E73 133 
 
OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Gl FT OF 
 
 Class 
 
Greater 
 be to Ummortalit^ 
 S>reamer, 
 
 Gbree poems 
 
 Hrtbur S. Ibowe 
 
 H 
 
 San Jose, Calif otnia 
 1908 
 
ftbe Greater 
 be to 1Jmmortalit\>* 
 S)reamer, 
 
 Gbree poems 
 
 Ertbur S. Tbowe 
 
 San Jose, California 
 
 1908 
 
Copyright 1908 
 
 by 
 Arthur S. Howe 
 
 PRESS OF HENRY MUHGOTTEN nMSSWHsW S A N JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A. 
 
166458 
 
ARTHUR S. HCAYE 
 
the Dreamers of the World, the men and 
 women whose heaven-illumined consciousness has 
 enabled them to look beyond the personal and 
 particular, and behold the general and universal; 
 who, penetrating beyond the mists and clouds 
 oj the present, can catch the gleams of the rising 
 sun of a better day; in recognition of their service 
 to humanity, and in the hope and anticipation of 
 the dawn of Universal Brotherhood the glorious 
 morning when "the symbol rises into fact/ 1 this 
 little tribute is dedicated by 
 
 Author. 
 
Greater love* 
 
 "Greater love hath no man than this: that he lay down 
 his life for his friend." 
 
 In ages long gone by, in ancient land, 
 
 The "Son of Man" this law of love declared: 
 <4 No greater love is known by any man 
 
 Than this: that for the friend whose love he 
 
 shared 
 He give his life." Thus spake Palestine's Sage, 
 
 And in the utterance of that beauteous thought 
 Stated a truth, of which, in every age, 
 
 Devotion hath the living witness brought. 
 
 Yes, 'tis a price that tests the depth of love 
 
 To lay down life to calmly welcome death 
 For love's dear sake and thus to willing prove 
 
 Its deep devotion; and with parting breath 
 To sing love's song; to count the grave rich gain, 
 
 E'en while life's promise shines forth bright 
 
 and clear; 
 To die to earth to conquer death and pain 
 
 All for the friend whose love is held most dear. 
 
But what of those who calmly greet death's hour, 
 
 Unspurredby special friendships selfish love; 
 Whose courage manifests the living power 
 
 Of Universal Love from Heaven above ? 
 Is their devotion less, because they die 
 
 For love of ALI, HUMANITY? Are they 
 Who hear and feel the groan the bitter cry 
 
 Of multitudes upon life's weary way 
 
 And, hearing, do not hesitate to place 
 
 Upon Love's altar, with its heav'n-iit fire, 
 Their lives a sacrifice for all the race 
 
 With love surpassing passion or desire, 
 Accounted less the lover than the one 
 
 Whose aims whose life whose all are cen- 
 tered near 
 His special loves and friendships his alone 
 
 Those dear to him, and those he holds most 
 dear? 
 
 Grim souls, whose glorious heights of love can 
 
 reach 
 Above the realm of personal griefs and fears; 
 
 Whose depths of feeling, all controlled, can teach 
 And wean the suffering masses from their tears; 
 
 Yea, wake them to beget the stronger life, 
 Born of a righteous anger, sired by hate 
 
 And christened "Justice;" reared 'mid scenes of 
 
 strife; 
 Molded in human passions, grand and great. 
 
Grand souls, whose love, sublime, unterrified, 
 
 Unmoved can stand, while empires pass away; 
 Great/'souls, who, persecuted, vilified, 
 
 Still dare proclaim to earth the dawning day 
 Of BROTHERHOOD. Who stand amid the strife, 
 
 And, struggling onward 'mid war's hellish 
 
 glare, 
 Proclaim "the Resurrection and the Life" 
 
 Earth's glad, free morning, beautiful and fair. 
 
 Souls who can realize, and who can see 
 
 The gleam of Freedom's morn; and who can 
 
 bear 
 The hatred e'en of those they seek to free 
 
 From tyranny, injustice and despair, 
 Souls who seek not for approbation's meed; 
 
 Who, lusting not for popular assent, 
 Proclaim the gospel of man's greater need, 
 
 Though institutions fall and states be rent. 
 
 Soul* who, with prophet's vision, calm and grand, 
 
 Can gaze into the future, and can see 
 Oppression's fetters broken by the hand 
 
 Of Man enlightened, and of Woman free. 
 Souls who, enraptured with the vision fair 
 
 Of human liberty, thus to them shown, 
 In strong, firm, holy resoluteness, dare 
 
 Tear Superstition from her ancient throne 
 
Level her shrines and altars 'mid the dust 
 
 Of empires; shout the doom of Mammon-king 
 
 In thunder tones, while wealth and money-lust 
 Still popular homage of the people bring. 
 
 Souls who, unhesitating, can endure 
 
 The hate of those they love and strive to save; 
 
 ' 
 
 Souls who, inspired by passion grand and pure, 
 March on, unflinching, to the martyr's grave. 
 
 These, then, are those whose love divine exceeds 
 
 The love that lays down life for dearest friend; 
 The souls who, feeling universal needs, 
 
 Go on, unwavering, to the bitter end; 
 Hated by those they love, and crucified 
 
 Upon the cross of bold Authority; 
 Hunted to death, reviled and vilified 
 
 For centuries after till men shall be free. 
 
 These souls possess the love that knows and feels; 
 
 Which, knowing oneness with all human kind 
 (A knowledge which heav'n's light alone reveals) 
 
 Goes forth to lead the world from ignorance 
 
 blind, 
 To live for love and truth, and sacrifice, 
 
 If need be, hopes ambitions life, and prove 
 By their unselfish payment of the price, 
 
 The passion grand the holy, GREATER LOVE. 
 
 8 
 
5e to Hmmortalit?, 
 
 O, Life Immortal ! Thou whose living breath 
 
 Inspires our inmost souls with hope and power; 
 To thee, the Conqueror of Decay and Death, 
 
 In humble reverence, we bow this hour. 
 Whence earnest thou? And where was thine 
 abode 
 
 In ages ere by man the earth was trod ? 
 Aye, e'en before the birth of land or flood, 
 
 Thou then existed and wert Truth and God. 
 
 Enwrapped thou art, and hidden 'neath the veil 
 
 Of mystery. Thy source has ne'er been found. 
 Our human knowledge is of no avail, 
 
 Thy secret is so deep, and so profound. 
 Thou speakest in the flower and in the stone, 
 
 In sun, in air, in sky, in earth and sea; 
 Still is thy secret kept to thee alone; 
 
 Thou Life ! Thou blessed IMMORTALITY ! 
 
 Perchance, sometime, when from its earthly home 
 
 My soul soars upward through the realms of 
 
 space, 
 I may, in some celestial clime or zone, 
 
 Find entrance to thine inner dwelling place. 
 But now, e'en now, this soul of mine I know 
 
 Shall still live on, after its house of clay 
 Has perished, and when this brief night below 
 
 Is ended in the light of Heaven's day. 
 
dreamer* 
 
 He stands upon the eminence that marks 
 Man's progress to the present hour. His gaze 
 Is backward cast, along the road the race 
 Has traveled; and within his soul he feels 
 The yearnings, hopes, ambitions, pains and fears 
 Of men and nations numbered with the dead.- 
 And as he gazes back along the path- 
 The rugged, thorny path that man has trod, 
 Forth from its lurking shadows rise the forms 
 Of those whose voices, long since hushed and 
 
 dumb, 
 
 Now only speak to those, who, in the hour 
 Of thoughtful reverie, turn the pages back 
 In the great book of human history, 
 And, in the 'light of retrospect, review 
 The struggles of the races gone before. 
 
 They come! The heroes, prophets, sages, kings 
 Of ages past; and in the Dreamer's ear 
 They pour the tales of victory and defeat, 
 Of joy and pain, of honor and disgrace, 
 Which, alternating, form the warp and woof 
 Of History's fabric, since the days of yore 
 When ruddy Adam was from Eden driven 
 Because, through disobedience to the will 
 
 10 
 
Of God his master (thus the fable reads) 
 
 He knowledge sought and gained; and in his fall 
 
 From blissful ignorance and simplicity, 
 
 Is planted the first stake that marks the way 
 
 Of man's eternal upward climb toward 
 
 The portals of a better Eden, graced 
 
 By vines of Love and fruits of Brotherhood. 
 
 The ancient shades, springing again to life, 
 
 As History unrolls her magic scroll, 
 
 Press round the Dreamer, and into his ear 
 
 They chant the songs and tell the tales of yore. 
 
 Mingled with lyric strains, that sing the praise 
 
 Of Beauty, deified, immortalized 
 
 By sculptors' art in ancient Greece and Rome, 
 
 Sound notes discordant; and the muffled Fates 
 
 Chant in their weird and solemn tones the tale 
 
 Of Empire's wreck and Revolution's flame; 
 
 Of dire misfortune, and of bitter wrong; 
 
 Of tortured Innocence, Beauty laid waste 
 
 And human happiness thrown down and crushed 
 
 Beneath the iron heel of Authority 
 
 And Selfishness, enthroned in Church and State. 
 
 From Egypt and from world-famed Babylon, 
 From Iran and from Norse-land bleak they come; 
 Aye, even from the depths of Ocean's bed 
 Where, buried in the slumber of a dead, 
 
 1 1 
 
Lost continent, sleep tales of glory gone 
 
 The hoary spirits of the past arise, 
 
 And tell of the departed splendor, which 
 
 Went down in cataclysmic wreck, that swept 
 
 From earth the presence of a noble race, 
 
 Leaving "Atlantis" a tradition fair, 
 
 To live in Mystic's lore and Poet's theme. 
 
 Yet, 'mid the strains that chant the rise and fall 
 
 Of long-forgotton empires buried now 
 
 Beneath the mouldering ruins of the past 
 
 The harmony of Progress greets the ear. 
 
 Anon its tones, melodious and sweet, 
 
 Are mingled with the martyr's dying song; 
 
 And then great I/ither strikes a mighty chord, 
 
 While in the voice of bold John Gutenberg 
 
 A strain triumphant sounds; the mighty press 
 
 Is launched upon its mission, and the means 
 
 Of knowledge multiplied a million-fold. 
 
 In Pilgrim's song, on Plymouth's rock-bound 
 
 coast, 
 
 Its strains are heard; then sounding 'mid the roar 
 Of Revolution's tumult, ring the notes 
 Which gladly herald to the world the birth 
 Of fair Columbia. Valorous Washington, 
 Great Paine and Franklin bold, their voices join 
 With Henry, Adams, Rush and Jefferson, 
 
 12 
 
While thundering cannon, manned by yeomen brave, 
 Sound forth the mighty bass of Freedom's song. 
 
 * 
 
 But once again, discordant notes resound; 
 
 The bitter cry of Afric's dusky sons, 
 
 Held in the bonds of slavery on the soil 
 
 Of fair America, rise high to Heaven; 
 
 And though no shining angel comes to loose 
 
 The shackles from their bruised and weary limbs, 
 
 Their piteous moaning, borne upon the air, 
 
 Is heard by men, whose grand, fraternal love 
 
 Spurs them to action, though the darts of hate 
 
 Are hurled on them by black-garbed hypocrites, 
 
 Who, in their sacrilegious blasphemy, 
 
 Declare that human bondage is the will 
 
 Of a divine creator. Men arise 
 
 Who boldly dare proclaim the rights of man 
 
 Above the mandate of an ancient god. 
 
 The Dreamer reverent stands, while Garrison 
 And noble kindred spirits of that hour 
 Pass by in grand review; then to his gaze 
 The war-flags are unfurled, and 'mid the haze 
 Of battle's sulphurous smoke and hellish din, 
 Above the beat of drum- and shriek of shell, 
 The Song of Freedom rises once again. 
 
 13 
 
One gaunt, tall figure stands conspicuous 
 Among the heroes of that dreadful strife; 
 Called to the state-ship's helm in that dire hour 
 Of the Republic's trial, Lincoln stands, 
 His kindly face furrowed and seamed with care, 
 And his great heart aflame with tender love 
 The simple honor of the frontier youth, 
 Now marks the action of the man of state. 
 
 With calm, unwavering purpose, undisturbed 
 
 By sophist's wile or threat of treach'rous foe, 
 
 His eye still fixed on his ideal grand, 
 
 Brave, firm and resolute, he performs his task; 
 
 And though he fell by the asassin's hand, 
 
 His memory is venerated still 
 
 By countless millions, and his noble life 
 
 Will prove an inspiration to the youth 
 
 Of centuries to come. He lived and died 
 
 For righteous principle; and 'mid the host 
 
 Of heroes, raised up in that trying hour, 
 
 No name shines brighter in Columbia's crown 
 
 Than that of Lincoln, her devoted son, 
 
 Who dared defy both demagogue and priest, 
 
 And wipe the blot of slavery from her name. 
 
 14 
 
Enraptured by the music of the song 
 
 That chants the deeds of great ones of the past, 
 
 The Dreamer almost feels that here 'tis meet 
 
 To raise a shrine in memory of their names, 
 
 Counting the field of victory fully won. 
 
 But hark! While with bowed head and reverent mien 
 
 He stands amid the spirits of the past, 
 
 A harsh, tumultuous murmur breaks the spell 
 
 That, o'er his soul, the ages' song has cast. 
 
 The sound of groans and curses, rising near, 
 
 From hells of human suffering and woe, 
 
 Recall him from the dreams of long ago, 
 
 And wake him to the cry of present needs. 
 
 A spirit grim is standing at his side, 
 
 And a stern voice is sounding in his ear: 
 
 "Why stand ye idle? There is work for all." 
 
 It is the voice of he, who, long ago, 
 
 Walked in the streets of old Jerusalem; 
 
 The voice, that, raised in protest 'gainst the rule 
 
 Of ancient custom and tradition's curse, 
 
 Was silenced on the cross of Calvary; 
 
 But now, his spirit, resolute and stern, 
 
 Stands in its majesty and loud demands 
 
 That once again the earth shall hear his voice. 
 
 ' 'Think ye that human suffering and woe 
 
 No longer stir compassion in my soul ? 
 
 15 
 
Think ye the spoilers' curse upon the earth 
 Less hateful to me than in days of old ? 
 Think ye the law of equity I taught 
 'That which man soweth, also must he reap' 
 Has changed? That in the shadow of the cross 
 Your souls may hide ? That Justice is asleep ? 
 
 "Think ye my suffering on Golgotha's tree, 
 
 The thorns upon my brow, my nail pierced hands 
 
 And bleeding side, for your sins can atone, 
 
 While, careless of the suffering and woe 
 
 Of these my brethren still ye press the thorns 
 
 Of brutal servitude upon their brows ? 
 
 The altars and the fanes ye rear to me, 
 
 Steepled, and domed, and fashioned by the hands 
 
 Of those who groan 'neath the oppressor's rod, 
 
 Are an abomination in my sight. 
 
 The chanted psalms of singers, hired for gold, 
 
 Are discord to my ears. The pomp, and show, 
 
 And vain lip-service that ye give to me, 
 
 While, on the earth, hell's kingdom holds full sway, 
 
 Are mockery and insult to my name. 
 
 "The angels' song of 'Peace, good will to men,' 
 Resounding o'er Judea's plains of yore, 
 Ye loud proclaim then in your lives deny- 
 While with the yoke of Mammon's golden god 
 
 16 
 
The suffering workers of the earth are galled; 
 
 And warlike hosts, in glittering array, 
 
 Still desolate the earth, and mothers' hearts 
 
 Are pierced and broken, while the toll of blood 
 
 Is paid upon the crimson field df Mars. 
 
 Ye pray that heaven's kingdom soon may dawn 
 
 Upon the earth, while, in hypocrisy, 
 
 Ye feed the flames of hell, and in your greed 
 
 Drive men and women to perdition's pit. 
 
 Think not because ye cry to me, 'Lord, Lord,' 
 
 It shall avail for Justice is at hand. 
 
 "The yawning gateways of your factories 
 
 Are entrances to Molech's fearful shrine, 
 
 And tender children ye would sacrifice 
 
 Upon the fiery altar of your greed, 
 
 Cry out to heaven for their deliverance; 
 
 And while ye stony-hearted heed them not, 
 
 Think ye the hand of Justice e'er shall stay? 
 
 Nay, for the time of reaping is at hand, 
 
 And harvest must ye reap from all the seed 
 
 That ye have sown. The bleeding, broken hearts 
 
 Of mothers, weeping for their cherished sons, 
 
 The souls of children, crushed beneath the wheels 
 
 Of Mammon's golden car, the tears of shame 
 
 Upon the cheek of beauteous Magdalene, 
 
 All cry for vengeance, and thy day has come." 
 
 17 
 
The august shade, his fearful message given, 
 
 Fades from the Dreamer's vision, and is gone; 
 
 But louder grow the curses and the cries 
 
 Of millions laboring 'neath the spoilers' curse; 
 
 Now, roused at last to knowledge of their strength, 
 
 The pent-up fury of their passion bursts, 
 
 Even as, after warning rumblings, breaks 
 
 The fierce eruption of Vesuvius, 
 
 And in its awful rain of fire hurls down 
 
 Death and destruction on the slopes beneath. 
 
 Outraged and maddened by their mighty wrongs, 
 
 Their lean, wolf faces threatening to behold 
 
 Show ghastly in the light of angry flames 
 
 Their torches kindle; and their curses wild 
 
 Strike terror to the hearts of all who hear. 
 
 The heavens are veined with lightning, and the night 
 
 Of war and desolation closes down, 
 
 Seeming to smother with its hateful pall 
 
 All that is human in the hearts of men. 
 
 Forth from the dens of ignorance and woe 
 
 Swarm greed-cursed toilers, filled with maddening hate, 
 
 While fitful flames anon spring up, and shed 
 
 Their ruddy light upon the sickening scenes 
 
 Of blood and violence; as though, perchance, 
 
 The demons of a thousand hells were loosed, 
 
 To wreak their vengeance on the suffering earth; 
 
 18 
 
The stifling air is rent with shrieks and groans, 
 And War's dread thunders belch forth hail of death, 
 Until it seems the ages' promise fair 
 Is doomed to perish, and its song to cease. 
 
 But hark! Still, sounding 'mid the clamorous strife, 
 The notes of Freedom's glorious song resound; 
 Faintly at first, then ringing loud and clear, 
 As, led by souls exalted, the refrain 
 Is caught up by the teeming multitude; 
 Then, while in mighty tones the anthem swells, 
 The pall of war is lifted, and behold ! 
 The sky, so lately dark with heavy clouds 
 And riv'n by lightning's terrors, now reveals 
 The rainbow promise in its azure arch, 
 Betokening the welcome day of peace. 
 Upon the hills and towers the heralds shout : 
 "Behold ! The Dawn of Brotherhood is come, 
 Foretold by sage and prophet, long ago. 
 Rejoice! Now, truly, man hath Eden found; 
 Earth is redeemed from strife, and sin, and woe." 
 
 * 
 
 The spirits of the past have flown; but now 
 Beside the Dreamer stands a radiant one, 
 Clothed in the glory of the rising morn. 
 
 19 
 
It is the Muse of Brotherhood. His hand 
 Is laid upon the Dreamer's eyes, and lo! 
 The veil obscuring future vision lifts, 
 And a new earth most beauteous to behold 
 Is now revealed to his enraptured gaze. 
 He sees the age-long struggle ended, and 
 Justice and Truth reigning o'er all the earth, 
 Where men for untold centuries had knelt 
 To worship Custom and Authority 
 Kissing the hand that lashed them, and upon 
 Their limbs, in ignorance, blindly forging still 
 The galling shackles of their slavery. 
 
 The Dreamer with ecstatic joy beholds 
 
 The pillars of the State Fraternal rise, 
 
 Rearing its grand, majestic beauty o'er 
 
 The ashes of a dead, barbaric past. 
 
 Hushed is the cannon's roar, and in its stead 
 
 A world-wide chorus rises in accord 
 
 The song-victorious of humanity. 
 
 No more the demons Privilege and Caste 
 
 Before the gates of happy Eden stand, 
 
 Forbidding men to enter and enjoy; 
 
 For Caste and Privilege departed, when, 
 
 In bitter, fiery conflict, thundered down 
 
 Both cloister and throne. Their bulwarks gone, 
 
 Downward they sink, to the infernal pit 
 
 Of hell, from whence their hateful spirits came. 
 
 20 
 
All men now labor for the common weal, 
 Toiling in unison, with purpose grand; 
 And Science, leaping forth with giant stride, 
 Works unheard wonders. Now the arid wastes 
 Are made to bloom and blossom like the rose, 
 For all are sharers in the fruits of toil. 
 No more from hungry, homeless ones goes up 
 The wail of agony, while heartless Greed 
 Limits the harvest yield, and hoards away 
 Earth's fruits from millions of her toiling sons. 
 No more do baleful Pestilence and Crime 
 Stalk in the cities, for they, too, have fled 
 Before the on-march of Fraternity; 
 But peace and plenty now, on every hand, 
 Proclaim the glory of a world redeemed. 
 
 This is the Dream of Centuries; the song 
 That, ringing through the darkness of the past, 
 Has cheered the soul of man, and set his face 
 Toward the shining goal; spurring him on 
 Along the upward pathway, though his road 
 Was dark and thorny. This the vision bright 
 Off sung by poet and foretold by seer; 
 The holy cause for whose dear name have died 
 The christs and heroes of the long ago. 
 
 21 
 
And till the holy flame of Brotherhood 
 
 Kindles the altar fire in every breast, 
 
 The Vision Beautiful shall still be seen 
 
 By Earth's great children, and the Glorious Song 
 
 Shall evermore resound, until, at last, 
 
 Its strains shall swell in harmony divine 
 
 The chorus of redeemed humanity 
 
 Earth's glad hymn of Fraternity and Peace. 
 
 22 
 
to 
 
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