The Entered
Apprentice
by Wilbur Nesbit
The Master Mason - September 1924
They made me an Entered Apprentice; they gave
me my first degree; They gave me the base for an honest pride,
and took some conceit from me. I thought I should have attendants
whose station and rank were high, That they who should give
instructions would cater to such as I - So they made me all
Entered Apprentice; and good were the words they said; Their
speech was the speech of wisdom, the lore of the heart and
head. And one was an humble person, a man of the everyday,
Whom oft I had passed by proudly on meeting him in my way.
He spoke, and my bigness dwindled, and out of the circling sky
There seemed to come down a message for me to be measured by.
I got me a newer learning, an inkling of some great plan
- They made me an Entered Apprentice in the building of a
man. And one was a kindly scholar whom many a day I'd seen,
With speech that was firm, yet gentle, and countenance all
serene; He taught me a wealth of learning that never was yet in
schools And showed me the grief they garner that walk in the way
of fools. The simple, eternal precepts they put in my mind and
heart - They made me an Entered Apprentice and bade me to do my
part. They made me an Entered Apprentice - I was not so proud
a man; A pride that was deeper, newer, that all meaner things
must ban Took place of the old vainglory, and all for my soul's
own good, As dimly the patient teachings began to be
understood. They made me all Entered Apprentice; they gave me my
first degree; They gave me the base for a decent pride, and took
some conceit from me. back to top
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