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Show THE TORCH. By Elizabeth R. Finley. Tho God of the Great Endeavor gave me a torch to bear. I lifted it high above me in the dark and murky air And straighway, with loud hosannas, the crowd acclaimed its light And followed me as I carried my torch thro' the starless night; Till mad with the people's praises and drunken with vanity 1 forgot 'twas the torch that drew them and fancied they followed me. nut slowly my arm grew weary up- R holding the shining load And my tired feet went stumbling over the hilly road And I f H with the torch beneath me. In o moment tho flame was out! Then, lo! from the throng a stripling sprang forth with a mighty shout, Caught up the torch as it smouldered and lifted it high again Till fanned by the winds of heaven it fired the souls of men! And as I lay in darkness, the feet of the trampling crowd Passed over and far beyond me, its pean proclaimed aloud, While I learned, in tho deepening shadows, this glorious verity: Tis tho torch that the people follow, fol-low, whoever the bearer be! New England Magazine. |