3523
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 BOSTON 
 THE PALMER COMPANY 
 
 120 BOYLSTON ST. 
 1911
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY 
 MARY HALL LEONARD 
 
 Printed by 
 
 FREDERICK H. HITCHCOCK 
 105 West 4oth Street 
 New York
 
 Ps 
 
 I o 
 
 NOTE 
 
 This poem, written many years ago, contains some 
 true descriptions of natural scenery, but it is not his 
 tory and has no pen portraits of real people. After a 
 long period of lying idle in my desk it is herewith placed 
 in print as a tribute to the memory of my early home 
 and of past and present friends. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 1051564
 
 Go, little book, full long thou hast refused 
 To venture forth on wavering, untried wing; 
 But take thy hazard, calmly unafraid, 
 Nor longer yield to dilatory mood. 
 
 Why should a birdling fully fledged remain 
 Inert and wind-tossed in a last year s nest? 
 Better to fly and fall, confessing thus 
 Thy strength and weakness freely to the world. 
 
 So I, the author of thy being, tilt 
 The bough whereon thou slumberest, send thee forth 
 To fate s adventure, bid thee sing thy song, 
 Whether or no it find a listening ear. 
 
 I praise thee not nor censure. If thou fail 
 To meet to-day s ideals, these no less 
 May be outworn as ever-changing time 
 Shall lift aloft nezv standards to the world. 
 
 At least with stern respect I hereby greet 
 Within this verse the spirit of my youth; 
 The soul I am to-day with reverence bows 
 Unto the soul sincere I sometime was. 
 
 Then go, my booklet. Go and utter forth 
 
 The thoughts that breathe in thee. If some shall care 
 
 To listen it is well. If not, be meek; 
 
 Accept the issue. Go and tell thy tale.
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 I 
 
 "^WAS August, and the ripening year had spread 
 Its wealth of glories o er the satiate earth ; 
 Soft hues of early Summer were dissolved 
 In glowing depths of color ; here and there 
 
 Already Autumn s scarlet brush had touched 
 Woodbine and sumac, and the goldenrod 
 Waved yellowing plumes beside each wayside fence. 
 The jewel-weed had hung its pendants out 
 As if inviting pretty maids to pluck 
 Eardrops of gold to heighten beauty s grace. 
 Gay cardinal flowers upheaved their flaming heads 
 By meadow brooklets, and on forest edge 
 Fair bashful asters lifted golden eyes 
 Neath fringed lashes veiled. The gentle breath 
 Of violet, wilding rose, and new-mown hay 
 Long fled, the summer air was surfeit grown 
 With fruity smells, while thro the woodland walks 
 The clethra s heavy fragrance lingered still. 
 Like some fair stately dame who lays aside 
 The simple muslin and the brooch of pearl 
 
 ii
 
 12 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 That fitted girlhood s freshness, and bedecks 
 Herself in costly fabrics and displays 
 Her jewelled treasures, while around exhale 
 Ambrosial Eastern perfumes, so with charms 
 That soon must wither from the touch of frost 
 In sumptuous splendor stood the matron year. 
 
 It was the season when from city s heat 
 
 And choking dust and stifling poisoned air 
 
 Earth s weary workers seek the hills and farms. 
 
 Here where the strengthening breeze finds room to blow 
 
 Mong fragrant murmuring pines and singing birds 
 
 They find the sweet refreshment Nature craves. 
 
 So life renews itself, the rested brain 
 
 No more refuses thought, and they return 
 
 Revigorate for another year of toil. 
 
 Then, school restraints removed, the boys and girls 
 
 Explore the woods and picnic in the groves 
 
 Or fish for minnows in the brooks and ponds 
 
 Through long delightful summer holidays. 
 
 Then even the farmers and their busy wives 
 
 To whom vacation never comes, may find 
 
 Twixt hay and harvest tiny breathing-space 
 
 For a brief excursion to the shore, or drive 
 
 To a cousin s farmhouse in the neighboring town.
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 Twas in this month of summer rest that we, 
 
 Far-flinging every care, a merry six, 
 
 Betook us to a small New England lake 
 
 And on a wooded island fixed our camp. 
 
 Richly by Nature was our covert dowered ; 
 
 A grove of patriarch pines with leafy roof 
 
 And slippery carpet formed the island s crown; 
 
 Below, a grassy slope, while lower yet 
 
 Tall bushes, tiny trees and hazel copse 
 
 For our retreat a graceful border made. 
 
 Eastward a grassy capelet shoreward reached, 
 
 Well-nigh an isthmus during summer drought 
 
 By teams from mainland traversed. Far removed 
 
 From city s rush, no noisy throngs profaned 
 
 The privacy ; but idlers like ourselves 
 
 And rural picnics in these shades might seek 
 
 Their simple pleasures. 
 
 Neath an ancient beech 
 
 With branches wide outspread we pitched our tent, 
 And under thickest boughs our hammocks hung. 
 Mong sheltering pines a tiny cot we spied, 
 By sportsmen rudely built who yearly there 
 Found Autumn hermitage, when many a duck 
 Decoyed from secret nook, and wild-goose bound 
 From northern breeding-haunts to southern glades, 
 Beneath their aim met luckless destiny.
 
 14 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 In broad expanse before us, and behind 
 Through rifts of sombre green, the dimpling lake 
 Laughed in the sun. Northward it grew more shoal; 
 Beyond, broad meadows forest background met, 
 Where o er the tree-tops could the eye discern 
 The outlines dim of distant hazy hills. 
 
 Southward with bolder curve and deeper bed 
 The lakelet stretched, two isles upon its breast; 
 The one a wooded circlet dense with shade ; 
 An emerald fair the other s grassy face, 
 Unclaimed by owner and untouched by scythe, 
 And tempting us in visionary thought 
 To title virgin soil through prior tilth. 
 
 Westward a curious line of sunken rocks 
 
 Their straggling summits showed. The boldest bore 
 
 The seeming imprint of a mighty foot, 
 
 And mong the country-folk tradition told 
 
 Strange legends of the Giant s Dam and Rock. 
 
 In olden time when giants walked the earth, 
 
 And gnomes and sprites their woodland revels held, 
 
 A mighty spirit made these shores his haunt, 
 
 Of trickish temper, yet in genial mood 
 
 Useful to man. Once with the Indians he
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 15 
 
 A bargain made, a dam of boulders large 
 
 To build athwart the channel where the braves 
 
 Might spear their fish. The crafty Red Men pledged 
 
 An Indian youth, the choicest of their tribe, 
 
 As well-earned meed. But when, his labor done, 
 
 The Giant came for stipend, false they sent 
 
 An aged weakling, ready for the grave. 
 
 In wrath the Giant rose, asunder tore 
 
 The rocks, with mighty pressure sinking some 
 
 In the earth s deep crust ; then with a plunge which shook 
 
 The isles and made the waters boil and hiss 
 
 He sank forever ; yet this footmark left, 
 
 Enduring witness to a lordlier race 
 
 Of the Giant s fury and the Red Man s guile. 
 
 With sheltered cove and wooded hill and cape 
 The lake lay folded in the arms of earth ; 
 While strips of pebbly beach with shining sand 
 And pearly mussel-shells rare playground made 
 For children from the farms. 
 
 So to this spot 
 
 Most dear to Nature s heart, we came to spend 
 An idle, merry week. We had been friends 
 In earliest childhood ; by these shores had played, 
 Flinging smooth pebbles o er the skipping wave, 
 And building houses under stately pines ;
 
 1 6 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 In the moist beach we dug our wells and scrawled 
 Our names with those of favorite friends enlinked, 
 Or gathered handfuls of Sabbatia blooms 
 Pondroses was the childish name they bore 
 Which in midsummer rosy setting made 
 To frame the crystal mirror of the lake. 
 Now older grown, from variant paths we sought 
 In childhood s well-remembered haunts to find 
 Rest for awhile from toil, and link again 
 Associations of the sunny past. 
 
 Two of us now were teachers. We had come 
 Holding vacation as a well-earned right, 
 With pedant books and fret of discipline 
 Securely locked behind the schoolroom door. 
 
 And one, a quiet, simple girl, whose days 
 
 With household cares were filled; yet while she wrought 
 
 Prosaic tasks, her spirit soared afar 
 
 On fancy s wings through realms of blissful dreams; 
 
 A poet s nature hers, which held the art 
 
 To weave a golden thread through homespun life. 
 
 With her a farmer brother ; never knight 
 More loyal fealty to lady showed 
 Than to his sister he; e en while he smiled 
 In tolerant mood at visions fanciful,
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 17 
 
 Yet ever mindful of her slightest wish 
 Before her thought could frame it, twas supplied. 
 Master of boatcraft he, and knew the pools 
 Where fish might congregate ; nor yet unversed 
 In books, for though his feet had scarcely strayed 
 A hundred miles from home, through summer noons 
 And winter eves, he traversed Arctic seas 
 With Dr. Kane, and followed Livingston 
 Through Afric s trackless wastes, or lived again 
 The ages of the Past in stirring words 
 Of Gibbon and Macaulay. 
 
 With these two 
 
 A cousin came, a student freshly crowned 
 With college laurels, and of mind alert 
 For universal knowledge ; spouting phrase 
 Of Latin, tasking science, and withal 
 Ready in wit, whose fund of mirthful jokes 
 Drew forth resistless floods of merriment. 
 
 And yet one more our little circle held : 
 
 A grave young lawyer, who from distant home 
 
 Had come to brush the dust of city street 
 
 And musty lawbook from his foot and brain 
 
 Among the farms his boyhood knew ; and gained 
 
 From us, the playmates of his early years, 
 
 A glad consent to join our revelry.
 
 1 8 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 New England youths and maidens we, nor recked 
 Aught of the world s conventions. Little need 
 Of chaperone advisers felt we then, 
 The youthful Puritans of bygone days. 
 
 Time s hourglass never seemed its sands to turn 
 
 So fast as while we led this jovial life. 
 
 Upon a rounded knoll we built a bower 
 
 Of birchen frame with woven hemlock boughs, 
 
 And tufted moss for native carpet; here 
 
 We fashioned rustic seats and bravely decked 
 
 The walls with trailing cranberry vines hung thick 
 
 With reddening berries, wreaths of clematis, 
 
 And dark ground-pine garnered from woodland walks. 
 
 Here in the slow-paced summer afternoons 
 
 We read our favorite books, or lightly sketched 
 
 Gay scenes of camp, and water-glimpses rare 
 
 Dotted by gleaming sails of pleasure-boats, 
 
 With forest rim, its slender stems of birch 
 
 In white relief gainst sombrous oaks and pines ; 
 
 Or sat with folded hands in listless mood 
 
 And idly watched the clouds and talked and dreamed. 
 
 One day when we in silence long had sat, 
 Building aerial castles soon to fall, 
 Unmindful each of other presence near. 
 Sudden I turned me where our poet maid
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 19 
 
 Half-leaning on the mossy cushioning turf, 
 
 Gazed into airy depths with eyes like stars. 
 
 " What is it, Lela? Speak! " I gayly said, 
 
 " What wondrous vision, sealed from earthborn eyes 
 
 Hath filled your face with rapture? Or what words 
 
 Have angel voices whispered in your ear? 
 
 Or has the muse an inspiration given? 
 
 Unfold your tale ! " 
 
 Dreaming awhile she sat, 
 Nor moved nor spoke. At last a playful smile 
 Shone o er her lips, which burst in joyful song. 
 
 Summer weaves with magic spell 
 
 Filmy fetters round me ; 
 Soon her charms I know full well 
 
 Prisoner will have bound me. 
 
 Sweet allurements all the while 
 
 Slyly she is bringing, 
 Witching kiss and wildering smile 
 
 In profusion flinging. 
 
 Yet a willing victim I 
 
 To the winsome schemer ; 
 Folded in her arms I lie 
 
 An enraptured dreamer.
 
 20 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 Fleecy clouds and shining wings 
 Float in azure o er me, 
 
 Formless and ethereal things 
 Flit like ghosts before me. 
 
 Heavenly nectar, angels cheer, 
 Unseen hands are bringing, 
 
 Siren voices sweet and clear 
 In my ears are ringing. 
 
 Care is banished, passion dulled, 
 Every sense seems reeling, 
 
 O er my frame by sorcery lulled 
 Drowsiness is stealing. 
 
 Fast enchained and captive led, 
 Tranced is every comer 
 
 If he stoop to lay his head 
 In the lap of Summer. 
 
 Thus bathed in sunshine soft, life s roughnesses 
 Awhile forgot, like an enchanting dream 
 Our days flew by. How many weary whiles 
 Since then, have I on memory s wings returned 
 To these blest days and found refreshing peace!
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 21 
 
 Meanwhile our brothers plied the hook and line, 
 
 Returning laden with long strings of fish, 
 
 Rich-flavored pickerel and the shining perch 
 
 With now and then a pout or slippery eel. 
 
 Apples and pears in plenty, new-laid eggs, 
 
 And creamy milk the neighboring farms supplied. 
 
 In gypsy fashion over brushwood fires 
 
 We cooked our food, and under moss-hung trees 
 
 Our table spread ; no costly viands served 
 
 At princely banquet half so good e er seemed 
 
 As to our sharpened appetites this food. 
 
 What matter though the nights were sometimes chill 
 
 Or sudden showers arose ! Were not our sires 
 
 Of Pilgrim stock? Here where they bravely faced 
 
 Famine and cold and hostile Indian tribes, 
 
 Should we their children, flushed with youth and health, 
 
 Trifling discomforts meet with faltering hearts? 
 
 Oft while our brothers rowed with heavier oar 
 We launched our lighter skiff and challenged them 
 To merry race. Sometimes in curious mood 
 We pushed our dory down the winding stream 
 By which these waters seek their ocean source ;
 
 22 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 Or up the reedy inlet called " The Arm," 
 Within whose solitudes the plover dwell, 
 Where on the rocks the turtles sunning lie, 
 And bull- frogs hoarse croak nightly serenades. 
 
 When tumbling breezes brushed the glassy lake 
 We sought the larger boat, our sail unfurled, 
 And with the keen exhilaration born 
 Of motion free, flew swift before the wind. 
 Sometimes at evening s calm we laid aside 
 The laboring oar, and with the current slow 
 Drifted along, and pulled with idle hands 
 The lily-pads and graceful floating-heart. 
 We quoted favorite lines and riddles told, 
 While many a tale and merry joke went round ; 
 Or gayly sang till oft from distant boat 
 Came wafted to our ears an answering strain. 
 
 We traced the circle where in measure slow 
 
 Roll the Seven Stars that guard the Northern Pole ; 
 
 Bright Lyra from the zenith o er us beamed, 
 
 Venus and Mars in rare conjunction shone, 
 
 And just above the horizon at the south, 
 
 With steady hand the Archer drew his bow.
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 23 
 
 Meantime another Archer bold who loves 
 
 The rustic scenes where men and maidens meet 
 
 Was slyly hovering near. With certain aim 
 
 His arrows sped, piercing the hearts of two. 
 
 So the old story was again lived o er ; 
 
 When a few later moons had waxed and waned 
 
 My girlhood s friend whose fund of sparkling life 
 
 Our grave and studious lawyer s heart had won, 
 
 Was asked to lay her schoolroom tasks aside 
 
 And find her future life in a far-off home. 
 
 Smiling, she answered " Yes," and went away; 
 
 Dear heart ! How long ago that wedding seems, 
 
 So fast events have crowded ! Her sweet hope 
 
 Hath cheered his soul in many a trying hour 
 
 Of strange vicissitude. If they had known, 
 
 If on those summer eves their Fate had stood 
 
 Truly revealed before their questioning eyes 
 
 And with prophetic finger pointed down 
 
 The thorny dangerous path their feet should tread, 
 
 Would not their hearts have quailed such lot to meet? 
 
 Would they have dared it ? Ah, perhaps ! who knows ? 
 
 One afternoon we stood beside the shore 
 And watched the gathering signs of sudden squall ; 
 For cloud-fraught gusts from north and west had suaged 
 The day s oppressive heat, while lurid lines
 
 24 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 Darted across of zigzag blinding fire, 
 
 And rattling thunders rolled. Birds startled past ; 
 
 We heard the tinkling bells of frightened cows, 
 
 And creaking wains of farmers hurrying home ; 
 
 Now a dead pine-branch broken by the blast 
 
 Fell crackling at our feet ; and lo ! the lake 
 
 Transformed to a sea of ink, while angry waves 
 
 Reared milk-like crests, and foaming breakers lashed 
 
 The rocky shore. We saw the rain-cloud burst ; 
 
 Then rushed to gain the shelter of the cot 
 
 Just as in torrents the tempestuous flood 
 
 Dashed wildly gainst our roof and window-panes ; 
 
 There hushed with trembling awe we stood and watched 
 
 The mighty warfare of the elements. 
 
 The storm had rolled away, with parting glow 
 Of rainbow-tinted clouds ; the trees looked forth 
 In foliage fresh, and beaded sunshine tipped 
 Each leafy twig. We sought the drying rocks 
 And gazed upon the placid lake, which gave 
 An answering smile, its momentary frown 
 Gone like the tears of childhood. Soon a wee 
 Sandpiper, slender-legged, unheeding us 
 So motionless, came running o er the beach 
 And paused to drink, lifting his dainty bill 
 As if returning thanks for blessings given;
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 2$ 
 
 Then balanced on a stone, his tiny form 
 A moment swayed exultant, and he spread 
 His wings and soared. 
 
 Silent awhile we sat 
 Until the sunset hour with golden light 
 Flooded the sky and earth and wrapped us round 
 With glorious mantle of effulgent flame ; 
 Far up through heaven s high vault, and reaching down 
 Through mirrored watery depths, a city fair 
 Of equal breadth and height in semblance showed, 
 Whose wall-foundations shone with precious gems, 
 Ruby and sapphire and the topaz clear ; 
 Its glowing spires and pinnacles were made 
 Of shining cloud, and in the midst we saw 
 A street of gold, as twere transparent glass. 
 
 Since then, o er land and sea I ve wandered far, 
 
 And many a radiant sunset have I seen ; 
 
 Yet not amid Franconia s sun-kissed vales, 
 
 Nor where the crystal waters of Lucerne 
 
 Reflect the Alpine glow from Rigi s crest, 
 
 Nor where through mellowing haze the splendor floats 
 
 And softly melts in calm Italian lakes, 
 
 Have day s departing glories to my eyes 
 
 Lifted so high the everlasting gates 
 
 Whereby the King of Glory entereth in.
 
 26 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 Soon in the lingering twilight there appeared 
 
 The silvery crescent of the infant moon 
 
 And hovered o er the village spire which gleamed 
 
 Faintly above the treetops ; till we felt 
 
 As though from minaret in Orient lands 
 
 We heard the Moslem calling, " Come to prayer," 
 
 And low our heads in reverent worship bowed. 
 
 Slowly the night her curtain round us drew, 
 
 And lighted glimmering watchfires, and our brows 
 
 With gentle breezes fanned ; until as ebbs 
 
 With stealthy flow the tide along the shore 
 
 Our flood of feeling lessened ; earthward bent 
 
 Our thoughts ; the spell was gone, and speech came back. 
 
 " To-morrow, friends," I said, " we break our camp 
 
 And bid farewell to jovial woodland life. 
 
 In leafy Paradise we here have dwelt, 
 
 Children of Nature for one gladsome week, 
 
 From her hand feeding, on her breast reclined, 
 
 While in our ears her secrets she has poured. 
 
 Now enter we that feverous Unrest 
 
 We call Society, where all life s wheels 
 
 With speed are driven, till the worn mainspring snaps 
 
 Before its time. Is not the social load 
 
 Too heavy grown? Were it not wisdom s part 
 
 To turn from wiles of art to Nature s arms ? "
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 2/ 
 
 " Great was my boyhood s joy," the farmer said, 
 
 " When in fresh furrow or on pebbly bank 
 
 I now and then an Indian arrow found. 
 
 These shores were once a favorite hunting-ground 
 
 Of the great Philip, Wampanoag chief, 
 
 And many a relic of his hardy braves 
 
 Became my hoarded treasure; the round stone 
 
 Which ground their corn; the sharpened flint that served 
 
 For knife and axe ; the hammer once o ergrown 
 
 With curious handle of intwisted boughs, 
 
 And many a thin, translucent stony wedge 
 
 That tipped their feathered darts and fishing spears. 
 
 Such keepsakes and the fireside stories heard 
 
 Beside my grandsire s knee inflamed my soul 
 
 With longing for the life of a chieftain bold, 
 
 Fishing the streams and chasing fox and deer 
 
 Through boundless hunting-grounds. But boyish dreams 
 
 Were these. I little thought that serious lips 
 
 Of womanhood could life like this prefer 
 
 To social state." 
 
 " My meaning you mistake," 
 I answered. " In the cradle of our race 
 Neath Asian skies, our Aryan ancestors 
 Tranquilly dwelt. Not theirs the savage mind 
 That seeks delight through animal desire,
 
 28 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 But under Heaven s blue vault they watched their flocks 
 
 And nightly with the stars communion held, 
 
 And found a voiceful personality 
 
 In every rock and rill and wandering breeze. 
 
 True life with Nature is not barbarism ; 
 
 No savages are we, though in these woods ; 
 
 Nor were our fathers of that Pilgrim band 
 
 Who in these wilds their cabins built." 
 
 "But stay!" 
 
 The farmer said, " No sentimental search 
 For Age Primeval here our fathers led ; 
 Far nobler object theirs, and this achieved 
 They bent their energies to meliorate 
 Social conditions and o ertake the East; 
 Crown of their labor stands our land to-day 
 Coequal with the foremost. For ourselves, 
 Tis novelty allures; such constant fate 
 Were banishment; in halcyon days tis well, 
 But chilling storms would fright us home. Even here, 
 Our social tastes we bring ; your woodland garb 
 So picturesque, your dainty sketchbooks filled 
 With souvenirs of camp, our well-built boats, 
 Are these the insignia of uncultured life? 
 Nay, friend, it were no gain to sacrifice 
 Our modern implements and plow our fields 
 With crooked sticks."
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 29 
 
 Then I, " The Preacher saith 
 Many inventions hath the world sought out, 
 But wisdom bringeth grief, and vanity 
 And sore vexation are its certain sum ; 
 Be not o erwise, why shouldst destroy thyself? 
 The tree of knowledge bears a bitter fruit, 
 Tis Double, double, toil and trouble still ; 
 The fire burns hot, the cauldron bubbles on, 
 And misery abounds." 
 
 " What mood is this," 
 He asked, " to fight with pessimistic mind 
 The tide which through all history gathers force? 
 I joy in this advancing age, which brings 
 Achievement marvellous and ever calls 
 For wider thought." 
 
 " You speak in current phrase," 
 I said, " but social science may have flaws 
 By theorists unseen. Why goad ourselves 
 For what we cannot gain? The boasted march 
 Of ages soon a funeral march may prove 
 Across untimely graves. And hardest strain 
 Is borne by woman s lesser strength. No more 
 May she devote herself to homelike tasks ; 
 But worries about rights and wrongs, holds views, 
 And grows more wretched as she grows more wise.
 
 30 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 Better, methinks, the dusky Middle Age 
 
 When amorous knights drew sword for ladies fair, 
 
 Better the lot of women of the East 
 
 Slaves in secluded splendor, than the fate 
 
 Of Nineteenth Century women of the West! " 
 
 " Surely you jest," my fellow-teacher said, 
 " What hath the darling of an Eastern Court, 
 Her youthful beauty fled, but toil, neglect, 
 And then a grave ? The fruit of wisdom s tree 
 You so decry, is noble soul-resource; 
 Nor time can waste it, nor misfortune steal. 
 No woman in her senses would resign 
 The heirlooms of the Ages, or exchange 
 Her birthright for a babyhood of soul." 
 
 " Doubtless my words were idle," I replied, 
 
 " No ingrate I. Yet woman s heritage 
 
 In Christendom hath added to its boon 
 
 Some doubtful gifts ; feeling by intellect 
 
 Is well-nigh choked, and duty stern and cold 
 
 Crushes love s sweetness out. Why waste our lives 
 
 O er knotty questions? Better lapse of thought 
 
 Than tanglement of sophistry. Some gain 
 
 Derives from foolishness."
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 The farmer then, 
 
 " Hard problems vex each age ; no harder ours 
 Than those our fathers pondered. In despite 
 Of all your croaking dolors, you would miss 
 The fruit of Time s advance, no less than I." 
 
 " Some gains hath Time achieved," I yielding said, 
 
 " I would not choose stagnation ; yet at times 
 
 I dread the issue of the years. I see 
 
 The social order daily more complex, 
 
 And still the tension tightening; till I ask, 
 
 Where shall relief be found for nervous strain ? 
 
 And weary brain and heart cry out for peace." 
 
 The lawyer answered to my chafing mood, 
 " From passion s tumult and opinion s strife 
 The wise man turns to walks of common life. 
 The one relief for natures tempest-tossed 
 Lies in congenial work." 
 
 " Perhaps tis here 
 
 My trouble," slow I said. " Congenial work 
 Tis few that find. To-night in sympathy 
 We sit; at dawn we strike our tent and drop 
 The hands of fellowship. You go your ways 
 Of varied duty; and for me begins
 
 32 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 Another year of school, a weary stretch 
 
 Of days of thankless toil ensued by nights 
 
 Of feverish wakefulness. And to what end? 
 
 A little lore, hard gotten, soon forgot, 
 
 The children win; while in such prisonment 
 
 Bright childhood fleets. And for myself what gain? 
 
 I earn my bread and wear my life away 
 
 With fretting cares." 
 
 The teacher then, surprised : 
 
 " How say you thus? Not such to me life s scope! 
 Peculiar trials vex a teacher s lot, 
 But companied with rich rewards." 
 
 " I know," 
 
 I murmured, " all that pedants boast. Perhaps 
 If situate like you in school select 
 I might complaisance find ; but in this thrall 
 Of public service hope and courage fail. 
 Best efforts gainst my pupils needs offset 
 Seem hopeless waste. Meantime myself am changed 
 Sole intercourse with lower minds to growth 
 No impulse gives; nor, duties done, can strength 
 Remain for study ; thus my thought is bound 
 By a narrowing horizon, while I chafe 
 In hopeless effort, and my temper sours;
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 33 
 
 Often I lay my weary head to rest 
 
 After a harrowing day with self-reproach 
 
 For angry words and hasty deeds." 
 
 "Alas ! 
 
 A doleful picture ! Pray let me advise ! " 
 Gayly the student said. " Suppose you place 
 As motto on your schoolroom wall these lines 
 Of Coleridge, mentor wise for teachers good: 
 O er wayward childhood wouldst thou hold firm rule 
 And sun thee in the light of happy faces, 
 Love, hope and patience, these must be thy graces, 
 And in thine own heart let them first keep school. " 
 
 " My troubles brook no jest," I sharply said, 
 " To name a list of virtues will not heal 
 The weary day when overtasked at length 
 Both Love and Hope beneath the load give way. " 
 
 Then he more gravely, " Why not further quote ? 
 Then with a statue s smile, a statue s strength, 
 Stands the mute sister Patience, nothing loth, 
 And both supporting, does the work of both. " 
 
 " Twould need," I said, " a patience infinite ; 
 But human powers have limitation fixed, 
 And when poor Patience of her sisters reft 
 Meets failure, who shall take the burden up?
 
 34 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 Or what can Patience of herself achieve? 
 A loveless, hopeless Patience can but stand 
 Holding her own against the assaults of ill. 
 It needs a higher, holier strength than hers, 
 A mighty zeal, on wings of faith upborne, 
 To lift humanity from earthborn ways 
 To realms of truth and light." 
 
 " I think we need," 
 
 The teacher said, " at times to close our eyes 
 To faults, and view conditions at their best. 
 Should not the gardener sometimes leave the work 
 Of pruning limbs and pulling noxious weeds 
 To note the fragrance of a flower or search 
 For opening buds among the leaves ? " 
 
 " Most good 
 
 In theory ! " I captious cried. " In sooth 
 Both you and Lela are enthusiasts born, 
 But my dull nature never runs to waste 
 In wild imaginings ; the bright conceits 
 That please the fancy of the optimist 
 Elude my earth-bent eyes; the little imp 
 Of mischief is to me but a naughty child, 
 Nor can I place him on a pedestal 
 With glittering halos crowned."
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 35 
 
 " But nay, my friend," 
 She gently urged, " no idle visions these ! 
 Should not the Artist place his picture where 
 The light of heaven may softly o er it fall, 
 And thus the innate beauty clear reveal? 
 Would the soul of nature, think you, in him find 
 Interpreter more true, should he refuse 
 To see the changing lights and shades that give 
 Expression to her face, and merely paint 
 In outlines bare? Upon the sea-shore lies 
 A tiny ball, unsightly, brown and dry. 
 We look again; the waves have covered it, 
 The clogging sand is washed away, and now 
 With spreading fibres delicately wrought 
 It floats a bit of sea-moss exquisite. 
 But is the nobler aspect false? Did not 
 Intrinsic beauty all the while await 
 The coming wave to make it manifest? 
 So the ideal is but simple truth 
 Seen through the medium of a loving thought." 
 
 Then I, " Perhaps you re right, but Nature wise 
 Endues her sons with temperament diverse, 
 And no small share of earthly work she gives 
 To plodding, wingless workers like myself. 
 Yet true suggestion in your words I find ;
 
 36 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 I think indeed tis chiefly faith I lack, 
 
 Faith in the labor s end. Though yet more wide 
 
 The question ranges. Is this strife, I ask, 
 
 For universal education wise? 
 
 Our fathers were content to teach the boy 
 
 His duty to his God, his fellow-man 
 
 And native land ; to live a virtuous life 
 
 And die in peace. But every modern child, 
 
 Whate er his sphere, must clever smattering gain 
 
 Of every craft. Instruction thus becomes 
 
 A task Herculean; childhood s artlessness 
 
 Is banished; shallow knowledge takes the place 
 
 Of depth; and knowing men with little minds 
 
 Employ their crudities for trait rous ends." 
 
 Once more the lawyer spoke : " I too have felt 
 How powerless to insure the public weal 
 Is all our schoolcraft. Manual labor must 
 For most mankind, perforce, find daily bread. 
 Nor count such lot unhappy! If the sum 
 Of human joys be reckoned, who shall dare 
 Affirm that fuller measure is vouchsafed 
 To learning s votaries than to sons of toil? 
 But useless scholarship may render these 
 Unfit for lowly work, yet not equipped 
 To grasp earth s higher prizes, or compete
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 37 
 
 With men of keener thought. No sadder sight 
 
 Is seen than feeble minds essaying work 
 
 Beyond their scope. Crude knowledge broadly cast, 
 
 Like rootless sea-weed mixed with frothy scum, 
 
 Floats on the surface of the tide of thought 
 
 And clogs the freighted bark that passage seeks. 
 
 Out of this knowingness grow atheism, 
 
 Office corruptions, speculations rash 
 
 And juggling snares to trap unwary fools; 
 
 Not so are States made safe." 
 
 "If public ills 
 No remedy in education find, 
 
 What then? " the farmer asked. " Is there in law 
 Protection adequate ? " 
 
 " Nay, not in law ! 
 
 Though Heaven should send, as claim the Jews, a code 
 Of laws direct, what were their worth without 
 The men to execute ? Our statute books 
 Bristle with dead enactments. Lawmakers 
 May legislate till doomsday gainst all wrong 
 With no effect, because the will to press 
 The penalty is wanting." 
 
 " Is there then," 
 
 The farmer asked, " for national disease 
 No cure? "
 
 38 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 " Our only hope," he answering said, 
 " Lies in strong leaders. Few are they who hold 
 The reins of power. Our rulers should possess 
 Trained intellect, untarnished honor, breadth; 
 Then education proves puissant force 
 To lead the multitude. But tis not well 
 That every scatter-brain should freely prate 
 Of themes abstruse which wise men fear to touch 
 With hand incautious. Such do seldom vent 
 Their own opinions ; they but iterate 
 The dogmas of their latest oracle; 
 To-morrow comes another prating knave 
 Making demands for credence and they turn 
 And straight unsay all that they said before; 
 Like tinsel weather-vanes to surface spread 
 They shift with every idle breath that blows." 
 
 The farmer then, " I marvel much to hear 
 From lips of one born on New England soil 
 Such scornful words with sentiments effete. 
 Thought is alive; we breathe a bracing air; 
 Even though crudity may often mar 
 The movement, yet tis surface froth, beneath 
 The steady current flows. Better by far 
 Some skim of rashness than stagnation s hush; 
 Better is teeming life than stifling death ;
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 39 
 
 Better the shallow, rapid, noisy brook 
 With waters eddying round their stony bed 
 Than the dank, noisome pool which lurking hides 
 In narrow confines and pollution breeds. 
 No Old World Aristocracy we want ! 
 Set bounds to knowledge and you bring return 
 To feudal night ; or else the humbler ranks 
 Will burst their hated bonds and anarchy 
 Engulf the land in blood." 
 
 " You miss my thought," 
 Argued the lawyer still. " No recreant I 
 To faith American; nor would I place 
 Bars to the progress of the poor man s son. 
 From lowly rank hath many a genius stept 
 To high renown. But genius hath no need 
 Of rock-hewn steps to scale the precipice; 
 The lion shows his lion-nature still 
 Though reared among the sheep ; a Franklin needs 
 No help from adventitious circumstance. 
 Give freest chance to all, say I ! Then those 
 Whom genius prompts will prove that fortune smiles 
 On such as have the power to help themselves. 
 Events all cluster round the lives of men. 
 The hero who by kingly nature holds 
 The right divine to rule his fellow-men, 
 A right inherent, not inherited,
 
 40 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 One such alone may make or mould a state; 
 But baser minds must follow as they re led, 
 And it is feeble statesmanship, I ween, 
 To put edged tools in every idiot s hand." 
 
 " I like not that," the farmer stoutly said. 
 
 " Men do not make the times, but times make men! 
 
 Louis Magnificent indeed may boast 
 
 Lo, I am France ! But his successors learn 
 
 At fearful cost that nations are not born 
 
 To aggrandize kings. Out from the people steps 
 
 Our chosen ruler each quadrennial year ; 
 
 His term expired, the nation s later choice 
 
 Taketh the pledge of office and the first 
 
 Retires a simple citizen once more. 
 
 Movements are more than men ! Deathless ideas 
 
 Are the true leaders ! He who in the van 
 
 Waveth the banner, is but ensign still; 
 
 The leader falls, another takes his place ; 
 
 The gap is closed, the impetuous throng sweeps on. 
 
 Time s mighty epochs with resistless force 
 
 O erwhelm ambitious hopes and towering forms, 
 
 Bury from sight the loftiest lives and prove 
 
 How insignificant are men compared 
 
 With the vast movements that make History."
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 41 
 
 He paused and silence o er the circle fell. 
 Musing awhile we sat amid the plash 
 Of rippling waters, while the crickets shrilled 
 Autumn s first notes, and clamorous katydids 
 Answered from pine to pine. Our mingled thoughts 
 Compassed events of childhood and the cares 
 That older years had brought, or wistful strove 
 To penetrate the future s mystery. 
 
 The farmer told of longings to achieve 
 
 A broader life among the ranks of men; 
 
 But filial duty held him bound. Severe 
 
 Had been the struggle this long-cherished hope 
 
 To lay aside, and the laborious life 
 
 Of a New England farm had sorely chafed 
 
 Ambition s restless mood. " And yet," he asked, 
 
 " What is success? Who knows? " 
 
 The teacher then, 
 
 " Do you recall, mong songs of school, the one 
 Biding at Home ? Let s sing it now ! " Then clear 
 Her voice rang on the evening air, while we, 
 As best our memory served, joined the refrain.
 
 42 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 THE HEART THAT BIDETH AT HOME 
 
 The wide world open lieth, 
 
 The sea-foam tosseth free, 
 The wind blows shrill over forest and hill 
 And the river is turning the hurrying mill 
 
 As it flows to the surging sea. 
 
 There s a sheltered nook on the hillside 
 Where the bluebird doth earliest come 
 To build its nest as the cherished guest 
 Of him who bideth at home. 
 
 The venturous traveller roveth 
 
 From pole to tropic zone; 
 His lands hath he sold that he may behold 
 The pageants of princes and treasures untold 
 
 Though naught can he claim as his own ; 
 
 But the gentle heartsease groweth 
 Familiar walks beside, 
 
 And contentment shall brim the beaker of him 
 Who tranquil at home will bide. 
 
 Ambition s proud allurement 
 May tempt the mind to stray,
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 43 
 
 Seeking fortune and fame and frivolous aim 
 Through intricate pathways of folly and blame 
 Till life is frittered away. 
 
 But peace her olive branch bearing 
 Shall back to her refuge come, 
 Like the storm-tost dove no longer to rove 
 
 From the heart that bideth at home. 
 
 Again the teacher musing spoke : " How fast 
 The changes come ! " she said. " Ten years from now 
 These isles, this lovely lake, will be the same, 
 Yet we, and all our little worlds be changed." 
 
 " Nay," said the farmer, " Time s assiduous hand 
 
 On nature too will ruthlessly be laid. 
 
 These woods by growth and axe will varied be; 
 
 This rock, whereon we sit, is yearly moved 
 
 By icy pressure up the shore s incline; 
 
 Tis said that all those wooded swamps that reach 
 
 To westward, once were lakes by Indians fished ; 
 
 Ir\ the brief stretch of years my memory spans 
 
 This lake has altered, wider is the marge, 
 
 Less deep the waters, and the contour changed." 
 
 " How sad to think it ! " I exclaimed, " I shrink 
 From strangeness, and would find some spot unknown 
 To Time s remorseless touch."
 
 44 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 The teacher then, 
 
 " I welcome change; without its lifting veil, 
 There were no room for hope, the brightest boon 
 Bestowed on suffering men. Sorrow no less 
 Than joy is transient; yea, and happiness 
 Bliss fuller seems through contrast with the ill. 
 Yet yonder stars have looked with steadfast eyes 
 On countless generations; when we tire 
 Of earth s unrest, then may we turn our eyes 
 To things enduring in the heavens." 
 
 But while 
 
 Forward and back our fitful fancies strayed, 
 In silence pondering the former theme 
 The student sat, and after pause, to this 
 He brought us back. 
 
 [But why should I prolong 
 Such busy argument, misusing forms 
 Of verse to build its scaffolds? Sure the Muse 
 Must frown at such perversion, deeming prose 
 The fitter medium for such structural ends. 
 Should I not then forbear this lengthening tale 
 Of linked discussion under Poesy s seal? 
 
 But stay! How often hath the Sister Arts 
 
 Sculpture and Painting limned in colors deep 
 
 Or chiselled in fine marble those austere 
 
 Yet human types that marked New England s strength!
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 45 
 
 Then should the Poet s art refuse to trace 
 The picture of these youthful Puritans 
 With earnest, unpruned zeal confronting straight 
 The ageless problems of the human soulf] 
 
 Slowly the student spoke : " This rapid age 
 No menace for the future holds, I ween ; 
 Herein our safety, wisely to prevent 
 That weakened spot should cause unequal strain 
 To social order. In the nation s life, 
 And man s alike, should faculties unfold 
 In harmony, none slighted and none forced. 
 Neglect the physical, the race declines, 
 Disease and death hold carnival. Exalt 
 The body more than mind or soul, then men 
 Are tyrants, women slaves, the aged die 
 Uncared for, might is right, and gross desires 
 Bear woful rule. 
 
 " If mental culture fail, 
 Must soul and body suffer like decay; 
 For hand in hand with ignorance will walk 
 Disease and sin. Reason unused becomes 
 Extinct, and men to beastly level sink. 
 Place intellect too high, and it usurps 
 The place of God, while poor humanity 
 Goes down to death despairing and alone.
 
 46 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 " Let morals be neglected, conscience weak, 
 
 Prisons will overflow, bold robbery 
 
 Riot unchecked, and no man s life be safe. 
 
 If conscience be exalted at expense 
 
 Of mind and body, then its morbid strength 
 
 Breeds superstition, bigotry and hate, 
 
 And death to individual liberty. 
 
 The page of history proves this constant law 
 
 Of symmetry in growth for men and nations, else 
 
 The life is out of poise and ruin threats." 
 
 " Then would you seek," I asked, " to teach 
 All wisdom s lore to all ? " 
 
 " Why not ? " he said, 
 
 " Learning s resources all are good ; she ne er 
 Is dangerous, except for unknown truth 
 Beyond. And e en though common minds mistake 
 Half truths for wisdom, yet the remedy 
 Is not to curb, but freely to supply 
 The needed culture. Would you shut the plant 
 Misshapen in its growth, in cellar dark? 
 Nay, rather, wouldst not let the blessed light 
 In fullest radiance in? Then will the germ 
 Soon put forth buds upon the side that seemed 
 But dead before."
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 47 
 
 " Your words seem fraught with truth," 
 I answered, " but the race and not the man 
 The unit is. Society hath needs 
 Most varied, and should nourish men and minds 
 Of differing mould. Likeness in social life 
 Were tedious. One may hold his little whim 
 Aloft; another mind will toward the world 
 Turn other face of polyhedral truth ; 
 Let but the balance of the whole be kept, 
 Then difference will not lessen social strength." 
 
 " Search through the forest depths," he said, " and find 
 
 Two trees in every point alike; not such 
 
 In all that leafy shade ; nay, every leaf 
 
 Bears its specific marks of form and tint, 
 
 No tedious sameness there! yet every one 
 
 Is reaching toward the form symmetrical 
 
 For its own kind ordained." 
 
 He paused, again 
 
 The lawyer took the argument : " I find 
 Within your specious reasoning a flaw ; 
 The best fruition of a life were not 
 Its own perfection, but to leave some boon 
 To bless mankind."
 
 4 8 
 
 " The human faculties," 
 The student said, " are common heritage ; 
 E en though they dormant lie, yet are their germs 
 In every soul existent, and were meant 
 To grow. I take it, he best serves his race 
 Whose self the race ideal best displays." 
 
 The lawyer then, " Life is too short, and life s 
 Criterions too stringent are for one 
 To reach them all. No man hath aptitude 
 For many arts, and versatility 
 Is a doubtful talent. Many a clever lad, 
 Product of modern schools, sets forth in life 
 Smacking of much, in nothing versed ; and soon 
 Vagrant in work becomes, Jack at all trades 
 But master hand at none. Yet lowly powers, 
 Concentrate, marvels oft achieve ; and when 
 A mind of giant stature single aim 
 Pursues, a genius rises on the world." 
 
 " Genius, forsooth ! " the student cried. " Methinks 
 
 That were a euphemism for nerve disease, 
 
 A growth abnormal of one faculty 
 
 With dwarfage of the rest ; as though a man 
 
 Should be all hand or nose. Engrossment brings 
 
 Insanity. Tis facile power to change
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 49 
 
 Relations, giveth health. A genius seems 
 A monster not a giant who demands 
 Selfish exemption from all social laws." 
 
 Then I, impetuous, " Genius worth the name 
 Is truest saneness, oft by grovelling minds 
 Misunderstood. The world can well afford 
 To shelter natures sensitive, and bear 
 With mood eccentric, which alone perhaps 
 Makes genius possible." 
 
 Hot the reply, 
 
 " Save me from men who pose as finer clay 
 Than common sons of earth ! " 
 
 Impatiently 
 
 The lawyer protest gave : " These sentiments 
 Are out of date. The highest genius known 
 Is talent for untiring work." 
 
 But I, 
 
 " Tis only those of genius destitute, 
 Would so define! A world-wide difference lies 
 Twixt facile talent drawing waters out 
 From public wells, and that creative force 
 Which giveth rise to fountains fresh, itself 
 Fed by supernal springs."
 
 50 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 Swift the reply, 
 
 " Whether twixt genius and high talent lies 
 Difference in kind or only in degree, 
 I argue not. But this alone I say : 
 That steadfast purpose wed to mind robust, 
 If it be not genius, yet is close allied, 
 And beareth royal offspring. Noblest gifts 
 If scattered come to naught; what imbecile 
 Would bid a Raphael learn all handicrafts ? 
 And even if mighty isolated souls 
 May compass many fields, yet common minds 
 Must seek a focus, if they would achieve. 
 The man of one idea will make that felt; 
 There never yet was born a glorious truth 
 Till men were found to live and die therefor ; 
 Such are the men who organize reforms." 
 
 " The passion for reform," the student cried, 
 
 " Hath crazed the world ! This is the age of cranks ; 
 
 Of men who say, Whatever is, is WRONG/ 
 
 The greatest social nuisance is the man 
 
 Of narrow range and strong convictions." 
 
 Quick 
 
 Came the retort, " Perhaps your taste prefers 
 The mind so broadened that convictions all 
 Have fled a frigid sea of ice. For such
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 51 
 
 Words are too feeble to express my scorn ! 
 Earth s vital forces lie in men s beliefs ; 
 For earnestness there is no substitute." 
 
 Answered the student, " You ll agree at least 
 That good doth seldomer result than harm 
 From zeal o ertopping judgment." 
 
 " Nay," he said, 
 
 " Mistaken zeal her own mistakes corrects ; 
 But judgment balanced in too even poise, 
 Twixt all opposing claims will halting stand 
 Till opportunity hath passed it by." 
 
 The student then, " The virtue that hath cost 
 
 Most blood and heart-break, and hath slowest growth, 
 
 Is tolerance, twin of blessed charity. 
 
 The bigot knows no justice; tis the power 
 
 To justly weigh opposing views alone 
 
 That fits for fellowship." 
 
 With gentle words 
 
 The teacher spoke : " Earth s shining records bear 
 A noble roll of martyrs, devotees, 
 Simple enthusiasts, oft fanatics called 
 By selfish men with complex motives moved ; 
 For busy cynic doubt will folly find 
 In loftiest heroism. Yet was the world
 
 52 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 Of these unworthy ; naught of pain they recked, 
 Nor counted dear their lives, as rich in faith 
 They wrought their missions. Grandest figures these 
 That lighten History s page ! " 
 
 " Perhaps," he said, 
 
 " Distinction lies twixt men of one idea, 
 And those of single aim. The man who sees 
 But isolated truth, however pure 
 His purpose, lacketh wisdom in affairs, 
 And must by ill-timed zeal antagonize 
 The men of differing judgment. Seen afar 
 He seems majestic, as a shadow cast 
 In long perspective takes colossal shape ; 
 But those who stood the nearest to the souls 
 Called heroes, witness of collisions rude 
 And wordy warfare waged by stubborn wills." 
 
 Then I, " The mind in even balance poised 
 
 Hath light, not fire, and can not warm men s hearts; 
 
 Unerring judgment ne er can make amends 
 
 For ardor s loss; our faulty natures hold 
 
 Most dear, the soul sometimes by passion fired." 
 
 Answered the student, " Yea, the common mind 
 Is more impressed by lightning than by rays 
 Of the all powerful, steadfast-shining sun.
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 Is the sun cold because of dazzling light ? 
 The ample courtly nature, held in rein, 
 Is oft misjudged by scorners who discern 
 Greatness but in one magnitude enlarged; 
 So the cathedral grand, by perfect form 
 Deceiveth unto smallness till it find 
 Comparison with lesser structures near. 
 Proportion giveth worthiest power. All truth 
 Is linked with all, and naught is truly known 
 If viewed apart from its relations wide." 
 
 Quickly the lawyer, " Vaporing words are these ! 
 
 The world is full of men of boasted breadth 
 
 Who prate in generalities, and deem 
 
 Details and special aims for grovellers fit. 
 
 Far nobler he, who with untiring zeal, 
 
 Searches the smallest corner of the field 
 
 Of thought ; the truth for which he pays his life 
 
 Be it the structure of the insect s eye, 
 
 Or rudimentary spore of tiniest plant, 
 
 Hath genuine worth. The world can spare the man 
 
 Who to self-culture bows as idol god. 
 
 From each it wants his best; restriction brings 
 
 Achievement ; and large recompense it bears 
 
 When aims distracting to a noble end 
 
 Are gladly sacrificed. The narrow stream 
 
 53
 
 54 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 Cutteth its channel deep; the pointed shaft 
 
 Sinks farthest in the earth. From boundless wastes 
 
 Of ocean, cloudless vapors daily rise 
 
 Unseen, unfelt, through realms of atmosphere; 
 
 But let the force that parts their molecules 
 
 Be pent in narrow limits and it makes 
 
 The power which drives our engines, carries trade 
 
 And is the strongest servant of the world." 
 
 So, through that summer evening on the rocks 
 We lingering sat, while westering stars rolled by, 
 And loth to break our little circle, held 
 Rambling, yet sequent, idly-earnest talk. 
 
 But Lela had not spoken; she had sat 
 As one in revery lost. I see her still, 
 Her figure darkly outlined on the sky, 
 Her face upturned to meet the watching stars ; 
 A girlish form, a woman s thoughtful face, 
 A head of queenly mould, with tresses fair 
 That shone in sunlight, and escaped their coils 
 At invitation of each wandering breeze; 
 A simple nature, truthful, loving, shy, 
 But bold in utterance when conviction pressed ; 
 A quick, retentive memory, and the will 
 To feed her love for study and to find
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 55 
 
 The beautiful mid hostile household cares, 
 Such was our Lela on that summer night. 
 Since then the beauty which she always loved 
 Round her in larger measure hath been poured, 
 And in her ripened womanhood she sheds 
 In many a stricken heart and straitened home 
 The radiance of her lavish gifts and smiles. 
 
 Motionless sat she, till her brother spoke: 
 " And have you, Lela, not a single word 
 Of contribution to our evening s talk? " 
 
 With hesitating lips she made reply, 
 " Your words before me vividly have brought 
 Grandfather s last Thanksgiving Day on earth. 
 You all remember him ? " 
 
 Indeed we did ; 
 
 For many years the preacher in yon church, 
 Who, forced by failing energies to yield 
 His parish cares to hands of younger strength, 
 Had spent his evening days in Lela s home. 
 His snowy beard and long, white curling locks 
 Gave him the aspect of some prophet bard, 
 Or to the lively fancy might suggest 
 White Winter s self in hoary tableau set. 
 All children loved his genial face to greet,
 
 56 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 And oft he d gather them about his knee 
 
 To tell them stories of the olden time. 
 
 Clear to the last his mental powers had shone, 
 
 And made his conversation the delight 
 
 Of all the dwellers in that countryside. 
 
 On that Thanksgiving Day he preached again 
 
 To his old people afterwards at home 
 
 With sons and daughters and their children kept 
 
 For the last time New England s festival ; 
 
 Seeming in wonted health he sought his couch, 
 
 But in the night the spirit freed itself 
 
 Leaving a smile upon the old man s face. 
 
 Lela resumed, " Tis nearly two years now ; 
 Stronger than usual that day he seemed ; 
 But as he started for the church he said, 
 My time is short ; I pray that I may speak 
 Some lasting words of counsel and of cheer. 
 
 " Well I remember how my soul was thrilled 
 The while he told us how Jehovah led 
 His ancient people through the desert waste, 
 And that the earth is still his sovereign care; 
 And how by ways mysterious, still He brings 
 Order and peace from Earth s confusions dire. 
 Briefly he traced the years himself had known
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 57 
 
 E en from the century s birth events profound 
 
 By a single lifetime spanned great wrongs made right, 
 
 Dangers averted, knotty questions solved, 
 
 And gracious gifts to men and nations given. 
 
 With earnest, strenuous words he pointed out 
 
 Pitfalls that wait a hurrying age, the need 
 
 For faith and action with a firm resolve 
 
 To make God s will the only aim and law. 
 
 " And then with trembling yet triumphant voice 
 And far-off look like raptured saint, he said, 
 Life s work for me is done; my journey ends; 
 Before my feet Death s Jordan rolls its wave ; 
 Yet for a moment to my sight God shows 
 The promised glory that awaits the world. 
 All kingdoms of the earth shall one day be 
 Kingdoms of righteousness and of our Lord; 
 All kingdoms all the nations not alone, 
 But realms of art and science, wealth and power 
 Shall yield their trophies at His blessed feet; 
 Such vision my dim eyes perceive from afar ; 
 And now, O Lord, my soul shall go in peace, 
 Knowing that in the fullness of the times 
 Out of the storm-tost elements shall rise 
 Infinite unity toward which all truth 
 Forever tends, the kingdom of our God.
 
 58 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 " The service done, at home he quiet sat 
 A little while apart with wearied look, 
 But soon with freshened vigor freely shared 
 The day s festivity. The friends were gone, 
 The little ones in bed, yet lingered he 
 Later than was his wont, with me beside, 
 My cheek against his knee ; deep in my heart 
 Lieth the impress of the talk we held 
 That last dear evening ere he went away. 
 After his voice was stilled, with memory fresh 
 I wrote his words sacred mementoes they. 
 The flickering firelight o er his silvered brow 
 An aureole shone ; his hand caressing laid 
 Upon my hair, the benediction seemed 
 Of sainted seer. 
 
 " The world recedes, he said, 
 The gate of heaven opens ; soon my feet 
 Shall tread celestial streets. Life s pilgrimage 
 Lies dim behind me, short and mercy-crowned; 
 For all the way He led me, for life s joys 
 And griefs and cares, for doubts that brightened faith, 
 For tears that watered love and frustrate plans 
 That led me to His service God be praised. 
 
 " To me the way looks long, I said, my life 
 Lies dark before me ; whither shall it lead ?
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 59 
 
 Thy Father knoweth ; He will make it plain. 
 And yet, dear child, with life s mistakes unmade, 
 How gladly would I save thy tender feet 
 From thorns of pain and sin! But tenderer love 
 Than mine doth compass all thy ways ; whene er 
 Thou needest light, the light shall surely dawn, 
 And every path is good which leads us home. 
 
 " He leadeth those who follow, slow I said, 
 But I mid care s confusions scarcely know 
 Whether His voice or mine own wayward will 
 Direct my steps. 
 
 " Lela, he gently said, 
 
 I sealed thy name in baptism, and for thee 
 Through all thy life I ve prayed. To God s good care 
 I ll trust thy ways. Yet look thou well, my child, 
 To know what impulse rules thy life. The world 
 Hath much to wean from Heaven ; wealth, pleasure, fame, 
 Reach glittering prizes for their votaries grasp ; 
 -What are they worth if we God s favor lose? 
 Who chooseth lowest good must highest miss ; 
 But he who highest seeks with single eye, 
 Is satisfied, nor sighs for lower joys. 
 None can two masters serve ; who findeth God 
 Droppeth all hindering load; e en lawful things 
 May inexpedient prove ; unmeasured gain 
 Doth such denial give.
 
 6o WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 " Grandpa, I asked, 
 
 Which aim is worthier, mine own life to mould 
 To true proportion, or to bless the world 
 By noble deed ? 
 
 " Think well, my child, he said, 
 Doth not the selfish end itself defeat ? 
 For others weal let self ennobled be. 
 Yet is not higher motive e en than this, 
 To man vouchsafed? Hast read the legend old 
 How Offero the Giant sought for years 
 The strongest for his Master, till at length 
 By service of Earth s weak ones, in his arms 
 He bore the Christ-Child and in Him discerned 
 Lord over Earth and Heaven, the Mightiest One ; 
 Then strength and life forever consecrate 
 To Him he long had sought, his name was called 
 Khristophorous the bearer of the Christ. 
 
 " Then I, He sought for years before he found 
 The Master. Earth s distractions often seem 
 A darkened maze, in which tis hard to find 
 The heavenly way. 
 
 " Yes, child, he answering said, 
 Tired feet may stumble groping in the night, 
 And careful hearts are troubled while they fail 
 Of that good part which none can take away;
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 6l 
 
 And earnest souls grapple with questions hard ; 
 
 Eager they strive, then disappointed cry 
 
 " Knowledge increaseth sorrow ; weariness 
 
 Of flesh from study comes." The Master saith, 
 
 " Learn ye of me. Earth s learning only gives 
 
 Earth s restlessness, but mine shall give you rest." 
 
 " Grandpa, I faltered, Earth lies close around, 
 And Heaven seems far away. God placed us here ; 
 At His decree life s questions we must solve; 
 To traverse well the earthly path methinks 
 Needeth far more than just the heavenly choice. 
 
 ; My child, mistake me not ! The single eye 
 No requisition makes for narrow thought; 
 The cumulative purpose rightly claims 
 Multiform means and methods as her own; 
 In comprehension dwells simplicity, 
 No less than in restriction; self-denial 
 Serves not as end, but means of nobler good. 
 Heaven s kingdom first be sought, and let the rest 
 Take lower place; our heavenly Father knows 
 Our need of these. So like a river strong 
 Which ever gathereth volume, shall thy life 
 Flow to the Ocean of Eternity.
 
 62 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 " Grandpa/ I said, small duties hedge me in ; 
 If I were free some noble work to choose 
 My life might seem of moment; here I chafe. 
 
 " Tis God allots/ he said. If special work 
 Be thine, thou lt hear His call. Then answer thou! 
 But look thou well discern betwixt God s voice 
 And Eli s; nor forestall His time. 
 
 " Yet few 
 
 Are signalled to such service; unto most 
 Are varied talents given, and none was meant 
 To be in a napkin hid, but every one 
 With usury rendered. 
 
 " Still I faltering urged, 
 
 Have not reforms in every age been wrought 
 By men who bore persistent aim to push 
 A single truth to its extremity ? 
 
 " My child/ he said, the world sometimes forgets 
 
 Or for awhile rejects some vital truth, 
 
 And then God often sends a living voice 
 
 To force this truth upon the world s deaf ears ; 
 
 Such men prepare the way for great reforms. 
 
 But after these must come the broader man 
 
 To fit the new idea to its place. 
 
 Once in Judea s deserts rose a voice
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 63 
 
 Crying " Repent, and make His pathway straight " ; 
 Great was the man, and great shall be his praise ! 
 Yet said the Master, " Greater even than he 
 Shall be the least within Heaven s kingdom found." 
 
 " In Him that followed were the treasures hid 
 Of wisdom; lavishly He emptied forth 
 Things new and old from His exhaustless store; 
 Unto the simple, simple words He spake, 
 And led them to the truth through parables; 
 Answered the Wise with learned argument, 
 Preached before doctors of the law, rebuked 
 The arrogance of Scribe and Pharisee; 
 He healed the sick in body and in soul, 
 And none of all those waiting crowds e er came 
 With asking heart and empty turned away ; 
 By multitudinous means He finished thus 
 The work His Father gave Him, the one work 
 Which all work comprehends for sake of which 
 He lived and died to witness bear to Truth 
 And make men one with Him who is the Truth. 
 
 " And as the Father sent Him, even so 
 He sends His followers now ; most fit are they 
 To do this work, who ever seek to reach 
 The measure of the stature of the One 
 In whom all fullness dwelt.
 
 64 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 " When God would send 
 The gospel to the nations, chose He Paul, 
 
 A very Jew, instructed in the law, 
 
 A citizen of Rome and schooled in Greek 
 All things to all, that he might all men gain ; 
 
 Yet of his work reporting, " This one thing 
 Alone I do ! " May God s dear mercy haste 
 The blessed time when all Earth s corners dark, 
 The homes of sin and wretchedness and death, 
 And marts of trade, and politics and creeds 
 And halls of learning and the church of God, 
 Shall feel the potent personal influence 
 
 Of the comprehensive, consecrated man! 
 
 " Grandpa, I said, your words are always wise ; 
 And yet forgive me, for it seemeth oft, 
 That common souls should shun the broadened aim; 
 That reaching far and grasping widely some 
 Would fail of all, because too large the prize. 
 
 " My child, he said, a truth is in your words ; 
 
 Too large indeed may man s ambition make 
 
 His earthly aims; not always were it wise 
 
 For earth-bound wings to essay the realms of air ; 
 
 Meagre endowment, or a life cut off 
 
 From life s full limit, must frustration bring
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 65 
 
 To earthly aspiration; finite souls 
 
 True dignity in limitation find. 
 
 But be our aim the doing of God s will, 
 
 No failure threatens; He will us prepare 
 
 For that which for us He prepares. Be sure 
 
 The work that needs us will us find at last. 
 
 " What matter which our work so God s be done? 
 
 Not monuments reared for the builder s fame 
 
 Our deeds, but humble elements conjoined 
 
 To form the All-embracing edifice 
 
 Designed by the Almighty Architect. 
 
 Whether tis ours to plan proportions large 
 
 Or perfect needful work of low details, 
 
 Or if He bid us glorious statues carve 
 
 For noble niches, we are workers all 
 
 With Him in whom the building fitly framed 
 
 An holy temple groweth. Not to us 
 
 The praise, but to His name forevermore ! : 
 
 Long had we lingered till the aspiring sun 
 Had traversed more than half his lower arc; 
 A moment hushed we sat while solemn thought 
 And lofty purposes within us stirred; 
 Yet ah, how much our hearts undisciplined 
 Missed of the wisdom stored in Wisdom s words!
 
 66 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 Silent and thoughtful, with reluctant step, 
 And arms entwined, we sought our tent. At dawn 
 We broke our camp, and steadfast turned to meet 
 The burdens of another year of work. 
 
 A CAESURA 
 
 As one who in the storm s calm center stands, 
 Knowing that all around fierce winds are driving, 
 Yet, feeling not their conflict, folds his hands 
 Heedless alike of past and future striving; 
 Thus I, of late so driven and hard beset 
 And sure of untried dangers yet before me, 
 For a brief while these turmoils all forget, 
 And feel a holy stillness brooding o er me; 
 Passion no longer in my heart is raging, 
 Conscience with will no more stern warfare waging, 
 Distressing doubt hath granted sweet release; 
 Life for awhile with lessened pressure holds me, 
 Gracious content in calm embrace enfolds me, 
 And on my quiet soul is graven " Peace."
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 67 
 
 PART II 
 
 From weary wanderings in the fruitless quest 
 
 For satisfying aim a harried stretch 
 
 Of restless passionate years I turned last week 
 
 To scenes my childhood knew. Beside the lake 
 
 I gazing stood; I marked the wood, the waves, 
 
 The isles, the houses little changed except 
 
 For added paint or want of it a tree 
 
 Here and there missing, many another grown 
 
 To larger shadow yet the selfsame spot 
 
 Where once I played. I sat upon the rock 
 
 Where tasks of school I used to con, and gave 
 
 To memory rushing thoughts. The flowers bloomed fair, 
 
 The waters dimpled as of old. Yet still 
 
 " Are they the same ? " I whispered o er and o er ; 
 
 " Are they the same, and is it / have changed? " 
 
 Our childhood s world grows dwarf to eyes mature; 
 
 The sky dome once so comprehensive lies 
 
 Contracted, when our curious eyes have scanned 
 
 Stretching horizons of the wider world ; 
 
 The boats how tiny now they looked still skimmed 
 
 The surface, but by stranger youth propelled. 
 
 Along the beach the farmer s children now
 
 68 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 Played with the sand and pebbles. Ah ! tis these, 
 The children of the generation then unborn, 
 That most remind us how the years have sped. 
 
 Through all the well-remembered paths once more 
 
 I with the farmer walked; surveyed his farm, 
 
 His browsing herds, and fields of waving grain ; 
 
 Here were improvements, garden-walks new-laid, 
 
 A vine-clad arbor, costlier implements, 
 
 Mute signs of thrift and taste. " New England farms 
 
 Have compensations still," he said. " This life 
 
 Was not of my free choosing, yet to-day 
 
 Thankful am I that I escaped the rush 
 
 Of feverous speculation which perchance 
 
 Had proved my ruin. Independence here 
 
 Is mine ; more safe than city street this farm 
 
 For children s playground; yea, and for myself 
 
 Life s avenues are broader than I deemed." 
 
 I felt his stalwart manhood ; heard his name 
 
 With honor spoken; saw the generous works 
 
 Of local patriotism his hand had wrought, 
 
 And prompt my heart responded, " It is true ! 
 
 No stinted life is this to spurn with scorn." 
 
 Then to the farm of all Earth s spots best known, 
 By strangers habited, with mingled thoughts 
 Of joy and homesickness, my steps I turned;
 
 Noted each change: that maple-tree I knew 
 As sapling; yonder elm had lost a branch 
 In Autumn s gale; an ancient granary 
 Had been removed, an orchard newly set; 
 This was the old spice-apple-tree, and those 
 The cherished " winged-sweetings," bore they yet ? 
 And here, oh, joy ! the gnarled, crooked trunk 
 Low-branching, where the tiniest, wariest feet 
 Could safely climb; and this the very bough 
 Where once we found the nest of a humming-bird, 
 Fashioned of mullein-down by moss o er-laid, 
 With eggs as big as peas. Beside the lane 
 The scattering clump of tansy scatters still 
 Old-fashioned perfume; here we used to pick 
 Handfuls of pungent peppermint, ah, there ! 
 I ve found a sprig! 
 
 I trod the woodland path 
 
 That led through tract of marsh o ercrossed by road 
 Of corduroy, our favorite way to school ; 
 Those lofty pines could tell a marvelous tale 
 Of children s frolic when from school let loose 
 We scampered neath their arches, hurrying thoughts 
 With smiles and tears beset, a motley crowd, 
 O erwhelm the heart revisiting such scenes.
 
 70 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 I sat beside the farmer s board, and when 
 
 His sweet-voiced wife had led the little ones 
 
 Sleepy to bed, we drew our chairs beside 
 
 The wide-mouthed fire-place where his grandsire sat 
 
 With Lela s sunny hair against his knee. 
 
 I asked for Lela, how her life had fared, 
 
 And did she often turn from larger lines 
 
 To the home of childhood? 
 
 Then the brother told 
 
 Of changes swift that swept their roof-tree bare; 
 Of marriage, death, of younger ones gone forth 
 To fight life s battles, till the home-nest seemed 
 How empty ! Then as Lela s duties dropped 
 One after one, she thought she heard the call 
 To far-off service mong Earth s slighted ones ; 
 But God had other plans for Lela ; first, 
 Long illness closing fast the paths she sought; 
 And then the gates swung wide to fairer ways ; 
 Now in refinement s home, loving, beloved, 
 With wealth and loveliness around her poured, 
 To works of love her life is dedicate; 
 Patron of art, a friend of struggling souls, 
 And liberal helper of all liberal aims, 
 Her gracious heart dispenses with free hand 
 Heaven s generous gifts. And hers this crowning grace 
 With every lot true sisterhood to feel ;
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 71 
 
 Welcome alike in palace and in cot, 
 Her sweet appreciation freely sought 
 By rich and poor, by simple and profound; 
 Nay, even the outcast ones no trace may find 
 Of condescension in her saving aid. 
 This is the bond that in the Golden Age 
 Shall social breaches heal, when shall be felt 
 By gentle and by common, high and low, 
 The truth that love fraternal binding all 
 Mankind inheres in that paternal love 
 Wherein our hearts take refuge every time 
 We say " Our Father." 
 
 But whene er the press 
 Of Lela s duties manifold permits 
 Her longing heart the loved home-nest to seek, 
 Tis gala-day for all ; the children think 
 No face so fair, no voice so sweet, no wit 
 So merry as Aunt Lela s. 
 
 Next I asked 
 
 News of the cousin. Scholarship and fame, 
 A student s quiet mind averse to mix 
 In strife of questions practical, had marked 
 His chosen course. Events scarce seemed to touch 
 The even life-flow ; genial, tolerant, wise, 
 His writings aye had borne the stamp of truth 
 And noble sentiment. But suddenly
 
 72 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 Had come a change ; and he whose taste refined 
 Had shunned admixture uncongenial, now 
 Stern duty s call had heard that bade to raise 
 His voice in conflict with a cursed wrong; 
 So had he reached a manhood more robust, 
 Won through conviction that a purpose high 
 Should take command of learning s regiments, 
 That fairest culture as an end pursued 
 Is selfishness, that art and knowledge both 
 Must bow to human weal. 
 
 Then turned my thoughts 
 Toward other two that shared our gayety 
 In that brief week. Knew he of these ? For I 
 In foreign wanderings had too seldom heard 
 From childhood s friends. 
 
 Prolonged the tale he told, 
 Three little lives in swift succession struck 
 By scourge of fatal illness only one 
 Left for their solace loss of wealth through false 
 And trusted friend ; then, bitterest draught of all, 
 Revengeful of the lawyer s zeal for right 
 Came treacherous enmity s accusing threat 
 With stain of his good name ; till staggered, stunned 
 And ill, both life and reason long had hung 
 In poise. Yet God was merciful ; no blot
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 73 
 
 Stained his true heart, and now at last men saw 
 The honest and unselfish thought so long 
 Misunderstood. Out of these throes was born 
 Within his soul a gentler charity 
 For differing judgments. Calmed by time, his mind 
 A milder temper now displays. Yea, more, 
 E en in the wofulest strait was greatest boon 
 Vouchsafed, to be upheld and cheered by one 
 Most royal woman s soul that never felt 
 One doubt, nor wavered in her steadfast love. 
 Happy is she who by such soaring faith 
 Is the salvation of a breaking heart ! 
 
 Then of my own vexed, wandering life I spoke, 
 But briefly as one may. How can we ope 
 To friendliest eyes the fiery furnace doors 
 Where is begot the force that moves the wheels 
 Of life most intricate! Twere foolish then 
 To deem that of those other lives we two 
 Discerned the truth. Their lives indeed! Of these 
 We knew as much as of electric power 
 Knoweth the babe who stares at lightning s flash, 
 Or as the savage watching on the shore 
 The tidewave ebb and flow, knoweth the force 
 That sways the spheres so lone we live our lives !
 
 74 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 With teaching worn, desiring change, had I 
 
 Other vocation taken; to this end 
 
 In study first at home, and then for years 
 
 On foreign soil, with slender means had striven; 
 
 Some measure of success had gained, could now 
 
 In moderate comfort live, my work at last 
 
 Finding fair sale; and drawn by memory s cord 
 
 Had come for one more glimpse of girlhood s home, 
 
 No longer home to me or mine. I now 
 
 Was left alone; some of my friends were dead, 
 
 The others widely scattered, and with homes 
 
 And interests distinct from mine; and I 
 
 After brief holiday would set my thought 
 
 Again to chosen tasks. 
 
 Much had I seen 
 
 Of curious custom in my changeful life : 
 I spoke of palaces and pageants gay, 
 Of Nature s prodigies, of ruins old, 
 Of perilous adventure, and of scenes 
 Laughter-impelling met in foreign streets. 
 I told of squalid poverty and strife 
 Of social classes nursing in the oppressed 
 A brood of vengeful thoughts that make grim threat 
 To social bulwarks. Also told I how 
 The stars and stripes, sounds of my native tongue 
 Or trifling sign suggesting home, well nigh
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 75 
 
 Would move my eyes to tears ; for patriotism 
 Strengthens in exile; he knows best how dear 
 His native land, who views it from afar, 
 These things I told. 
 
 But could I also speak 
 
 Of frustrate plans, of deviant darkling ways 
 That faced me with a wall of rock; of doubts 
 Of duty s leading, dim perplexities 
 Mong treacherous pitfalls ; of a passionate pain 
 In which all love, e en God s, illusory seemed; 
 Of thirst for fame, of failure s bitter draughts, 
 Followed by tasted joys that in my mouth 
 To ashes turned ; of searching after truth 
 That baffled ever by chameleon hues ; 
 And last of all, the drowning grasp for faith 
 Whose saving cord so near me swung, yet e er 
 Escaped my clutching hand ; till, starving strength 
 All spent, before my straining eyes there rose 
 One trembling hope, to see my childhood s home, 
 Regain my childhood s mind, and start anew 
 With faith and purpose like a little child? 
 Of this and more than this I held my peace. 
 
 Full late we talked, in common social parle, 
 Of passing news, of politics and books ; 
 While the familiar quiet by degrees 
 Softened the discord in my vehement soul.
 
 76 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 At length the embers on the brick-tiled hearth 
 Burned low, and in their flickering flame appeared 
 Shapes of the past. With voice and heart subdued 
 We spoke of vanished faces ; of sealed lips 
 That kissed our own; of moments sacred held 
 From thoughtless reference; of that summer eve 
 When Lela s words a message seemed to bring 
 Thrilling our careless hearts, from saint in Heaven ; 
 Of that Thanksgiving night that heard his last 
 Wise, gracious words, before he " fell on sleep " ; 
 And like a Mother s voice to infant strayed, 
 I heard again the invitation, " Come, 
 Learn ye of me. Earth s learning only gives 
 Earth s restlessness, but mine shall give you rest." 
 My heart made answer, " Even so, I come." 
 
 At morn I bade good-bye, and turned once more 
 To the city s tumult. But how great the change 
 Two days had wrought ! Is mine indeed the soul 
 So fever-famished, spent with vigils lone 
 Wasting its feeble force gainst prisoning bars? 
 O mystery of grace ! How calm my pulse ! 
 How hushed my heart! How mercy-crowned my life 
 Lies futureward! 
 
 Perhaps no more my eyes 
 
 Shall gaze on childhood s home no other home 
 Can e er claim love so intimate. But o er
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 77 
 
 My heart its benediction lies, as now, 
 Like laborer worn refreshed by nooning rest, 
 I turn to meet life s afternoon of work. 
 Scattered are friends of youth, and ne er again 
 May that gay circle here unbroken meet; 
 Unlike our lives, and life s experience 
 Hath divers lessons taught us unto each 
 What most he needed. Would we dare to change 
 The courses where All-knowing Love hath led 
 Our ignorant feet? Clearly at last I see 
 My life is mine, and so for me tis best. 
 
 But memory s silken ties shall still unite 
 
 Our sundered spirits in the happy past. 
 
 This joy is safe; so may we ever hold 
 
 Our friends in presence. Yea, and though our ways 
 
 Have wide diverged, do not their curving lines 
 
 Meridian-like bend toward another pole? 
 
 Nay, rather, while we follow deviant rays 
 
 Of luminous truth, scattered and zigzagged oft 
 
 By earth s prismatic lenses as to each 
 
 The light is shown whether the burning red, 
 
 Or quiet blue, or shaded violet, 
 
 Or glowing yellow, may they bye and bye 
 
 Gather us all where undivided truth 
 
 In whitest radiance streams from off the throne!
 
 78 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 POSTLUDE 
 
 Spirit of ceaseless Change, so mighty, stern and grasping, 
 With thee at strife we pass our life, yet thy behest 
 fulfill. 
 
 Thou seizest every treasure that our hearts are clasping 
 And workest thy grim will. 
 
 Thou takest to thyself our early joys and graces, 
 
 Thou hedgest in the fields wherein our youthful feet 
 have ranged, 
 
 Thou printest deep thy seal upon our forms and faces, 
 And life for us is changed. 
 
 Each hill and lake and stream of old association 
 
 Thy presence feels and o er it steals an unfamiliar 
 
 guise ; 
 
 And we ourselves most changed through fortune s aber 
 rations 
 Look on with altered eyes. 
 
 We cry, " May we naught save from thy rapacious 
 
 fingers ? 
 Thou claim st too much." With eager clutch we hold 
 
 our treasures fast. 
 
 While we resist, tis done; thy purpose never lingers, 
 And what thou wilt, thou hast.
 
 WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 79 
 
 Yet is thy rule so harsh? Is there no mercy lying 
 
 Hid from our eyes in dim disguise within thy dread 
 decrees ? 
 
 Hark ! Borne upon the wind among the treetops sighing, 
 Come to us words like these : 
 
 " Children of Earth, consider ! The wind his circuit 
 
 maketh ; 
 The supple tree that yields shall be the stronger for the 
 
 blast ; 
 
 The trunk that will not bend its uplift head it breaketh, 
 And sternly hurrieth past. 
 
 " It stirreth waves and currents in the throbbing ocean, 
 And to its destined haven s rest it beareth safe along 
 
 The stable self -poised ship across the wild commotion 
 With movement swift and strong." 
 
 Spirit of Change, resisting thy dread control no longer, 
 Thy coming sure we calm endure and bend beneath 
 thy sway, 
 
 So find we that thy touch hath left us larger, stronger, 
 Nobler from day to day. 
 
 Bracing each trembling nerve and all our powers con 
 trolling, 
 
 With faltering will and courage still sustained by faith 
 sublime,
 
 8o WHEN YOUTH MET LIFE 
 
 We yield us to the current adown the world that s rolling, 
 The changeful stream of Time. 
 
 Yet Spirit Great, thy scepter is sign of limitation; 
 
 The finite own and they alone, thine undisputed sway ; 
 Through time s terrestrial course with every tribe and 
 nation 
 
 Thou hast thy will and way. 
 
 Even boundless Truth discerned by finite comprehension 
 Seemeth to change its form and range as but in part 
 tis seen; 
 
 It only can be known in full and true extension 
 In Heaven s clear light serene. 
 
 But when, O Earthly Change, thine empery s subjection 
 For aye shall cease in Heavenly peace, the truth shall 
 then be viewed 
 
 In the unchangeable and measureless perfection 
 Of God s infinitude.
 
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