Classic Poem

A TWENTY-FOURTH JUNE IDYL .

" Now the sun is burning dim, and the world is but a glim,
And the race of man is loitering to its close, "
Quoth a phantom that I saw, weird and horrible with awe,
In a vision that my very marrow froze.
'Twas the phantom of the son
Of King David, S OLOMON !

On the twenty-fourth of June, at the rising of the moon,
In the year of Jesus eighteen seventy-five,
I was scurrying home at night, while the starry host was bright,
Straight and sober, yes, as any man alive;
I was hurrying home alone,
When I met King S OLOMON !

All was silent save the frogs, hiccoughing among the bogs,
And the katydids a-soloing through the trees;
When this fearful thing I saw, weird and terrible with awe,
Even to tell it doth my very marrow freeze;
'Twas the phantom of the son
Of King David, S OLOMON !

First I took it for the devil, but I spied the Mason's gavel
Held aloft, as Masters hold it in the East;
And the phantom let it fall, as we do the setting maul,
With a clatter that the frogs their noises ceased.
Such a vim have mortals none
As Grand Master S OLOMON !

On his left hand and his right were his Wardens clothed in white,
As we see in every mystic gathering;
Each a proper badge did wear, each displayed the silver Square,
So I knew them, — Widow's Son and Hiram King;
Hiram King and Widow's Son
Walking with King S OLOMON !

" Why this meeting, I invoke? " Then the Prince of Masons spoke,
" I have broken, I have broken death's repose,
For the sun is burning dim, and the world is but a glim,
And the race of man is loitering to its close. "
Then a melancholy groan
Shook the friends of S OLOMON .

" 'Tis almost three thousand years since I left in doubts and fears,
My great Brotherhood beneath Moriah's dome,
And I gave the working band, as my very last command,
Not to alter nor to falter till I come;
Now to judge them on my throne
I will sit, " said S OLOMON .

" Every tower and temple grand, built by their instructed hand,
Every dwelling that displays my mystic seal,
Soon must topple to the ground, for the end of earth is found.
And the cornerstone its secrets must reveal;
Underneath the cornerstone
Treasure's hid, " quoth S OLOMON .

" When I left the weeping Craft, weeping round my Broken Shaft,
I adjured them by this symbol to be true! "
Then the Monarch showed a Name , I had bowed before the same,
Even when the mystic Winding Stairs I knew,
" Bright as the meridian sun
Is this name, " quoth S OLOMON !

" And they have been , " I declared, while the attendant Wardens stared,
" Yes, they have been faithful, earnest, and sincere!
Come, Grand Master, come, and see our world-wide Fraternity;
This St. John's night, busy, closing up the year! "
Then a smile, all sunny, shone,
On the lips of S OLOMON !

How 'twas done I cannot say, but we scurried swift away,
And we rattled round and round the world that night.
Where the Lodges were at work, Christian, Israelite, and Turk,
Gavels sounding, Jewels gleaming, Tapers bright;
Never Mason's road was run
Like my trip with S OLOMON !

Many a query made the King of each mystic gathering,
Many an answer prompt and honest they returned,
As the Craftsmen told of good they had done through Brotherhood,
And the plaudits of their first Grand Master earned;
And I noticed, one by one,
What they said to S OLOMON .

But as we went I said, " Both the living and the dead,
Both the joyous and the sorrowing of our Band
Are the same to us in love, for we learn of God above,
That we all shall meet again in Heavenly Land
Far beyond the glowing sun, " —
Were my words to S OLOMON .

But the moon had left the night; in the East a ruddy light
Had awaked the early birds to morning strain;
And the Monarch disappeared, as my homeward course I steered,
And I never met the Mason King again;
But I've truly made it known
What was said by S OLOMON .