attainment, is the true
joy of living. Perilous are the conditions of attainment. The goal is
seldom in sight. We are driven on from dream to dream, and to awake is
to lose the charm of existence. No pearl grows in the shell without the
pressure of some irritating substance; and no boy becomes a man until he
has felt the sting of opposition, discouragement, defeat, and has
pursued shadows with an unfaltering faith.

SHADOWS

Phantom of being, Protean face,
Parasite of rock, of towers and man
Since sun and matter erst began,
Fleet vanisher from our embrace,
Thy fairy forms the faithful ape
Of substance; all the landscape
In thy mimic loom mere woven air
Where naught is real yet all is fair;
Taunting us with bold mockeries
And willing cheats and splendid lies,
Deceiving all sense save the eyes.
Flying without wings
Gigantic o'er the mountain's knees;
Or of tiniest things
Etching their wavy images;
Or playing some fantastic trick
To please the fancy of a child;
Or tireless watcher of the sick
When others are by sleep beguiled.
Thou follower of sun and moon,
Gatherer of the undulating mass
Through which no light may pass,
Over the whole world darkening soon,
Or standing steadfast all an afternoon
Behind some oak tree's ancient crown
Until the lingered sun goes down--
Give to the weary traveller repose
In thy cool umbrageous tent,
And to the husbandman, who goes
To thee by heat and toil forespent,
Give sleep, and let thy veil his limbs enclose.

ECHO

Echo is mate of shadow and of shade,
Saying only what is given it to say;
Hiding in wall or cave or wooded glade,
Without ideas, sound with sound at play.

But thou, sweet echo, art my faithful friend;
For when my simple songs on all ears die
Thou art responsive to the very end,
And answerest them with perfect flattery.

HOLIDAYS

In the small towns of Norfolk County, even as late as the middle of the
nineteenth century, Christmas was not kept as a holiday. The people
adhered mainly to the Congregational and Baptist faiths. Christmas was
in some way associated with Popish superstitions. The Woman in Scarlet
was still preached against and feared as became the sons and daughters
of the Puritans. I have never forgotten my childish vision of this
wonderful creature, a visi