Show V I Too Much to Hope For ForBy I By Bv JOHN BLAKE We are as we we weare are and w we cannot change ourselves our our- selves selves much If It we are not born geniuses geniuses we shall shan never neer become It Is quite possible that the son of ot some bricklayer brick brick- lav layer er may be as great as Keats who was the son of a head groom But the bricklayers bricklayer's ers son will have to be born a poet as was Keats Th The English boy worked hard read deeply and practiced hi his work worl assiduously But It was not his pis work nor his reading nor his practice that made him Immortal It was something he brought with him something that his toil toll had to bring out but which no toil toll could have brought out of a boy without his gift Mr Longfellow a less gifted poet than Keats but a sincere and scholarly man who has written many fine tine things erred when he said V Lives of great men all an remind us ns We can mal make e our lives sublime And departing leave behind us 1 4 5 Footprints on the sands o of time Footprints that perhaps another Sailing oer o'er lifes life's solemn main Some forlorn and shipwrecked brother V Seeing shall take heart again We Ve may be able to make our lives sublime as far tar faras faras taras as the standards of good behavior and unselfishness are concerned But unless we bear one of those few Immortal names that were not born to die we shall leave no footprint on the sands of ot time And why should we care Fame Fame is pleasant while we are here But it Is not necessary If It w we live out ut our appointed season helping others a a little enjoying ourselves a little playing fair fall our friends a and ad d enemies we shall have done enough to justify our existence If It we can by some somo deed or other help the world a little to progress make life a 11 little easier for those who come or Inspire some thought that may in time grow and bear real fruit truit we shall have done enough Holmes says that A few can tou touch h the magic magic string trIng l And noisy fame Is proud to win win them them them- Alas for those who never sing Ing But die with all their music In them Why alas If It they have music In them they can understand and appreciate the music that they hear even eyen if they cannot sing and that Is a great gift in Itself No Xo need to tand stand on the pinnacles of fame Happiness Happiness Happiness Hap Hap- is no greater there than elsewhere Even the great are a prey pre to the same Jealousies and worries that the lesser lights are Lives of great men do remind us that we can get a great deal more mor out of the equipment we have by industry and thought and purpose than we can b by neglecting these things Copyright 1925 by the Bell S Syndicate Inc |