--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Bennett, Hannah Ward collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 20 number: 11 published: 1917-09 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Hannah Ward Bennett, "A Mirage of Life," *Improvement Era* 20, no. 11 (September 1917): 954.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera20011unse 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: improvementera20011unse start_page: 954 end_page: 954 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1917-09) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera20011unse publication_year: 1917 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 1917, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # A Mirage of Life IMPROVEMENT ERA of making arable our vast domain of arid lands. From Pioneer Day, 1847, to the present the stream of im- migration to the erstwhile desert has never ceased. Over the great Temple today float the flags of the Nation, expressive of the devotion and loyalty of the people in the current world crisis. A Mirage of Life I my soul, "Now's the time to be gay, said to seek the world's pleasures and join with the throng; I'll No shadow shall dim my horizon today; My harp I will tune to the merriest song." I then saw a broad road, well peopled, ahead, Bestrewn with fine roses of varying hue; All the briars from the path of the traveler were cleared, No clouds marred the sunshine. of Heaven's bright blue. I hurried my feet to this scene, at the dawn, But found the way slippery; I hardlv could move; All the roses were gone, leaving only the thorns, And mists rose and shut out the sunshine above. Now rosy and tempting, all covered with dew, I saw all the rich fruits my heart could desire; While longing to reach some, more eager I grew, I thought of the eating I never could tire. Yet, when I possessed them their lustre had fled; I found 'twas a phantom my fancy had chased There was only the husks left, all withered and dead, What I thought would be sweet was as gall to my taste. Away in the distance a sparkling lake Of pure crystal water arose to my sight. I ran with the foremost in haste to partake; For daylight was fading, and soon it was night. I walked and I ran, and I ran and I walked, To quench my great thirst ere the darkness should fall But sorrow enwrapt me, I found I was balked; 'Twas only a mirage of life, after all. Ah, me! I was weary, dejected and sore, All the birds ceased their song and the woods their refrain; Gray clouds at my folly shed tears o'er and o'er, And the eyes of the gloaming closed slowly in pain. The world's fleeting pleasure at best only cloys, Though Satan entice with his glitter and show; But durable treasures and heavenly joys Await all who patiently fight their way through. Hannah Ward Bennett. Salt Lake City.