“Tapestry Weavers,” the poem by Dr. A. G. Chester, on page 535, has
been translated into Japanese and published in the leading magazine
of the country, which circulates over 50,000 copies, and the lines
have also been printed in its English form upon large cards, which are
distributed throughout the schools of Japan.
A returned missionary from China, who was recently introduced to Doctor
Chester, remarked: “I am delighted to make the acquaintance of the
author of ‘The Tapestry Weavers,’ a poem I have loved and admired and
used by way of illustration for many years.”
In connection with a fair lately held at the Waldorf-Astoria, New York
City, for the benefit of the Home for Crippled Children, a number of
copies of the poem, printed upon tinted paper and bearing the author’s
autograph, sold readily and realized a handsome sum.
I
Let us take to our hearts a lesson--no lesson can braver be--
From the ways of the tapestry weavers on the other side of the sea.
Above their heads the pattern hangs, they study it with care,
The while their fingers deftly move, their eyes are fastened there.
They tell this curious thing besides of the patient, plodding
weaver;
He works on the wrong side evermore, but works for the right side
ever.
It is only when the weaving stops, and the web is loosed and
turned,
That he sees his real handiwork, that his marvelous skill is
learned.
Ah, the sight of its delicate beauty, how it pays him for all his
cost!
No rarer, daintier work than his was ever done by the frost.
Then the master bringeth him golden hire, and giveth him praise as
well,
And how happy the heart of the weaver is, no tongue but his own can
tell.