He made and loveth all.
Only one complete poem was to be memorized during the session. What should it be? With the world so full of poet lore to choose from, should it be Burns’ “To a Mountain Daisy,” Bryant’s “To a Waterfowl,” Lanier’s “Ballad of Trees and the Master,” Wordsworth’s “The Daffodils,” Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar” or should some other gem of poetry be bestowed on those who possessed not even one? The one who introduces the first poem to students like these stands on holy ground, and should prayerfully make the choice. As literature, the selection made might be criticised by some, but as the needed inspiration, the choice was one that met the test.
A man who was for twenty-five years president of a normal school in the mountains, visited the moonlight schools and on hearing the students recite this poem, said, “If these men and women learn nothing else besides this poem during the session it has been worth while for them to attend.” It was Longfellow’s “Psalm of Life” and the sentiment expressed in these two stanzas found an answering echo in their hearts:
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle,
Be a hero in the strife.
…
Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate,