Henry O'Meara Ballads of America

Decoration

THE GENIUS OF THE PRESS

READ AT THE BANQUET OF THE BOSTON PRESS CLUB, 1891
WHAT marvel this our visions meet,
Who walks the world with glowing feet,
Whose prints shine o'er Phoenicia's ground
Where Cadmus first his letters found,
O'er realms of Isis and Osiris,
Where Pharaohs printed on papyrus,
O'er Clairvaux and its cloister cell
Whose missals marvelled lettering tell,
O'er Teuton soil where Hope conceived
What Faust and Gutenberg achieved
That men the magic type should see
As mobile as their thoughts might be?
'Tis yours, O Genius of the Press,
Who comes with light, with life - redress;
Who lends the universal voice
While lands in unison rejoice;
Whose chant by every race is sung -
Whose bow, on each horizon hung,
With beams of pencilled radiance binds,
And tints as one a myriad minds!
 
"THE COUNTY FAIR" CONTENTS A NEWSPAPER GREETING

 

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updated Wednesday, April 19, 2000
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