Camera Work: A Photographic Quarterly (1909 (Heft 28))

THE BUILDERS

“What are ye working so fast and fleet, O Humankind?
We are building cities for those whose feet are coming behind!”
THERE was once an architect, a great man in whose soul were
both the traditions of the past and the visions of the future, so
that all he built was strong and true, reared upon foundations
that would outlive generations of men, and so noble in design
and fair to look upon that men marveled, and proclaimed him
the greatest of all builders. And yet, though his soul was
filled with visions and his heart warm with the praises of his fellow men, he
was not content, striving always to give the world something that he felt, but
could not express in wood and stone. And so longing, his spirit took its
flight, and went its long and silent way to the Land of Perfect Truth.
There he wandered on and on, till he came to an open space in the midst
of a sunlit land, and saw, coming toward him from all directions, a multitude of
men,—men whose upturned faces spoke welcome and great joy, and he knew,
though none told him, that here at last he was to build the city of his dreams.
Then he turned to the leaders, the unspoken question in his eye.
“We are the builders,” they answered quietly. “Years and years we
wrought for you, though you knew us not, working each in his narrow place,
seeing not the vision, but trusting the master, and looking to the perfect end.”
“And these?” he asked, pointing to a group of men who stood apart,
watching him eagerly, as children might.
“These,” answered the leader, “are they who served the builders—whose
simple task it was to lift and carry. Their souls, oh Master, were cramped
for light. They, of all the others, need you most. ”
“As I need them,” answered the master, with tears in his eyes. “But
who are you who speak for these others ?”
“We are they who died in the cause—they who went far underground,
to build the strong foundations, who swung from the turrets to give the last
touch of beauty.”
“Enough,”cried the master, and this time the tears were in his voice as
well. “Together we will build the Beautiful City, oh my brothers, together
see the vision and make it a reality. And it shall be laid on foundations of
love, not of sacrifice, and built in the light of knowledge, not by faith alone.
Then indeed will we have perfect beauty, and we ourselves may call it good.”
Eugenia Wallace.

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