John Erskine
Reading edition
John Erskine was born in New York City, October 5, 1879. He graduated from Columbia University, receiving his A.M. in 1901 and Ph.D. in 1903. He has taught English since 1903, first at Amherst College, and (beginning in 1909) at Columbia.
Although most of Erskine’s works have been performed in the capacity of editor and essayist, he has written two volumes of excellent verse. Actæon and Other Poems (1906) is little more than an introduction to The Shadowed Hour (1917), which contains such keen verses as “Satan” and “Ash-Wednesday” in which philosophy and poetry are interknit.
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DEDICATION
When imperturbable the gentle moon
Glides above war and onslaught through the night,
When the sun burns magnificent at noon
On hate contriving horror by its light,
When man, for whom the stars were and the skies,
Turns beast to rend his fellow, fang and hoof
Shall we not think, with what ironic eyes
Nature must look on us and stand aloof?
But not alone the sun, the moon, the stars,
Shining unharmed above man’s folly move;
For us three beacons kindle one another
Which waver not with any wind of wars:
We love our children still, still them we love
Who gave us birth, and still we love each other.