Chapter C: B. Lerow

[This selection is adapted for Solo and Concert recitation. The first two and last two lines of each stanza, and _the whole of the last stanza_, are to be given in concert. The other lines can be assigned to one or to six students—the latter arrangement giving greater variety, as the stanzas differ widely in style. As the refrain, or chorus, is to imitate the peculiar beat or rhythm of the engine, the accent must fall upon the third syllable of each line, while each syllable is given with _staccato_ effect, and the whole line on a monotone. The fifth stanza represents two equal beats on the two syllables—the rhythm of the engine when moving in half time on account of danger.]

I.

“We are ready for work—
We are ready for work—”
So says the great engine when we start
And the steam comes up from its pulsing heart.
With its hundred iron arms and hands
It is waiting to take us to foreign lands,
And it says in the cheeriest sort of way
While our friends are watching us down the bay,
“We are ready for work—
We are ready for work—”

II.

“We will carry you over—
We will carry you over—”
It seems to say on the ocean wide
When no land can be seen on either side;
And we wonder how it can ever be
That we can go straight o’er the trackless sea.
And we watch the engine day by day,
Encouraged by what it seems to say,
“We will carry you over—
We will carry you over—”

III.

“Our work is praying—
Our work is praying—”
It says on the sunny Sabbath day
When the passengers meet to sing and pray;
And through the sermon and chanted psalm
We listen with hearts subdued and calm
To the faithful strokes of the engine strong
As over the ocean we sail along;
“Our work is praying—
Our work is praying—”

IV.

“Sleep safe till morning—
Sleep safe till morning—”
Are the words we hear in the dead of night
When only the sailors can see a light;
And the great ship rushes along as free
As if the sunshine were on the sea;
And we rest secure near the beating heart
Of the engine doing its noble part;
“Sleep safe till morning—
Sleep safe till morning—”

V.

“Don’t fear—
Don’t fear—”
It can say no more in the heavy fog
Which seems its very breath to clog;
While with hearts grown faint and lips that pray
We think of the friends who are far away,
And of hidden perils and sudden death
Although the engine pants under breath,
“Don’t fear—
Don’t fear—”

VI.

“It is all right now—
It is all right now—”
Are the words we hear when the sun peeps through
And the leaden clouds catch a tint of blue;
And the iron arms work hard and fast,
For we are in sight of the land at last.
And the engine seems as glad as we
That the ship is now from all danger free.
“It is all right now—
It is all right now—”

VII.

O brave engine, you little know
What to your faithful heart we owe.
You did your duty by day and night;
As well in the darkness as the light;
Never letting an hour go by,
Never stopping to question Why—
Showing what beauty and grace can be
In honest Toil and Fidelity.

THE CHILD ON THE JUDGMENT-SEAT.

MRS. E. CHARLES.

[_Recitation for Two Students._]

FIRST.

Where hast thou been toiling all day, sweetheart,
That thy brow is burdened and sad?
The Master’s work may make weary feet,
But it leaves the spirit glad.

SECOND.

No pleasant garden-toils were mine;
I have sat on the judgment-seat
Where the Master sits above, and calls
The children around His feet.

FIRST.

How camest thou on the judgment-seat?
Sweetheart, who set thee there?
’Tis a lonely and lofty seat for thee,
And well might fill thee with care.

SECOND.

I climbed on the judgment-seat myself,
I have sat there alone all day,
For it grieved me to see the children around
Idling their life away.

FIRST.

And what didst thou on the judgment-seat,
Sweetheart, what didst thou there?
Would the idlers heed thy childish voice?
Did the garden mend for thy care?

SECOND.

Nay, that grieved me more; I called and I cried,
But they left me there forlorn;
My voice was weak, and they heeded not,
Or they laughed my words to scorn.

FIRST.

Ah, the judgment-seat was not for thee,
The servants were not thine,
And the eyes which fix the praise and the blame
See farther than thine or mine.

SECOND.

Should I see the Master’s treasures lost,
The gifts that should feed his poor,
And not lift my voice—be it weak as it may—
And not be grievèd sore?

FIRST.

But how fared thy garden-plot, sweetheart,
Whilst thou sat on the judgment-seat?
Who watered thy roses and trained thy vines,
And kept them from careless feet?

SECOND.

Nay, that is saddest of all to me,
That is the saddest of all.
My vines are trailing, my roses are parched.
My lilies droop and fall.

FIRST.

Go back to thy garden-plot, sweetheart,
Go back till the evening falls,
And bind thy lilies and train thy vines
Till for thee the Master calls.
Go make thy garden fair as thou canst,
Thou workest never alone;
Perchance he whose plot is next to thine
Will see it and mend his own.
And the next shall copy his, sweetheart,
Till all grows fair and sweet;
And when the Master comes at eve
Happy faces His coming shall greet.
Then shall thy joy be full, sweetheart,
In thy garden so fair to see,
In the Master’s voice of praise for all,
In a look of His own for thee.

THE TWO GLASSES.