ATHENE

I.

Forever, with radiant, close-veiled face, Forever, with wide-extended hands, Far on the outermost rim of space The goddess Athene stands. No sign she gives, she speaks no word; None has seen her, none has heard; But as always anew through the orient portal Issues the train of youth immortal On its never-ceasing quest For all that's true, for all that's best, 'Tis belief in Athene's unseen form, 'Tis faith in Athene's unheard voice, That holds fast each seeker to his own heart's choice; Though the road be hilly and hard and long, Through withering heat and numbing storm, In cool twilight and in sunshine warm, He pictures her smile, he dreams of her song.

II.

Look! one delves in the mines of copper and gold ; One sweeps the heavens the stars to measure; And one on the pavements of cities old, Long-buried, forgotten, with secrets untold. Roams again at his own good pleasure. The naturalist lives by the woodland brooks, Friend of the flowers and beasts and birds; His brother grammarian bends over books, Makes himself master of long-dead words, And puzzles his brains with sonants and surds. But whether in desert or town or mart, Where men crowd thick or dwell apart, In the silence of peace, in the clash of strife, Each student bears written deep in his heart: "Philosophia, the helmsman of life."

III.

For always immortal youth Seeks for eternal truth, Each in the path she bids him go, Certain that someone, some day, must know; For there, with her radiant, close-veiled face, There, with her wide-extended hands, Far on the outermost rim of space, The goddess Athene stands.

IV.

Youth of the present, proud of your vigor, Reliant on self, scornful of aid, Remember your old were the young of the past, That you too shall be elders and sages at last, That there shall succeed you men stronger and bigger To dwell in the houses your hands shall have made, To look back at you as errant and blind, Feeble of intellect, narrow of mind; For each new epoch that onward swings Still nearer the goddess its children brings, Into deeper gloom its forebears flings. The fields of them that sowed in the darkness You reap now the night is fled, And the gods who have watched in the darkness Repay as the dawn grows red; And the seed you gather at early morn You shall scatter again at prime. That your distant followers yet unborn May winnow and sift in their gleaning-time.

V.

And so, till the last red sun shall set for man, And the final shadows cover the loftiest purple hill, And ultimate night descend, The heart of youth with hope shall thrill, With faith and trust and courage fill That he may help with his forward pace The one who at length shall win in the race, Who shall catch the sight of that unveiled face, And shall feel the clasp of those strong, warm hands; For there, since time began, There, until time shall end, Far on the outermost rim of space The goddess Athene stands.

NOTE : This poem was read at the annual dinner of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, Hanover, February 18, 1915.