Bronze (Johnson)/To Ridgely Torrence
TO RIDGELY TORRENCE—PLAYWRIGHT
All hail! fair vistas break upon the view,The gates swing wide and free with clanging sound,Rejoice! a mighty champion is found,Son of the morning, prescient and true.Upon the threshold of a cycle newHe stands, and sentinels its virgin ground,Seer in his poet-visioning profound,Presaging vaster reaches—skies more blue.
Lifting their misty glances to the day,The prismic children pass the erstwhile bars,Exultant, swiftly, boundingly they stray,Awhile forgetful of deep, hidden scarsThus, as a golden legend time shall tellOf him who wrought so mightily and well!