The Decaturian, 1910-01-01

              THE  DECATURIAN
Volume 7
DEOATUR, ILL., JANUARY, 1910.
Number 6
WHAT LIFE MEANS TO BRYANT
By Cordelia
Life is a mysterious thing. Today it is here, to¬ morrow it is gone. It is a thing that cannot be under¬ stood; it is a dream. Bryant says in effect that we stand looking out upon the broad way of life and we see here life in ^,11 its glory, there death, sorrow, pain, grief, here youth, there old age; here wealth, high living, there, poverty, starvation; here a wed¬ ding, there a death bed, now life is a joy, then it is a sorrow.
But is this all? No. There is something more to life than mere passing. There is more than this earth can give; there is a hereafter, a glorious here¬ after which is for everyone if he only lives a life worthy of it. This brings joy and hope into the life that is.
This uncertainty of life impresses Bryant greatly and he often writes how quickly the end may come.
"Still the fleet hours run on, and as I leave Amid the thickening darkness, lamps are lit. By those who watch the dead, and those who twine Flowers for the bride.   The mother from the eyes Of her sick infant shades the painful light. And sadly listens to his quick-drawn breath."
"This day hath parted friends That ne'er before were parted."
"Into night's shadow and the streaming rays Of starlight, whither art thou bearing me? I feel the mighty current sweep me on. Yet know not whither."
"Yet doth the eclipse of Sorrow and Death Come unforewarned.   Who next, of those I love, Shall pass from life?
"An Evening Reverie, PP 194, 195. "They pass—to toil, to strife, to rest;
The Crowded Street,"  207.
Pierson, '10 "Forward he leaned, and headlong down Plunged  from that craggy wall. He saw the rocks, steep, stern and brown, An instant in his fall; A frightful instant—and no more. The dream and life at once were o'er."
"The Hunter's Version,"  178.
"Dost thou, oh path of the woodland! End where those waters roar. Like human life, on a trackless beach. With a boundless sea before?"
"The Unknown Way," 213.
"Yet a few days, and thee The all beholding sun shall see no more."
"Thanatopsis," 21. Life is, therefore, not all joy. The streets are filled with tear stained faces. Many a sad face ap¬ pears, many a sad word is spoken, many a life loses its dearest and brightest light. There are times even when the thing dearest to a person's heart is torn asunder, when his favorite pastime is interrupted forever. And so Bryant is impressed with the pre¬ vailing sadness that comes not only thru death but from many causes.
"The low, heartbroken, and wailing strain Of a mother that mourns her children slain."
"Rizpah," 47.
"And there was sadness round, and faces bowed, And   woman's   tears   fell   fast   and   children   wailed aloud."
"The Old Man's Funeral," 49.
"The soft air saddens with the funeral chimes. Those shining flowers are gathered for the dead."
"The Crowded Street," 207.