LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT

129

SUGGESTIVE EXERCISES

1. Give some important facts concerning the author of the poem. 2. In what spirit does the poet begin the poem?

3. Why kindly Light?

4. Explain "far from home."

5. What is "the distant scene"? "One step"?

6. In what spirit had the poet been in earlier days?

7. Why does he wish past years not remembered?

8. What gives him confidence that the Light "still will lead me on"?

9. What do "moor and fen" and "crag and torrent" symbolize? 10. Explain "loved long since," "lost awhile."

11. What universal message in this song?

LYTE: Abide With Me.

REFERENCES

WESLEY: Jesus, Lover of My Soul.

TOPLADY: Rock of Ages.

ADAMS: Nearer, My God, to Thee.

TENNYSON: Merlin and the Gleam. Ask Me No More.

BROWNING: Asolando.

WHITTIER: Eternal Goodness.

POE: Hymn, At Morn, At Noon.

HARTLEY COLERIDGE: Prayer.

NEWMAN: The Sign of the Cross.

ADELAIDE PROCTER: Per Pacem ad Lucem.

CHARLES MACKAY: Tell Me, Ye Winged Winds.

GERALD MASSEY: His Banner Over Me is Love.

HORATIUS BONAR: Abide with Us.

L'ENVOI

RUDYARD KIPLING

KIPLING'S life and hope, akin with the life and

hope of every soul, are mirrored here. Severe labor, which meets only stinging criticism, causes the soul to sigh for rest—not the rest of eternity, but the infinite rest that fits the soul to do infinite work throughout an eternity under the eye of the Master. Each soul shall work without human limitations, with saints as models, and with no hint of weariness. No critic save the Master shall "praise" or "blame," and the soul's highest service shall be to "draw the Thing as he sees it for the God of Things as they are."

L'ENVOI

When earth's last picture is painted, and the tubes are twisted and dried,

When the oldest colours have faded, and the youngest critic has died,

We shall rest, and, faith, we shall need it- lie down for an æon or two,

Till the Master of all Good Workmen shall set us to work anew!

And those that were good shall be happy; they shall sit in a golden chair;

They shall splash at a ten-league canvas with brushes of comets' hair;

They shall find real saints to draw from-Magdalene, Peter, and Paul;

They shall work for an age at a sitting and never be tired at all!

And only the Master shall praise us, and only the Master

shall blame;

And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame;

But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate star,

Shall draw the Thing as he sees it for the God of Things as they are.

SUGGESTIVE EXERCISES

1. What in Kipling's own experience probably prompted the statement in the first paragraph?

2. What is the nature of the rest longed for?

3. Then after the rest, what will the souls do?

4. What expressions show that all human limitations will be

removed?

5. Why does the author mention "ten-league canvas," "brushes of comets' hair"?

6. Why mention real saints?

7. Why emphasize "never be tired at all"?

8. What kind of critic shall scan the infinite work of the soul?

9. What shall be the true motive for work in that infinite life?

10. What does Kipling think is the greatest possible incentive to work?

REFERENCES

BROWNING: The Patriot. Andrea Del Sarto. Epilogue to Asolando.

Prospice.

BONAR: The Master's Touch.

CHANNING: A Poet's Hope.

WALTER C. SMITH: The Self-Exiled.

TH

A LIFE LESSON

JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

HE voice of sympathy that soothes care and trouble renders a real service to humanity. Riley is broad in his sympathy and keen in his insight into life, and the following poem is probably his masterpiece of sympathy and insight. The very first line is aglow with warmth and gentleness. Time will soon heal childhood's troubles. A larger life of buoyant love will soon crowd out school-day worries. Even disappointed age is consoled by the assurance that Heaven holds all for which the soul sighs.

In this poem the author has shown us the world's attitude toward grief. In the first stanza, childhood is quieted with the promise that "childish troubles will soon pass by." The second stanza represents youth with the assurance that sorrows shall vanish in approaching love. The third stanza pictures age facing Heaven's wide-open doors with the promise of final peace in the fulfilment of every dream of the soul.

Babes, youths, and grown-ups are, after all, much the same, always consoled by some sweet hope that lures on to greater things, and becoming harder to guide and comfort as the years increase.