war-cry rang—a noble hymn For manhood's victory over regal pride, On the sad day when mighty Varus died. For thee he fought! For thee He taught! The Nazarene who bore The burden of the world, who by the shore Of Galilee His words of wisdom spake Whose life a pattern for our life we'd take, Whose words, re-echoing to remotest time, Shall lead us on toward a height sublime. For thee He taught! Man—man! thou heir of all the ages, thou, Man of today! uplift thy drooping brow! Think, work, fight, teach—thine heritage pass on Tenfold increased. He'll reap who has foregone Life's little, limited delights,—in measure As selfless he has sown his earthly treasure. [14] [14] THE FADING VISION THE FADING VISION The vision fades—dome, pinnacle and tower, All the white beauty of the lake-side dream, The artist's ideal, the poet's theme Vanish away. Yet for no fleeting hour Was this proud fabric raised. The crumbling wall Entombs not memory's treasure, and we hold This truth dear as the miser his loved gold, Dome, pinnacle and tower cannot fall. No marvel this, that memory holds fast Such beauty, passing beauty seen before, The grace and charm of every clime and shore, Strength of today, the glories of the past, All met in one great whole—for not alone Man's hand the wonder wrought, but soaring high His spirit, like the bird that cleaves the sky, Knew naught of obstacle from zone to zone. Deathless his work. Age shall repeat to age The story of the city by the Lake. And as the waves that on the near sands break Reach far-off shores, so on the pictured page Throughout remotest time, serene in pride, Wearing her crown of glory, shall be seen Stately and fair, Chicago, Western queen, With all the Nations gathered at her side. Gladly they met, each teaching and each taught, Light-skinned or dark-skinned from the West or East. Peoples unlike, as at a loving feast, Distant no more, united in a thought. Columbia! this thy lesson, learn it well— The comity of Nations; this the plan Of God from time's first dawn, that man with man, Bound in one brotherhood in peace should dwell. Great Voyager, whose caravels outsped[15] Man's swiftest fancy in those earlier days! If, looking far beyond the curving bays Of this new world thy glowing spirit read That here there stretched a mighty continent Where a sure haven for mankind should be, Small didst thou count thy peril on the sea, Well knowing what thy sufferings had meant. For it was thine to turn toward the West The worn old-world, and westward as the star Of Power moves, nor tyranny nor war
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