Masonic Poetry

Faith Between the Pillars

2008-04-10T13:04:00.001-04:00

Title: Faith Between the Pillars
Author: Derek Blackburn
Notes:

I found my faith in abundance between the pillars;

I discovered the path of certainty, the spiral staircase

Up and out of my grave of doubt.

I observed the light to guide me out of my darkened temple,

The cocoon I had constructed during times of doubt.

I am on the path now, the way to the Sanctum Sanctorum,

The inner temple that I know is deep inside my soul.

Soon!

I know because I can feel it and it has been a long time coming,

I know it was worth the wait and everything comes to those who wait patiently.

Soon I will awaken from my years of doubt,

Soon I will shake off this cocoon and emerge

Reborn, a better man,

A better person,

Happy in my life,

Happy in my rediscovered faith.

A faith in me,

A faith in my fellow man,

A faith in life,

And love.

Amen.

Fools Circle

2008-04-10T13:02:00.001-04:00

Title: Fools Circle
Author: Derek Blackburn
Notes:

There have been times in my life

When I doubted or lost my faith

With the death of my wife

I lost all belief in life, in God, in myself.

Yet every time I get lost

Every time I cry

A voice deep inside asks; why!

I travel in circles

Back to my roots and faith.

I lost it first after my Bar mitzvah

I couldn’t see the point

With mates of all beliefs

What was mankind fighting for?

I found it in Germany

In a synagogue surrounded by a convent

I lost it when my parents died

I found it in an extermination camp

And in the eyes of Bosnian children

I lost it when my wife was taken from this mortal plane

My friends found it and returned it to me.

I will never lose it again.

Believe what you chose to believe, but believe in it totally

Never lose your faith, whatever that may be

Don’t keep travelling at angles and tangents

Do not! Travel on the Fools Circle like me.

Jesters Creed

2008-02-16T16:57:00.002-05:00

Title: Jester's Creed
Author: Royal Order of Jesters
Notes: The Royal Order of Jesters is a sub-group of the Shrine. You can find a little more information on the topic here.

Laugh and the glad world laughs with you;
Weep and the sad world will sigh!
Mirth is our life's true elixir;
It shows you're a "regular guy."

There's nothing that so banishes worry,
Nor puts such a big crimp in sin;
Nor smooths out the wrinkles of trouble,
Like a jolly old Jester-mans grin!

It rolls off the years from your shoulders;
You'll forget that you've grown to be men!
Your youth turns once more to embrace you;
For you've grown to be school boys again!

So, if you've got grouches, don't bring 'em;
Its your laugh and your joke that we need;
For mirth is the doctor of trouble,
And Laughter, the Jester-man's Creed!

Take my hand; Follow me

2007-11-23T05:50:00.000-05:00

Title: Take my hand; Follow me
Author: Sir Knight Alvin F. Bohne, PM
Notes:

When I was a young man, a long time ago,
The secrets of Masonry I wanted to know.
Of a Mason I asked what those secrets might be.
He replied,"First, we talk, then we will see."
A petition he granted and ordered it filled
To be read at a meeting and a judgment be willed.
Then questions I answered about God and home;
Of habits and friends; a wife or alone.
In time I was summoned - a date to appear
Before an assembly of men gathered near.
I entered the building and looked up the stair;
Does pleasure or pain await me up there?
A hazing by paddle, taunting by joke?
My petition accepted or maybe revoked?
Introductions and handshakes welcomed me there
And lessons symbolic, an aid to prepare
For a journey in darkness, a predestined plight
To a Holy of Holies, the source of all light.
How well I remember what I heard someone say,
To enter God's Kingdom there is but one way;
Be ye naked and blind, penniless and poor;
These you must suffer 'fore entering that door.
The journey ahead is not yours to know,
But trust in your God wherever you go.
Then assurance from the darkness whispered tenderly,
"My Friend, be not afraid;
TAKE MY HAND;
FOLLOW ME."

With nervous attention a path I then trod;
A pathway in darkness to the altar of God.
With cable-tow and hoodwink, on bare bended knee,
A covenant was made there between God and me.
Charges and promises were made there that night.
Dispelling the darkness and bringing me light.
Mid lightening and thunder and Brethren on row!
Cast off the darkness! And cast off the tow!
In the company of men, a man you must be,
Moral in character, the whole world to see.
Trust in your God, promise daily anew
To be honest and upright in all things you do.
Each man is a brother in charity to share
With those suffering hunger, pain or despair.
The widow and orphan and brother in pain
Depend on your mercy their welfare to gain.
The secrets of Brethren keep only in mind.
To the ladies of Brethren be noble and kind.
Go now, my brother, your journey's begun
Your wages await you when your journey is done.
That journey I started, Oh, so long ago
And I've learned of those things I wanted to know.
I've learned of the secrets, not secret at all,
But hidden in knowledge within Masons' hall.
Childhood yields to manhood, manhood yields to age,
Ignorance yields to knowledge, knowledge yields to sage.
I've lived all my life the best that I could,
Knowing full well how a good Mason should.
I know of those times when I slipped and then fell.
What's right and what's wrong were not easy to tell.
But a trust in my God and a true brother's hand.
Helped raise me up and allowed me to stand.
I've strode down the old path, Masonically worn
By all Mason's raised for the Masons unborn.
But this tired old body, once young and so bold,
Now suffers the afflictions of having grown old.
The almond tree's flourished; the grinders are few.
The housekeepers tremble; desires fail too.
The locusts are a burden; fears are in the way.
The golden bowl is breaking, a little every day.
Mine eyes are again darkened, my sight again to fail;
I sense the Master's presence mid my family's silent wail.
I've laid aside my working tools, my day is nearly done.
For long I've played the game of life; the game's no longer fun.
Life's pathway ends before me. I see what's meant for me;
An acacia plant is growing where a beehive used to be.
The Ethereal Lodge has summoned from beyond the wailing wall
And I vowed that I must answer when summoned by a call.
Again I stand bewildered at the bottom of the stair
In nervous apprehension of what awaits me there.
Once again, and now alone, I stand without the door.
With faltering hand, I slowly knock as once I did before.
I pray again to hear those words,
whispered tenderly,
"My son, be not afraid.
TAKE MY HAND;
FOLLOW ME."

Just a quiet little Lodge room

2007-11-23T05:43:00.001-05:00

Title: Just a quiet little Lodge room
Author: George B. Staff
Notes:

Just a quiet little lodge room,
But a mighty force for good;
With its loyal band of members
Learning more of brotherhood;
Striving, stumbling but progressing
Down a Pathway towards the right;
Just a humble bunch of plain folks,
Reaching seeking for the light.

Just a quiet little lodge room,
How it stirs the heart and soul
With a thrill of great endeavour
toward a high and common goal;
With each pledge of faith and courage
To maintain the forward fight,
On the raod that leads them onward
Even onward to the light.

Progress in the Craft

2007-11-23T05:40:00.000-05:00

Title: Progress in the Craft
Author: Author Unknown
Notes:

Tie of black and lodge-suit, shoes are polished bright
Check regalia in the case; see everything is right.
Just a final run-through of words you have to say;
We'll have another Mason ere the closing of this day
And hope that he enjoys it, becomes one of us,
Also that he realizes, we once were treated thus!

We, having seen such ceremonies many times before,
Will witness his first entrance, nervous through the door,
As keenly as when seeing those first steps we took,
We too listening to the words (Not always as per book!)
For all our Brother Masons are fallible like me;
Few can be word-perfect throughout each degree.

We shall watch him when he's crafted, later at his Third,
His progress to the Master's Chair, to gain the Master's word.
Initiating others, in that year so swiftly gone!
Becoming a Postmaster, and so relied upon.
Then other years are passing, he's in dark blue, and bald
But willingly will take a job, whenever he is called.

He's still at every meeting, at L.O.I. he's there
For well-being of the Lodge he's always time to spare.
He's reaped no advantages through being in the craft
As spoken by our critics, the jealous and the deft!
Except that great advantage, which we Masons are aware
That wondrous 'Magic' something of being On The Square.

The Lambskin

2007-11-23T05:38:00.000-05:00

Title: The Lambskin
Author: Author unknown
Notes:

It is not ornamental, the cost is not great
There are other things far more useful, yet truly I state,
Tho’ of all my possessions, there’s none can compare,
With that white leather apron, which all Masons wear.

As a young lad I wondered just what it all meant,
When Dad hustled around and so much time was spent,
On shaving and dressing and looking just right,
Until Mother would say; "It’s the Masons tonight".

And some winter nights she said; "What makes you go,
Way up there tonight thru’ the sleet and the snow,
You see the same things every month of the year".
Then Dad would reply; "Yes, I know it, my dear".

"Forty years I have seen the same things it’s true,
And though they are old, they always seem new,
For the hands that I clasp, and the friends that I greet,
Seem a little bit closer, each time that we meet".

Years later I stood at that very same door,
With good men and true, who had entered before.
I knelt at the alter and there I was taught,
That virtue and honour can never be bought.

That the spotless white Lambskin all Masons revere,
If worthily worn, grows more precious each year.
That service to others brings blessings untold
That man may be poor, though surrounded by gold.

I learned that true Brotherhood flourishes there,
That enmities fade ‘neath the Compass and Square.
That wealth and position are all thrust aside,
As there on the level, men meet and abide.

So honour the Lambskin, may it always remain,
Forever unblemished and free from all stain.
And when we are called to the great Fathers love,
May we all take our place in that Lodge up above.

Hamlet - To learn, or not to learn

2007-11-23T05:36:00.000-05:00

Title: Hamlet - To learn, or not to learn
Author: Peter Marlborough
Notes: Addition by Bill Shorto

To learn, or not to learn; that is the question;
Whether 'tis nobler to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous Past Masters,
Or to oppose them in their quest
And by opposing cease their anger.
To read and not to learn
To sleep no more and end the heartache
And the thousand looks the mind is heir to.
To sleep; perchance to dream; there's the rub;
For in that sleep, to dream, to learn the ritual.
When we shuffle from the Lodge,
Must give pause to think.
To seek respect and not calamity of our deeds
Among our Brethren

-- Addition --

And W.Bro. Bill Shorto added

Where then the pride; where the satisfaction?
What is this not; attempted malefaction?
And if our Rulers weaken, and bow to this disgrace
What price the slow developing of effort's interface?

Where then the friendly voice that prompts?
Where then the empathy that lapse exempts?
What worth is this that comes with ease?
Oh Heaven forbid!... Eschew this, please!

The Grand Officer

2007-11-23T05:28:00.000-05:00

Title: The Grand Officer
Author: Douglas A. Chambers
Notes: Written for Bro. Radmore

Now here's the man we all revere Brother Radmore, true, sincere,
And when in lodge he does appear, sighs of relief you then can hear,
For temple, G.P., festive board, he always knows, he's never floored.
Tom weathers all, his shoulders broad he always strikes the perfect chord.

Tom was there from the start you see, a well respected founder,
He's never short of sympathy we're all so glad that we have seen him
In his different roles, set high standards, to reach his goals.
To do our best, our Tom cajoles, and, blessings of the craft extols.

Tom's mother Lodge is three-oh-nine, an ancient Lodge, tradition fine.
Tom holds to the Masonic line, he's backbone of our Lodge the spine
Within the Lodge he has no peer, he points the way, does guide, does steer,
When troubled, we need have no fear, for we can always bend Tom's ear.

It's good to look across the room, even in third when there is gloom
About the grave, symbolic doom, to see the Brother we know whom
Has striven to keep the Lodge in trim from opening ode to closing hymn,
He acts by precepts, never whim, how glad we are that we have him!

Fifty Year Jewel Presentation

2007-11-23T05:26:00.001-05:00

Title: Fifty Year Jewel Presentation
Author: Bob McRae
Notes: Oct 21/1997
Elk Point, Albert, Canada
St. George's Lodge #169

It is my honor and privilege,
as Master in the Chair,
To draw your attention Brethren:
to our esteemed fellows standing there!

You see, fifty years ago – give or take a day,
These Brethren joined the Mystic Tie – in the usual way.
They were initiated, passed, and raised: each one in his own turn,
With titles, honours, and offices laid out – so they could earn.

While lectures, memory work, and ceremonies still fresh within the mind,
The biggest challenge THEN as a Mason was NOT behind:
For even though the lodge took each fellow through ceremony and form,
The true test of the teachings was to face the moral storm.

And now looking back upon the journey each Brother must be able to justly say,
"Masonry was a companion, that kept me faithful all the way."
The fifty-year jewels I present to you tonight,
Are in recognition of your true Masonic light.

For you see as leaders, advancing in the dark,
The Brethren following your lead appreciate your mark.
And have no doubt your mark you positively made.
As each day and task completed was an ashlar amply laid.

And as your moral temple
reaches upwards to the sky:
"Well Done O’ Faithful Servant!"
May we never say Good-Bye!

Congratulations!

Festive Board

2007-11-23T05:23:00.001-05:00

Title: Festive Board
Author: E.L. Hannam
Notes:

Brethren stand to await the call,
From the D.C. at the door,
"Brethren receive your Worshipful Master"
As he escorts him across the floor.

The Master sounds his gavel, as
All stand behind their chairs.
"Pray silence for the Chaplain,
Who will lead us all in prayers."

The Brethren then are seated,
Their wines glassed to the brim.
The I.P.M. performs his task,
At the toast list he begins.

As he sounds the worthy gavel
The Master will then rise
"Brother Wardens, now report your charge"
With their gavels they reply.

"Fully charged in the West, Worshipful Master"
From the Senior warden's chair
"Fully charged in the South, Worshipful Master"
Under the Junior Warden's care.

The toast list then is followed
Along with flowing wine
Plus that special toast across the world,
"To Absent Brethren" at the stroke of nine.

At this point a special poem,
From IMPS can now be read
These said words from Rudyard Kipling,
To assist their daily bread.

Compass of his Attainments

2007-11-23T05:20:00.000-05:00

Title: Compass of his Attainments
Author: Bill Shorto
Notes:

I've told you the tale of his Lordship
And the tramp he took home to his wife,
To show what could happen to some-one
Who never had sinned in his life.

It turned out the tramp's name was 'enery,
And his father had been on the square
And he was conceived on the Friday
When his father was put in the chair.

"A Lewis, by gad" said his Lordship,
"And how did you come to be there
On the pavement outside of the Temple
With nothing half decent to wears"

Said 'enery, "I talked with me mother
Before she was took to her bed,
She talked of one thing and another,
And here's what the old lady said:"

"I can't tell you much of your father,
Except he was some kind of gent
Who I met in the ‘all in Great Queen Street,
The one where the Masons all went".

"So when the old lady departed
And left me to fend for meself,
I took to the road broken hearted,
And thought of me father's great wealf."

Now'enery'ad'eard about Masons,
How they were responsive and kind,
So he parked himself there on the pavement
And waited until they liad dined.

At this his Lordship looked pensive,
And started to work out the dates
Since the time of his own installation
When he went to the call with his mates.

You know how his Lordship had found him
And taken him home in the car,
But the Lady refused to receive him.
Well, you know what Ladyships are!

So his Lordship made his arrangements,
And set him up nice, in a flat,
With a pension to feed and to clothe him,
And you couldn't want better than that.

Now 'enery began to get restive
When he thought what his life could be like,
And he started to take driving lessons
So his Lordship bought him a bike.

But soon he was asking the questions,
Being free, and at least twenty-one
And he rode off to tackle his Lordship,
Who told him what had to be done.

Well, the time came for 'enery's acceptance
The date had been fixed in advance
The secretary did all the homework,
And the Master left nothing to chance.

But when 'enery got on his cycle,
All dressed in his best quite a swell,
He found that the chain had departed
And the brakes were asunder, as well.

Now the road to the Temple was easy,
It ran down the side of the slope,
They tied up the brakes w'th some sisa,
I And coasted off down full of hope.

Well he got there in time for the ritual,
But he asked at the festive board
How the Master had known that he entered
Of his own free wheel and a cord!

What is a Mason?

2007-11-23T05:16:00.000-05:00

Title: What is a Mason?
Author: Author unknown
Notes:

A Mason is a Man and a Brother, whose trust is in God.
He meets you on the Level and acts upon the Square.
Truth is his Compass and he is ever Plumb.
He has a true Grip of all that is

He is loyal to his Order and whatever his Degree
he is Master of himself.
In the Lodge of life he wears unstained the White
Lambskin of Innocence.

On his Initiation as an Entered Apprentice he travels
ever East towards the Light of Wisdom.
Until he receives the final, the Divine Password that
admits him into the Ineffable Presence of the Eternal
Supreme Grand Master of the Universe
GOD

Masonry of Spring

2007-11-21T09:25:00.000-05:00

Title: Masonry of Spring
Author: Douglas Malloch
Notes:

Men say, "How wonderful is Spring!"
I say, "How marvelous is man!"
For Spring no more can gladness bring
To earth than men to mortals can.
The Springtime sun is very good,
But, oh, the smile of brotherhood!
And green the grass upon the slope,
But lovelier some word of hope.

There is a Masonry of earth,
Of sun and blossom, seed and rain;
The only Masonry of worth
Is one that brings the Spring again,
Brings strength to brothers sore beset,
And faith to brothers who forget;
Like sun to blossom, rain to seed,
Are men who come to men in need.

A great fraternity is ours
Who really see and understand,
A brotherhood of hearts and flow'rs
And smiling sun and stretching hand.
We, too, may bloom in our own way,
Make glad some other mortal's day,
As much as any birds that sing
In God's great Masonry of Spring!

Our Cabletow

2007-11-21T09:24:00.000-05:00

Title: Our Cabletow
Author: George B. Staff
Notes:

Sometimes we hardly know its there,
Our guiding cabletow;
If we go down the paths of right,
Its hold we never know;
But if we start the way that's wrong,
It has a sudden way that's strong,
And makes us heed its strength to lead
Down paths we ought to go.

And yet how good a thing to feel,
How fine a thing to know,
Then when the baser actions seek
To wreck and overthrow,
When worldly appetites deprave,
Or lower passions would enslave,
We can feel, like gripping steel,
Our guiding cabletow.

The Mystic Art

2007-11-21T09:23:00.002-05:00

Title: The Mystic Art
Author: Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Notes:

The world may rail at Masonry,
And scoff at Square and Line,
We'll follow with complacency
The Master's great Design.

A King can make a gartered Knight,
And breathe away another,
But he, with all his skill and might,
Can never make a Brother.

This power alone, thou Mystic Art,
Freemasonry, is thine;
The power to tame the savage heart
With brother-love divine!

A Destiny

2007-11-21T09:23:00.001-05:00

Title: A Destiny
Author: Edwin Markham
Notes:

Where is a destiny that makes us Brothers;
None goes his way alone;
All that we send into the lives of others
Come back to our own.

I care not what his temple or creeds,
One thing hold firm and fast-
That into his fateful heap of days and deeds
The soul of man is cast.

The Royal Art

2007-11-21T09:22:00.000-05:00

Title: The Royal Art
Author: Silas H. Shepherd
Notes:

Thou, Royal Art, in splendor clothed;
By verse and learned orator extolled
What is thy power o'er men so frail?
Where is thy wisdom ne'er assailed?

Is it in mystic rites and form
Or legends to which all conform,
That men find satisfaction rare,
And in it's ceremonies share?

It never could the wise attract
By mystic rite or tragic act;
Did not some power in secret lie
Hidden from all but worthy eye.

Its secret most profound and rare
All worthy men may likewise share.
It welcomes men with motives pure;
It helps to make their lives secure.

It feeds, with Truth, the hungry soul;
It lights the darkness to the goal,
Where Father waits His souls to meet,
Who as a brother fellows greet.

It clears the air of doubt and fear,
It gives to life delight and cheer,
It makes the Brotherhood of Man
A consummation of His Plan.

The Temple

2007-11-21T09:21:00.000-05:00

Title: The Temple
Author: Edgar Guest
Notes:

You may delve down to rock for your foundation piers,
You may go with your steel to the sky
You may purchase the best of the thought of the years,
And the finest of workmanship buy.
You may line with the rarest of marble each hall,
And with gold you may tint it; but then
It is only a building if it, after all,
Isn't filled with the spirit of men.

You may put up a structure of brick and of stone,
Such as never was put up before;
Place there the costliest woods that are grown,
And carve every pillar and door.
You may fill it with splendors of quarry and mine,
With the glories of brush and of pen--
But it's only a building, though ever so fine,
If it hasn't the spirit of men.

You may build such structure that lightning can't harm,
Or one that an earthquake can't raze;
You may build it of granite, and boast that its charm
Shall last to the end of all days.
But you might as well never have builded at all,
Never cleared off the bog and the fen,
If, after it's finished, its sheltering wall
Doesn't stand for the spirit of men.

For it isn't the marble, nor is it the stone
Nor is it the columns of steel,
By which is the worth of an edifice known;
But it's something that's LIVING and REAL.

Wearing of Emblems

2007-11-21T09:20:00.000-05:00

Title: Wearing of Emblems
Author: Rob Morris
Notes:

You wear the Square! but have you got
That thing the Square denotes?
Is there within your inmost soul
That principle which should control
Your actions, words and thoughts?
The Square of virtue,--is it there,
Oh, you who wear the Mason's Square?

You wear the Compass! Do you keep
With that circle due
That's circumscribed by law divine
Excluding hatred, envy, sin,--
Including all that's true?
The Moral Compass draws the line,
And lets no evil passion in!

You wear the Trowel! have you got
That mortar, old and pure,
Made on the recipe of God
Divulged within His ancient Word,
Indissoluble, sure?
And do you spread, `twixt man and man,
That precious mixture as you can?

You wear the oriental G!
Ah, Brother, have a care!
He whose All-seeing Eye surveys
Your inmost heart, with open gaze,
Knows well what thoughts are there!
Let no profane, irreverent word
Go up t' insult th' avenging God!

Dear Brother! if you will display
These emblems of our Art,
Let the great morals that they teach
Be deeply graven, each for each,
Upon an honest heart!
Then they will tell, to God and man,
Freemasonry's all perfect plan!

Palace

2007-11-21T09:19:00.000-05:00

Title: Palace
Author: Rudyard Kipling
Notes:

When I was a King and a Mason,
a Master proven and skilled,
I cleared me a ground for a palace,
such as a King should build.

I decreed and cut down to my levels,
but presently under the silt,
I came on the wreck of a palace,
such as a king had built.

There was no worth in the fashion,
there was no wit in the plan.
Hither and thither aimless,
the ruined footings ran.

Masonry, brute, mishandled,
but carved on every stone.
"After me cometh a Builder,
tell him I, too, have known".

Swift to my use in the trenches,
where my well-planned ground works grew,
I tumbled his quoins and his ashlars,
and cut and reset them anew.

Lime I made from his marbles;
burned it, slaked it, and spread,
Taking and leaving, at pleasure,
the gift of the humble dead.

Yet I despised mot, nor gloried;
for as we wrenched them apart,
I read in the raised foundations
the heart of that builder's heart.

As though he had risen and pleaded,
so did I understand.
The form of the dream he had followed,
in the face of the thing he had planned.

When I was a king and a Mason,
in the open noon of my pride,
They sent me a word from the darkness,
they whispered and called me aside.

They said-"The end is forbidden.
"They said-"Thy use is fulfilled.
Thy palace shall stand, as that other's,
the spoil of a king, who shall build."

I called the men from my trenches,
my quarries, my wharves and my shears.
All I had thought I abandoned,
to the faith of the faithless years.

Only I cut on the timber-only,
I carved on the stone-
"After me cometh a Builder,
tell him I, too, have known."

The Brethren

2007-11-21T09:18:00.002-05:00

Title: The Brethren
Author: Edgar A. Guest
Notes:

The world is needing you and me,
In places where we ought to be;
Somewhere today it's needing you
To stand for what you know is true.
And needing me somewhere today.
To keep the faith, let come what may.

The world needs honest men today
To lead its youth along the way,
Men who will write in all their deeds
The beauty of their spoken creeds,
And spurn advantage here and gain,
On which deceit must leave its stain.

The world needs men who will not brag,
Men who will honor Freedom's Flag,
Men, who although the way is hard,
Against the lure of shame will guard,
The world needs gentle men and true
And calls aloud to me and you.

The world needs men of lofty aim,
Not merely men of skill and fame,
Not merely leaders wise and grave,
Or learned men or soldiers brave,
But men whose lives are fair to see,
Such men as you and I can be.

The Beacon Light

2007-11-21T09:18:00.001-05:00

Title: The Beacon Light
Author: Rob Morris
Notes:

A city set upon a hill
Cannot be hid;
Exposed to every eye, it will,
Over surrounding plain and vale,
An influence shed,
And spread the light of peace afar,
Or blight the land with horrid war.

Each Mason's Lodge is planted so
For high display;
Each is a BEACON LIGHT, to show
Life's weary wanderers, as they go,
The better way;
To show, by ties of earthly love
How perfect is the Lodge above!

Be this your willing task, dear friends,
While laboring here
Borrow from Him who kindly lends
The Heavenly Ladder that ascends
The higher sphere;
And let the world your progress see
Upward, by FAITH, HOPE, CHARITY.

Brothers All!

2007-11-21T09:17:00.000-05:00

Title: Brothers All!
Author: Silas H. Shepherd
Notes:

In the Lodge we meet the fellows,
Who, in other walks of life,
We would seldom ever contact,
And then perhaps in strife.
They are men of every leaning
Whom we good and honest call,
And the splendid thing about it
Is, that we are Brothers All.

They are men of every station;
Some are rich and some are poor;
But they all are full of friendship
And of service have a store.
We may differ in our methods,
But our objects we recall
And it binds us in a labor
And it makes us Brothers All.

They are men of truth and honor
Trusting always in the right;
Seeking always further light.
What a power for perfect justice!
How can failure e'er befall
Such a firmly founded body--
For the Lodge makes Brothers All?

The Road

2007-11-21T09:16:00.000-05:00

Title: The Road
Author: Carl H. Claudy
Notes:

So many men before thy Altars kneel
Unthinkingly, to promise brotherhood:
So few remain, humbly to kiss thy rood
With ears undeafened to thy mute appeal;
So many find thy symbols less than real
Their teachings mystic,--hard to understand;
So few there are, in all thy far flung band
To hold thy banner high and draw thy steel,
And yet--immortal and most mighty, thou!
What hath thy lore of life, to let it live?
What is the vital spark, hid in thy vow?
Thy millions learned, as thy dear paths they trod,
The secret of the strength thou hast to give;
"I am a way of common men to God."

Father's Lodge

2007-11-21T09:15:00.000-05:00

Title: Father's Lodge
Author: Douglas Malloch
Notes:

Father's lodge, I well remember, wasn't large, as lodges go;
There was trouble in December getting to it through the snow.
But he seldom missed a meeting; drifts or blossoms in the lane,
Still the Tyler heard his greeting, winter ice or summer rain.

Father's lodge thought nothing of it; `mid their labors and their cares
Those old Masons learned to love it, that fraternity of theirs.
What's a bit of stormy weather, when a little down the road
Men are gathering together, helping bear each other's load?

Father's lodge had made a village; men of father's sturdy brawn
Turned a wilderness to tillage, seized the flag, and carried on.
Made a village, built a city, shaped a county, formed a state.
Simple men, not wise nor witty--humble men, and yet how great!

Father's lodge had caught the gleaming of the great Masonic past;
Thinking, toiling, daring, dreaming, they were builders of the last.
Quiet men, not rich nor clever, with the tools they found at hand
Building for the great forever, first a village, then a land.

Father's lodge no temple builded, shaped of steel and carved of stone;
Marble columns, ceilings gilded, father's lodge has never known.
But a heritage of glory they have left, the humble ones--
They have left their mighty story in the keeping of their sons.

The Building of Temples

2007-11-21T09:14:00.002-05:00

Title: The Building of Temples
Author: Robert M. Millard
Notes:

Its massive pillars, its stately walls
Are a tribute to craftsmen's skill
It stands in majestic form complete,
Its place in the world to fill,
It compensates for the years delayed
For the toil and the sacrifice,
And to all who helped to build it comes
As a wondrous and well earned prize.

Ah! yes, we have builded a temple grand,
We are fraught with the thrill of pride,
The art to achieve in a noble cause
Brings comfort that will abide.
The architect's approval is had,
It is good work, true and square
Each small detail in the splendid whole
Has been tempered with skill and care.

Then I wonder--what of the temple of God
That is hidden within my heart?
Am I building this with lofty tools,
Am I moulding its every part
With brotherly love and faith and truth,
With justice to every man,
Am I building into this sacred thing
The very best that I can?

For temples of stone shall crumble to dust,
Their memory fade with the days,
But the temple I rear in my heart of hearts
Nor time nor death can efface.
And whether for weal or whether for woe
I proclaim myself at the shrine
Of God or mammon, of heights or of depths,
As I work on this temple of mine.

It is not given that I should know
The time allotted me here,
But the highways and byways are well defined,
The paths I may travel are clear.
And when at last the darkness ensues
And the things of the world become dim,
All that shall matter is, will God approve
The temple I've builded to HIM?

Emblems of the Craft

2007-11-21T09:14:00.001-05:00

Title: Emblems of the Craft
Author: Rob Morris
Notes:

Who wears the Square upon his breast
Does in the face of God attest,--
And in the face of man,--
That all his actions will compare
With the divine, the unerring Square,
That squares great virtue's plan.
And he erects his edifice
By this design, and this, and this.

Who wears the Level says that pride
Does not within his soul abide,
Nor foolish vanity
That man has but a common doom,
And from the cradle to the tomb
An equal destiny.
And he erects his edifice
By this design, and this, and this.

Who wears the Plumb, behold how true
His words and waLk! and could we view
The chambers of his soul,
Each hidden thought, so pure and good,
By the stern line of rectitude
Points up to Heaven's goal;
And he erects his edifice
By this design, and this, and this.

Who wears the G,--that mark divine,--
Whose very sight should banish sin,
Has faith in God alone
His Father, Maker, Friend, he knows;
He vows and pays to God his vows
Before the eternal throne
And he erects his edifice
By this design, and this, and this.

Thus life and beauty come to view
In each design our fathers drew,
So glorious and sublime
Each breathes an odor from the bloom
Of gardens bright beyond the tomb,
Beyond the flight of time
And bids us ever build on this,
The walls of God's own edifice.

Slow me Down

2007-11-21T09:13:00.001-05:00

Title: Slow me Down
Author: John G. Ottis
Notes:

Slow me down Lord, I am going too fast:
I can't see my brother when he's walking past.
I miss a lot of good things day by day;
I don't know a blessing when it comes my way.

Slow me down, Lord I want to see
More of the things that are good for me.
A little less of me and a little more of you,
I want the heavenly atmosphere to trickle through.

Let me help my brother when the going is rough:
When folks work together life isn't so tough.
Slow me down, Lord so I can talk
With some of your angels.
Slow me down to a walk.

April in the Blue Lodge

2007-11-21T09:07:00.001-05:00

Title: April in the Blue Lodge
Author: Wilbur D. Nesbit
Notes:

The world is in the Blue Lodge the waking April days;
The azure sky is bending above the blossomed ways.
The winter, tough and rugged, has all been swept away --
The world is in the Blue Lodge with every April day.

'Tis more than any poem, that ever yet was penned --
This lesson brought with April to you and me, my friend.
Spring waxes into summer and autumn comes again,
But there are other Aprils with sunniness and rain.

We see the meadows wither, we see the flowers fade,
We see the snow come drifting above the hill and glade;
And yet we know that April will bring the bees and birds,
As truly as a promise set down in age old words.

The world is in the Blue Lodge, the rounding sky its dome;
The orchards in the breezes now toss their blossom-foam.
The Master of good workmen bids all the earth to say
The world is in the Blue Lodge with every April day.

A Mason's Birthday

2007-11-21T09:06:00.001-05:00

Title: A Mason's Birthday
Author: Wilbur D. Nesbit
Notes:

Today you turn another page
In Life's long book of verse and prose,
And added to your craftsman's wage
This wish of mine with friendship glows.
One day you'll reach the easy slope
Which idles down the twilight hill --
Strong with the Promise and the Hope
May your days all be gladder still.

Time turns his hourglass once again;
The sands in an unceasing stream
Fall just as swiftly now, as when
Youth's sunshine held them with its gleam.
Life has its seasons, as the year
Turns softly on from day to day;
Ere we may sense it, change is here;
No hour may, save in memory, stay.

Life is at noon -- yet well we know
That we may live the hours agone,
That even shades of dusk may show
The glints of every olden dawn.
And you, whose birthday is a time
For us to think of all we've had
From you -- we send to you this rhyme
To wish you all that's good and glad.

Today you turn another page
In life's long book of verse and prose
And added to your craftsman's wage
This wish from all your Brethren goes:
That joy shine with the sun by day
And peace glow with the stars at night,
And that forever on your way
You fare beneath the one great Light.

Toast to the Visitors

2007-11-21T09:04:00.000-05:00

Title: Toast to the Visitors
Author: Mike Bauer (aka Buckeye)
Notes: WSW Portobello Lodge #226, Edinburgh, Scotland

Tonight I have the Pleasure
To all I must confess
To give to you this toast
To our visitors and our guests.

The Fellowship you bring tonight
Is Something which Can't compare
You know we like to see you
And glad your always there.

The harmony, the chats and jokes we have
With our old and new found friends.
We wish it could last for hours,
And some how never end.

But... All good things come to an end
And we must go are separate way.
We hope you enjoyed yourself tonight,
And return again someday.

And now I ask the members
To raise a glass in cheer
To toast to all our visitors
Who supported us this year.

The Farewell

2007-11-21T08:59:00.001-05:00

Title: The Farewell
Author: Robert Burns
Notes: To the Brethren of St. James Lodge, Tarbolton

Adieu ! a heart-warm fond adieu !
Dear brothers of the mystic tie !
Ye favour'd, ye enlighten'd few,
Companions of my social joy !
Tho' I to foreign lands must hie,
Pursuing fortune's slidd'ry ba',
With melting heart, and brimful eye,
I'll mind you still, tho' far awa'.

Oft, have I met your social band,
And spent the cheerful festive night ;
Oft, honour'd with supreme command,
Presided o'er the sons of light :
And by that hieroglyphic bright,
Which none but craftsman ever saw !
Strong memory on my heart shall write
Those happy scenes when far awa' !

May freedom, harmony and love
Unite you in the grand design,
Beneath th' Omniscient eye above,
The glorious Architect Divine !
That you may keep th' unerring line,
Still rising by the plummet's law,
Till Order bright completely shine,
Shall be my pray'r when far awa'.

And You, farewell ! whose merits claim,
Justly, that highest badge to wear !
Heav'n bless your honour'd noble name,
To Masonry and Scotia dear !
A last request permit me here :
When yearly ye assemble a',-
One round, I ask it with a tear,
To him, the Bard that's far awa'.

Always a Mason

2007-11-21T08:58:00.001-05:00

Title: Always a Mason
Author: Douglas Malloch
Notes:

Let no king quite put off his crown!
I still would have him kingly when
In some old inn the king sat down
To banquet with his serving-men.
I love a mild and merry priest,
Whom Brothers toast, and neighbors prod;
Yet would I have him, at the feast,
A little of the man of God.

So with a Mason: I would see
Him somewhat of a Mason still,
Though far from Lodge-rooms he may be,
In court, or counting-house, or mill.
Whatever garment he may doff,
What mark Masonic lay aside,
I would not have him quite put off
The Craft he lately glorified.

A soldier is a soldier, though
He lays the sword aside awhile.
The time, the place, I do not know
Man may not serve, or my not smile.
I know no moment anywhere,
Whatever place the place may be,
A Mason may not always wear
A little of his Masonry.

Brotherhood

2007-11-21T08:57:00.001-05:00

Title: Brotherhood
Author: Roy O. Robinson
Notes: This Poem was written in memory of Brother L. Miller Robinson, Sr., Grand Tiler of The Grand Lodge of Texas in 1988 and as a salute to the Texas Flag.

One Lone Star
on a Field of Blue
stands for the Brotherhood
between Me and You.

The strip of Red
for the Blood they shed
in Brotherhood so true.

The strip of White
for the Right and Might
this Brotherhood new.

Under the Red, White and Blue
How this Brotherhood grew
and it's all for Me and You.

Now when We see that
One Lone Star
We pray we can be as they are.

We are Two Brothers

2007-11-21T08:55:00.000-05:00

Title: We are Two Brothers
Author: H. L. Haywood
Notes:

Give me your hand;
You are rich; I am poor;
Your wealth is your power, and by it you tread
A wide open path; where for me is a door
That is locked; and before it are worry and dread.
We are sundered, are we,
As two men can be
But we are two brothers in Freemasonry
So give me your hand.

Give me your hand;
You are great; I'm unknown;
You travel with a permanent fame;
I go on a way unlauded, alone,
With hardly a man to hear of my name:
We are sundered, are we,
As two men can be
But we are two brothers in Freemasonry
So give me your hand.

Give me your hand;
You are old; I am young;
The years in your heart their wisdom have sown;
But knowledge speaks not by my faltering tongue,
And small in the wisdom I claim as my own:
We are sundered, are we,
As two men can be
But we are two brothers in Freemasonry
So give me your hand.

The True Mason

2007-11-21T08:53:00.000-05:00

Title: The True Mason
Author: F. G. Tisdall
Notes:

No Mason is he who is dead to the wailings
Of those whom misfortune has placed under ban
Who is harsh, unforgiving toward other men's failings,
Or does any act that debases the man.

He may seem a good brother in sight of his fellow,
Be high in his order and leam'd in its code;
But still his pretentions are truthless and shallow,
And he is no Mason in sight of his GOD.

But he's a true Mason whose soul ever rises
Above the small honors and glories of earth;
Who all the poor glitter of tinsel despises,
And loves to be measured alone by his worth.

With the Square and the Plumb-lead as emblems to guide him
From the line of strict duty he scorns to depart
Wlth the Rule and the Compass both ready before him,
He rears a true Temple of GOD in his heart.

His thoughts are as the snow when it falleth;
His zeal if enlisted on rectitude's side;
No fear of men's scoffing, his courage appalleth,
As he stands the oppressed and the friendless beside.

At the cry of misfortune his love is awakened;
Large minded, he succors with naught of display;
The widow, the orphan, the hungry and naked,
From his portals are never sent hungry away.

In precept though firm, he is soft as a mother,
Who seeks in affection her offspring to mold;
More apt by example to win a lost brother,
And waverers keep in the GOOD SHEPHERD'S Fold.
Unsullied by contact with lusts that surround him,
Large hearted, he loves with God like regard;
He lives a rich blessing to all who are round him
And dies to receive the true Mason's reward.

Masons Wife

2007-11-19T10:11:00.001-05:00

Title: Masons Wife
Author: Author unknown
Notes:

From active Masons, resolute,
Our wives and families we salute;
We surely know the price you pay,
Who sit alone while we're away.

No high degrees on you conferred,
In Lodge, your name is seldom heard;
You serve our cause though out of sight,
While sitting home alone tonight.

Masonic papers list our names,
Awards are given, fit to frame;
But yours is absent...you who strive,
To keep our fortitude alive.

You're part of every helpful deed,
On your encouragement we feed;
Without your blessings, how could we,
Continue acts of charity?

And so, this poem, we dedicate,
To every Master Mason's mate;
And offer our undying love,
Rewards await in Heaven above.

Masonic Smile

2007-11-19T10:10:00.002-05:00

Title: Masonic Smile
Author: Author unknown
Notes:

Smiling is infectious,
You can catch it like the flu,
When someone smiled at me today,
I started smiling too.

As I passed around the,
Altar and a Brother saw my grin,
When he smiled,
I realized that I'd passed it on to him.

I thought about that little smile,
Then realized its true worth,
A single smile just like mine,
Could travel around the earth.

Solomon Strikes the Funeral Chimes

2007-11-19T10:10:00.001-05:00

Title: Solomon Strikes the Funeral Chimes
Author: Author unknown
Notes:

Solomon strikes the funeral chime!
Notes of our departing time,
As we journey here below,
On a pilgrimage of woe.

Brothers, now indulge a tear,
For mortality is here!
See how wide her trophies wave,
O'er the slumbers of the grave.

Here another guest we bring,
Seraphs of celestial wing,
To our funeral altar come,
Waft a friend and brother home.

Lord of all, below, above,
Fill our hearts with Truth and Love.
As dissolves our earthly tie,
Take us to Thy Lodge on High.

Ten Master Masons

2007-11-19T10:09:00.002-05:00

Title: Ten Master Masons
Author: Author unknown
Notes:

Ten Master Masons, happy, doing fine;
One listened to a rumor, then there were nine.

Nine Master Masons, faithful, never late;
One didn't like the "Master," then there were eight.

Eight Master Masons, on their way to heaven;
One joined to many clubs, then there were seven.

Seven Master Masons, life dealt some hard licks;
One grew discouraged, then there were six.

Six Master Masons, all very much alive;
One lost his interest, then there were five.

Five Master Masons, wishing there were more;
Got into a great dispute, then there were four.

Four Master Masons, busy as could be;
One didn't like the programs, then there were three.

Three Master Masons, was one of them you?
One grew tired of all the work, then there were two.

Two Master Masons with so much to be done;
One said "What's the use," then there was one.

One Master Mason, found a brother -- true!
Brought him to the Lodge, then there were two.

Two Master Masons didn't find work a bore;
Each brought another, then there were four.

Four Master Masons saved their Lodges fate;
By showing others kindness, then there were eight.

Eight Master Masons, loving their Lodges bright sheen;
Talked so much about it, they soon counted sixteen.

Sixteen Master Masons, to their obligations true;
Were pleased when their number went to thirty-two.

So we can't put our troubles at the Lodges door;
It's our fault for harming the Lodge we adore.

Don't fuss about the programs or the "Master" in the East;
Keep your obligation by serving even the very least.

Ready for my last degree

2007-11-19T10:09:00.001-05:00

Title: Ready for my last degree
Author: Author unknown
Notes:

An old man lay sick in the Masonic Home.
His face was as wan as the white sea foam.
His eyes were dim, his hair was gray.
His back was bent with the trials of the way.
He faltering spoke, but I heard him say,
I'm ready for my last degree.

I've come to the end of the level time
That leads us all to the Grand Lodge sublime
From whose borne none ever return.
More light in Masonry there I shall learn
By an Alter where light shall evermore shine.
I'm ready for my last degree.

With the Apprentice's gauge,
I've divided my time Into three equal parts since life's early prime.
And this I have found amidst life's turmoil.
My wages are due me, in Corn, Wine and Oil.
I'm ready for my last degree.

Each day from life's quarries, I've hewn a stone,
With the gavel I've shaped them, each one alone.
And shipped them along beyond that bright stand,
To build me a house in that great better land.
A spiritual house not made with hands.
I'm ready for my last degree.

I've squared each stone by the virtue square,
And plumbed them all true, as I shipped them there.
With the compass I've measured the Master's designs
And kept within due bounds, with his points and his signs.
My blue prints are folded; I've answered his signs.
I'm ready for my last degree.

The Mortar I've made, from friendship and love,
To be spread with the Master's trowel up above.
My apron is worn, but its surface is white.
My working tools now will be cold and quiet.
My Trestle Board's bare, and I'm going tonight.
I'm ready for my last degree.

A few moments later, the old man was dead.
And I fancy that I could see his soul as it fled,
Upward and onward, to the great door,
Where he gave an alarm, and a voice did implore.
The old man gave his answer with these words once more,
I'm ready for my last degree.

That night in a lodge, free from all strife and storm,
He took that degree his last in due form.
So may I live like he did; to build day by day,
A spiritual house, in that land far away.
So I, when I meet my Grand Master I can say,
I'm ready for my last degree.

Challenges for the True Mason

2007-11-19T10:08:00.002-05:00

Title: Challenges for the True Mason
Author: Author unknown
Notes:

I will do more than belong -- I will participate.
I will do more than care -- I will help.
I will do more than believe -- I will practice.
I will do more than be fair -- I will be kind.
I will do more than forgive -- I will forget.
I will do more than dream -- I will work.
I will do more than teach -- I will inspire.
I will do more than earn -- I will enrich.
I will do more than give -- I will serve.
I will do more than live -- I will grow.
I will do more then be friendly -- I will be a friend.
I will do more than be a citizen -- I will be a patriot.

Freemason's March

2007-11-19T10:08:00.001-05:00

Title: Freemason's March
Author: Author unknown
Notes:

Come, let us prepare,
We brothers that are
Met together on merry Occasion;
Let us drink, laugh and sing,
Our Wine has a Spring,
'Tis a Health to an Accepted Mason.

The World is in Pain
Our Secret to gain,
But still let them wonder and gaze on;
Till they're shewn the Light
They'll ne'er know the right
Word or Sign of an Accepted Mason.

'Tis This and 'tis That,
They cannot tell what,
Why so many great Men in the Nation
Should Aprons put on,
To make themselves one
With a Free or an Accepted Mason.

Great Kings, Dukes and Lords,
Have laid by their Swords,
This our Myst'ry to put a good Grace on,
And ne'er been asham'd
To hear themselves nam'd
With a Free or an Accepted Mason.

Antiquity's Pride
We have on our side,
It makes a Man Just in his Station;
There's nought but what's Good
To be understood
By a Free or an Accepted Mason.
Then Join Hand in Hand,
T'each other firm stand,
Let's be merry, and put a bright Face on;
What Mortal can boast
So noble a Toast,
As a Free or an Accepted Mason.

Square and Compass gold

2007-11-19T10:07:00.002-05:00

Title: Square and Compass gold
Author: Author unknown
Notes:

Those men who help my dad each day,
They wear those Mason rings.
A Square and Compass set in gold,
The praise of which I sing.

My dad, he hurt his back you know,
One cold and wintry day.
He slipped and fell upon the ice,
The insurance would not pay.

And since that time those rings I see,
On hands that help us much.
With mowing lawns and hauling trash,
Each day my heart they touch.

They even built a house for me,
Amid our backyard tree.
Where all the neighbor kids,
Would play with laughter full of glee.

My Mom she cried from happiness,
The time the Masons came.
To aid our family in distress,
Without a thought of gain.

And when I'm big, just like my dad,
Of this it must be told.
I want to wear a ring like his,
A Square and Compass gold.

Long years have passed since when
My dad was in that plaster cast.
And since I swore that Solemn Oath,
Which unites us to the last.

But more than that I'm proud to say,
I wear his Mason ring.
The one dad wore for many years,
Until his death this spring.

And one last time his comrades came,
To aid my weeping mother.
They praised and bid a fond farewell,
To our fallen Brother.

And after which MY son did ask,
About their Aprons white.
And of the rings upon their hands.
Of gold so shiny bright.

With tearful eyes I said with pride,
They're men of spirit pure.
Those men who wear those Mason rings,
Of that you can be sure.

And before he went to bed that night,
The family he foretold.
Someday I'll wear a ring like dad's,
A Square and Compass gold.

O, Mother Lodge we've wandered far

2007-11-19T10:07:00.001-05:00

Title: O, Mother Lodge we've wandered far
Author: Lawrence Greenleaf
Notes:

O, Mother Lodge, we've wandered far
And knocked at many a door,
Since first we wore thy Lambskin gift
And trod thy Checkered Floor.
Since first thy symbols met our gaze
And claimed our constant thought,
Till patient search at length revealed
The hidden truths they taught.
When heart at name of Brother thrilled,
And loyal but to thee,
We loved thy Square and Compass, and
Adored thy letter G.

The Chapter held recovered truths,
Why not possess the same,
That thought awoke a new desire
And fanned it into flame.
The honor sought at length was ours,
We read the Keystone's face
And saw the treasures long entombed
Brought from their hiding place.
Another tie had bound our heart,
Another name had we
O, Mother Lodge, we've wandered far
Yet still we cling to thee.

The Council next a votary claimed
We passed within its door.
The orders then of Knighthood took,
But still we craved for more.
The Scottish Rite's prolific brood
Rose temptingly to view,
We reveled in the mysteries
Expressed by 32.
At last the crowning honor came,
With figure 33.
O, Mother Lodge, we've wandered far,
Yet still we cling to thee.

O, Mother Lodge, we've wandered far,
From thy more simple ways
Mid scenes of splendid pageantry
With glories all ablaze.
Where dulcet strains fall on our ear
And pealing anthems ring,
And wisdom of the antique world
Was voiced by silvery tongue
And yet, withal, true Son of Light
With vision clear to see,
O, Mother Lodge, we've wandered far,
Yet still we cling to thee.

O, Mother Lodge, we've wandered far,
With longings vain possessed,
No higher jewel than thy Square
Is worn on Mason's Breast.
No higher badge than thy first gift,
The Lambskin pure and white,
Thy Pointed Star ascendant is
o'er every grade and rite.
Between thy Pillars all must pass,
or else must cease to be.
O, Mother Lodge, we've wandered far,
Yet still we cling to thee.

The Old Poet's Rhyme

2007-11-19T10:06:00.002-05:00

Title: The Old Poet's Rhyme
Author: Author unknown
Notes: Approx. Publication ~1982

WHO placeth Gold Fire on the Pillar so high
And setteth His Sun in the course that is bright?
Who maketh the Chalice of silver to cry
And spinneth the Moon as she watches by night?

What spaces imagined do you travel through life;
Who marries the Groom to the virginal Bride?
What time do you mark with the edge of a knife;
Who presides at the wake when the Living have died?

The answer to each is the answer to all;
Why ask you such questions of Arrow and Bow?
Just ask of your Heart and respond to its call.
The answer's within you;
Be still and Know.

* * *

What wonder is wrought by the birth of a child;
Who casteth the matrix of willow and oak?
Who stilleth the waters when they become riled;
Who stands in the void betwixt fire and smoke?

Where hideth this Love so rare as to find;
Who setteth the stars in the Heaven above?
Who shineth the Light to illumine the blind,
and placeth the down on the breast of the Dove?

Who gave to the rainbow each delicate hue
and designeth the flakes of the new-fallen snow?
Who coveres the sky with a mantle of blue?
The answer's within you;
Be still and Know.

* * *

Who buildeth the door upon which you must knock;
What is it you seek as though it were lost?
Who keepeth the key to the Gordian lock;
What is it you find when all seas have been crossed?

Who dwells in the North and the South, West and East;
How is it the Light and the Darkness divide?
Who lays out the banquet and asks you to feast;
When will the Lion and the pure Lamb abide?

Of whom do you ask so that you may receive;
What fruits shall you reap from the seeds that you sow?
Who calls you to task if you should not believe?
The answer's within you;
Be still and Know.

* * *

What message is spoken with Unicorn's neigh;
Who marks the season's progressions through time?
What musical notes do the snow fairies play,
and who guides the hand of the Old Poet's Rhyme?

How far must you travel to Know of such things
as raindrops and seashells; of sunsets and Queens?
Of what may you Know about paupers and Kings;
of birthing and dying and waking and dreams?

Who buildeth the Temple, the East Gate of Zion,
and causeth Moriah and Zephyr to blow?
Who marketh the place for the Eye of Orion?
The answer's within you;
Just be still . . . and Know.

My New-cut Ashlar

2007-11-19T10:06:00.001-05:00

Title: My New-cut Ashlar
Author: Rudyard Kipling
Notes:

My New-Cut ashlar takes the light
Where crimson-blank the windows flare.
By my own work before the night,
Great Overseer, I make my prayer.

If there be good in that I wrought
Thy Hand compelled it, Master, Thine--
Where I have failed to meet Thy Thought
I know, through Thee, the blame was mine.

The depth and dream of my desire,
The bitter paths wherein I stray--
Thou knowest Who hast made the Fire,
Thou knowest Who hast made the Clay.

Who, lest all thought of Eden fade,
Bring'st Eden to the craftsman's brain--
Godlike to muse o'er his own Trade
And manlike stand with God again!

One stone the more swings into place
In that dread Temple of Thy worth.
It is enough that, through Thy Grace,
I saw nought common on Thy Earth.

Take not that vision from my ken--
Oh whatsoe'er may spoil or speed.
Help me to need no aid from men
That I may help such men as need

The Unseen Temple

2007-11-19T10:05:00.000-05:00

Title: The Unseen Temple
Author: Author unknown
Notes:

There is an Oasis, bright and fair;
The Unseen Temple is over there,
That Perfect Temple, where all is light,
Where there is no darkness, there is no night;
When Allah calls our friends obey,
And fold their tents and steal away
To the land where the crystal waters flow,
Where the beautiful Palms of Allah grow.

That land must, indeed, be wondrous fair,
Since our brothers choose to linger there
While we pitch our tents in the desert here;
But we do not sorrow, we do not fear.
Yet a little while and our race is run,
And we'll steal away with the setting sun
To the land where the crystal waters flow,
Where the beautiful Palms of Allah grow.

His Initiation

2007-11-19T09:45:00.001-05:00

Title: His Initiation
Author: Jim Jordan
Notes:

I heard three knocks on the Temple door,
and then it was opened wide:
I felt the grip of a Masons hand,
as I slowly passed inside.

I was lowered down on bended knees,
as a prayer was said for me:
And I was helped to pass around,
for the Brethren all to see.

And all to me was black as night,
as my leader took me round:
And my racing heart, I heard more clear,
than the solemn organ's sound.

My faltering footsteps here and there,
were halted on the way;
And several questions were put to me,
as I struggled not to sway.

With my right hand resting on the "law,"
I took my obligation;
I swore I'd be a Mason true,
at my Initiation.

I shall not tell more what I saw,
or what to me was spoken;
But I saw the sign and heard the word,
and I felt the Mason's token.

I'll tell you this, that I heard a charge,
which I later learnt by heart;
and it told me all that a man should do,
as a Mason from the start.

It matters not if you pass the Chair,
or reach the highest station;
The best event of a Mason's life,
is his initiation.

Eternal Light

2007-11-19T09:43:00.000-05:00

Title: Eternal Light
Author: Henry Engelsman
Notes:

Call it the 'oly Bible'?
Call it the Blessed Book
Call it any name that seems a'right.
Call it the Path of Virtue
Call it the Way of Life?
Mason's fondly know it as the Light.

It doesn't shine in darkness,
Invisible's its beam,
You would not even see a feeble glow,
Yet, - if you ups an' asks 'em
Just 'ow it got that name,
They smile, an turn away, - a' cos they know.

S'pose its about believin',
Well I do believe in God'
But then I'm just an ordinary man
On ev'ry page if seems
Shines radiance Supreme,
All part of His eternal plan

I'd like to understand it,
I'd like to find that Way
That beams, to outshine any other.
That's it! I'll quit the shadows,
I will try to find that Light,
I'll ask 'em - Can I be a Brother?

If, You will my Brother Be

2007-11-19T09:42:00.000-05:00

Title: If, You will my Brother Be
Author: Author unknown
Notes:

If you believe in
A Great Architect,
And only if;

If you are a man
Good and true
And live God's chosen paths;

If you weep at a man's woes
And his pain is your pain;
His anguished needs
You carefully soothe :

If the moons no more
Your ambition keep
Or at least the direction know;

If the hard and stony path
Is but behind
And not ahead of you;

If your job, its satisfaction done,
And life's a plateau,
Life its stillness bore:

If you have loved
And all the joys of love,
Mellowed to its highest heights;

If life's eternal lesson learned
And have been rewarded
With God's gifts of joy and blessings;

If you have the heart and soul,
And the precious hours
To share this joy with other fellowmen:
If within you, lies a heart
That stirs for more,
And you know not why;

If you ask questions
That gives no answers;
Why, what or who am I:

If you ask,
Is life a tireless search
With no end!

Then, Time is right,
My good fellow,
You are
And you will, my brother be.

I See You've Traveled Some

2007-11-19T09:40:00.000-05:00

Title: I See You've Traveled Some
Author: Author unknown
Notes:

Wherever you may chance to be
Wherever you may roam,
Far away in Foreign lands,
Or just at Home, Sweet home
It always gives you pleasure,
It makes your heart strings hum
Just to hear the words of cheer
"I see you've traveled some."

When you get the brother's greeting,
As he takes you by the hand
It thrills you with a feeling
That you cannot understand,
You feel that bond of brotherhood
That aid that's sure to come
When you hear him say
in a friendly way
"I see you've traveled some."

And if you are a stranger,
In strange lands all alone,
If fate has left you stranded
Dead broke and far From home,
O, it's grand and glorious Feeling,
It thrills you--makes you dumb
When he says, with a grip of Fellowship
"I see you've traveled some."

And when your final summons comes,
To take a last long trip,
Adorned with Lambskin Apron White
And gems of fellowship;
The Tiller at the Golden Gate,
With square and rule and plumb
Will size up your pin, and say,
"Walk in--I see you've traveled some."

Our Poor Brethren

2007-11-19T09:38:00.002-05:00

Title: Our Poor Brethren
Author: Author unknown
Notes:

"Our poor and penniless brethren, dispersed over land and sea."
--Masonic Sentiment

They met in the festive hall,
Lamps in their brightness shone,
And merry music and mirth,
Aided the feast of St. John.
Men pledged the health of their Queen
And of all the Royal band,
The flags of a thousand years,
The swords of their motherland.

Then mid the revelry came
The sound of a mournful strain,
Like a minor chord in music,
A sweet but sad refrain;
It rose on the heated air,
Like a mourner's earnest plea,
"Our poor and penniless brethren
Dispersed over land and sea."

Poor and penniless brethren
Scattered over the world,
Want and misfortune and woe
Round them fierce darts have hurled;
Wandering alone upon mountains,
Sick and fainting and cold,
Lying heart-broken in prisons,
Chained in an enemy's hold.

Dying in fields of combat,
With none to answer back
The masonic sign of distress,
Left on the battle's track.
Shipwrecked in foaming waters,
Clinging to broken spars,
Dying, this night of St. John,
Mid the ocean and the stars.

Others with hunger faint--we
Taste these rich and varied meats--
Oppression gives them no home
But dark and desolate streets.
Oh, God of mercy, hear us,
As we ask a boon for Thee,
For poor and penniless brethren
Dispersed over land and sea.

Poor and penniless brethren,
Ah, in the Master's sight,
We all lay claim to the title
On this, our festival night.
Lone pilgrims journeying on
Towards light that points above,
Treading the chequered earthworks
Till we reach the land of love.

Work up to the landmark, brothers,
We shall not always stay,
The falling shadows warn us
To work in the light of day.
How often our footsteps turn
Where a brother's form is hid,
Oft we cast evergreen sprigs
On a brother's coffin lid.

Thou, who dost give to each
Some appointed post to hold,
Teach us to cherish the weak,
To give Thy silver and gold;
To guard as a soldier guards
Honor and Love's pure shrine,
To give our lives for others,
As Thou did'st for us give Thine.

To Masons all over the world
Give wisdom to work aright,
That they may gather in peace
Their working tools at night.
May love's star glitter o'er each,
Amid darkness, storm or mist,
As on this night of St. John,
Our Blest Evangelist.

The Level and Square

2007-11-19T09:38:00.001-05:00

Title: The Level and Square
Author: Robert Morris
Notes:

We meet upon the Level and we part upon the Square
What priceless words of meaning these words Masonic are
Come, let us contemplate them, They are worthy of a thought;
In the very walls of Masonry the sentiment is wrought.

We meet upon the Level and from every station come
The rich man from his palace and the poor man from his home,
For the rich must leave their wealth and state outside the Mason's door,
And the poor man finds his best respects upon the Checkered Floor.

We meet upon the Plumb, 'tis the order of our Guide
We walk upright in every way and lean to neither side;
The All-Seeing Eye that reads our hearts and doth bear us witness true,
That we still try to honour God and give each man his due.

We part upon the Square, for the world must have its due,
We mingle with the multitude, a faithful band and true,
But the influence of our gatherings in Masonry is green,
And we long upon the Level to renew the happy scene.

There is a World where all are equal, we are hurrying to it fast,
We shall meet upon the Level when the Gates of Death are past;
We shall stand before the Orient and our Master shall be there,
To try the blocks we offer with His own unerring Square.

We shall meet upon the Level there, but never thence depart,
There's a Mansion, 'tis all ready for each trusting, faithful heart,
There is a Mansion and a welcome and a multitude is there;
Who have met upon the Level and been tried upon the Square.

Let us meet upon the Level then while labouring patient here;
Let us meet and let us labour though the labour be severe,
Already in the western sky the signs bid us prepare,
To gather up our working tools and part upon the Square.

Hands round Ye faithful Brotherhood, the bright fraternal chain,
We part upon the Square below and meet in Heaven Again;
And the words of precious meaning, those words Masonic are,
"WE MEET UPON THE LEVEL AND WE PART UPON THE SQUARE".

The Mason's Lodge

2007-11-19T09:31:00.000-05:00

Title: The Mason's Lodge
Author: Johann Von Goethe
Notes:

The Future hides in it
Gladness and sorrow:
We press still forward
Nought that abides in it
Daunting us onward.

And solemn before us,
veiled, the dark Portal,
Goal of all mortal:
Stars silent rest o'er us,
Graves under us, silent.

While earnest thou gazest
Comes boding of terror,
Comes phantasm and error
Perplexing the bravest
With doubt and misgiving.

But heard are the voices,
Heard are the Sages,
The Worlds and the Ages:
Choose well; your choice is
Brief, and yet endless.

Here eyes do regard you
In Eternity's stillness;
Here is all fulness,
Ye brave, to reward you,
Work and despair not."

"Work and despair not"
"Wir Heissen Euch Hoffen"
"we bid you be of hope".
Let that be my last word.”

Entered Apprentice Song

2007-11-19T09:28:00.000-05:00

Title: Entered Apprentice Song
Author: Matthew Birkhead
Notes: Approx Publication Date ~1722

Come let us prepare,
We Brothers that are
Assembled on merry occasion;

Let's drink, laugh and sing:
Our wine has a Spring,
Here's health to an Accepted Mason,
The world is in pain
Our secrets to gain,
And still let them wonder and gaze on;

They ne'er can divine
The Word or the Sign
Of a Free and an Accepted Mason.
'Tis this, and 'tis that.

They cannot tell what,
Why so many Great Men of the Nation
Should aprons put on,
To make themselves one
With a Free and an Accepted Mason.

Great Kings, Dukes and Lords,
Have laid by their swords,
Our myst'ry to put a good Grace on:
And ne'er been ashamed
To hear themselves named
With a Free and an Accepted Mason.

Antiquity's pride
We have on our side,
And it maketh men just in their station
There's nought but what's good
To be understood
By a Free and an Accepted Mason.

We're true and sincere,
And just to the Fair:
They'll trust us on any occasion:
No mortal can more
The Ladies adore
Than a Free and an Accepted Mason.

Then join Hand in Hand,
To each other firm stand;
Lets be merry, and put a bright face on:
What mortal can boast
So Noble a Toast
As a Free and an Accepted Mason.

CHORUS

No Mortal can boast
So Noble a Toast
As a Free and an Accepted Mason.

The Mentor

2007-11-19T09:27:00.000-05:00

Title: The Mentor
Author: Author unknown
Notes:

An old man, traveling on a lone highway,
Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim'
The sullen stream had no fears for him.
But he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide

"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim, near,
"You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the evening day,
You never again must pass this way.
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide
Why build you this bridge at the eventide?"

The builder lifted his gray old head.
"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said
"There follows after me today
A youth, whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm, that has been naught to me,
To that fair haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too must cross into the twilight dim.
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him."

When my Pa joined the Masons

2007-11-19T09:25:00.000-05:00

Title: When my Pa joined the Masons
Author: Unknown
Notes: Official Title Unknown

When my Pa joined the Masons,
Ma got as mad as sin,
She wished that he'd be blackballed,
And never could get in.
This staying out to meetings
Till twelve o'clock or so,
Was really perfect nonsense --
She wished he would not go.
Then when Pa got elected
To what he called the chair,
And spent a little money
She was crosser than a bear.
And so things kept on going,
Pa hadn't much to say,
But smiled behind his paper
When she took on that way.
Now things have changed;
They got her to join the Eastern Star;
She's never home at midnight,
Spends more than Pa, by far.
We eat cold victuals, Pa and I,
About five days each week,
She's at committee meeting --
But Pa is kind of meek.
She'll soon be Worthy Matron,
Pa's found a boarding house;
But 'till she's elected
He's as still as any mouse.
He says he'd fix things
So she need have no care;
I don't know how she'll like it,
But then that's Pa's affair.
He says that when I'm older
I'll understand the game;
It's hard to be a Mason,
But I'll be one just the same.
There must be something in it,
They're having lots of fun,
I guess I'll have to wait though,
'Till I am twenty-one.

Masonic Poetry

2007-11-19T08:47:00.003-05:00

This blog is designed as a sub-blog of On The Level (Masonic Travels) and is strictly for Masonic Poetry. Poetry on this page may be about Freemasonry, or poetry about anything else, so long as the author was a Freemason.

Unknown Authors About Freemasonry

Poems About Freemasonry (A-L)

Poems About Freemasonry (M-Z)