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W. At the conclusion of your study of this text-book, make a list of the titles that you think would be appropriate for it. Which one is most fitting?

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WORK

BY HENRY VAN DYKE

Let me but do my work from day to day,
In field or forest, at the desk or loom,
In roaring market-place or tranquil room.
Let me but find it in my heart to say,
When vagrant wishes beckon me astray,
"This is my work; my blessing, not my doom;
Of all who live, I am the one by whom

This work can best be done in the right way."

Then shall I see it not too great, nor small,

To suit my spirit and to prove my powers; Then shall I cheerful greet the laboring hours, And cheerful turn, when the long shadows fall, At eventide, to play and love and rest;

Because I know for me my work is best.

Work!

WORK: A SONG OF TRIUMPH

BY ANGELA MORGAN

Thank God for the might of it,

The ardor, the urge, the delight of it-
Work that springs from the heart's desire,
Setting the brain and the soul on fire—
Oh, what is so good as the heat of it,
And what is so glad as the beat of it,
And what is so kind as the stern command,
Challenging brain and heart and hand?

Work!

Thank God for the pride of it,

For the beautiful, conquering tide of it,
Sweeping the life in its furious flood,
Thrilling the arteries, cleansing the blood,
Mastering stupor and dull despair,
Moving the dreamer to do or dare.
Oh, what is so good as the urge of it,
And what is so glad as the surge of it,

And what is so strong as the summons deep,
Rousing the torpid soul from sleep?

Work!

Thank God for the pace of it,

For the terrible, keen, swift race of it;

Fiery steeds in full control,

Nostrils a-quiver to greet the goal.
Work, the Power that drives behind,
Guiding the purposes, taming the mind,
Holding the runaway wishes back,
Reigning the will to one steady track,
Speeding the energies faster, faster,
Triumphing over disaster.

Work!

Thank God for the swing of it,

For the clamoring, hammering ring of it,
Passion of labor daily hurled

On the mighty anvils of the world.
Oh, what is so fierce as the flame of it?
And what is so huge as the aim of it?
Thundering on through dearth and doubt,
Calling the plan of the Maker out,
Work, the Titan; Work, the friend,
Shaping the earth to a glorious end,
Draining the swamps and blasting the hills,
Doing whatever the Spirit wills

Rending a continent apart,

To answer the dream of the Master heart. Thank God for a world where none may shirkThank God for the splendor of work!

KEEP ON WORKING

BY RICHARD EUGENE BURTON

HEALTH, work, and religion are the three things which make life least a bore and most a blessing. Nor need work apologize to the other two. Work of the right kind conduces to health and becomes religion; hence the Scriptural commendation of good workmen by Solomon: "They shall maintain the fabric of the world, and in the handiwork of their craft is their prayer."

It was Burke, I believe, who with this in mind offered the advice: "Work, work, and never despair; but even if you do despair, keep on working." He knew it for a chief antidote against hopelessness.

Ruskin once said that there were three desiderata for a happy life: congenial work, not too much of it, and a fair return for one's labor. As to this last, he did not mean a mere reward in money, but a sense in the worker that his product is of use, of value to fellow-men, that he has not in this sense labored in vain. The return may come in the respect of the community, its readiness to intrust him with some undertaking of importance to the general weal -in this, rather than in the sum he is paid. The big thing is the consciousness in the worker that he is a help, not a hindrance, to the social machine; that he makes something that has beauty or utility or, better yet, both.

The number of those who work in a way to illustrate Ruskin's ideal makes but a small fraction of the great army of workers. Consider the misfits, for one thing. It is astonishing how many folk will say to you, "My business is merely a manner of money-getting. It is distasteful to me in the extreme, and I would get out of it to-morrow if I could. My pleasure comes from the hours outside my work." What a pity this is, for if a human being has any right, it is the right of congenial employment, the chance to do what he is interested in, that which stimulates his faculties and draws out his best endeavor. It is only by doing such work that he becomes of

Taken from Burton's Little Essays in Literature and Life, by permission of The Century Co.

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