John Porter Fort - John Porter Fort: A Memorial, and Personal Reminiscences

Jno P. Fort

The sweep of sky at eventide
That melts within the majesty of pine;
The hush that breathes serenity of space
Where summer twilights linger long
In benediction;
Beauty of leaf and bird,
Of blossom and star,
Of sea and furrowed lands,
Of storm that cracks the mountain peak to flame;
These were his soul which reaching held the universe
Within the circle of his brotherhood.
To their haunts they called him,
Note of thrush
And wild heart of the trees.
There 'mid glooms of cypress brooding moss
And lakes of ebon pearl,
With shy wood denizens and mist of boughs
He met his God.
Day beckoned him, and forth among the fields
He stepped and sowed his spirit.
Sowed that man might eat and live and "thank the Lord,
Giver of all good gifts."
And as of old did Jacob dig a well,
And Moses smite to life the desert rock,
So with prophetic eye
He saw the hidden rivers of the earth,
And brought forth drink,
Praising the kind Beneficence "who fills
All nature with his plenteousness,"
Flashing anew the ensign of his life
That "man is made to overcome the world."
Years sped on and still his soul unfurled
From out the snowy petals of his dreams,
Still buds burst greening from his pruning hook
And little children smiled
In answer to the welcome of his voice.
While from the sky
The titmouse came,
Leaving her nest and company of wings
To perch upon the friendship of his hands.
And so
Through victory of his spirit barrens bloom
And earth unlocks her prisoned waters,
And places that he knew are touched with light
As from diffused transcendence of his life
And hallowed by the passing of his feet.

Kate Fort Codington.