Classic Poem

No human wisdom framed our halls,
No bodily sweat bedews our walls;
The utmost ken of mortal eye
Fails its proportions to espy;
Nor is it for a mortal's ear
Its songs at eve and morn to hear.

Our Temple crowns no earthly hill;
The Turk profanes Mount Sion still;
Siloam pours her hallowed stream
For those who spurn the sacred Name ;
Yet fixed on an unshaken base
Is seen our Temple's resting place.

Unnumbered hearts and hopes prolong
The cadence of our votive song;
The savor of our sacrifice
Ascends and gladdens up the skies.
Where B UILDERS , met from many lands,
Rear up " the House not made with hands! "

We would record some fitting phrase
Of those sublime, those mystic lays;
Some names of the unnumbered host
Else 'neath the moss of ages lost;
One episode in all those cares
Whose story marks three thousand years.

A UTHOR OF W ISDOM , make us wise
To apprehend these Mysteries!
A UTHOR OF S TRENGTH , the power impart
To build and cement from the heart!
A UTHOR OF B EAUTY , lend us grace,
The hue to paint, the line to trace!

The stones of the foundation
In the Holy Mountain lie,
Brought from the sacred quarries
By the hand of Deity;
Each block " the perfect angle "
Fulfills and gratifies,
And rests upon the level
Acknowledged in the skies.

Each on its broadside graven
Displays some mighty name;
'Tis daily called in Heaven
That roll of deathless fame;
All ages, lands have yielded
Their honored names to prop —
A glorious substructure —
And bear our Temple up.

In such a sacred place,
On such a solid base,
Built on the pattern of the P LAN D IVINE ,
With time-defying walls,
With love-o'erflowing halls,
Behold our Temple and come view our Shrine!

The mind would faint and fail
The multitudes to tell,
Of all the Ashlars that are here inwrought;
They're culled from every clime,
Through long-revolving time,
And each bears token of the M ASTER-THOUGHT .

Each bears the impress of M AN —
Such was the wondrous P LAN —
Of man in body, mind, and heart complete;
Each fills a stated place
Of Wisdom, Strength or Grace,
By the G RAND M ASTER designate and meet.