There is no way to shake it!" "On! ON!" exclaimed the hero, "I'll find a way, or make it!"

2

Is Fame your aspiration? Her path is steep and high; In vain you seek her temple, Content to gaze and sigh: The shining throne is waiting, But he alone can take it, Who says, with Roman firmness, "I'll find a way, or make it!”

3

Is Learning your ambition?
There is no royal road;
Alike the peer and peasant

Must climb to her abode;
Who feels the thirst for knowledge
In Helicon may slake it,

If he has still the Roman will,
To "find a way, or make it!"

4

Are Riches worth the getting?
They must be bravely sought;
With wishing and with fretting,
The boon can not be bought;

To all the prize is open,

But only he can take it,

Who says, with Roman courage,

“I'LL FIND A WAY, OR MAKE IT!"

HELPS TO STUDY

Notes and Questions

Words and Phrases for Discussion

BETTER THAN GOLD

ABRAM J. RYAN

Abram J. Ryan was born in Norfolk, Va., in 1836, and served as a chaplain in the Civil War. He died in 1886. "Better than Gold" is one of his choice poems.

Better than grandeur, better than gold,
Than rank and titles a thousand fold,

Is a healthy body, a mind at ease,

And simple pleasures that always please;-
A heart that can feel for another's woe,
And share his joys with a genial glow,
With sympathies large enough to infold
All men as brothers, is better than gold.

2

Better than gold is a conscience clear,
Though toiling for bread in a humble sphere,
Doubly blessed with content and health,
Untried by the lusts or cares of wealth,
Lowly living and lofty thought

Adorn and ennoble a poor man's cot;
For mind and morals, in Nature's plan
Are the genuine test of a gentleman.

3

Better than gold is the sweet repose
Of the sons of toil when their labors close;
Better than gold is a poor man's sleep,
And the balm that drops on his slumber deep.
Bring sleeping draughts on the downy bed,
Where Luxury pillows his aching head,
His simple opiate labor deems

A shorter road to the land of dreams.

4

Better than gold is a thinking mind,
That, in the realm of books, can find
A treasure surpassing Australian ore,
And live with the great and good of yore.
The sage's lore, and the poet's lay,
The glories of empires passed away
The world's great drama, will thus unfold,
And yield a pleasure better than gold.

5

Better than gold is a peaceful home
Where all the fireside characters come,
The shrine of love, the heaven of life,
Hallowed by mother, or sister, or wife.
However humble the home may be,

Or tried with sorrow by Heaven's decree,
The blessings that never were bought or sold,
And center there, are better than gold.

GRADATIM

JOSIAH GILBERT HOLLAND

Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819-1881) was an American poet and journalist. He was born on a Massachusetts farm, but studied medicine and afterward became editor of the "Springfield Republican." He was one of the founders of "Scribner's Monthly Magazine" and became its editor.

1

Heaven is not reached at a single bound,
But we build the ladder by which we rise
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies,
And we mount to its summit round by round.

2

I count this thing to be grandly true,
That a noble deed is a step toward God,
Lifting the soul from the common clod
To a purer air and a fairer view.

3

We rise by the things that are under our feet,
By what we have mastered of good or gain;
By the pride deposed or the passion slain,
And the vanquished ills that we hourly meet.

HELPS TO STUDY
Notes and Questions

Where does the poet imagine the

foot of the ladder to be? How is the ladder built?

By what kind of deeds do we as

cend this ladder?

What kind of actions cause us to slip back?

What foes does the third stanza

Abridged.

tell us we must conquer, if we wish to mount the ladder? Mention some noble deed of which you have read in this book.

What opportunities have boys and girls to do noble deeds?