Elias: An Epic of the Ages. Whitney Orson Ferguson

by the borders of a humble home, 1180

      Upon that fair and fateful morn was played.

      Players, immortal twain and mortal one,

      Standing but fourteen steps upon life's stair,

      An unlearned boy, thinker of thoughts profound,

      Boy and yet man, dreamer of lofty dreams.

      Not solemn, save betimes, when hovered near

      Some wingéd inspiration from far worlds,

      Some great idea's all-subduing spell—

      His heart grew humbler then, his look more grave;

      Not melancholy—mirthful, loving life, 1190

      And brimming o'er with health and wholesome glee.

      A stalwart spirit in a sturdy frame,

      Maturing unto future mightiness.

      Bowing to God, yet bending to no creed,

      Adoring not a loveless deity,

      That saved or damned regardless of desert,

      Ne'er reckoning the good or evil done;

      Loving and worshipping the God of love,

      The gracious God of reason and of right,

      Long-suffering and just and merciful, 1200