--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Sarah E. Hawley Pearson collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 21 number: 4 published: 1918-02 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Sarah E. Hawley Pearson, “To Avelan,” *Improvement Era* 21, no. 4 (February 1918): 288–291." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2104unse 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: improvementera2104unse start_page: 288 end_page: 291 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1918-02) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2104unse publication_year: 1918 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 1918, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # To Avelan To Avelan (From Mother, at the Hospital, Aug., 1917) I found your flowers, sweet lad, when I awoke, — Fresh gladiolus in their crystal vase. Tall, brave and bright, your message, dear, they spoke In dew and color in this clean, white place In which I lie, — lie close, and think of you; Of God, and Life; of Death, and War; The World, and its work to do. There have been other days, and other flowers, Roses, carnations, "sweets to the sweet," you said, And laughed your carefree mood straight to my heart, And charmed the Ghosts of Pain far from my bed. But these, your "glad flowers," dear, have won their prize Of smiles from my life, 'tis true, But scalding tears from my eyes. For well I know there will come future days With only dream flowers — and your face between. And, with the love-light in your eyes, dear, gaze, A sterner and a sadder face I ween As well befits a soldier of the Free, — A soldier of the Cross, and mine, 0 boy, 0 man! 0 child of the heart of me! 1 love my country and my country's creed, And all it stands for. Most because it shields The pennon white of Christ, and to its need Swiftly my gift of gifts I freely yield. Not blatantly, but with a patient trust, Glad that I can, my son, But sad, so sad that I must! The beat of marching feet threads through my dream, The throb of martial music. On the brow Of every hill our loved Old Glory gleams — For every day, dear heart, is Flag Day now. This, the beginning. Where will be the end Of war's alarms and its uncertainties? TO AVELAN 289 And when we part, where will we meet again, And when, and how? We ask God on our knees, Nor dare to think what might the future hold, But cling to our faith in the right Till the earth and the stars grow cold. In peace secure we've walked through all our days. Serene our vales lay fruitful in the sun. We've gone, at work, at play, our various ways, Lain down in peace when the day's work was done. Rehearsed on fete-days' deeds of patriots bold ; Recounted prowess oft in song and story — Sweet tales they were to us and often told, Filled like dried rose-leaves with an ancient glory. For special days and deeds our flag unfurled, Proud of its might, my son, And its light to the wide, wide world. But now a hand, mailed, and fierce with strain, Gropes for our throats, though half a world away. Mad schemes of empire, hatched in a despot's brain, Burn, starve, drown, raven, conquer and kill today. The call, "To arms! to arms!" rings through the earth. Again, — "Fight for yourselves, your altars arid your fires:" Stand for the land where freedom saw its birth; Strike swift and sure for the Home of Your Dear Desires; And for other Peoples and Lands, prostrate and spent, — Desolate, plundered, and worn; Ravished, and rent. "And there was ivar in heaven" Ah! there you have the key! That primal fight against revenge, ambition, and jealousy — For the very Gods must arm themselves in defense of the right To Be; To form, to build, to love, to give, to grow in amity. 'Tis the old, old battle for right that began in the courts above, And the old, old enemy, my son, That throws us the gage of his glove. Then go, and God go with thee, ye hosts for liberty. We are building our fires of sacrifice with our nearest and bravest and best. 290 IMPROVEMENT ERA And God give light to those neutral lands who should our com- rades be, That they spring to the aid of their Sister States who dare to be brave for the rest. Who dare to stand forth for Democracy, And this its supremest test. There is a plan, and we a part; there is a Destiny ; There are laws to live and lives to give to make the whole world free. Christ gave Himself; God gave his Son; we, too, must offer all Upon the sum of our beliefs, and by them stand or fall. So, day by day, and day by day, for our own and other lands Must give of the wealth of farms and mills, of hearts, and souls, and hands, Give free, O God, of our lovely boys As exigence demands! There is no doubt of the outcome, for God has told us this, That Right shall triumph, and Truth prevail to the bounds of the utmost sea. But what we must suffer in blood and tears, must do and dare for this, Must yield of the best of our priceless gifts, is not given to you or me. Hush, O my soul! no time for tears, no mood for a weak re- pining; We will "do our bit" through the storms and years, and trust the sun for its shining. "Who loses his life for my name's sake shall find it," — the clarion call From our Father in heaven to his children on earth. — We answer with our all. Shoulder to shoulder, step to step, and this our battle cry: "The right to freedom for ourselves, And the world, that it shall not die." Sarah E. Hawley Pearson Ogden, Utah Copyright, Underwood & Underwood, New York An official despatch from France announces that the Turks, before sur- rendering Jerusalem to the British, carried off the famous treasures of the