Classic and Contemporary Poetry
LINES TO THE BOSTON Y.M.C.A., by CHARLES LOUIS HENRY WAGNER First Line: Thou mighty force which builds today and well Last Line: Has made this great association last. Subject(s): Buildings & Builders; Walls | ||||||||
On the laying of the corner-stone of the New Building, October 3, 1912. A signed copy of this poem was deposited in the cornerstone box of the Y. M. C. A. Building Thou mighty force which builds today and well A fitting home to give expression to Thy noble work which has no parallel In this our day; we pledge to thee anew Our strength, our love; and fervently we pray That He Whose life has been thy glowing light Will bless these walls which symbolize the way Thou doest good,the way of building right Builder in men of character sublime, Whose life outlasts such monuments as these Which must give way to all-destroying Time Despite their strength, and fall when Age decrees, Thy work shall last; thy noblest building stands Defying all the elements and e'en Eternity, It is a house that was not made by hands, Its cornerstone,the Holy Trinity. Teacher of Truth, men's bodies thou hast shown To be the biding place of greater things Than e'er were dreamed, or by our fathers known, The gods of health, long bound by custom's strings; Thou makest men where brutes had seemed to dwell, Thou findest depths where shallows heretofore Had marked Life's sea;thou always builded well For no reward but Love,received no more. If all the deeds which glorify thy past Were marked by stones and built within this wall, The World would stand amazed because so vast Would be this pile that naught could hold it all; Were half the things made possible through thee, Or quarter known, thy name would ring for aye Through unborn years, and men thy worth would see, And pray the Lord thy strength to amplify. Rise up, ye walls, your heads in splendor lift, No grander heritage than yours I ken, For you shall house God's greatest, noblest gift To mortal kindthe gift to work for men. Build strong, ye builders, typify in stone The divine attitude which marks the past, The sacrificial spirit, which alone Has made this great Association last. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LIFE OF TOWNS: TOWN OF THE WRONG QUESTIONS by ANNE CARSON COMES WINTER, THE SEA HUNTING by NORMAN DUBIE ATMOSPHERE; INSCRIPTION FOR A GARDEN WALL by ROBERT FROST UP AGAINST IT by ELEANOR WILNER BARTLEBY AT THE WALL by JACK GILBERT WALLS by WILLIAM HERVEY ALLEN JR. A DROP OF INK by CHARLES LOUIS HENRY WAGNER |
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