-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
> Sextus H. Shearer Huntington March 4, 1865 Mustered
> out as Major with regiment.
> Major
>
>
> FORTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT INDIANA VOLUNTEERS / OFFICERS
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
>
>
> *Edward Rowland Sill*: (S&B -1861) An Early American Poet
>
> *Edward Rowland Sill* (S&B -1861) was born in Windsor, Connecticut,
> in 1841. His mother's side of the family was religious, while his
> father's family was scientific. Deeply rooted in New England
> heritage, the Sill family could trace their ancestry back to
> *Jonathan Edwards*. Sill's background in religion and science led
> him to a life-long struggle between faith and doubt. He has been
> described as a /"poet of antithesis, torn between intellectual
> conviction and spiritual question" /(Ferguson 1). These qualities
> strongly shaped his personality as well as his writing style, and
> influenced him throughout his life as a poet and teacher.
>
> As a child, Sill was weak and constantly in poor health, leading to
> a chosen life of seclusion. Although he remained active in his
> later years both teaching and writing, Sill constantly struggled
> with his introspective qualities. He was quiet and shy, despite
> a /"talent for friendship"/ (Ferguson 22), which he displayed upon
> entering Yale at age sixteen. At Yale, Sill spent two years in
> academic rebellion, refusing to conform to general expectations,
> and instead choosing to think for himself and follow his thirst for
> knowledge. During his last two years at Yale he matured into a deep
> thinker, still yearning for ultimate knowledge. The poems Sill
> published in the/ Yale Literary Magazine/ signaled the start of his
> writing career.
>
> Despite his university education, Sill remained indecisive about
> his future career. His love of knowledge pulled him in all
> directions, from writing to medicine. To make his final decision,
> he moved to California with his good friend *Sextus Shearer* (S&B -
> 1861). Ultimately, Sill spent a majority of his life writing and
> teaching, both on the East coast and the West. Constantly traveling
> across the country, he was torn between his two homes, and between
> his religious faith and scientific knowledge. Sill died on February
> 27, 1887, in Cleveland, Ohio. Ferguson concludes that, "To the end
> of his life he was, in his own phrase,
>
> . . . a clouded spirit; full of doubt
>
> And old misgiving, heaviness of heart
>
> And loneliness of mind; long wearied out
>
> With climbing stairs that lead to nothing sure,
>
> With chasing lights that lure,
>
> In the thick murk that wraps us all about.
> (201)
>
> Edward Rowland Sill's thought and writing were both largely
> influenced by the works he read -- namely Charles Dickens and
> especially Alfred, Lord Tennyson, whom he idolized as the /"king of
> poets"/ (Ferguson 26). However, Sill often took advice from his
> close friends at Yale, with whom he shared his work. His friend,
> *Henry Holt* (father of *Henry Chandler Holt* - S&B -1903),
> arranged for the publication of Sill's first volume of poems.
> Sextus Shearer, Sill's closest friend, guided him through years of
> indecision about his career and supported him in everything he
> attempted.
>
> Ferguson often compares Sill to both Emerson and Thoreau. Like
> Emerson, Sill had deep family roots in the New England church; both
> men went through times of turning away from their ancestors'
> religion. Like Thoreau at Walden, Sill isolated himself at Yale in
> a quest for knowledge. Sill was both an idealist and a realist in
> his thinking -- yet another dichotomy in his personality. He
> believed that /"the poet's calling was sacred, since the poet
> served as interpreter between man and God"/ (Ferguson 43).
>
> Although Edward Sill wrote beautifully, his isolation from most
> literary circles left him forgotten among the more famous poets of
> his time. While he published many poems and some works of prose in
> literary magazines and reviews, most of his published work has been
> posthumous, with only one published volume of collected prose and
> one volume of poetry (Cambridge History). Sill's poems do not
> reflect the whole of his life. According to /Cambridge History/,
> "[Sill's] overmodest mind . . . together with his unresolved
> struggle of faith and doubt, encouraged his tendency to rest in the
> unrecorded thought - to read widely, to feel and reflect
> abundantly, rather than to shape his conception in the concrete poem."
>
> _
>
> A Brief Discussion of Works by the Famous Early American Poet
> Edward R. Sill
>
> _
>
> Edward R. Sill wrote many works, the most famous of which are "The
> Fool's Prayer" and "Opportunity" (see below). Often, Sill's works
> show signs of his struggle with faith, religion, and knowledge. He
> wrote poems that reach readers' hearts, making them look inside
> themselves and examine their values. Evidencing a contemplative
> nature, Sill did not seek fame with his poems, yet they demonstrate
> a keen understanding of human nature and inner conflict---aspects
> most people can easily relate to.
>
> In /The Fool's Prayer/, Sill sets the stage for a common jester to
> teach a moral lesson, touching the heart of a wise king. The jester
> ends his prayer with the lines:
>
> "Earth bears no balsam for mistakes;
>
> Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool
>
> That did his will; but Thou, O Lord,
>
> Be merciful to me, a fool!"
>
> The room was hushed; in silence rose
>
> The King, and sought his gardens cool,
>
> And walked apart, and murmured low,
>
> "Be merciful to me, a fool!"
>
> Through the fool's sincere prayer, which confronts us with so many
> truths, the king's guests are awed to silence. One can imagine a
> mood of quiet self-evaluation, as each listener must face the fact
> that the fool has uttered words of wisdom and heart-felt
> repentance. Separating himself, the king then offers his own
> simple, humble prayer, acknowledging that he, like most people, can
> justifiably be titled /"fools"/ requiring mercy. The substance at
> the core of this poem is that not all rich, honored men are wise,
> but those we esteem most highly can be taught a lesson by others,
> even a/ "fool."/
>
> /Opportunity/ is a relatively short poem that succeeds in capturing
> the essence of a true hero and warrior in the scene it depicts.
> This poem shows how inner strength, determination, and attitude
> make a winner, not simply circumstances. When the battle is raging
> with little hope of victory, the weaker men will relinquish effort
> in the face of opposition, crying that fate has denied them the
> advantages of their superiors or foes. The most honorable men, on
> the other hand, make themselves aware of their situation, decide
> what they can do with what is available, and give all they have --
> to the last breath -- in fighting. Transforming a /"craven"/
> soldier's broken, abandoned sword into a fatal weapon, the king's
> son claims victory. But the weapon did not make the man; he gave it
> fearful power.
>
> A similar notion to Sill's /Opportunity/ is reflected in the
> opening lines of Thomas Paine's /The Crisis/: "These are the times
> that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot
> will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but
> he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and
> woman." How easy it is to give up when the going gets tough. The
> true warrior, however, stands strong during hard times, fighting to
> the end with conviction, despite negative circumstances that may
> seem unbearable. This is the man who embodies the admirable
> qualities we should strive for in ourselves and respect in others.
>
> Exemplifying the important role of religion in his life, Sill often
> refers to God, and pleas for help on Earth, in a repentful air for
> the mankind's ungodly ways. In the beautiful poem, /"//Send Down
> Thy Truth, O God"/ (see below), the speaker implores God to send
> His guiding help for mankind. Sill obviously viewed God as an
> eminent, higher being who deserves our praise and whom we should
> strive to please.
>
> Although not as widely read as many of the early American poets,
> Sill deserves our attention. Demonstrating a reflective, self-
> searching, questioning quality, Sill's works are worthy to be
> included in the American Literary canon. His perspective can be
> uplifting and reproachful, seeing the good in some men while
> admonishing the weakness in others.
>
> * *
>
> * *
>
> * *
>
> * *
>
> * *
>
> * *
>
> * *
>
> *The Fool's Prayer*
>
> * *
>
> The royal feast was done; the King
> Sought out some new sport to banish care,
> And to his jester cried: "Sir Fool,
> Kneel now, and make for us a prayer!"
>
> The jester doffed his cap and bells,
> And stood the mocking court before;
> They could not see the bitter smile
> Behind the painted grin he wore.
>
> He bowed his head, and bent his knee
> Upon the monarch's silken stool;
> His pleading voice arose: "O Lord,
> Be merciful to me, a fool!
>
> "No pity, Lord, could change the heart
> From red with wrong to white as wool;
> The rod must heal the sin: but Lord,
> Be merciful to me, a fool!
>
> "'Tis not by guilt the onward sweep
> Of truth and right, O Lord, we stay;
> 'Tis by our follies that so long
> We hold the earth from heaven away.
>
> "These clumsy feet, still in the mire,
> Go crushing blossoms without end;
> These hard, well-meaning hands we thrust
> Among the heart-strings of a friend.
>
> "The ill-timed truth we might have kept-
> Who knows how sharp it pierced and stung?
> The word we had not sense to say-
> Who knows how grandly it had rung?
>
> "Our faults no tenderness should ask,
> The chastening stripes must cleanse them all;
> But for out blunders oh, in shame
> Before the eyes of heaven we fall.
>
> "Earth bears no balsam for mistakes;
> Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool
> That did his will; but Thou, O Lord,
> Be merciful to me, a fool!"
>
> The room was hushed; in silence rose
> The king, and sought his gardens cool,
> And walked apart, and murmured low,
> "Be merciful to me, a fool!"
>
> *
>
>
> Opportunity
>
> *
>
> THIS I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:-
>
> There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;
>
> And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged
>
> A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords
>
> Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince's
> banner
>
> Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by
> foes.
>
> A craven hung along the battle's edge,
>
> And thought, "Had I a sword of keener steel-
>
> That blue blade that the king's son bears,-
> but this
>
> Blunt thing-!" he snapt and flung it from
> his hand,
>
> And lowering crept away and left the field.
>
> Then came the king's son, wounded, sore
> bestead,
>
> And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,
>
> Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,
>
> And ran and snatched it, and with battle-shout
>
> Lifted afresh he hewed his enemy down,
>
> And saved a great cause that heroic day.
>
>
> *
>
> Send Down Thy Truth, O God
>
> *
>
> Send down Thy truth, O God;
> Too long the shadows frown;
> Too long the darkened way we've trod:
> Thy truth, O Lord, send down.
>
> Send down Thy Spirit free,
> Till wilderness and town
> One temple for Thy worship be:
> Thy Spirit, O send down.
>
> Send down Thy love, Thy life,
> Our lesser lives to crown,
> And cleanse them of their hate and strife:
> Thy living love send down.
>
> Send down Thy peace, O Lord:
> Earth's bitter voices drown
> In one deep ocean of accord:
> Thy peace, O God, send down.
>
>
> *Bibliography*
>
> "Edward Rowland Sill." _The Cambridge History of English and
> American Literature in 18_ _Volumes (1907-21)._ XVII.II. 14 Nov.
> 2002 http://www.bartleby.com/227/0314.html
>
> Ferguson, Alfred Riggs. Edward Rowland Sill: The Twilight Poet. The
> Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1955.
>
> Sill, Edward R. "The Fools Prayer." 14 Nov. 2002 http://
> www.eyeontomorrow.com/ embracingthechild/Cfoolspray.html <http:// > www.eyeontomorrow.com/%20embracingthechild/Cfoolspray.html> .
>
> ---. "Opportunity." 14 Nov. 2002 http://www.geocites.com/
> sscolari0001/Opportunity.html <http://www.geocites.com/sscolari0001/ > Opportunity.hyml>
>
> ---. "Send Down Thy Truth , O God." 14 Nov. 2002 http://
> www.cyberhymnal.org/ hym/s/d/sdttogod.htm <http:// > www.cyberhymnal.org/%20hym/s/d/sdttogod.htm>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
>
> During the decade of the thirties a person standing in Delaware
> Street facing this house, could plainly see on the ridge of ground
> to the northwest the mansion built by Pierre A. BARKER, now the
> residence of Franklin SIDWAY, and also to the right of it the house
> of Israel T. HATCH, where he resided many years, now the home of
> John S. NOYES; intermediate were but few objects to obstruct the
> view. Looking down /"Delaware" /there were but few scattered houses
> to interfere with the overlook to the bay.
>
> When this place was being constructed, the people of whom the
> greater number lived down town, were frequent visitors to it,
> inspecting its progress; it was an excursion of a Sunday to walk up
> town so far, to view it, and when finished it was as /"Johnson's
> Cottage"/ the attractive show place of the town, and of our first
> Mayor.
>
> There is a lady now living on /"Johnson Park," /Mrs. Horace UTLEY -
> a daughter of Doctor Ebenezer JOHNSON, who was born in
> the /"Cottage"/ when he resided there.
>
> Nothing to the north of this cottage until you came to the large
> old mansion, built in 1835, and in which lived *Sextus SHEARER*.
> This was the end of Delaware Street, beyond which was a straggling
> country road, but very little used. On the road near the Ferry Road
> [now Ferry Street], lived a well known Buffalonian, Henry P.
> RUSSELL. The SHEARER house stands on the corner of allen Street; in
> the thirties Mr. SHEARER was an enterprising hardware merchant, did
> business on Main Street, below the bridge at No. 84 [old number].
> He moved from here to St. Louis and after he was sixty studied law,
> was admitted to and practiced at the bar. Since Mr. SHEARER lived
> there it has undergone many changes and owners; it was at one time
> the Catholic Seminary of the /"Sacred Heart."/ The daughter of
> President Fillmore was a student at this school. The place has been
> owned at different times by Joseph CHRISTOPHER, Hiram NILES, S.N.
> DERRICK, Stephen D. CALDWELL, and more recently by George B. GATES,
> where his widow and their daughter now reside.
>
> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~redrobyn/The_Thirties.html
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
>
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> <html>
> <head>
> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content- >
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> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
> <table x:str="" style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: > fixed; width: 738pt;" border="0"
cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" > width="981">
> <tbody>
> <tr style="height: 12.75pt;" height="17">
> <td class="xl25">Sextus H. Shearer</td>
> <td class="xl25">Huntington</td>
> <td class="xl25">March 4, 1865</td>
> <td class="xl25"> </td>
> <td class="xl25">Mustered out as Major with regiment.</td>
> </tr>
> <tr style="height: 12.75pt;" height="17">
> <td class="xl25" style="height: 12.75pt;" height="17"> </td>
> <td class="xl26">Major</td>
> </tr>
> </tbody>
> </table>
> <br>
> <a name="FORTY_SEVENTH_REGIMENT_INDIANA_VOLUNTEERS">FORTY-SEVENTH
> REGIMENT INDIANA VOLUNTEERS / OFFICERS<br>
> <br>
> </a>
> <hr size="2" width="100%"><a >
name="FORTY_SEVENTH_REGIMENT_INDIANA_VOLUNTEERS"><br>
> <br>
> </a>
> <p align="center"><font color="#ff0000"><b>Edward Rowland Sill</b>:
> (S&B -1861)</font> An Early American Poet</p>
> <p><font color="#ff0000"><b>Edward Rowland Sill</b> (S&B -1861)
> </font>was
> born in Windsor, Connecticut, in 1841. His mother's
> side of the family was religious, while his father's family was
> scientific.
> Deeply rooted in New England heritage, the Sill family could trace
> their
> ancestry back to <b>Jonathan Edwards</b>. Sill's background in
> religion and science led
> him to a life-long struggle between faith and doubt. He has been
> described as a
> <i>"poet of antithesis, torn between intellectual conviction and
> spiritual
> question" </i>(Ferguson 1). These qualities strongly shaped his
> personality as
> well as his writing style, and influenced him throughout his life as a
> poet and
> teacher.</p>
> <p>As a child, Sill was weak and constantly in poor health, leading to
> a chosen
> life of seclusion. Although he remained active in his later years both
> teaching
> and writing, Sill constantly struggled with his introspective
> qualities. He was
> quiet and shy, despite a <i>"talent for friendship"</i> (Ferguson 22),
> which
> he displayed upon entering Yale at age sixteen. At Yale, Sill spent
> two
> years in
> academic rebellion, refusing to conform to general expectations, and
> instead
> choosing to think for himself and follow his thirst for knowledge.
> During his
> last two years at Yale he matured into a deep thinker, still yearning
> for
> ultimate knowledge. The poems Sill published in the<i> Yale Literary
> Magazine</i>
> signaled the start of his writing career.</p>
> <p>Despite his university education, Sill remained indecisive about
> his
> future
> career. His love of knowledge pulled him in all directions, from
> writing to
> medicine. To make his final decision, he moved to California with his
> good
> friend <font color="#ff0000"><b>Sextus Shearer</b> (S&B - 1861)
> </font>.
> Ultimately, Sill spent a majority of his life writing and
> teaching, both on the East coast and the West. Constantly traveling
> across the
> country, he was torn between his two homes, and between his religious
> faith and
> scientific knowledge. Sill died on February 27, 1887, in Cleveland,
> Ohio.
> Ferguson concludes that, "To the end of his life he was, in his own
> phrase,</p>
> <blockquote>
> <blockquote>
> <blockquote>
> <blockquote>
> <p>. . . a clouded spirit; full of doubt</p>
> <p>And old misgiving, heaviness of heart</p>
> <p>And loneliness of mind; long wearied out</p>
> <p>With climbing stairs that lead to nothing sure,</p>
> <p>With chasing lights that lure,</p>
> </blockquote>
> </blockquote>
>
> <p> &
> nbsp; In the thick murk that wraps us all
> about. (201)</p>
> </blockquote>
> </blockquote>
> <p>Edward Rowland Sill's thought and writing were both largely
> influenced by the
> works he read – namely Charles Dickens and especially Alfred,
> Lord
> Tennyson,
> whom he idolized as the <i>"king of poets"</i> (Ferguson 26). However,
> Sill
> often took advice from his close friends at Yale, with whom he shared
> his work.
> His friend, <b>Henry Holt</b> (<font color="#ff0000">father of
> <b>Henry
> Chandler Holt</b> - S&B -1903)</font>, arranged for the
> publication
> of Sill's first volume of
> poems. Sextus Shearer, Sill’s closest friend, guided him
> through years
> of
> indecision about his career and supported him in everything he
> attempted.</p>
> <p>Ferguson often compares Sill to both Emerson and Thoreau. Like
> Emerson, Sill
> had deep family roots in the New England church; both men went through
> times of
> turning away from their ancestors' religion. Like Thoreau at Walden,
> Sill
> isolated himself at Yale in a quest for knowledge. Sill was both an
> idealist and
> a realist in his thinking – yet another dichotomy in his
> personality.
> He
> believed that <i>"the poet's calling was sacred, since the poet served
> as
> interpreter between man and God"</i> (Ferguson 43).</p>
> <p>Although Edward Sill wrote beautifully, his isolation from most
> literary
> circles left him forgotten among the more famous poets of his time.
> While he
> published many poems and some works of prose in literary magazines and
> reviews,
> most of his published work has been posthumous, with only one
> published
> volume
> of collected prose and one volume of poetry (Cambridge History).
> Sill's
> poems do
> not reflect the whole of his life. According to <i>Cambridge
> History</i>,
> "[Sill's] overmodest mind . . . together with his unresolved struggle
> of
> faith and doubt, encouraged his tendency to rest in the unrecorded
> thought - to
> read widely, to feel and reflect abundantly, rather than to shape his
> conception
> in the concrete poem."</p>
> <u>
> <p align="center">A Brief Discussion of Works by the Famous Early
> American Poet
> Edward R. Sill</p>
> </u><font size="2">
> </font>
> <p>Edward R. Sill wrote many works, the most famous of which are
> "<font size="2">The
> Fool’s Prayer"</font> and "<font size="2">Opportunity" (see
> below)</font>. Often, Sill’s works show signs of his struggle
> with
> faith,
> religion, and knowledge. He wrote poems that reach readers’
> hearts,
> making
> them look inside themselves and examine their values. Evidencing a
> contemplative
> nature, Sill did not seek fame with his poems, yet they demonstrate a
> keen
> understanding of human nature and inner conflict—aspects most
> people
> can
> easily relate to.</p>
> <p>In <i>The Fool’s Prayer</i>, Sill sets the stage for a common
> jester to
> teach a moral lesson, touching the heart of a wise king. The jester
> ends his
> prayer with the lines:</p>
> <p align="center">"Earth bears no balsam for mistakes;</p>
> <div align="center"></div>
> <p align="center">Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool</p>
> <div align="center"></div>
> <p align="center">That did his will; but Thou, O Lord,</p>
> <div align="center"></div>
> <p align="center">Be merciful to me, a fool!"</p>
> <div align="center"></div>
> <p align="center">The room was hushed; in silence rose</p>
> <div align="center"></div>
> <p align="center">The King, and sought his gardens cool,</p>
> <div align="center"></div>
> <p align="center">And walked apart, and murmured low,</p>
> <div align="center"></div>
> <p align="center">"Be merciful to me, a fool!"</p>
> <p>Through the fool’s sincere prayer, which confronts us with
> so many
> truths,
> the king’s guests are awed to silence. One can imagine a mood
> of quiet
> self-evaluation, as each listener must face the fact that the fool has
> uttered
> words of wisdom and heart-felt repentance. Separating himself, the
> king
> then
> offers his own simple, humble prayer, acknowledging that he, like most
> people,
> can justifiably be titled <i>"fools"</i> requiring mercy. The
> substance at
> the core of this poem is that not all rich, honored men are wise, but
> those we
> esteem most highly can be taught a lesson by others, even a<i>
> "fool."</i></p>
> <p><i>Opportunity</i> is a relatively short poem that succeeds in
> capturing the
> essence of a true hero and warrior in the scene it depicts. This poem
> shows how
> inner strength, determination, and attitude make a winner, not simply
> circumstances. When the battle is raging with little hope of victory,
> the weaker
> men will relinquish effort in the face of opposition, crying that fate
> has
> denied them the advantages of their superiors or foes. The most
> honorable men,
> on the other hand, make themselves aware of their situation, decide
> what they
> can do with what is available, and give all they have – to
> the last
> breath –
> in fighting. Transforming a <i>"craven"</i> soldier’s broken,
> abandoned
> sword into a fatal weapon, the king’s son claims victory. But
> the
> weapon did
> not make the man; he gave it fearful power.</p>
> <p>A similar notion to Sill’s <i>Opportunity</i> is reflected
> in the
> opening
> lines of Thomas Paine’s <i>The Crisis</i>: "These are the
> times that
> try
> men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot
> will, in this
> crisis,
> shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now,
> deserves
> the love and thanks of man and woman." How easy it is to give up when
> the
> going gets tough. The true warrior, however, stands strong during hard
> times,
> fighting to the end with conviction, despite negative circumstances
> that may
> seem unbearable. This is the man who embodies the admirable qualities
> we should
> strive for in ourselves and respect in others.</p>
> <p>Exemplifying the important role of religion in his life, Sill often
> refers to
> God, and pleas for help on Earth, in a repentful air for the
> mankind’s
> ungodly
> ways. In the beautiful poem, <i><big>"</big></i><font >
size="2"><big><i>Send
> Down Thy Truth, O
> God"</i> </big>(see below)</font>, the speaker implores God to send
> His guiding help
> for mankind. Sill obviously viewed God as an eminent, higher being who
> deserves
> our praise and whom we should strive to please.</p>
> <p>Although not as widely read as many of the early American poets,
> Sill
> deserves our attention. Demonstrating a reflective, self-searching,
> questioning
> quality, Sill’s works are worthy to be included in the American
> Literary
> canon. His perspective can be uplifting and reproachful, seeing the
> good in some
> men while admonishing the weakness in others.</p>
> <b><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT" size="5">
> </font></b>
> <blockquote><b><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT" > size="5">
</font></b>
> <blockquote><b><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT" >
size="5">
> </font></b>
> <blockquote><b><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT" > size="5">
</font></b>
> <blockquote><b><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT" > size="5">
</font></b>
> <blockquote><b><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface > BT" size="5">
</font></b>
> <blockquote><b><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface > BT" size="5">
</font></b>
> <p><b><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT" >
size="5">The
> Fool's Prayer</font></b></p>
> <b><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT" > size="5"> </font></b><font
face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface > BT"> </font>
> <p><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT">The royal
> feast was done; the King<br>
> Sought out some new sport to banish care,<br>
> And to his jester cried: "Sir Fool,<br>
> Kneel now, and make for us a prayer!"</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT">The jester
> doffed his cap and bells,<br>
> And stood the mocking court before;<br>
> They could not see the bitter smile<br>
> Behind the painted grin he wore.</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT">He bowed
> his head, and bent his knee<br>
> Upon the monarch's silken stool;<br>
> His pleading voice arose: "O Lord,<br>
> Be merciful to me, a fool!</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT">"No pity,
> Lord, could change the heart<br>
> From red with wrong to white as wool;<br>
> The rod must heal the sin: but Lord,<br>
> Be merciful to me, a fool!</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT">"'Tis not
> by guilt the onward sweep<br>
> Of truth and right, O Lord, we stay;<br>
> 'Tis by our follies that so long<br>
> We hold the earth from heaven away.</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT">"These
> clumsy feet, still in the mire,<br>
> Go crushing blossoms without end;<br>
> These hard, well-meaning hands we thrust<br>
> Among the heart-strings of a friend.</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT">"The
> ill-timed truth we might have kept-<br>
> Who knows how sharp it pierced and stung?<br>
> The word we had not sense to say-<br>
> Who knows how grandly it had rung?</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT">"Our
> faults no tenderness should ask,<br>
> The chastening stripes must cleanse them all;<br>
> But for out blunders oh, in shame<br>
> Before the eyes of heaven we fall.</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT">"Earth
> bears no balsam for mistakes;<br>
> Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool<br>
> That did his will; but Thou, O Lord,<br>
> Be merciful to me, a fool!"</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT">The room
> was hushed; in silence rose<br>
> The king, and sought his gardens cool,<br>
> And walked apart, and murmured low,<br>
> "Be merciful to me, a fool!"</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </ > font><b><font
face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT" size="5">
> <p> </p>
> <p>Opportunity</p>
> </font></b><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface > BT"
size="4"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"
size="4">T</font><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface BT">HIS I beheld, or dreamed it in
> a dream:-</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface
BT">There spread a cloud of dust
> along a plain;</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface
BT">And underneath the cloud, or
> in it, raged</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface
BT">A furious battle, and men
> yelled, and swords</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface
BT">Shocked upon swords and
> shields. A prince's banner</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface
BT">Wavered, then staggered
> backward, hemmed by foes.</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface
BT">A craven hung along the
> battle's edge,</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface
BT">And thought, "Had I a sword of
> keener steel-</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface
BT">That blue blade that the
> king's son bears,-but this</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface
BT">Blunt thing-!" he snapt and
> flung it from his hand,</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface
BT">And lowering crept away and
> left the field.</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface
BT">Then came the king's son,
> wounded, sore bestead,</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface
BT">And weaponless, and saw the
> broken sword,</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface
BT">Hilt-buried in the dry and
> trodden sand,</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface
BT">And ran and snatched it, and
> with battle-shout</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface
BT">Lifted afresh he hewed his
> enemy down,</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p align="justify"><font face="Tempus Sans > ITC,CaslonOpnface
BT">And saved a great cause that
> heroic day.</font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font>
> <p><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </ >
font></p>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </ > font><b><font
face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT" size="5">
> <p>Send Down Thy Truth, O God</p>
> </font></b><font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT">
> <p>Send down Thy truth, O God;<br>
> Too long the shadows frown;<br>
> Too long the darkened way we’ve trod:<br>
> Thy truth, O Lord, send down.</p>
> <p>Send down Thy Spirit free,<br>
> Till wilderness and town<br>
> One temple for Thy worship be:<br>
> Thy Spirit, O send down.</p>
> <p>Send down Thy love, Thy life,<br>
> Our lesser lives to crown,<br>
> And cleanse them of their hate and strife:<br>
> Thy living love send down.</p>
> <p>Send down Thy peace, O Lord:<br>
> Earth’s bitter voices drown<br>
> In one deep ocean of accord:<br>
> Thy peace, O God, send down.</p>
> </font></blockquote>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font></ >
blockquote>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font></ >
blockquote>
> <font face="Tempus Sans ITC,CaslonOpnface BT"> </font></ >
blockquote>
> </blockquote>
> </blockquote>
> <p> </p>
> <p align="center"><b>Bibliography</b></p>
> <p>"Edward Rowland Sill." <u>The Cambridge History of English and
> American Literature in 18</u> <u>Volumes (1907-21).</u> XVII.II. 14
> Nov. 2002 <font color="#008000"> <a href="http:// > www.bartleby.com/227/0314.html">http://www.bartleby.com/
> 227/0314.html</a></font></p>
> <p>Ferguson, Alfred Riggs. Edward Rowland Sill: The Twilight Poet. The
> Hague:
> Martinus Nijhoff, 1955.</p>
> <p>Sill, Edward R. "The Fools Prayer." 14 Nov. 2002 <a > href="http://www.eyeontomorrow.com/%20embracingthechild/
> Cfoolspray.html">http://www.eyeontomorrow.com/
> embracingthechild/Cfoolspray.html</a> .</p>
> <p>---. "Opportunity." 14 Nov. 2002 <a href="http:// > www.geocites.com/sscolari0001/Opportunity.hyml">http://
> www.geocites.com/sscolari0001/Opportunity.html</a></p>
> <p>---. "Send Down Thy Truth , O God." 14 Nov. 2002 <a > href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/%20hym/s/d/sdttogod.htm">http://
> www.cyberhymnal.org/
> hym/s/d/sdttogod.htm</a></p>
> <br>
> <hr size="2" width="100%">
> <p>During the decade of the thirties a person standing in Delaware
> Street facing
> this house, could plainly see on the ridge of ground to the northwest
> the
> mansion built by Pierre A. BARKER, now the residence of Franklin
> SIDWAY,
> and also to the right of it the house of Israel T. HATCH, where he
> resided
> many years, now the home of John S. NOYES; intermediate were but few
> objects
> to obstruct the view. Looking down <i>"Delaware" </i>there were but
> few scattered
> houses to interfere with the overlook to the bay.
> </p>
> <p>When this place was being constructed, the people of whom the
> greater number
> lived down town, were frequent visitors to it, inspecting its
> progress;
> it
> was an excursion of a Sunday to walk up town so far, to view it, and
> when
> finished it was as <i>"Johnson's Cottage"</i> the attractive show
> place of the town,
> and of our first Mayor.
> </p>
> <p>There is a lady now living on <i>"Johnson Park," </i>Mrs. Horace
> UTLEY - a daughter
> of Doctor Ebenezer JOHNSON, who was born in the <i>"Cottage"</i> when
> he resided
> there.
> </p>
> <p>Nothing to the north of this cottage until you came to the large
> old
> mansion,
> built in 1835, and in which lived <b>Sextus SHEARER</b>. This was the
> end of Delaware
> Street, beyond which was a straggling country road, but very little
> used.
> On the road near the Ferry Road [now Ferry Street], lived a well known
> Buffalonian, Henry P. RUSSELL. The SHEARER house stands on the corner
> of
> allen Street; in the thirties Mr. SHEARER was an enterprising hardware
> merchant,
> did business on Main Street, below the bridge at No. 84 [old number].
> He
> moved from here to St. Louis and after he was sixty studied law, was
> admitted
> to and practiced at the bar. Since Mr. SHEARER lived there it has
> undergone
> many changes and owners; it was at one time the Catholic Seminary of
> the
> <i>"Sacred Heart."</i> The daughter of President Fillmore was a
> student
> at this
> school. The place has been owned at different times by Joseph
> CHRISTOPHER,
> Hiram NILES, S.N. DERRICK, Stephen D. CALDWELL, and more recently by
> George
> B. GATES, where his widow and their daughter now reside.<br>
> </p>
> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http:// > freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~redrobyn/ > The_Thirties.html">http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/
> ~redrobyn/The_Thirties.html</a>
> <hr size="2" width="100%">
> </body>
> </html>
>
> --------------070908010408080305030001--
>
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