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192
ANNIVERSARY POEM.
To fill with laughter all the vaults of earth,—
The secret, rayless, dewy haunt of shades;
To smite wild harps on every beetling ledge;
To pour libations unto Pan, and pledge
Eternal love, beside the sea-cascades.
The secret, rayless, dewy haunt of shades;
To smite wild harps on every beetling ledge;
To pour libations unto Pan, and pledge
Eternal love, beside the sea-cascades.
XV.
So we, the Nameless, being loud in song,
In speech persistent, vexed the gods to smite
Our noisy souls from secret caves of night;
And restless as the winds, the sad year long
We beat the billows of opinion, caught
Mid storm and cloud the lightning-flames of thought,
Or teased the reed, or did the trumpet wrong.
So we, the Nameless, being loud in song,
In speech persistent, vexed the gods to smite
Our noisy souls from secret caves of night;
And restless as the winds, the sad year long
We beat the billows of opinion, caught
Mid storm and cloud the lightning-flames of thought,
Or teased the reed, or did the trumpet wrong.
XVI.
Small spheres are ours: but we, at least, aspire,
And by our diligence in labor, prove
Our right divine to life and hope and love;
And while we wield the sword or sweep the lyre,
And sculpture the serene designs of Fate,
Sure of the crown are we, and purple state,
In those high courts where dwells our Lord and Sire.
Small spheres are ours: but we, at least, aspire,
And by our diligence in labor, prove
Our right divine to life and hope and love;
And while we wield the sword or sweep the lyre,
And sculpture the serene designs of Fate,
Sure of the crown are we, and purple state,
In those high courts where dwells our Lord and Sire.
