That ignore and decry as naught

The value and power that ever lie

In the scope of original thought.

No smooth device with a soulless form

Should obscure the living thought;

It smothers the mind, destroys the charm

That comes to him who has wrought

To discover new truth, by a truth well known,

On which he may safely build,

Till his mental strength by use has grown

To a giant strong and skilled.

When thought is secure, the reason clear,

And the language to tell is pure,

Abridgement comes like a friend sincere,

For it cannot the mind obscure.

The wasted time on a form-clad task

Steals gems from youth's precious years,

Leaves a wreck on life's shore, we cannot mask

With our sorrows and sighs and tears.

[Pg 30]

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