace of art was in his soul. Had not the Manchu come to power? Upon the flaky yellow base That now is dull and now is bright, A flowering branch, a bird alight, Expressed his thought in formal grace. Had not disorder taken flight, And left for art a quiet place? And then, the artist sense alight, He drew upon the yellow bowl The symbol of the restless soul, — A butterfly, in poised flight. For though the Manchu was in power, The soul must wake when strikes the hour. 14 EVEN THE NIGHT SHALL BE LIGHT ABOUT ME" Dark hidden in his heart The secret lay. No prying human eye Might aught unclean descry. He sealed his sullen heart And went his way. The watchers, voiceless all, His secret kept As they were leagued with him — The forest, silent, dim, The earth that covers all. And then he slept. At once his traitor heart The secret bared To worlds and hosts that passed In serried ranks, and east A glance upon his heart, How that it fared. All space was built of light, And everywhere "Was knowledge of the whole That lodged within his soul. Helpless before the light, His heart was bare. No saving shred of dark About him lay To hide his shamed head. In terror back he fled — Back to the shielding dark Of human day. 15 BLACK CROWS Crows upon a corn-field, fighting for their own, Taking in a harvest where they have not sown, Knowing well their hunger, — knowing that alone, Life at its beginning nothing but a maw ! — Fierce in its insistence on the primal law. Crows upon a corn-field ! — More than crows I saw. 16 IN TIME The tide is coming in. Its soft, wet fingers smooth and wipe away The mounds of sand where idle dreamers lay, And mimic forts that children reared in play, And fought to win. I saw a tower today Built by a king of olden time to tame Wild people, and ensure his deathless fame. The tower an ivied ruin ; and his name — I do not know. 17 THE SEA IS WILD The earth is tame with trouble, But the sea, the sea is wild ! It breaks man's yoke like seadrift. It will not be beguiled. Its whistle on the beaches Is like the sea-gull's cry, And in the open spaces It leaps against the sky. The earth is tame with trouble, Patient, fruitful, mild, As one that knows its master. But the sea, the sea is wild ! 18 EBB-TIDE AT CLOVELLY The waves come rolling in with threat and fury Against the waiting shore, Yet each one breaks in froth a little sooner Than where it broke before. Whining in disappointment on the shingle, It draws its forces back To leap again, and fail, and melt unheeded In foam and futile wrack. Against the passion of the wind-blown surface With all its show of pride, Silent, unseen, a greater power is working, — The ebbing tide. 19 AWAY Bracken and gorse and heather Climbing down the combe, — The old-world words hold magic When one is tied at home. Fern and phlox and clover Are common as the day, But these words touch the heart-strings When one is far away ! 20 EXEGESIS When the sunlight flashed upon her As she passed beneath the trees, — Flashed for but a moment's space On her all-unconscious face, — What of my philosophies? All the problems of the schoolmen, — Eight and wrong, and time and space, Had their answer (could I read it!) Found their reason (would I heed it!) In the light upon her face. 21 PHYLLYS SPEAKS AND CLEON REPLIES I The roses we gathered that summer day Have withered away and faded gray. Never were roses so sweet as they ! — Who would not weep when beauty dies ? II Love will linger, though beauty flies, For Love is old, and exceeding wise ! Roses may wither, — what are they ? Children of time and the sunny day! Love was born with the seeing eyes. Love sees beauty that never dies. 22 THE RIVER ENCHANTED Over the river lies The dim enchantment of mist, And the gray of reflected skies Is touched with amethyst. The drudge of the day is kissed Into beauty, story-wise, When Twilight and Stream keep tryst, And Trade, the bad fairy, flies. 23 SIGHT UNSEEN Strange ! As I looked from the frost-bound pane, Sudden the snow was swept away. The midnight stars had fled the sky, And on the earth no shadows lay. A soft wind blew across the hill, Whose hollows hid anemones, And I was back upon a day That lies, men count, ten years from these. What is real, and what is dream, — This, the snow, or that, the flowers? Things that are and things that seem Blend like winds in this world of ours. 24 THE SIGN How beauty fills the world ! Men strive and sin, And higher heap the burden of Earth's ill, And weave a web of wrong for her, — and still 'Tis beauty fills the world. No blot in all the world ! The creeping green, The water flashing down in shining ways, The light that breaks in drenching color-sprays, With beauty fill the world. If beauty fills the world, Then all is said. The secret joy of one small perfect flower Were proof enough of God, — His love, His power, And beauty fills the world ! 25 UNSEEING They did not know, the people Who thronged the crowded street, That anything had happened To stay their hurrying feet. Yet while the shops were closing And factories shutting down, The sun had set, out westward, And the stars were over the town. 26 THE CITY STREETS The mole to his burrow, the fox to his trail, And man to his city street, For it's hunt or be hunted, fit or fail, When like and unlike meet. It's build you a den and guard it well, And make you a track to go. There 's a little while to buy and sell, — Then a long, long while to know. 27 IN RETREAT The snow is on the marshes, And the trees are bare. There's a chill of ancient winters In the sky and air, And the earth, that joyed in summer, Lies bound and bare. Yet there's peace upon the marshes, And the trees are still, And the sky is swept of passion, And the wind of will, For the quiet earth is waiting — Hushed and ready, undebating, — For the spring-time re-creating, And the new life-thrill. 28 A HEAVEN TO ORDER Let Heaven but give what Earth does, A little re-arranged ; Some few things well omitted, But dear things all unchanged! The wind, the sea, the mountain, The dry leaves' crisping sound, The scud of little wild things, The spring-smell of the ground, The lilt of poet-phrases Where words predestined meet, — (To hear it, joy — to make it A madness more than sweet ! ) The human love that answers In eyes that understand, That tells itself in absence As in the seeking hand, The garden's pretty graces, A certain autumn look, The moonlight on the water, The lamplight on a book, — Give but some chosen fragments From Earth's chaotic store, I'll build a Heaven the angels Will sigh for as they soar ! 29 A SONG All the maples were aflame When she came Through the long* and shadowy alleys of the cool Sep- tember wood. Goldenrod with yellow plume, Asters purple in their bloom, Sprang to spread a royal carpet in the places where she stood. And my heart was all aflame As she came Through the long and silent alleys that must lead her unto me. Flowers before unknown, unguessed, Woke where'er her footsteps pressed, And my life outbroke in beauty, since her eyes were there to see. 30 THE ROSE JAR Acres of riot bloom, Wind-blown waves of perfume Floating afar, This is their ultimate doom : — A fragrance faint in the room, If I open the jar! Youth and its eager years, Love and laughter and tears, And the earth a star, — Ah, pleasant the scent that inheres (Though faint as forgotten fears) In the sealed-up jar ! 31 THE LONE GUARD The rains set in last night, And though but yesterday 'twas Summer still, And golden sunshine lay upon the hill, Today 'tis Autumn, and an autumn chill Has fallen like a blight. The trees, in sad amaze, Have spread upon the sward, in mute defeat, A gold and scarlet carpet for the feet Of Autumn, whose oncoming makes complete The measure of their days. In all the overthrow, My bold Nasturtiums, with their hearts of flame, Keep up their splendid state in Summer's name. Rain-drenched but radiant, lone, but clear of blame, Defeat they will not know! 32 THIS LITTLE WORLD The Continents are whispering together Like a group of friendly gossips at their tea. "We have heard that it is said So-and-So is like to wed! Poor old This-and-That is dead. There is scandal in the tea-pot, — we shall see what we shall see!" The ancient Ocean tugs against the tether, And beats itself to fury in the old-time way. But gone its ancient dread. For above its stormy head, And beneath its restless bed, The whispering continues by the night and by the day. ' ' The planet 's in for such a spell of weather ! There is trouble in the Balkans, as before ! There is war and threat of war in the regions near and far! There is famine ! And the bar Of mountain-range and ocean can part the world no more!" 33 ARMISTICE Have done with hate! Whose ever was the sin in greatest measure, All, all have sinned, and all have suffered wrong. To none of these, unhappy, may the treasure — Disputed, torn, — of innocence belong. Acknowledge truth, though late. And, by a bitter fate, All, all have suffered agonies past bearing Unless the world reach out a comrade-hand, Giving and taking comfort so, in sharing Sorrow and blame, — and faith to understand, To hope, and wait. Have done with hate! How can endurance come for the day's sorrow Save through forgetting wrongs, and building still A dyke against the floods of mad tomorrow With kindliness unmeasured, and good will? Have done, have done with hate ! 34 THE EARTH TRACK Into the endless field of blue The earth is flying on, And the faraway leagues that last year knew Are shaken off and gone. Whence we came and whither we go, And the days that we shall bide, And the why and wherefore, we may not know, But the blue is above and the blue below, And the stars are on either side. 35 TANKA (After the Japanese) There is a beauty So foreign to our senses It passes o'er us Like sound refined past hearing Till finer souls interpret. 36 FRUSTRATE The narcissus in my window Is filling the room with its calling, Loud, insistent peals of perfume That will not be denied. Be still, white flower! There are no bees to hear. 37 "EACH IN HIS SEPARATE STAR" Like an inverted sky the city lies below me, With, house-lights for stars, And street-lights for planets, And bridge-lights flung far across the river To mimic the Milky Way. Worlds unknown ! The city below, and the sky above me, Alike distant, alike unknown. 38 POLARITY My spirit flares backward Like a flame in the wind When you approach. There is no reason, As the mind knows reason, But the spirit holds a deeper knowledge. The reason is there. 39 AT THE RAILWAY STATION Smoke and steam, The clangor of bells and engines, Spelling adventure, Spelling The Long Trail, Beyond the Horizon! Spelling the soul 's freedom in a universe of wonder 40 THE POET'S PART It is a little world where poets dwell, — A little, hidden world ; and few there be Who know its sign or language, or can tell Whence come the visions that the poets see. The great world beats about it heedlessly, With things to win, to own, to buy, to sell, With myriad cares that leave no mortal free, With hopes that spur and bafflements that quell. Yet evermore the great world in its might Swings onward through the darkness by the light Caught up by poet hand from poet hand ; And if but once should sink that flaming brand, Why, then would come at last the endless night, To hide the ruin of what God had planned. 41 THE UNVEILING On the earth a poet woke, alone. Hushed he waited, in that alien place, Till a hand was laid upon his own, And he dimly guessed a veiled face. ' ' I am she that men call Toil, ' ' he heard ; But the voice — ah, he had loved it long, And he started, with an eager word, — "Thou art Song!" Swift she passed before him till they stood Where men fought with men upon a plain, — Fought and hated, died, and cursed all good. Pityingly she spoke. "They call me Pain." But he saw them not. He only saw Clearlier through the veil her radiant brow, And he answered, with a touch of awe, — "Joy art thou!" Then she led him to the outer place Where the stars are, and the softened breath Of earth's sorrow swells the chant of space. Wondrously she smiled. "Men call me Death!" But the veil had fallen, and the light Of her uplifted face was in his heart. "Now at last I know thy name aright, — "Life thou art!" 42 WHEN AEDH DIED When Aedh died A sudden wind awoke within the wood, Swelling in murmurs he had understood, And then to silence sighed. If it be so That then the trees he loved were 'ware he went, Or if the waiting Shee a greeting sent, I, earth-blind, cannot know. As signals dart, A sudden wind awoke upon the hill As though the earth were troubled, — then fell still And empty as my heart. 43 ALIENA The princess in the fairy tale Walked safely through the wood enchanted, While evil things that lurked around, Behind the trees, beneath the ground, Fell harmless back, — so did abound The power of innocence undaunted. So she goes through the world to-day Enwrapped in shielding dreams elysian ; And evil speakings quiet fall, And envy, hate, and thoughts that crawl, Die, — though she see them not at all For seeing of a constant vision. For eyes that dwell on beauty long Grow sweetly blind to what would flout them, And hearts that hold their faith a trust, That choose the blossom, not the dust, Grow strong to walk where'er they must, And make a path of peace about them. 44 TO GLORIA If they speak true who say we lived before, Thou must have walked the earth a crowned queen, Or, as the lady of some large demesne, Have ruled thy vassals in those days of yore. For thou art proud, as those who know their state, And true as those who long have ceased to lie, And lonely, too, as those whose place is high, And brave, as those who ask no odds of fate. Too proud, too lonely, in those days of eld ! And so thy lot was cast with us today, That thou might 'st walk the common human way, And share the simpler burdens then withheld. For high and low and near and far are one To the exploring soul that wills to know. It gathers balm where thorns and thistles grow, And counts all equal when the task is done. 45 A GROUP OF BIRTHDAY SONGS (March thirtieth) I Hills in a purple haze, Ever to skyward receding; Beckoning mountain ways To unknown distances leading; Dervish dances of snow, Pure and chill and lonely; Tenderest sunset glow, As warm as is love only ! — Mystery, charm, and chill, And changes the moments reckon, And faith abiding still, And strength that cannot weaken ! — Where do the mountains lift "Whose witcheries you inherit ? That gave for a birthday gift Their spirit in your spirit? II Life, and the quest of life, Was life's bequest to thee. A lambent flame upspringing, Its pulsing light far-flinging, Thy spirit seems to me. Joy, and the quest of joy, Was joy's bequest to thee. The joy of still pursuing What, won, were joy's undoing, — Unwon, its guaranty ! 46 Love, and the quest of love, Was love 's bequest to thee, ■ No lower prize e 'er swerving From that supreme deserving Thy claim on fortune's fee. Ill Here 's to the March-born ! Health and a stout heart Ever attend her. Well will her own heart Ever defend her. Strong is the March-born. Storm-child is she. Bleak winds and snow skies Hurry to meet her. Bleakest and barest Cannot defeat her. Master is she. March, the spring guardsman ! Holding the ice back With its strong sun-shield Till the frail flower-flock See their old foe yield, — Guardsman and bardsman ! So the March comer. Fighter when need be; Sure foot and steady ; Dreamer when may be ; Lover all ready ; Poet in armor! 47 TO A MAID OF EIGHTEEN Gather it up and fold it away With rosemary leaves and lavender spray, — Sweet Seventeen! Wrap it in memories of tenderest hue, Warm with the joy that has thrilled them, and strew Fair hopes between. Wondrous the alchemy of The Past ! Fixed beyond changing it now holds fast Each winged day : — Moments of ecstasy, fleeting as fair, Kainbow-hued fantasies, painted on air, — Safe now for aye ! Every moment that fades into gray Paves but a pathway to meet a new day Brimming with light. Look to the east, where the sky is aglow, Challenge to joy and endeavor! Below Sleeps yesternight. MADONNA If a star should come to earth, Could the meadow grasses hide it ? Rather would its skyey birth Dim all other light beside it. We should know it, such star-grace is, By its quenchless inner glow, Making light in shadowy places. So we know thee, — even so. If a queen laid by her crown, Going where her care was needed, Would her queenship, so laid down, Go of human eyes unheeded? Every royal step would tell it, Every look the truth would show, Every traitor tone would spell it. So we know thee, — even so ! 49 CONTEMPORARIES The dear old days are gone for aye, I sighed, And strove to read again the darkening years; And, with the voice of one who speaks through tears, "Forever gone!" sad Memory replied. But, like a mother who might gently chide A child that trembles at its unknown fears, The voice of Life makes answer (and doubt clears) "Nay, sail'st thou then alone upon the tide?" I turn to the receding shore. Behold, There dwell but ghosts of that which used to be, And all the lives that mine with love enfold Are ever keeping even pace with me. Dear heart, I cannot fear the growing old, Since I may never grow away from thee! 50 THE CAPTIVE HOURS Endlessly out of the Timeless Place The sands of time They pour, And some are swept to the farthest star, And some to heaven's floor, And some are caught by the whirling earth To measure its track in space. Oh, men who claim them, use them, tame them, Set them a task of grace ! 51 THE WORKERS Forging a soul in the dark, They strive, and sob, and die; And wrung from the pain of the age-long strain Goes up a bitter cry. Cruel the daily need, And salt with tears their bread, And long the road and weary the load Before they are happily dead. Blinded, they cannot see That bread may be but a lure To lash their will into striving still For things that shall endure. Once they are happily dead, They'll turn again and mark How in the strain of the age-long pain They were forging a soul in the dark. 52 THE FALLEN And were ye of the Seekers, ye fallen, Ye merged in the mire? When ye clutched so, and stumbled, and stifled, Were ye led by Desire, — God's angel of longing, whose task is To set souls afire ? Too feeble the flame of your burning ! Was passion so pale Ye could drown it in draughts for the body? Could nothing avail To fire you to mightily conquer Or mightily fail? Nay, truly, God's angel of longing Who sets souls afire Must chafe when the snatched spark of heaven Falls so in the mire, To sputter in pitiful sinning And weakly expire. 53 A JANUARY FACE Earth, with face of frozen sorrow, Why dost thou suffer so? Is it for sin ? Or dost thou borrow The burden of mortal woe? ' ' I have turned me away from my Lord, the Sun, 1 am undone, undone! I have turned me away from the living light, And I find my portion night. For all of the joyance that laughed in me, And all of the power that leaped in me, Were not mine own, but came to me In the smile of my Lord, the Sun. I turned me away from the living light, — I am undone, undone!" 54 PROOF Ah, heart, my heart, why wilt thou anguish so ? Be still, and see. In truth, a little wrong, And not a great one, is this blinding blow That sweeps us bare of love and hope and song. The banishment of joy has made us know, Beyond all doubt, that joy is very strong. Disloyalty would not so bitter show Were it not proven truth that love lives long. Then, heart, my heart, be still, and count our gain, The knowledge we have won, at price of pain, That faith exists indeed, since thus is clear The woful lack when 'tis no longer here. It is a little thing our joy should wane If sure the ordering of the worlds appear. 55 BY SEARCHING Three things are certain in this world of doubt, — That nature in all ways is beautiful; That men have held the truth more dear than life ; That goodness bears unfailing fruit of peace. Oh, Thou who hid'st behind the triple veil Of thine own radiance, till our troubled souls Are sure of nothing but their ignorance, Thy radiant veils of goodness, beauty, truth, Are woven through and through our planet's web. We find Thee not by searching. Yet — Thou art ! 56 THE DIVER I have plunged into life, God, As a diver into the sea, Knowing and heeding naught Save thine old command to me To go and seek for thy pearl, Hidden wherever it be. And the waters are in my eyes ; They clutch at my straining breath ; They beat in my ears; yet, "Seek" My heart still whispereth, And I grope, and forbear to call On the easy rescuer, Death. For thy pearl must be here in the sands If ever a warrant there be For that old command of thine To plunge into life and see. So I search, for I trust in thy truth, thou Lord of the Truth, and of me. 57 IMMURED "Within this narrow cell that I call "me," I was imprisoned ere the worlds began, And all the worlds must run, as first they ran, In silver star-dust, ere I shall be free. I beat my hands against the walls and find It is my breast I beat, oh, bond and blind ! 58 HE BUILDETH HIS HOUSE He hewed him the cold, gray rock To make the foundations under. The walls and the towers should lock Past the power of the earth to sunder. Then, masking the bastions' frown, Art came, embroidered and gilded, That beauty and joy might crown The palace which power had builded. God sighed: "Why build so tall Thy prison wallV 59 EVEN TODAY When I reject my brother's love, And look for faults to score, I sin against the Holy Ghost, And make Its burdens more. For love is all that saves this Earth From proving utter loss, And love rejected, anywhere, Is Christ upon the Cross. 60 A MESSENGER He treads the ways of silence, safely hid Thus from the world's acclaim And teasing fame. Beneath his cloak he bears, the crowd amid, In vase of ancient frame, The sacred flame. The children of the world go up and down, Weaving their many creeds And noisy deeds. His silence, only, shields him from their frown Who tear each hand that feeds Their deepest needs. 61 TRANSCRIPT FROM THE RAMAYANA Nay, virtue is a service that man owes To his own soul ; and though there were no heaven, Nor any God to rule the lawless world, It were not less the binding law of life. It is man's privilege to die for truth, And no one may forbid him, or deny. Betray me if ye must, O brother men ; Pour out your rage on me, ye watching fiends ; Smile on in cold disdain, ye far-off Gods Who see me as a foam-fleck on the stream ; Earth, heaven, and hell, combine your might to crush, — I still hold fast by this inheritance ! My strength is nothing, — time can cripple it ; My youth, — already grief has withered it ; My heart, — poor heart, it is not proof against The racking agony it must endure, And life itself may slip from out its hold; But even so my soul, that has not tripped, Shall triumph, and, in dying, give the lie To soulless Destiny that dares, forsooth, To boast itself the master of a Man ! 62 THE CHALLENGE Love or hate me as you may, As you must, as you will. Far beyond the words we say Lies the issue, white and still. I but ask — as falls the bar Distance built 'twixt each and each Were you born beneath my star? Do we speak the self-same speech ? 63 -Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: Sept. 2009 PreservationTechnologies A WORLD LEADER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATION 111 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 (724)779-2111 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 015 939 996 5 Jt