--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Curtis, Theo. E. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 11 number: 4 published: 1908-02 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Theo. E. Curtis, "Edna Tide: A Poem," *Improvement Era* 11, no. 4 (February 1908): 269.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1104unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera1104unse start_page: 269 end_page: 269 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1908-02) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1104unse publication_year: 1908 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1908, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Edna Tide: A Poem THOUGHTS, THE MASTER POWER. 269 noble and God-like character is not a thing of favor or chance, but a natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with God-like thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harboring of groveling thoughts, Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory of thought he forges weapons by which he destroys himself ; he also fashions the tools with which he builds heavenly mansions of joy, and strength, and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the divine perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is the . maker and master. Sugar City, Idaho. EDNA TIDE. {For the Improvement EraS) 'Twas like a frail midsummer flower, Tiat blushed and faded in an hour, Amid the blaze and heat of day, That thou didsi flower and fade away. To show amid eternity That we had learned to cherish thee, Take back to the celestial bowers The spirits of these lily flowers That dot thy grave, like flakes of snow — Sweet symbols of the flower below. When our life's sun sinks in the west — Wht-n day is o'er, to share thy rest, We'll gather slowly to thy side, Sweet little stranger, Edna Tide; And wake with thee, when night is gone. At the first blushing of the dawn. Theo. E. Curtis. Salt Lake City, Utah.