English

Clay grounds — Foundries OF THE B RAZEN P ILLARS .

How once the furnace fires were heated here!
Here the soft cooing of bright lordan's dove,
And nightingale's sweet song were silenced all
By roar of Hiram's cupolas! the scent
Of oleander buds, so exquisite,
Lost in thick smoke and soot of molten brass!
Now all is desolate; the poisonous thorn
In matted thickets, guards the gloomy place,
And Hiram's masterpieces are a myth.

G — S UGGESTIVENESS OF Divine P RESENCE .

As through an open window into Heaven,
Through this strange symbol, golden, bright, we look,
And muse upon celestial chamber; where
" Upon His glorious throne God sits alone,
Hath ever sat alone, and shall forever sit,
Alone, Invisible, Immortal One! "
The M ASTER , o'er whose head the type impends
Names it, awestruck and reverently, God!
Then humbly as the creature should, the Craft
In silent adoration, lowly bows.

Compasses — Boundary OF P ASSION .

The grace of God directs this implement;
His gracious hand so separates its limbs
As to inclose a gracious boundary;
He gives us ample scope for every bliss
Of which our nature is susceptible;
Let us, then, Craftsmen, keep within the sphere
His wisdom marks, nor contravene his will;
Lust and intemperance, the greed of gain,
Anger and malice, envy, villainy, —
All these outside the Compass' points are seen.

Brotherly love — The S PIRIT OF THE C RAFT .

To suffer long, and yet be kind and true;
To bear the slight and yet retain the love;
To hope, whate'er betide, and still to hope
Through all the gloomy days that life may yield, —
This is the love of Masons , — B ROTHERLY LOVE ;
This binds the old fraternity with brass
And iron fetters; — while such Love endures,
The rage of foes assaults our fort in vain;
The bigot's hate recoils; palsied the arm
Which strikes a Brotherhood knit by such ties.

Square — Implement OF Proof .

And who is this, — grave, reverend man, — who brings
With high command THE S QUARE ! whose practiced eye
Takes warily in the length and breadth and depth
Of the offered stone! how, with this implement,
He proves the angles, tests the corners each,
Sternly rejects the ashlar reprobate,
Cheerful accepts if, to his scrupulous care,
The block responds! not strange, if in the shock
Of earthquakes and the jarring elements
This wall, built up with such precision, stands!

Hour glass — Flight ON T IME .

Voice of the ages, wisdom ever new,
Speaking to Masons, in simplicity,
Soon thy last sand must leave the glass of time;
For while we contemplate them, they grow less,
And even now still less as yet we muse;
The Hour Glass bids us gauge the unfinished work
That meets the eye, and sum the amount, and so
With double assiduity to toil;
Each grain recorded in celestial scroll,
Demands of all a corresponding deed.

Life's sands are dropping, dropping, —

Ear of corn — Bounty OF N ATURE ,

Look, traveler, what name you this, that droops
In wondrous heaviness upon the stalk?
Look, traveler, old Canaan hath no gift
That equals this, to speak its M AKER'S praise!
Abounding land! how lost to early truth
When E AR OF C ORN is made the test of doom!
The rapid Jordan makes impetuous course, —
The lily specks the hills where Jephthah dwelt, —
The oleander scents the valley sweet
As in his time, — they wake the gloomy thought
Of S HIBBOLETH , the master key of doom!

The acacia tree — Sacred F OLIAGE .

Thy very tears are precious, holy plant,
Dropt in sad recollections of the past;
The olden Builders knew thy merits well,
And prized, above the cedar, olive, palm,
The rare Acacia , offspring of the wild;
His feet the prophet bared before thy Bush,
Burning, and marvelous, and unconsumed;
Thy wood inclosed the tables of the Law,
In peaceful Sanctum resting; and the blood
Of countless victims on thine Altar flowed.

Rule — Unerring T RUTH .

What voice, O simple R ULE , hast thou to warn
And guide the willing toiler on his way?
" Better to journey with the humble few
Who walk the path unerring, than to crowd
Along the broad, meandering paths of sin;
Better in steadfastness to fix the gaze
On Truth's fair Temple where the M ASTER sits,
And so, in shortest lines attain the prize,
Than gratify the lawless, roving eye,
In crooked highways ending in despair.

Trowel — Spreading P EACE .

Divinest privilege to trowel peace:
Strongest of cement, peace , the bond of Heaven,
Exalted on the everlasting hills:
This makes us fellow laborers with God,
And gives us best assurance of reward.
Peace, holy calm, — it broods within the veil
Where rests the golden Ark, and in the soul
Of gentle Craftsmen, infinite delight;
No sound of Axe discordant breaks the calm
In which the walls of Sion's Fane go up.