1
HESPERIAN STUDENT
K
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA.
Vol. XII.
LINCOLN, NEB., MARCH 3, 1884.
No. X.
li
y
On MITER DAY POEM.
11Y AWANNNA II. K. 1'AINTEK.
Westward tho course of cmplru takOB hor way,
Tho four first acts already past:
A illfth shall close the drama of the day,
Tlmo's noblest offspring Is hor last.
'Jlerktltv .
That was a grand and glorious day
Whon Progress, tired of eastern pedant's sway,
Scanned tho horizon, seeking for a spot
Whore sho might found an empire of her own,
Where sho herself should wear tho regal crown.
Untrammelled Science then might cast her lot,
And flourish side by side with classic lore;
Opprossed Religion thoro should tlry her tears.
Sho found a homo on wild Now England's shore,
And flourished thcro for many, many years.
Then temples grew like magic 'neath her hand.
And many halls of learning vast and grand
Shcbulldcd. Ilut tho spirit tliut had wrought
Tho changes of all nations over sought
Her empire to oxtend, and toward the west
Again she turned her eyes sho know no rost,
She marched her army onward toward the west.
But meanwhllo, In tho oastorn homo sho loved,
The homo sho had chosen and approved
Conservatism rose and sought to hind
With canons, codes and rules, tho maidens mind.
Long was the strife, each step was hardly won
That either gained. Still toward tho sotting suu
Progression turned her saddened, longing eyos.
Before her in a vision seemed to rise
The eternal hills wcro Freedom holds her court.
And then with a decision firm and short,
Sho flung the iron fetters that had bound
Her cruelly so long upon tho ground:
And stdpplng forth announced defiantly,
"In spite of all your dogma I am free!
I'll biilld an institution now" she said,
"Of which I shall bo tho acknowledged head,
And In Its hall6 I will erect u shrtne.
And all who enter it shall worship there
Truth, Fredom, Learning shall by right dlvino
Up patron saints and lead their fostorlng care."
At last upon Nebraska's plain
Sho found her sought for refuge, and again
Sho saw beneath America's blue ekios
Tho towers of her citadels arise.
Behold the work she wrought 1
Bohold n home of thought
Upon that desert plain !
What was two decades ago an arid wasto
Is now tho home of culture and of taste,
Two decades since this was tho red man's home
And even now, with sorrow's downcast mien,
Aged and dusky figures have been seen,
Still lingering where tholr trlbos were wont to roam
Perchance thcro Ho tho graves of Indian dead,
Wboro now this thriving city rearc Its head,
And as a roproaentatlvc of thought
Ofcnltn.o and of power this schooi shall stand,
Guarded by Froodom ad Learning hand in hand,
With Truth, there Progress found the horns sho son'glit',
Whon Orcoco was young
Her swoctcKt songs wcro sung.
Those mon who gave more lustro to hor name.
And for thomsolves have galnod undying fame,
Llvod In tho morning of her years .
So may't bo hero, while still in youth,
Theso halls tho citadels of Truth,
And you hor champions, with sword and shield,
Go-promptly bring tho honors from tho flold.
Dut yestero'on a vision came to mo
That promised you a brilliant destiny.
Lo, down tho valley where the shadows meet
Tho sun went down upon this century,
I saw Its last beams lingering lovingly
Upon thoso spires, then flod tho crimson streak,
And from those doors went forth a noblo band
Of poote, statesman and phl.osophors,
To catch tho light then streaming o'er tho land
From twenty centuries,
Boalnd them all Darao Progress stood and smiled
To soo tho glory of her child.
February lGth, '84.
M. do Losseps predicts tli&t I ho Panama canal will
ready for uao before 1888.
bo
-"William Black's new novel, "Judith Shakespeare," Is
attracting considerable attention.
It pays to lo a royal author. Ten thousand copies of
Queen Victoria's new book wore sold the first day.
Tho first tragedy overwritten in America was from tho
pen of a Hurvard student and was first played by tho stu.
dents of that university.
An effort is being inado to h ivo congress insert a
clause in tbe copy-right laws, which will give thoso who
pay lor Associated Press dispatches absolute ownership
in them for twenly-four hours after publication.
Tho porfuct man, according to Prof. Huxley, is one
whoso intellect is a clear, cold logic-onglno, with nil
its parts of equal strength' and' In smooth workingorder
ready, like a steam-engine, to be turned to all kinds or
work."
Wendell Phil'.pps graduated 'from Harvard in 1880 at
tho ago of nineteen The probable reason that so many
graduated at so early an age in those days is to be found
in ihofticl that the requirements of admission were not so
great nor tho courses of study so dilllcult nb at present.
Longfellow, Emerson, Lowell, Whittier and Hawthorne
all graduated while in their teens.
