A TOAST TO MERRIMENT A lady said to Whistler that there were but two paintershimself and Velazquez. He replied: "Madam, why drag in Velazquez?" So it is with Joyousness and Gloom. Both exist,but why drag in Gloom? AKE merry! Though the day be gray Forget the clouds and let's be gay ! What tonic is there in a frown? Or I go up and you-who knows Make merry! What of frets and fears? You tremble at the cloud and lo! Make merry! There is sunshine yet, A smile, a jest, a joke-alas! Good day! Good cheer! Good-bye! For then From "Friendly Rhymes," E. P. Dutton & Co. James W. Foley. MISTRESS FATE "Faint heart never won fair lady." Mistress Fate herself should be courted, not with feminine finesse, but with masculine courage and aggression. LOUT her power, young man! FL She is merely shrewish, scolding, She is plastic to your molding, She is woman in her yielding to the fires desires fan. Fight her fair, strong man! Such a serpent love is this,- When she strikes, be nerved and ready; Keep your gaze both bright and steady, Chance no rapier-play, but hotly press the quarrel she began! Fight her fair, strong man! Gaze her down, old man! Now no laughter may defy her, Not a shaft of scorn come nigh her, But she waits within the shadows, in dark shadows very near. And her silence is your fear. Meet her world-old eyes of warning! Gaze them down with courage! Can You gaze them down, old man? From "Merchants from Cathay Yale University Press. William Rose Benét. SLEEP AND THE MONARCH (FROM "2 HENRY IV.") The great elemental blessings cannot be "cornered." Indeed they cannot be bought at all, but are the natural property of the man whose ways of life are such as to retain them. In this passage a disappointed and harassed king comments on the slumber which he cannot woo to his couch, yet which his humblest subject enjoys. How of my gentle sleep! OW many thousand of my poorest subjects Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee, Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs, Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee, And hushed with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber, Than in the perfumed chambers of the great, Under the canopies of costly state, And lulled with sound of sweetest melody? O thou dull god! why liest thou with the vile Seal up the ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains Curling their monstrous heads, and hanging them Deny it to a king? Then, happy low, lie down! William Shakespeare. NEVER TROUBLE TROUBLE To borrow trouble is to contract a debt that any man is better without. If your troubles are not borrowed, they are not likely to be many or great. I USED to hear a saying It gave a cheerful spirit Not woes at hand, those coming We hear them stalk like giants, Till trouble troubles you. Just look at things through glasses One lens of them is courage, The other common sense. They'll make it clear, misgivings Are just a bugaboo; No more you'll trouble trouble St. Clair Adams. CLEAR THE WAY Humanity is always meeting obstacles. All honor to the men who do not fear obstacles, but push them aside and press on. Stephenson was explaining his idea that a locomotive steam engine could run along a track and draw cars after it. "But suppose a cow gets on the track," some one objected. "So much the worse," said Stephenson, "for the coo.' MEN EN of thought! be up and stirring, Sow the seed, withdraw the curtain, Clear the way! Men of action, aid and cheer them, There's a fount about to stream, Men of thought and men of action, Once the welcome light has broken, What the unimagined glories What the evil that shall perish In its ray? Aid it, hopes of honest men; Aid the dawning, tongue and pen; Aid it, paper, aid it, type, Aid it, for the hour is ripe; And our earnest must not slacken Into play. Men of thought and men of action, |