An old English Masonic gem ca 1775:
“I was born in antiquity, in the
ancient days when men first dreamed of God.
I have been tried through the ages, and
found true.
The crossroads of the world bears the
imprint of my feet.
And the cathedrals of all nations mark
the skill of my hands I strive for beauty and for symmetry.
In my heat [heart] is wisdom and
strength and courage for those who ask.
Upon my altars is the Book of Holy Writ
and my prayers are to the OMNIPOTENT GOD.
My sons work and pray together, without
rank or discord, In the public mart, and the inner
chamber, By signs and symbols I teach the lessons of life and death, And
relationship of man with God and man with man.
My arms are widespread to receive those
of lawful age and of good report, who seek me of their own quest for
perfection, So much desired and so difficult to attain.
I lift up the fallen and shelter the
sick, hark to the orphan’s cry, The widow’s tears, the pain
of the old and destitute.
I am not church, nor party, nor school, Yet my sons
bear a full share of responsibility to God, To country, to neighbours and
themselves. They are freemen, tenacious of their liberties and alert to lurking
danger.
At the end I commit them, as each one
undertakes the journey beyond the vale into the glory or everlasting life I
ponder the sand within the glass and think:
How small is a single life in the
eternal Universe.
Always have I taught immortality, and
even as I raise men from darkness into light, I am a way of life.