Honor to Labor!--with steady eye
He has fearlessly traversed the midnight sky,
And followed the mazy, perplexing dance
Of planets and moons thro' the far expanse,--
Their orbits, periods, weight and size,
Studied with heedful and cautious eyes,
And forced the haughty, imperial sun
To answer his inquiries one by one.
He has tracked the comet's erratic flight
Through the silent star-fields of primal night,--
Walked through the depths of old nebulae
With flashing glance and with footstep free,
And seen spin round him in wildering flight
Systems and suns, while the infinite
Of God's great universe stretched away
Farther far than e'en thought might stray
"Honor to Labor!"--the mariner sings,
As forth to the breezes his sails he flings;--
"It has made us lords of the boundless deep--
Fearlessly over the waves we sweep!"
"Honor to Labor!"--the traveller cries,
As forth in the rushing tram he flies;--
"We may rival the speed of the bird's swift wing
As he joyously soars thro' the skies of Spring,
And the fetterless wind on its pinions free,
Is scarcely more fleet in its course than we!"
"Honor to Labor!"--the student cries,
As he gazes around him with joyful eyes,--
"Honor to Labor!--the teeming press
Pours forth its treasures the world to bless!
From the pictured pages where childhood's eye
Findeth a world of bright imagery,
To the massive tome 'mid whose treasures vast,
Lie the time-dimmed records of ages past,
We may wander, and revel, yet ever find
Supplies exhaustless for heart and mind
We may turn to the Past--to the ages fled--
And converse hold with the gifted dead,--
Old climes of historic fame explore,
And gather the gems of their buried lore,--
With Prophet-bards seek inspiring themes,
Or muse alone by old fabled streams,--
With the Poet take our enraptured flight,
And woo the Muse on Parnassus' height,--
Take fair Philosophy by the hand,
And roam with her through her native land,--
May win from the God-inspired of Earth
Heavenly treasures of priceless worth,--
Till the mental stores of all ages flown,
And all gifted minds, we have made our own.
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