I.
The thoughtful student of modern, social, and economic conditions, who reads the accompanying rhymed satire, "The Story of an Ostrich," will discover in it much more than the mere words would ordinarily convey, and will read into it such measure of philosophy as his own experience and critical study of the problem of human existence may have prepared him for.
When, ten thousand years ago, the owl sat in the light of the moon and unknown deities spat wisdom into the philosophies of Hermes and Zoroaster and their more or less erudite predecessors, the earliest gods, with their bird-like heads and male bodies, were yet vehicles of truth, elevating the frail stock of humanity over which they threw their benign influences.
Since recorded history began, the world has had many gods, and many books concerning them have been written, determining by much labor of the head which should be worshiped, rather than impressing the heart with sincere desire to travel in divinely appointed ways. As "the mere grasses," priests and kings have trampled upon the masses—have been at once their masters, their deities and interpreters of deity. Their rank materialism has always complacently overrated itself, while the world, which labors and runs, has ever been chained to and crushed beneath it. Man knew not the power of God within himself.
Although, from his youth up, they'd always been going,
His mental inertia prevented his knowing
That all lofty heads must have good understanding,
To retain, out of hand, a position commanding;
So, he would still peck, though it hurt, and despise them,
And swear, by the gods, he would not recognise them!
But those homely feet, which for long had done duty:
Mid lowly conditions, lay'ng no claim to beauty
Of pinion, or plume, yet upholding together
The framework of bone, with its blood, flesh and feather,—
The which makes an ostrich of wit and assurance,—
At last reached the limit of patient endurance.
They turned about, then,—the proverbial worm,—
And punched his head hard,—to use a slang term;
So forceful and rapid they got in their work,
The ostrich, in agony, let out a "quirk!"
As, weakened by suff'ring, disheartened by pain,
A hint of the truth dawned upon his dull brain.
