Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FREEMASONRY, by CARROLL RYAN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FREEMASONRY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: As through the dreary wilderness
Last Line: Which will unite them there.
Alternate Author Name(s): Ryan, William Thomas Carroll
Subject(s): Death; Freemasons; Heaven; Immortality; Memory; Presence; Dead, The; Masonic Societies; Paradise


As through the dreary wilderness
The chosen people bore,
In danger, exile and distress,
The ark of God; and o'er
Their path an awful presence rose,
Alike in labor and repose,
Eternally before—

So through the wilderness of time
Through ages long and dark,
Is borne in majesty sublime
Our sacred, mystic ark;
And though that awful Presence may
Not meet our gaze by night and day,
Our souls retain its mark.

When rash and cruel foes assailed
With blind and furious hate,
The Sacred Order still prevailed
More gloriously great;
And round its mystic symbols stand
The good and wise of ev'ry land
Immovable as fate.

And, like to them, within our hearts
We keep the unrevealed;
As God in earth's most secret parts
Most precious things concealed.
For he who seeks a lofty prize
Must learn to labor and be wise,
And never faint nor yield.

The work your hands have done is small
To what must yet be done,
Ere ye shall hear the Master's call
Beyond the rising sun.
The star which erst afforded light
Must sink at last in endless night—
Its final cycle run.

But o'er the tomb transgression made
The evergreen shall grow;
For those who rest beneath its shade
Another star will glow.
In Heaven's eastern portal grand
The Master Architect shall stand,
All worthy craftsmen know.

The temple then will be complete,
The labor all be o'er;
And the Great Lodge on high will meet,
To close not evermore,
Within the city which the Seer
At Patmos saw in Heaven appear,
Unseen by man before.

Then from the south, and east, and west,
The toilers shall repair
To find an everlasting rest
From grief, and pain, and care,
With wisdom, strength and beauty crown'd
Immortal as the love profound,
Which will unite them there.





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