A TREASURY OF MASONIC THOUGHT

Carl Glick (ed), Robert Hale, London, 2003 (first published 1950). Paperback, 271 pages, £9.99. ISBN 0-7090-7414-X

This fragment from a short poem called 'A Bag of Tools' strikes a chord for masons but the author, R. L. Sharpe, was never initiated although like many others he was able accurately to reflect our aspirations in his work. This illustrates the fruitful cross-fertilization that has enriched both masonic and non-masonic writing down the years. Have those aspirations equally influenced behaviour in the popular and uninstructed world?

The compiler, an American author, playwright and active Freemason spread a wide net to make this collection of verse and prose. Much of it is written by and specifically for masons though he has not hesitated to recruit such unexpected writers as St John and John Wesley, Confucius and Albert Schweitzer, in support of his cause. By grouping his selection according to categories like: The Builders; Prudence and Temperance; Love of Country; he has journeyed from 'Let There Be Light' to 'A Blessed Immortality' and brought some order to a plethora of offerings.

In the 'Wisdom, Strength and Beauty' section, 'Our Vows' is a poetic encapsulation of the three Craft obligations, recently mobilized and delivered with actions as 'The Walking Charge' in my own Province of Hampshire. I had imagined the words were recent too. How fascinating to find them here attributed to Robert Morris more than fifty years ago.

Those who hope to find the familiar Burns and Kipling will not be disappointed though they will encounter writers not previously met and discover many original and stimulating ideas including this from Charles Darwin: 'If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once a week; for perhaps the parts of my brain now atrophied would thus have been kept active through use.'

With this volume Glick has given us ample means to heed half of this advice and provided a stepping stone to a great deal of pleasurable mental stimulation.