Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE PASSING OF THE OLD VERMONT MEETINGHOUSE, by DANIEL LEAVENS CADY



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE PASSING OF THE OLD VERMONT MEETINGHOUSE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: As I go up and down these days
Last Line: Of course, must pass away.
Subject(s): Churches; Public Meetings; Vermont; Cathedrals


AS I go up and down these days
Amongst Vermont's delightful people,
I seldom hear a single word
About the meetinghouse or steeple;
The meetinghouse and steeple, too,
It seems are "bending low" today—
The old white-steepled meetinghouse
Is passing fast away.

It's hard to tell the churches now
By either looks or situation,
For some are built like concert halls,
And others like a railroad station;
There's arches, apses, foyers, foils,
And festooned fonts in fine array—
The old white-steepled meetinghouse
Has almost passed away.

How grand they stood upon the hills,
Or at the township's windy center!
How self-respecting were the folks
That came for miles their courts to enter!
The "closest workmen" in the parts,
They built the pulpits, so they say—
Too bad the churchliest church of all
Is passing fast away.

How grand they stood upon the hills,
And also in the village valleys!
What sign-posts of the soul they were,
What ways and means for "inward" rallies!
How quick their slender steeples caught
The early morn's flirtatious ray!—
Too bad the churchliest church of all
Is marked to pass away.

What art the old-time builders used,
The Wrennish spire, the Doric pillar!
The hand-made pews of fragrant pine
Unvexed by stain or "Sweedish filler:"
They lay upon the landscape's lap,
Like jewels on a lady's tray—
Those temples with their stately spires,
A-doomed to pass away.

I wonder what we stand for now,
We folks whose forbears separated
From too much form—a-scrambling back
To just the things our forbears hated?
We've even got a "service" up,
We often read the prayers we pray—
The old white-steepled meetinghouse,
Of course, must pass away.





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