Şair Vaizlerle Dev Saatler - Giant Hours with Poet Preachers

Produced by Juliet Sutherland

and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

[Illustration: EDWIN MARKHAM ]

GIANT HOURS WITH POET PREACHERS

BY

WILLIAM L. STIDGER

Introduction by
Edwin Markham

To
WHITE-SOULED
EDWIN MARKHAM
DEMOCRACY'S VOICE, HUMANITY'S FRIEND
I DEDICATE THIS BOOK

AMERICAN POETS:

I. EDWIN MARKHAM.

II. VACHEL LINDSAY.

III. JOAQUIN MILLER.

IV. ALAN SEEGER.

ENGLISH POETS

V. JOHN OXENHAM.

VI. ALFRED NOYES.

VII. JOHN MASEFIELD.

VIII. ROBERT SERVICE.

IX. RUPERT BROOKE.

LIST OF PORTRAITS:

EDWIN MARKHAM.

VACHEL LINDSAY.

JOAQUIN MILLER.

ALAN SEEGER.

JOHN OXENHAM.

ALFRED NOYES.

JOHN MASEFIELD.

ROBERT SERVICE.

RUPERT BROOKE.

INTRODUCTION

In writing to the readers of Mr. Stidger's book I feel as though I werewriting to old friends, friends who may have an interest in knowingsome of the thoughts that I hold regarding questions of the hour andquestions of the future.

The Christian as he looks out upon the battling and broken world seesmuch to sadden his heart. Thinkers are everywhere asking, "IsChristianity a failure?" I hasten to assure you that Christianity hasnot failed, for Christianity has nowhere been tried yet, nowhere beentried in a large social sense. Christianity has been tried byindividuals, and it has been found to be comforting and transforming.But it has never been tried by any large group of people in any oneplace—never by a whole city—never by a whole kingdom—-never by awhole people. It is for this trial that the watching angels arewaiting.

Our holy religion is not a saving power merely for individuals; it isalso a saving power for society in its industrial order. We haveapplied it to the individual in the past, but we have never made anywholehearted effort to make religion the working principle of society.Religion is always cooperative and brotherly, but we have not yet madeany earnest effort to apply the cooperative and brotherly principleto business. We have tried to persuade the individual to express theideals of the Sermon on the Mount, but we have made no earnest effortto urge society to express the ideals of the Sermon on the Mount.

Therefore, while it is true that we have individual Christians—men andwomen who make noble sacrifices in their effort to live the goodlife—it is also true that we have no Christian society anywhere onearth, no Christian civilization anywhere under the stars. Sometimesa careless talker will refer to our social order as "a Christiancivilization." All such references, dear friends, disturb our hearts;for they prove that the speaker has no conception of what a Christiancivilization would be, how noble and brotherly it would be. Fiveminutes' reading of the Sermon on the Mount will convince any alertmind that we are yet thousan

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