English

E., W. AND S. — N ORTH, THE Place OF D ARKNESS .

Why tread in gloomy shades, when paths
Of light await the willing steps?
Leave the dark Borean to the feet
Profane — to cowan's feet profane —
To shapeless monsters of the night
That hate the glories of the noon,
Marauders of the dark; — but we,
The ways of pleasantness and paths
Of peace will seek, where Wisdom dwells,
And find her form exceeding fair

Apron — N O D EGENERATION .

White , only white , the badge of truth,
Type of unspotted innocence,
The virgin color , lily-white,
The hue that marks the sheeted dead.
The Lodge Celestial, round the Throne,
The raptured choir, all enrobed in white,
Sing high salvation unto God !
Cleansed of all gross impurity,
We toilers in the Moral Fane,
So, humbly wear our garments, white .

Blue — The C ELESTIAL . C OLOR

The o'erarching sky around our busy sphere
Looks down alike on every race of man;
Where'er our feet may wander, there appears
With morning blush and evening's crimsoning,
The sober B LUE prevailing over all.
So should a Mason's charity extend,
To every needy soul, unchecked by clime,
By nation unrestricted, and by tongue!
For where the destitute, there, too, is G OD ,
Calling us thither with an open hand,
To do His charity upon the poor.

THE MICROCOSM .

Bright Microcosm of high celestial types,
World of rare form and color, quaint,
Instructive in eternal laws which bind
All creatures, — vield us now thy truth!

Bear us above the sordid things of time,
For one brief hour; and let us see above ,
Below, around this secret chamber, what
The Sages wrote upon the mystic tombs
That yawn in emptiness along the Nile.

SCENE III The flight. Night. Near the house of Matthias and Rebecca. Enter Joseph, leading an ass upon which is seated Mary with the Child.

Joseph .

Ye stars, that run before the winds of heaven,
Hide in the frowning cliffs of mountainous cloud;
Thou, planet, wimpled as a maid, with light,
Tell not our steps; God's finger points us far;
The way is His who is the Way.

M ARY .

Soft, listen!
R EBECCA .

SCENE II The stable. Midnight. Mary and Joseph, with shepherds and angels, adoring at the crib.

From heaven He came,
The Eternal Flame,
To fire men's hearts
With Love's own darts,
To conquer sin
And mercy win
Of God above.

Lo, in the straw —
Near may ye draw,
For God is weak
That ye may speak, —
The God of peace;
Let earth's war cease —
Toward men good will.

R EBECCA .

Scene I Bethlehem, the night of Christ's birth. Early evening, near the house of Matthias. Enter Joseph, leading an ass upon which the Virgin Mary is seated .

Joseph .

A wind hath blown the heavens into flame
About us; earth is silver to our feet.
By night, by day, God's hand hath guided us,
Pillar and cloud His firmament hath been
To bring us hither; this should be the town
Of David, city of our sire.

M ARY .

Even so.

XXXI.

" And all that Athens breathed of high and true,
With soaring thought and finely moulded speech,
In our dear Lord to Act and Being grew,
Whose Life was more than words could ever teach,

XXXII.

" A Heart that beat for every human wo,
A Choice in holiest purpose pure and strong,
A Truth, sole morning-Light of all below,
A Love triumphant over deadliest wrong.

XXXIII.

" In Him thy God, O Plato, dwelt on earth,
An open Presence, clear of earthly ill;

XXVI.

So soft, so full, so thrilling deep it spake,
It won the soul in seraph bliss to die,
And seemed at once her inward thirst to slake,
With joys of heaven and tears of Calvary.

XXVII.

She felt her life a trembling, earthly spark,
Was mounting up to shine a star above,
And lucid thoughts came rippling through the dark,
In one mild flow of Faith, and Hope, and Love.

XXVIII.

" Methinks, O! Sage, a nobler lore than thine,
More steadfast comfort gives and holier peace;

XXI.

Some tears she sheds, she trembles, turns away,
Then yields her presence at her sire's command.
The volume falls abandoned where it lay
A moment past in her attentive hand.

XXII.

The Queen, in robes of state and royal halls,
Glides trembling back with memory's swift career,
With inward voice upon the past she calls,
And wondering feels that she must learn to fear.

XXIII.

She thinks, — " O! Teacher, gentle, vast, sublime,
Strange lesson this for one upheld by thee;