Books
Poem★★★★There is a fine passage in a book by the late Dr. Henry van Dyke. “Suppose,” he writes, “someone asked for a definition of a book—how would we reply?
We might say that a book consists of so much paper, ink, canvas and glue, but no intelligent person would consider that as a worth-while definition. We would simply have men- tioned the material side of the book. A book is vastly more than paper, ink, canvas and glue. The truth is that the most real thing about a book is the unseen quality, and the most real things in life are things unseen.”— Archer Wallace.
BURDEN 25 This is what a book can do: Take you where the skies are blue, Take you where the laughter’s ringing, And the eyes with love aglow; Take you out of care and trouble And the griefs which seem to double; Take you far from wintry weather And the fields of drifted snow. This is what a book can do: Build and strengthen you anew, Give you fortitude and courage When above a storm appears; It can fashion and remake you So that fate can never break you; It can comfort and console When your eyes are wet with tears.
The point
Quotes Henry van Dyke on how a book is far more than its physical materials, followed by a poem celebrating how books can transport, comfort, and strengthen the reader.