Part 3 (1/2)

So are we miners, great and small, By sunny slope or lower gloom, And day by day we hear a call As from the distant tomb, But, when the evening shadows fall, The lights of home will gleam for all.

LOVE OF COUNTRY.

Love of country is the life of war; Love not your country then, If loving it should lead you into war; Oh do not be deceived--Love is broader,-- Love is broader than a wheatfield, Love is broader than a landscape; Do not be misled--love the world; Begin at home--love your birthplace, Then your county, then your state, Then your country, then the countries Of your brothers and sisters, who look So much like you--like hands, like feet, Like ears, like eyes, like lips; like sorrows, Like hopes, like joys; like body, mind And spirit, for the spirit of one man Differeth not from the spirit of another, Or high or low, or rich or poor, being The same yesterday, to-day and forever.

Love of country is the life of war; Love not your country then, If loving it should lead you into war-- Should lead you into hatred Of your neighbor's country--lead you To strike down even unto death Your brother who so resembles you, Made in your image, and in the likeness Of the living G.o.d.

THE SINKING OF THE t.i.tANIC

”t.i.tanic!--rightly named, sir”--says the captain of the s.h.i.+p, ”And the safest of all vessels--now mark her maiden trip,”

And all think as the captain thinks--all her two thousand souls As steadily out o'er the sea the stately vessel rolls.

For she is shod with iron and her frame is built of oak, And stout hearts man the vessel, wherefore the captain spoke; And with naught for pleasure lacking, so stately and so fair, She seems a floating palace--fit for angels living there.

So ”farewell,” says merry England, ”farewell” says each green isle, ”And blessings for this n.o.ble s.h.i.+p on her initial trial, And praise be to her makers, and good-will to her crew, And safety to her pa.s.sengers”--take this as our adieu.

O there were pleasant partings as the vessel sail'd away, And there was joy in every heart that pleasant April day, And there were happy thoughts of home--of meeting kith and kin, For the stately vessel soon would be her harbor safe within.

And so blue the sky above them and so blue the wave beneath, That all,--all thought of living and no one thought of death, As, hour by hour, the vessel left England far behind, And, hour by hour, the s.h.i.+p sped on as speeds an ocean wind.

And when night came, with fond good-nights the floating city slept, Yet ever o'er the rolling waves the mighty vessel swept, And no one thought of danger--until with thunderous roar, The great s.h.i.+p struck the rock-like ice, and shook from floor to floor.

Then there was breaking timbers, and bulging plates of steel, And noise of great commotion along that vessel's keel-- Then there were cries of anguish, and curses from rough men, And earnest prayers for safety--O prayers for safety then.

For women wept in terror, and stout men drop'd a tear, And the shouting and the tumult was maddening to hear, Yet there amidst that seething the life-boats, one by one, Were set adrift at midnight--where cold sea-rivers run.

Then, on that fated vessel, the thousand waited there In hope some sea-born sister would s.n.a.t.c.h them from despair, But no s.h.i.+p came to aid her, and, in the dead of night, The n.o.ble s.h.i.+p t.i.tanic sank suddenly from sight.

O midway in old ocean, in her darkest, deepest gloom, A thousand brave hearts bravely went down to meet their doom,-- And what a tragic picture!--Oh, what a solemn sight Upon that fated vessel with the stars still s.h.i.+ning bright!