TWO POEMS
Two Poems
CLASS DAY POEM
THE PURPLE HILLS
By
HENRY RUTGERS CONGER
WILLIAMSTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS
PRINTED FOR THE
CLASS OF EIGHTEEN NINETY-NINE
OF
WILLIAMS COLLEGE
MCMXXI
HENRY RUTGERS CONGER, Poet of the Class of Eighteen Ninety-Nine ofWilliams College, died at his home in Fanwood, New Jersey, on Friday theeighteenth of June, Nineteen Hundred and Twenty, while his Class washolding its Reunion in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
These two poems, written by him while an undergraduate in WilliamsCollege, are now printed by his Class as a loving tribute to hismemory.
CLASS DAY POEM
I
In the hush of the early summer,
’Neath the smile of the soft June sky,
We, who have lived together,
Gather to say good-by.
And now, with our labor ended,
And the hours we may linger few,
We kneel for our mother’s blessing,
As is our right to do.
’Neath the smile of the soft June sky,
We, who have lived together,
Gather to say good-by.
And now, with our labor ended,
And the hours we may linger few,
We kneel for our mother’s blessing,
As is our right to do.
Stately and tall is our mother,
Tender and strong and wise;
With the light of infinite knowledge
In the depths of her steadfast eyes.
And as we kneel before her,
Her voice rings clear and slow,
As she speaks the words of the blessing
That she gives to her sons, ere they go.
Tender and strong and wise;
With the light of infinite knowledge
In the depths of her steadfast eyes.
And as we kneel before her,
Her voice rings clear and slow,
As she speaks the words of the blessing
That she gives to her sons, ere they go.
II
“Sons of my four years’ nurture,
Ye who have eaten my bread,
Pause ere you take the journey
Down the wide roads ahead!
Listen! that I may tell you
In simple speech and plain,
How from the debt that ye owe me
Ye may quit yourselves again!
Ye who have eaten my bread,
Pause ere you take the journey
Down the wide roads ahead!
Listen! that I may tell you
In simple speech and plain,
How from the debt that ye owe me
Ye may quit yourselves again!
The wisdom of generations
I have spread for your delight;
And the truths that men have died for
Ye may claim as your simple right.
Heirs of the hoarding ages,
How use ye your legacy?
Masters of many talents
Render account to me.
I have spread for your delight;
And the truths that men have died for
Ye may claim as your simple right.
Heirs of the hoarding ages,
How use ye your legacy?
Masters of many talents
Render account to me.
III
“Are ye puffed with the pride of learning?
Are ye pleased with the praise of fools?
<
Are ye pleased with the praise of fools?
<
...