MARGRAVE.
Not if they
Would give their energies a noble aim.
The opportunities to compass good,
And good effected--these are dates that give
The sum of human life.

GODFREY.
True; most true.
It is in cities where men congregate,
And good and evil strive for mastery,
The sternest strength of soul must needs be tested.
But all that stirs the passions makes us old.
'Twould wear me out--this round of ceaseless toil,
In the same range of artificial life;
And I must greet you with a traveler's haste,
And back to my free forest home again.

MARGRAVE.
'Tis well that every part and scene in life
Can find its actors ready for the stage,
And well that our wide land has scope for all.
And yet to feel that those who raised together
Their hope-swelled canvass when life's voyage began--
Like ships, storm-parted, on the world's rough sea--
Can sail no more in sweet companionship!
'Tis a sad thought! Of all our college friends,
But one, beside myself, is here to greet you.