April 24, 1950
“HYDE PARK, Sunday—…Finally there is a new collection of Edwin Markham’s poems, collected and arranged by Charles L. Wallace. I believe all of us should occasionally sit down and read our own poets, especially those who reflect the spirit of the United States. Two of Markham’s little verses deserve, I think, to be read often. They go:
“We all are blind until we see
That in the human plan
Nothing is worth the making if
It does not make the man.
That in the human plan
Nothing is worth the making if
It does not make the man.
Why build these cities glorious
If man unbuilded goes?
In vain we build the world, unless
The builder also grows.”
If man unbuilded goes?
In vain we build the world, unless
The builder also grows.”
In this particular period when the American citizen has to grow so rapidly, those lines, written some time ago, should be learned by every child.”