ON YONDER BOOK
Excerpted from Brock's Manual
of the Grand Lodge of Georgia and was furnished to them by Brother W. H. Lawless
of Fort Hawkins Lodge #4418, F&AM, Macon, Georgia
The blanks in the poem are replaced by the due guard
of each successive degree.
In Masons'
Lodge with darkened eyes,
And cable tow about you,
You swore to keep all mysteries
That Masons keep and Masons prize;
The Brothers' secret whispered low;
The words they speak, the things they do,
In mystic manner taught you,
On yonder book, that oath you took,
And you should break it never,
But stand by this ___, and this ___, and this ___,
Forever and forever.
You swore to
answer and obey
The summons sent you duly,
By Brothers' hand or Lodge away;
You swore that you would never stray
From ancient laws and rules that bound
Freemasons in the days renowned,
But would observe them truly.
On yonder book, that oath you took,
And you should break it never,
But stand by this ___, and this ___, and this ___,
Forever and forever.
You swore with
generous gifts, to care
For those in sorrow stricken,
The Brother on the darkened square,
The mourner with disheveled hair,
The orphan doomed, alas! to stray
Along life's cold and cheerless way,
Whose tears gush forth unhidden.
On yonder book, that oath you took,
And you should break it never,
But stand by this ___, and this ___, and this ___,
Forever and forever.
You swore with
honesty to deal
With each true heart around you;
That "honor bright should ever be
Unbroken bond" 'twixt him and you
Nor wrong, nor guile, nor cruel fraud
Shall ever break the holy cord
With which that vow hath bound you.
On yonder book, that oath you took,
And you should break it never,
But stand by this ___, and this ___, and this ___,
Forever and forever.
You swore the
chastity to keep,
Of woman true and tender,
Of Masons' widow, wife or child,
His mother, sister, undefiled --
Those pure and innocent, whose love
Make Masons' home like that above;
You are the sworn defender.
On yonder book, that oath you took,
And you should break it never,
But stand by this ___, and this ___, and this ___,
Forever and forever.
(The Lodge is
called up at this point)
These are our
vows, Brethren, our care,
And may such light be given
In answer to our earnest prayer,
That we may do and dare
All that God's
sacred laws enjoin,
So, when the evening shades pass o'er us,
We may be found in Heaven.
For, on yonder book, that oath we took,
And we will break them never,
But stand by this ___, and this ___, and this ___,
Forever and forever.
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