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Title: Needs And Powers
Author: Jared Barhite [
More Titles by Barhite]
I know of no profession
'Mong profane or divine,
Excelling in its mission
The power embraced in mine.
It reaches earth and heaven
Through heart and soul of man,
It lives beyond the present--
Eternity doth span.
Mind in its first formation,
While in its plastic state,
Receives primal impressions
Which make it vile or great.
When soil of thought is fertile
And ready for the seeds,
It may bring precious fruitage,
Or vile and noxious weeds.
No sower should be careless,
For harvest much depends
Upon the well-selected seeds,
With mental soil he blends.
If field be rich and mellow
And no good seed be sown,
With tangled mass of vileness
It will be overgrown,
And shield the deadly serpent,
The basilisk of sin,
That far exhales its pois'nous breath,
Then crawls its den within.
No atoms of pollution
In matter e'er was known,
So vile or so destructive
As soul by sin o'erthrown.
The vilest spot upon the earth,
Through sunshine, air, and rain,
May be transformed in ev'ry part
And purified again.
The fields where chaos reigned supreme
And Nature frowned aghast,
By patient-toil have fruitage borne
And blossomed fragrance cast.
The wreck of spheres by traction's laws
Hurled wildly into space,
May gather atoms round itself
And find some resting place
Where it may serve creation's end,
And 'mong the planets roll,
True to the laws of gravity
That marks its outer pole.
The mind and soul can never
Within themselves find rest,
When all the sin's pollutions
Are harbored in the breast.
Then sow good seed, brave teacher,
And deeply plant with care,
That both here and hereafter
Rich harvest it may bear.
The sowing may be silent--
It may be but a tear,
Its strength is in its purpose,
Its aim must be sincere.
It should not be a rite or creed,
But wider far than these,
It should encompass God and man,
Home and antipodes.
To learn the truths of science,
Know tables, books and charts,
To analyze the potent thrill
That fires all earnest hearts,
To revel in the mysteries
That lie deep in the earth,
To give the proper data
When planets had their birth,
To know the exact elements
That constitute the sun,
The causes why swift currents
Within the ocean run,
The ratio of the vapors
That color sunset skies,
Time's infinitesimal fraction
When planets set and rise,
To solve the problems of the air,
The secrets of the deep,
Are all intrinsic subjects
And worthy of our keep.
But these alone are worthless,
They need augmented force
To lead mind toward the fountain
From which it had its source.
They leave one vital question--
Development of man--
Without e'en crude solution,
Without a working plan.
They leave the mighty problem
Of Maker and the Made,
Devoid of any sequence,
Or any plan portrayed.
These are of greatest moment
To persons and to State,
Upon their wise adjustment
Must hang progression's fate.
Cold are the truths of science,
Lifeless their every plan,
Until in living presence,
They're crystalized in man.
As hidden truths are useless
And aid not human skill,
So slumber mighty forces
Through lack of human will.
To know the right is not enough,
It must be given power
Through culture of the heart and soul,
If it shall blessings shower.
To State, to manhood and to God
Must mind be wholly given,
Ere truth will shine a beacon light,
To illumine earth and heaven.
All things were made but to subserve
Man's powers to improve,
And beautify his being here
Through charity and love.
Power, gold, and wealth are agencies
Placed in a creature's hand
To serve an end, but not to rule,--
Obey, but not command.
As mind and soul matter surpass
And error flies from truth,
So should we train the nobler parts
Of plastic, trusting youth.
The sacred man by God ordained,
Links sinful earth with heaven,
But his success oft must depend
On how instruction's given.
The holy task of training mind
Is not a trivial thing,
Its influence lives, grows and expands
Till harvest it shall bring.
No task, to human hands assigned,
Excels in force and weight
The grave responsibilities
Of those who educate.
Let knowledge of the sciences,
Skill in didactic art,
Power in the impulse of the soul
A knowledge to impart,
A love for God and human kind,
Forgetfulness of self,
A heart devoted to the cause
More than to worldly pelf,
Be given as a heritage
To those who fain would teach,
Then living truth shall flourish,
And all mankind shall reach.
* * * * *
There's an ebb and flow of sentiment
In educational tides,
Which oft discards some solid old facts,
And on wild new hobbies rides.
The educator of modern times
Must prove the false and the true,
Hold fast the worthy of the old,
Unprejudiced, test the new.
[The end]
Jared Barhite's poem: Needs And Powers
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