Note from the Editor: This poem, featured in the August 1915 edition of "The Builder" by fellow Michigan Mason L.B. Mitchell chronicles the ever increasing journey of a Mason to find further light in Masonry. Enjoy!
As I look down the misty past
Through its vistas dim and weird and vast,
Through the centuries of life and joy
And the monuments of its employ,
My craving centers in the plea
For "further light in Masonry."
The stones were from the quarries raised,
And paths through mighty forests blazed.
The throbbing heart of labor then
Was in the patient days of men.
But much is vague, and hence my plea
For "further light in Masonry."
And as the craftsman learned the arts
Of the operative in all its parts,
And traveled to foreign lands away
To wages earn and skill display,
My heart goes with them in the plea
For "further light in Masonry."
And as those builders, great in heart
And in the world's then foremost art
Sought in themselves the nobler things
That brotherhood unfailing brings,
I catch their spirit in my plea
For "further light in Masonry."
And O, what minds conceived the plan
Of working out the art for man
From the symbols to the lessons taught
That have so long such blessings brought!
My wonder accentuates the plea
For "further light in Masonry."
And through it all their work so rare
Was guarded with such tender care
That centuries of dire unrest
Left all their landmarks at their best.
All this gives interest to my plea
For "further light in Masonry."
Than this, there is no richer field.
The quest, the rarest treasures yield.
And the rewards? O brother mine,
They may not all be known in time.
Let life be one insistent plea
For "further light in Masonry."
Bro. L.B. Mitchell
Grand Lodge of Michigan F.&A.M.
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