Giant Hours with Poet PreachersStidger, William L. (William Le Roy)
Religion
Giant Hours with Poet Preachers
Stidger, William L. (William Le Roy)
American poetry -- 20th century -- History and criticism; English poetry -- 20th century -- History and criticism
"Script for the Journey" is all that it claims to be. Markham is not
doing what Lindsay did. Lindsay started out on a long journey with only
his poems for money. He meant to make his way buying his food with a
verse. And he did that very thing. But Markham had a different idea, an
idea that all of us need script for that larger journey, script that is
not money and script that does not buy mere material food, but food for
the soul. He means it to be script that will help us along the hard
way. And he who has this script is rich indeed, in his inner life.
"THE PLACE OF PEACE"
One would pay much for peace at any time, but especially when one on
the journey of life is wearied unto death with sin, and bickering,
and trouble and hurt and pain. Life holds so much heartache and
heartbreak. Markham has herein the answer:
"At the heart of the cyclone tearing the sky,
And flinging the clouds and the towers by,
Is a place of central calm;
So here in the roar of mortal things,
I have a place where my spirit sings,
In the hollow of God's palm."
The Shoes of Happiness.
And when we learn to put our business ventures there as Abbey has his
Sir Galahad do in the Vigil panel of "The Search for the Holy Grail,"
in Boston Library; and when we have learned to put our homes, and our
children, and our souls "In the hollow of God's palm," there will be
peace on the journey of life. Yes, that is good script.
"ANCHORED TO THE INFINITE"
What a lesson the poet brings us from the great swinging bridge at
Niagara, as he tells of the tiny thread that was flown from a kite
from shore to shore; and then a larger string, and then a heavy cord,
and then a rope, and finally the great cable, and the mighty bridge.
And this he applies to life!
"So we may send our little timid thought
Across the void out to God's reaching hands--Send
out our love and faith to thread the deep--
Thought after thought until the little cord
Has greatened to a chain no chance can break,
And--we are anchored to the Infinite."
The Shoes of Happiness.
Who does not need to know how simple a thing will lead to infinite
anchorage? Who does not need to know that just the tiny threads of
love and faith will draw greater cords and greater, stronger ropes
until at last the chasm between man and God on the journey is bridged,
and we may be anchored to him forever. This indeed is good script for
the journey of life Godward.
"THERE IS NO TIME FOR HATE"
The world is full of hate these days. War-mad Germany produced "The
Hymn of Hate," the lowest song that ever was written in the history of
the world. It seems impossible that a censorship so strict could ever
let such a mass of mire out to the world. But when one reads this
Markham poem, he somehow feels that life is so big, and yet so brief,
that even in war we are all brother-men and, as the opening lines say,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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