Voices; Birth-Marks; The Man and the Elephant

VOICES
BIRTH-MARKS
THE MAN AND THE ELEPHANT
MATT J. HOLT
Author of Chit-Chat, Nirvana
LOUISVILLE
THE STANDARD PRINTING CO., Inc.
1922
Copyrighted 1922
by The Author
Knowest thou only the language of man? Hast never heard the plaintive flute of Pan, Or those gladsome carols that greet the light? Or the wild, strange voices of darkest night? Each of earth’s creatures when at work or play, Each of nature’s force in some strange way, Has a manner of attaining to God’s ear, And a voice which those attuned may hear. Voices of spring are love songs of the birds, Fragrant poems of lilacs, lacking words; Summer voices are of riper, mellower strain; Autumn’s, sing of harvest and life not vain; Winter tells the story of what has been, Season of reflection, of the voice within, Promise of tomorrow, freedom from sin.
Big Creek bisects the narrow valley and the road to Hyden follows the bank, crossing from side to side as the sheerness of the mountain side makes necessary. Here and there the valley broadens until there is almost enough level land for a farm; and always where there is a little width of valley you find a mountain home. The mountain tops and sides are great wildernesses, though sometimes in a cove or on the plateau a hermit or outcast family makes its home.