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WOM A N | 85 On her unmeasured value to the state. And the child, listening, grew in noble pride, And planned for greater praises when he died. Then the Poet spoke of those long ripening years; And tenderer music brought the grateful tears; And then, lest grief upon their heartstrings hang, Her children stood around the bier and sang: In the name of the mother that bore us— Bore us strong—bore us free— We will strive in the labors before us, Even as she! Even as she! In the name of her wisdom and beauty, Of her life full of light, We will live in our national duty, We will help on the right: We will love as her heart loved before us, Warm and wide—strong and high! In the name of the mother that bore us, We will live! We will die! In Mother-Time When woman looks at woman with the glory in her eyes, When eternity lies open like a scroll, When immortal life is being felt,—the life that never dies,— And the triumph of it ringeth And the sweetness of it singeth In the soul, Then we come to California, the Garden of the Lord, Through all its leagues of endless blossoming; And we sing, we sing together, to the whole world’s deep accord— And we feel each other praying Over what the flowers are saying As we sing. We were waiting, we were growing, glad of heart and strong of soul, Like the peace and power of all these virgin lands; Through the years of holy maidenhood with motherhood for goal— And soon we shall be holding Fruit of all life’s glad unfolding In our hands. White-robed mothers, flower-crowned mothers, in the splendor of their youth, In the grandeur of maturity and power; Feeling life has passed the telling in its joyousness and truth, 86 | In This Our World Feeling life will soon be giving Them the golden key of living In one hour. We come to California for the sunshine and the flowers; Our motherhood has brought us here as one; For the fruit of all the ages should share the shining hours, With the blossoms ever-springing And the golden globes low swinging, In the sun. She Who is to Come A woman—in so far as she beholdeth Her one Beloved’s face; A mother—with a great heart that enfoldeth The children of the Race; A body, free and strong, with that high beauty That comes of perfect use, is built thereof; A mind where Reason ruleth over Duty, And Justice reigns with Love; A self-poised, royal soul, brave, wise and tender, No longer blind and dumb; A Human Being, of an unknown splendor, Is she who is to come! Girls of To-day Girls of to-day! Give ear! Never since time began Has come to the race of man A year, a day, an hour, So full of promise and power As the time that now is here! Never in all the lands Was there a power so great, To move the wheels of state, To lift up body and mind, To waken the deaf and blind, As the power that is in your hands! Here at the gates of gold You stand in the pride of youth, Strong in courage and truth, Stirred by a force kept back Through centuries long and black, Armed with a power threefold! ...

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