University of Virginia Library

WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?—

As you travel along life's highway,
Are you going up or down?
Or are you simply standing still,
And going 'round and 'round?
Are you helping move the wheel
Of human progress up and on?
If not, are you of service or as
Obstruction to the throng?
If you've never helped a brother
With his struggles and his strife,
If you've never made another
Have a happier time in life,
If you've never been consoling
To the weary, sick and worn,
Of what service are you
In this lovely land of morn?
If you've never made a comrade
Feel the world's a better place
Because you've lived within it
And had served it with a grace?
If you've never heard a woman
Or a little child proclaim
A blessing on your doings,
You're a poor hand at the game.
If you've never made the pathway
Of some neighbor glow with sun,
If you've never dropped a bubble
To some youngster's heart with fun,
If you've never cheered a toiler
That you've helped to get along—
Won't you tell me what you're here for
In this lovely land of song?
If you see a woman smoking,
Drinking, wallowing in the gutter,
Detrimental to posterity,
Especially one who's a mother,
Have you the moral courage
To induce her to come up,
Or do you fear the hissing crowd?
If so, you are corrupt.
If you should see a helpless child
Just going to destruction,
And it's within your power
To move the main obstruction
Would you remove that stumbling block
To save the children's pride?
Or would you rather have the world's applause?
If so, go off and hide!
Man conquered the sea and land
And now has grasped the air;
He concentrates them to his will
But not for man's welfare.
He uses all research of science
To perfect hellish wars,
To butcher his fellowman
And annihilate God's cause.
Man travels far above the clouds,
With silvery airplane bright.
He challenges the eagle and
O'ertakes him in his flight.
But those are but man's trifles,
Man's victories in speed;
While justice, peace and liberty
Are still the world's great needs.
Man paints his own pictures,
Man prints his own books,
But his blood doesn't circulate
By his own whines and hooks.
Our God gave man his limit—
So far and no farther;
He knows man would use it
For his own earthly barter.
Should Japan reach her final goal
To unite all darker races,
To present a solid phalanx front
To heal all past disgraces,
And when she asks us Americans,
“Friends, what have you to offer?”
We'll gasp like some dumb, driven beast
And Japan would be the scoffer.
The cause of education
Once had as its great goal
The education of the heart,
The head, the hand, the soul;
But now it's concentrating
All its forces in the feet,
And “Look up, lift up,” has no voice,
The underworld has beat.
The grand old church once lowered its gap
In compromise with the world,
And now she's torn all fences down
And joined in with the twirl.
The devil, he's just tickled;
How he sears the hearts of men,
How he rules the entire nation
With his wicked, lustful sin.
Are you denouncing all that's wrong
And advocating right,
To teach our youth to “Look up, lift up,”
Give the world more light?
Can you be sympathetic
When the human heart throb sighs?
If not, why don't you step aside
And let the world go by?
Oh! when that general roll is called,
What's going to be your answer
When Peter asks what you've opposed
And what things you have sanctioned?
And as you view those pearly gates
And those bright mansions of mirth,
Conscience will put the question—
What's your record while on earth?