Masonic Hymns And Odes.

MASONIC HYMNS AND ODES .

I T cannot be denied that the traditions and associations of the Craft furnish abundant material for poetic uses . Masonry has an impressive ceremony and a suggestive symbolism seemingly well calculated to invite a treatment in flowing verse . Ancl then there are interwoven with the system deep and tender sentiments such as ' give force and beauty to the truest poetry .

Notwithstanding all this , the poetic fancy has not been largely manifest in our Fraternity , and poets of extraordinary merit have been exceedingly rare among Craftsmen , as indeed they are in the world at large . But though Masonry may not have inspired the production of any great epics or historic poems , it has evoked a multitude of songs and hymns , good , bad , and indifferentalbeit the vast proportion of these productionswe are to

, , sorry say , is wretchedly bad . Masonic hymnology shows a good deal of chaff with now and then a few grains of wheat . The lyric poems of the Craft are not alwas freig hted with " thoughts that breathe and words that burn , " nor are the ideas that enter into these songs always set to harmonious numbers . We would not disparage , however , the poetry that has been written to illustrate or enforce the teachings of Masonry ; nor would we hold in liht estimation

g those odes that have long been used in the ceremonies of the Order , and the songs that have added zest to so many social occasions when brethren have met in free and joyful fellowship . ^ Many of the old-time ballads , ; and songs have passed into oblivion ; only a few remain that have come to be historic among the Craft , and which are still said or sung by brethren in their assemblies .

The " Entered Apprentice s Song , by Matthew Birkhead , an actor , who flourished about the time of the "Revival , " belongs to this latter class . Little is known of Birkhead except that he wrote this song , which soon became popular , and has held its place even to the present clay . It has endured so long that it challenges our respect , whatever its defects may seem to be . When we come clown to the time of Robert Burns we find a genuine poet —one who was indeed " bom , not made . " This greatest bard of Scotland

, both for his genius and his humanity , is crowned with an immortality of honour and love . He wrote the ballads that the people love to sing—the tuneful verses that thrill the heart and set the blood swiftly coursing in the veins . Bums was a Mason , devotedly attached to the Order , and the Craft is indebted to his muse for several odes of a most pleasing character . To the brethren who elected him an honorary member of St . John ' s Lodge at Kilmarnock he sent the following lines - . —

" Ye powers who preside o ' er the wind and tide j Who marked each element ' s border , Who formed this frame with beneficent aim , Whose sovereign statute is order ; Within this dear mansion may wayward contention Or withered envy ne ' er enter ; May secresy round be the mystical bound , And brotherllove be the centre

y . " Burns wrote songs of a convivial character for his brethren to sing , and some of these songs would be out of place and character if used b y Masons of to-day . But under the inspiration of his Masonic relations and attachments , the poet composed two songs of exceptional merit and popularity . His - x 2