--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Hay, John collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 16 number: 5 published: 1913-03 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Hay, John, "A Hymn of Action. A Poem," *Improvement Era* 16, no. 5 (March 1913): 420–421.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1605unse 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: improvementera1605unse start_page: 420 end_page: 421 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1913-03) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1605unse publication_year: 1913 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 1913, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # A Hymn of Action. A Poem A Hymn of Action (Selected) (These lines were written many years ago) "Not in dumb resignation, we lift our hands on high; Not like the nerveless fatalist, content to do and die. Our faith springs like the eagle, who soars to meet the sun, And cries exulting unto Thee, 'O Lord, Thy will be done.' "When tyrant feet are trampling upon the common weal Thou dost not bid us bend and writhe beneath the iron heel, • In Thy name we assert our right by sword or tongue or pen, And even the headman's ax may flash Thy message unto men. "Thy will! It bids the weak be strong; it bids the strong be just; No lips to fawn, no hand to beg, no brow to seek the dust, Whenever man oppresses men beneath the liberal sun, O Lord, be there: Thine arm make bare; Thy righteous will be done. John Hay. Under the Sea Level in Holland BY W. F. THOMPSON As is well known, this country has been reclaimed from the sea the large rivers of Europe have carried down sediment which ; has formed a large delta, level with the ocean, and in many places far below. I asked an old gentleman in Groningen, "How far above the sea-level is the city of Groningen?" and he replied, "About sixty feet below, at high tide." Piece by piece it has been surrounded by dykes, and the water, being pumped out, has left a small, beautiful, fertile piece of land, now very productive. On a pleasant summer day, the landscape is very beautiful everything is nice, trim, and so clean and neat In the large cities they have ! lovely dwelling houses, the streets in THE DOG-CART front being beautiful with grass plots containing flower beds, in the center. On leaving the city, we travel along the country road, far into the farm dis- trict. The road we travel over is paved with brick. Along- each side we see a place for bicycles. On these brick roads we can travel miles upon miles A COUNTRY ROAD from one large city to another without getting off the bricks. This makes it very comfort- able for auto-riding. On either side of the road there is a large canal or drain ditch. These ditches are used to drain the pretty little farms which are likewise surround- ed with ditches which are also used in place of fences. The farms are well cared THE FAMILY BOAT for, nicely planted with differ- ent sorts of market vegetables. A horse is very costly in this country, so we see the farmer sitting on a heavily-loaded cart