thought of the mission of the poet. The scenery in and about Ayr is beautiful, but there is many another region equally attractive. The people with whom Burns dwelt, his neighbors and friends, were commonplace men and women, knowing the hardships, the drudgery, the pettiness of life. And yet he so sang of these scenes and these people, so touched every chord of the human heart, that annually thirty thousand travellers visit Ayr to pay their homage at the poet's shrine. The poetic view of life is the right one. The poet sees the reality in the commonplace. Our surroundings are filled with wonderful and varied beauty when we open our eyes to the truth. Our friends and companions are splendid men and women when we see them at their worth. For happiness as well as success add poetry to heroism.
"The Inscrutable who set this orb awhirl
Gave power to strength that effort might attain;
Gave power to wit that knowledge might direct;
And so with penalties, incentives, gains,
Limits, and compensations intricate,
He dowered this earth, that man should never rest
Save as his Maker's will be carried out.
There is no easy, unearned joy on earth
Save what God gives—the lustiness of youth,
And love's dear pangs. All other joys we gain
By striving, and so qualified we are
That effort's zest our need as much consoles
As effort's gain. Both issues are our due.
Better when work is past
Back into dust dissolve and help a seed
Climb upward, than with strength still full
Deny to God His claim and thwart His wish."
