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![First published 2008
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2008 Judith Green and Ronald Labonté, selection and editorial matter;
individual chapters, the contributors
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Critical perspectives in public health / edited by Judith Green
and Ronald Labonté.
p. ; cm.
Includes revised articles from the journal Critical public health.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Public health—Social aspects. 2. Social medicine. 3. Equality—
Health aspects. 4. Globalization—Health aspects. I. Green, Judith,
1961– II. Labonte, Ronald N. III. Critical public health.
[DNLM: 1. Public Health—ethics. 2. Consumer Participation.
3. Health Policy. 4. Health Services Accessibility. 5. World Health.
WA 100 C934 2007]
RA418.C72 2007
362.1—dc22
2007011521
ISBN10: 0–415–40951–9 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0–415–40952–7 (pbk)
ISBN10: 0–203–93898–4 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–40951–3 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–40952–0 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–93898–0 (ebk)
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
ISBN 0-203-93898-4 Master e-book ISBN](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/7573-250506131235-28324990/75/Critical-Perspectives-in-Public-Health-1st-Edition-Judith-Green-R-10-2048.jpg)
Critical Perspectives in Public Health 1st Edition Judith Green: R
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- 5. Critical Perspectives inPublic Health 1st Edition Judith Green: R Digital Instant Download Author(s): Judith Green: R ISBN(s): 9780415409513, 0415409519 Edition: 1 File Details: PDF, 1.31 MB Year: 2007 Language: english
- 7. Critical Perspectives inPublic Health Critical Perspectives in Public Health explores the concept of ‘critical’ public health, at a point when many of its core concerns appear to have moved to the mainstream of health policy. Issues such as addressing health inequalities and their socio- economic determinants, and the inclusion of public voices in policy-making, are now emerging as key policy aims for health systems across Europe and North America. Combining analytical introductory chapters, edited versions of influential articles from the journal Critical Public Health and specially commissioned review articles, this volume examines the contemporary roles of ‘critical voices’ in public health research and practice from a range of disciplines and contexts. The book covers many of the pressing concerns for public health practitioners and researchers, including: • the implications of new genetic technologies for public health; • the impact of globalisation on local practice; • the politics of citizen participation in health programmes; • the impact of car-centred transport systems on health; • the ethics of evaluation methods and the persistence of health inequalities. Critical Perspectives in Public Health is organised into sections covering four key themes in public health: social inequalities; evidence for practice; globalisation; and technologies and the environments. With contributions from a range of countries including the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia and South Africa, it provides an accessible overview for students, practitioners and researchers in public health, health promotion, health policy and related fields. Judith Green is Reader in Sociology of Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. Her research interests include the sociology of accidents, the organisation of healthcare and public understanding of health. Ronald Labonté is Canada Research Chair in Globalisation and Health Equity at the University of Ottawa, Canada. Prior to joining academia, he worked for twenty-five years in health promotion and community health development.
- 9. Critical Perspectives in PublicHealth Edited by Judith Green and Ronald Labonté
- 10. First published 2008 byRoutledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2008 Judith Green and Ronald Labonté, selection and editorial matter; individual chapters, the contributors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Critical perspectives in public health / edited by Judith Green and Ronald Labonté. p. ; cm. Includes revised articles from the journal Critical public health. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Public health—Social aspects. 2. Social medicine. 3. Equality— Health aspects. 4. Globalization—Health aspects. I. Green, Judith, 1961– II. Labonte, Ronald N. III. Critical public health. [DNLM: 1. Public Health—ethics. 2. Consumer Participation. 3. Health Policy. 4. Health Services Accessibility. 5. World Health. WA 100 C934 2007] RA418.C72 2007 362.1—dc22 2007011521 ISBN10: 0–415–40951–9 (hbk) ISBN10: 0–415–40952–7 (pbk) ISBN10: 0–203–93898–4 (ebk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–40951–3 (hbk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–40952–0 (pbk) ISBN13: 978–0–203–93898–0 (ebk) This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” ISBN 0-203-93898-4 Master e-book ISBN
- 11. Contents List of illustrationsix List of contributors xi Preface xiii Acknowledgements xv Introduction: from critique to engagement: why critical public health matters 1 JUDITH GREEN AND RONALD LABONTÉ PART I Unfair cases: social inequalities in health 13 Introduction 14 RONALD LABONTÉ, JOHN FRANK AND ERICA DI RUGGIERO 1 Inequalities in health in developing countries: challenges for public health research 25 MICKEY CHOPRA 2 Social capital and the third way in public health 35 CARLES MUNTANER, JOHN LYNCH AND GEORGE DAVEY SMITH 3 HIV infection in women: social inequalities as determinants of risk 47 SALLY ZIERLER AND NANCY KRIEGER 4 Poverty, policy and pathogenesis: economic justice and public health in the USA 66 DAVID G. WHITEIS
- 12. PART II Making traces:evidence for practice and evaluation 79 Introduction 80 NINA WALLERSTEIN 5 Strong theory, flexible methods: evaluating complex community-based initiatives 93 LINDA BAULD AND KEN JUDGE 6 Developing community and agency engagement in an action research study in South Wales 104 MARTIN O’NEILL AND GARETH WILLIAMS 7 How useful are trials of public health interventions? An examination of two trials of HIV prevention 113 CHRIS BONELL 8 Understanding and improving the health of workers in the new economy: a call for a participatory dialogue-based approach to work-health research 123 MICHAEL POLANYI, TOM MCINTOSH AND AGNIESZKA KOSNY PART III Colonising places: public health and globalisation 135 Introduction 136 RONALD LABONTÉ 9 Globalisation and health 151 MAUREEN LARKIN 10 Interrogating globalisation, health and development: towards a comprehensive framework for research, policy and political action 162 RONALD LABONTÉ AND RENÉE TORGERSON 11 Medicine keepers: issues in indigenous health 180 LORI LAMBERT AND EBERHARD WENZEL 12 The politics of female genital cutting in displaced communities 192 PASCALE ALLOTEY, LENORE MANDERSON AND SONIA GROVER vi Contents
- 13. PART IV Edgy spaces:technology, the environment and public health 203 Introduction 204 JUDITH GREEN 13 Antibiotic resistance: an exemplary case of medical nemesis 213 CHARLOTTE HUMPHREY 14 Genetics, governance and ethics 219 ROBIN BUNTON AND ALAN PETERSEN 15 Moving bodies: injury, dis-ease and the social organisation of space 228 PETER FREUND AND GEORGE MARTIN 16 Epidemic space 236 JOOST VAN LOON Index 246 Contents vii
- 15. List of illustrations Figures I.1Covers from issues of Radical Community Medicine 2 5.1 Realistic evaluation and theories of change 97 5.2 Smoking cessation in Health Action Zones 98 5.3 Smoking cessation in North Staffordshire HAZ 99 5.4 Capacity for health: outcomes 101 III.1 Net capital flows, rich (OECD) to poor (developing) nations 140 10.1 Globalisation and health framework 166 10.2 Development assistance as a percentage of Gross National Income 172 Tables 3.1 Individual-level frameworks for studies of occurrence and prevention of HIV infection among women 50 3.2 Structural-level frameworks for studies of occurrence and prevention of HIV infection among women 52 3.3 Measuring social inequalities in relation to HIV infection: examples for US women 54 10.1 WTO agreements and health-damaging loss of domestic regulatory space 171 10.2 The first seven Millennium Development Goals 174
- 17. Contributors Pascale Allotey, Centrefor Public Health Research, Brunel University, London, UK Linda Bauld, Department of Social and Policy Sciences, University of Bath, UK Chris Bonell, Department of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK Robin Bunton, School of Social Sciences and Law, University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, UK Mickey Chopra, Health Systems Research Unit, Medical Research Council, South Africa and School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, South Africa George Davey Smith, Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, UK Erica Di Ruggiero, Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Institute of Population and Public Health, Department of Public Health Services, University of Toronto, Canada John Frank, Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Institute of Population and Public Health, Department of Public Health Services, University of Toronto, Canada Peter Freund, Montclair State University, New Jersey, USA Judith Green, Department of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK Sonia Grover, Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology, Royal Children’s Hospital and University of Melbourne, Australia Charlotte Humphrey, Division of Health and Social Care, King’s College, London, UK Ken Judge, School for Health, University of Bath, UK Agnieszka Kosny, Institute of Work and Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 18. Nancy Krieger, Departmentof Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University, USA Ronald Labonté, Institute of Population Health and Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Lori Lambert (Abenaki/Mi’kmaq), Salish Kootenai Tribal College, Montana, USA Maureen Larkin (Maire Ni Lorcain) is retired and now resides in the Republic of Ireland John Lynch, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, USA Lenore Manderson, School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, Monash University, Victoria, Australia George Martin, Montclair State University, New Jersey, USA Tom McIntosh, Political Science, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada Carles Muntaner, Department of Behavioural and Community Health, School of Nursing, and Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Maryland–Baltimore, USA Martin O’Neill, Centre for Lifelong Learning, University of Glamorgan, Wales, UK Alan Petersen, School of Law and Social Science, University of Plymouth, UK Michael Polanyi, KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Renée C. Torgerson, Health Network, Canadian Policy Research Networks/Réseaux Canadiens de Recherche en Politiques Publiques, Canada Joost Van Loon, Institute for Cultural Analysis, Nottingham Trent University, UK Nina Wallerstein, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of New Mexico, USA Eberhard Wenzel, deceased, formerly with the School of Public Health, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia Gareth Williams, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Wales, UK David G. Whiteis, health policy analyst and freelance writer, Chicago, USA Sally Zierler, Department of Community Health, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA xii Contributors
- 19. Preface: public healthas social activism A slightly abashed hagiography In 1847, the Prussian province of Silesia was ravaged by a typhoid epidemic. The government hired a young pathologist, Rudolf Virchow, to investigate the problem. Virchow spent three weeks in early 1848, not studying disembodied statistics or bureaucratic reports, but living with the miners and their families. Typhoid, he pointed out in what has since become a classical work in social medicine, was only one of several diseases afflicting the coal miners, prime among the others being dysentery, measles and tuberculosis. Virchow named these diseases ‘artificial’ to emphasise that their prevalence was embedded in the poor housing, working conditions, diet and lack of sanitation among the coal miners. For Virchow, the answer to the question of how to prevent typhoid outbreaks in Silesia was quite simple: ‘we must begin to promote the advancement of the entire population, and to stimulate a general common effort. A population will never achieve full education, freedom and prosperity in the form of a gift from the outside’ (Virchow 2006: 92). Virchow’s short-term prescription was to form a committee of lay people and professionals to monitor the spread of typhoid and other diseases and to organise agricultural cooperatives to ensure the people had sufficient food to eat. His long- term solutions were more radical: improved occupational health and safety, better wages, decreased working hours and strong local and regional self-government. Virchow argued for progressive tax reform, removing the burden from the working poor and placing it on ‘the plutocracy, which drew very large amounts from the Upper Silesian mines, did not recognise the Upper Silesians as human beings, but only as tools’ (Virchow 2006: 90). He advocated democratic forms of industrial development, and even suggested hiring temporarily unemployed miners to build roadways, making it easier to transport fresh produce during the winter. These recommendations were not quite what the Prussian government had in mind. They had not hired Virchow to call into question the economics of industrial capitalism. He was thanked for his report and promptly fired.1 One week later, on his return to Berlin, Virchow joined with others erecting barricades and demon- strating passionately for political changes that they hoped would bring the democracy that Virchow believed was essential for health. He went on to establish a radical magazine titled Medical Reform in which full employment, adequate income, housing and nutrition were debated for their importance in creating health. A decade later, still believing that political action was necessary for health, Virchow became a
- 20. member of theBerlin Municipal Council and eventually of the Prussian Parliament. Over his eighty years of work, he saw no distinction between being a health professional and a social activist. ‘All disease has two causes,’ Virchow allegedly once wrote, ‘one pathological and the other political’ (Bierman and Dunn 2006: 99). Howard Waitzkin (2006: 10), in writing of the need to reassert Virchow’s social criticism in public health, notes: The social origins of illness are not mysterious. Yet, more than a century and a half after Virchow’s analysis first appeared, these problems remain with us. Public health generally has adopted the medical model of etiology. In this model, social conditions may increase susceptibility or exacerbate disease, but they are not primary causes like microbial agents or disturbances of normal physiology. Since investigation has not clarified the causes of illness within social structure, political strategy – both within and outside medicine – seldom has addressed the roots of disease in society. It is to this task, in both investigation and action, and to the inspiration of Rudolf Virchow and scores more critical public health activists, past and present, that this book is dedicated. Note 1 The same happened to one of the editors of this book, who, like Virchow, can attest that critical public health is not without its risks, and that if one is to be fired for it, better earlier than later in one’s career. References Bierman, Arlene S. and Dunn, James R. (2006) ‘Swimming upstream: access, health outcomes, and the social determinants of health’, Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21(1): 99–100. Virchow, R. (2006) ‘Report on the typhus epidemic in upper Silesia’, Social Medicine, 1: 11–98. (Translation and reprint of his 1848 report.) Waitzkin, H. (2006) ‘One and a half centuries of forgetting and rediscovering: Virchow’s lasting contributions to social medicine’, Social Medicine, 1: 5–10. xiv Preface
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- 22. “Is this myreward for my apples and wine?” But the Naughty Boy could be seen no more; He was forth again, for the night grew fine. “Bah! I’ll warn all the boys and the girls I know, If they play with this Love, they’ll have nothing but woe.” So the good old poet he did his best To make others beware of a fate like his; And he shewed them the arrow that pierced his breast: “Now you see what a terrible boy he is!” But an archer, who’s never two moment’s the same, Like Proteus, it’s hard to keep clear of his aim! ROSA.
- 23. Thou art gone,sweet love, to take thy rest, Like a weary child on thy mother’s breast; And thou hearest not, in thy calm deep sleep, The voices of those that around thee weep. Thou art gone where the weary find a home, Where sickness and sorrow can never come; A flower too fair for earthly skies, Thou art gone to bloom in Paradise. Thou art gone, and I hear not thy gladsome tone, But my heart is still beating “alone, alone,”— Yet often in dreams do I hear a strain As of angels bearing thee back again. Thou art gone, and the world may not miss thee long, For thou didst not care for its idle throng; But this fond bosom, in silent woe, Shall carry thine image wherever I go. Thou art gone, thou art gone! Shall we meet no more By the sandy hill or the winding shore? Or watch as the crested billows rise, And the frightened curlew startling cries? Thou art gone, but oh! in that land of peace Where sin, and sorrow and anguish cease, Where all is happy and bright and fair, My own sweet love, may I meet thee there? March, 1857. JUBAL. (Book of Genesis iv. 21.)
- 24. The Sun soonkissed to flowers, the blood-stained sod, From which the voice of Abel cried to God, And drove his murderer to the land of Nod; And smiling, kindly watched them day by day, Till they, like Abel, died and passed away, And other flowers grew bright above their clay. While with impartial kindness, year by year, He kissed from Cain’s curs’d face the awful tear That flowed when that dread voice appalled his ear. Still as at night the silent woods are stirred By the lone calling of some mateless bird, Ever that voice in Cain’s sad heart was heard. But busy hands for good or bad are best To still the aching voices of the breast, And load the body with the soul’s unrest. So, tow’rds the Sun the City Enoch rose, Beneath Cain’s hands, as in the desert grows A palm whose shade the tawny outcast knows. The City Enoch! from the first-born named Of the first-born of woman, son of blood! Built long ere Babel’s boastful tower was shamed, Earth’s lonely capital before the flood! The City Enoch! here were sown and grew The seeds of Art when Art and life were long; Here Lamech turned his misery to song, Hence Jabal journeyed, seeking pastures new! Here man’s soft hand made brass and iron yield To cunning shapes and uses,—wondrous skill! Tearing earth’s iron heart with iron will
- 25. Tearing earth siron heart with iron will, To see what secrets in it lay concealed! And here, O music, like a dream of heaven, Thy subtle thrills did touch the wearied brain, With raptured, passionate longing to regain The bliss of having naught to be forgiven! Let me in fancy see thee rise again O city of the Wanderer, seldom sought! City of that wise Jubal who first taught The harp and organ to the sons of men! That I may learn the secret of his might, Who, leaving earth unto his brother’s care, Did gentle battle with the powers of air, And made them his and ours by victor’s right! Adah, the first-beloved of Lamech’s wives, Bare him two sons. Jabal, the eldest-born, Grew up to manhood, strong and bold and free; And leaving Enoch, sought a boundless home, Living in tents, a king amid his flocks, Setting his throne where’er his subjects thrived, Lord, or allowed vicegerent under God, Unto the “cattle on a thousand hills.” But Jubal, wise and gentle, ’tis for thee That we would raise to life the giant shades That lived and loved, and sinned and wept and died Ere Heaven’s great tears had washed away the crime That stained the beauty of the early earth; And Enoch, mistress of primeval Art, Lay, the dead mistress of a drownèd world. What was thy year, thy month, thy day of birth, That we may mark it in our Calendar, “On this day in a year before the Flood
- 26. On this day,in a year before the Flood, Jubal was born, Inventor of the Harp?” Where shall we seek this knowledge? Of the stars? ’Tis said by some our hearts and brains depend Upon the union in their mystic dance They happen to be forming at the hour When we are born. Then we shall ask the stars. For they may recollect the year and hour They formed that wondrous figure when the power Of music touched the soul of man For the first time, and if they can, ’Twas then that Jubal’s life began! Sibyl-stars, that sing the chorus Of the life that lies before us As we open mortal eyes! Strange phrenologists of Heaven, That infuse the spirit-leaven Into nascent, infant brains, That can make them dull or wise, Forging subtle mental chains That must bind us until death, As ye calmly glitter o’er us, When we draw our primal breath! Mixing qualities together, Just according to the weather, Just according to the season, And the point of daily time, Noon or even, night or morn, That we happen to be born, For some sage, sidereal reason, Which some sophomores call “chance,” Some the “force of circumstance!” Tell, O fatal stars, sublime, What the swelling of the chime Into which you wove your dance, What the day and what the hour
- 27. What the dayand what the hour, Was so happy as to dower Earth with Music’s heavenly power! Tell the day of Jubal’s birth, Day of Jubilee to earth. Was the “music of the spheres” Audible to mortal ears? Did the winds of Heaven sing Till the forests clapped their hands? Did the ocean, heralding, Bear the tidings to all lands, Whispering, “Rejoice, rejoice,” Till the earth, unprisoning All her sounds, became a Voice? As the soaring of his wing When the distant eagle moves, Wakes to life the silent groves, At the coming of their king! Sibyl-stars, was this the way That Earth greeted Jubal’s day? In those far shadowy years before the Flood Jubal was born, and this is all we know; Born in the land where Cain, in solitude And occupation sought to hide his woe Born with a gift, well-used, of sin the foe, A heaven-sent harbinger of promised good. Oh! was not Adah happy in her boy? Oh! who could tell the secret of her joy, When, with a mother’s love, she pierced the veil That childhood draws round genius, lest it fail In its high aim, by adulation fed, And only feel the poison, when ’tis dead? And Lamech first of bards whose kindred art
- 28. And Lamech, firstof bards, whose kindred art Would welcome her sweet sister, watched his son As day by day he saw the promise start Towards accomplishment. Yet neither one, Father nor mother, knew as yet the prize For which they waited with such anxious eyes. They saw that he was not of common mould: His quiet thoughtfulness, his pensive ways, His listening oft as to a story told, With side-turned head, and distant, earnest gaze, Told of some god-like purpose in his brain, Though what it was they asked themselves in vain. So Jubal grew in those far, shadowy years Before the Flood; and so the music grew Within his soul. The common air to him Was as a constant feast; its slightest touch Was joy to which all other joy was pain. The first sensations of his infancy Were blent with it. His mother’s tender sighs,— Half sighs, half laughter,—as she looked on him, Wondering what sort of man he should become, Were like the breath of angels to his ear; And when his father’s mighty voice came forth, Majestic, through its bearded doors, he hushed The tremulous beatings of his heart to hear. And when his brother Jabal went away, And there were sounds of sorrow in his home, (And he wept too, though hardly knowing why) He treasured up the sounds as precious things, Until they seemed a portion of his life. So did he gather all the tones of love And joy and grief, by strange instinctive power; And by and by, how anger wounds the air, And all the passions of the fallen heart That Satan hissed into the ear of Eve,
- 29. , He sadly learned;and yet with balanced sense, His great, high gift, he traced through all the tones The woman struggling with her serpent-foe, And desperate yearnings for lost innocence. But most he joyed to listen to the words Of happy children, respited a while, From fearful looking to the day of death; And it was Jubal’s chief delight to wed Their gladsome voices with the Eden notes To which the first sweet marriage-hymn was set— The silver-throated wooing of the birds— The trilling of the zephyr-courted leaves— The merry-hearted laughter of the brooks— The multitudinous hum of joyous life— The weird lullaby that Nature sings Unto the darlings fondled in her lap, Loving but helpless, and their low response; And all the vocal charms of summer time, That wrap the soul in dreamy, languid bliss. All gentle sounds nestled within his heart, But not alone (though these he loved the most) Were gentle sounds the study of the boy. The mournful requiem of the dying leaves,— The piping gales that make the forest dance,— The tempest’s rage, to which the pine and oak Are but as playthings to an angry child: The rain, the whirlwind and the thundercrash,— The mountain torrent, “the vexed ocean’s roar,”— The noisy lapping of the tongues of fire,— The howl of hungry, ravenous beasts of prey,— All that is sad or mad in Nature’s voice,— All that reminds us of the awful words That pierced the fancied hiding place of sin, Ere yet the curse descended,—these he knew.
- 30. For, in thosegiant days before the Flood, Nature and man were ever face to face, Till Art grew, Nature’s image, in man’s heart. So Jubal revelled in all sweet, grand sounds, A seeming spendthrift, but with miser craft, Locking his airy jewels in the casket Of lovingest remembrance,—till the boy Dreamed himself into manhood. Then there weighed Upon his brain the burden of a thought,— To bring to life the music that his soul Had gathered from the music of the world,— To make, by cunning union, every tone Of its great voice obedient to his will. And so he planned, awake, and, sleeping, dreamed Of this, his one idea; till at last ’Neath his creative hand the “Harp” was born. And then he planned again, for life was long In those far, shadowy years before the Flood, Until the “Organ,” in its mighty heart, Echoed the throbbings of the heart of man. APOLLO DROPT A SEED OF SONG. I. Apollo dropt a seed of song Into my heart one day, And, smiling godlike, passed along Upon his heavenly way. II.
- 31. I saw himmake his golden arc, For many a weary day, But still the little seedling, dark Lay hid beneath the clay. III. But gentle eyes, one joyous hour, Shone where my seedling lay,— O Love, tend well thy little flower, And let it not decay. VOX DEI. The beauteous pyramid of harmless flame Spelled G O D for Moses; but the thundered law Was needed for the wild, unruly crowd. The awful test of swift-consuming fire Alone shewed Baal false to Baal’s friends; The “still, small voice” touched lone Elijah’s heart. So God speaks variously to various men: To some in nature’s sternest parables; To others, in the breath that woos the flowers, Until they blush and pale, and blush again. To these the Decalogue were just as true If uttered on a summer Sabbath-day In village church—to those there is no God, Till fiery rain has scarred the face of earth.
- 32. THE OLD WAR-HORSE. I. Hepaweth no more in the field, Where glitter the spear and the shield; Nor heareth the thunder of war, Nor smelleth the battle afar; In his eyes is no glory of gleam, And his strength is the strength of a dream. II. He never turned back from the sword, When the pride of the land was his lord, Yet his neck is bowed meekly—the brave Can be meek, aye, as meek as a slave,— And he works near the dark of his day,— ’Twas his pride (he was taught) to obey. III. In the gloaming of life his old eyes May see visions of glory arise; Who knows but within his old heart May thousands of memories start Of the march and the drum and the fife, Of the charge and the cry and the strife? IV.
- 33. Who can tell?But, hark! once again He hears, as in whispers the strain Of that long-ago hid in his blood; It comes nearer; he paweth the mud Of the street, and his sinews rejoice, And he hears not his slave-master’s voice! V. Though his form no gay war-trappings deck, The thunder returns to his neck; Ha! ha! he is free! for the sound Of the trumpet his soul has unbound! He is off! not a pause, till he comes To the midst of the din of the drums. VI. He has taken his place, as of yore, He is marching to battle once more; They may mock him as haggard and thin, They may laugh at the marks on his skin, But naught recks he; the master he bore, His name may well cover them o’er. VII. The music is hushed; the array Of the soldiers has vanished away; The old charger, poor fellow, elate No longer, returns to his fate; And the light of his eyes has burned low, And his paces are feeble and slow. * * * * *
- 34. VIII. He has heardhis last call to parade From the trumpet of death and obeyed; And the brave soldier-steed from all harness is freed Evermore, and his sleep Is so placid and deep, He needs fear no awakening. Rest to his shade! * * * * * IX. There are men, there are women who toil At the mill or the mart or the soil, Who wearily drudge day by day Till the soul of them seems to decay; Only seems,—for within, after all, There’s a something that waits for its call. X. And if even the call never come In this world of the deaf and the dumb, When the Great Trumpet music shall fall On the ears of the quick and the dead, They shall burst from their clay And hasten away To their place in that host of which God is the Head. ELOISE. I.
- 35. I’ll call theeElöise. Such eyes as thine With fatal beauty marred The peace of Abelard, And dimmed with human love the light divine That lingers near Religion’s holy shrine! II. O pitiless eyes, you burn unto my soul, Each one a living coal From off Love’s altar! Fall, O silken lashes, And shade me, like a screen, from their control, Ere all my warm delight be turned to ashes! III. Oh, no! I cannot bear the shade. Burn on, And let me slowly perish with sweet fire, Myself at once the victim and the pyre,— I die of cold when that dear heat is gone. WHEN THE SPRING-TIME COMES. I.
- 36. “When the Spring-timecomes”— So we say in wintry hours; And we look upon the snow, While we think upon the flowers. And we gaze till hope’s bright glory is kindled in our eyes, And earth becomes an Eden full of beauty and delight, Where the air is far too happy to bear any weight of sighs, And myriad forms of gentle things bring gladness to the sight. And we wander through and through, Past the fairest trees and flowers, Till we find the friends we knew, And link their hands in ours, And then, in ecstacy of bliss, we seek the sweetest bowers. II. “When the Spring-time comes”— But ah! the snow is cold, And Death is colder still,— Whom may he not enfold? The glory in our eyes that shone is dimmed with bitter tears, And our Eden-flowers have faded into nothingness again; And we wander sadly, darkly, through a labyrinth of years, And we call for vanished faces, and act wildly in our pain. And then there comes a calm, And our sorrow grows less bold, As Nature’s mighty psalm, O’er God’s own mountain rolled, Once heralded the still, small voice to that lone seer of old. III.
- 37. “When the Spring-timecomes”— Think we of griefs we know; Had we foreseen them long, Could we have stood the blow? Then should we not be thankful for the mercy that conceals The future, whether dark or bright, from our too curious eyes? God knows what’s best for all of us; He covers or reveals, As it seemeth to him best, the ill that in our pathway lies. So let us journey on, Content in weal or woe To feel at least that One Smiles on us as we go, Who in sublime humility once suffered here below. IV. “When the Spring-time comes”— Let us live well the hours, God’s spring within the heart Will wreathe them all with flowers. And when the snow has fallen over hand and heart and brain, Some few may say above our graves “Let us be like to them, And though we may not see them when the Spring-time comes again, We hold their memory more dear than gold or precious gem. And at the great Spring day, When melted are the powers That hide our souls in clay, As winter hides the flowers, May we wreathe amaranths with them in Eden’s choicest bowers.” HOPE.
- 38. She touched mein my sorrow; I awoke. Her kind hands broke the fetters of my grief; The light of smiles shone round me, as she spoke: “I come, my friend, to bring thee sweet relief. Of those that minister, I am the chief, To man’s sick heart; I made the tears of Eve Bright with the hues of Heaven, when loth to leave The joys her disobedience made so brief. I sailed with Noah o’er the buried earth, I sat with Hagar by the new-found well, I solaced Joseph in his lonely cell, I filled sad David’s soul with songs of mirth.” Much more she whispered, till my heart grew bright And sorrow vanished, as at dawn, the night. DOMINION DAY. July, 1st, 1867. I. Our land is flushed with love; through the wealth of her gay-hued tresses From his bright-red fingers the sun has been dropping his amorous fire, And her eyes are gladly oppressed with the weight of his lips’ caresses, And the zephyr-throbs of her bosom keep time with the voice of his lyre. II. ’Tis the noon of the sweet, strong summer, the king of the months of the year, And the king of the year is crowning our Land with his glory of love, And the King of all kings, in whose crown each gem is the light of a sphere, Looks smilingly down on our Land from the height of His heaven above.
- 39. III. For to-day shebreathes what to her is the first of a nation’s breath, As she lies ’neath the gaze of the sun, as a bride, or a child new-born, Lies with fair motionless limbs in the beautiful semblance of death, Yet awake with the joy of a bird that awakes with the whisper of morn. IV. And her soul is drinking the music that flows through the golden lyre, From the deeps of the woods and waters and wonderful hearts of men, From the long-hushed songs of the forest, the wild, primeval choir, Till she feels the breath of the Spirit move over her face again. 1. Of the shadowy distant ages, (This is the song they sing), That scorn historic pages, When the Maple alone was king; When the bears were lords of creation, The beaver’s the only trade, And the greatest Confederation Was that which the wolves had made. 2. And then, long ages after, How the first of the forest men, With sounds of war and laughter, Invaded the wild beast’s den; They tell of the axe’s ringing, Of the camp-fire’s savage glee, Of the pipe of peace and the singing Under the maple tree.
- 40. 3. And how strangebirds of ocean Came from the dawn of day, And woke untold commotion, Where’er they winged their way; How pale-faced men and cruel Carried the sword and brand, In search of gold and jewel, Into the red man’s land. 4. How, with the warriors, others Of gentle manners came, Who called the red men brothers And told them of His Name, Who came from the Great Spirit, To bless mankind and save; And who, for man’s demerit, Suffered the cross and grave. 5. How still in spite of preaching Of brotherhood and peace, It seemed that war’s stern teaching Should never, never cease; How blood was shed like water, How treaties were despised, How massacre and slaughter Were night and day devised. 6.
- 41. How, in thecourse of seasons, Other strange ocean birds Brought violence and treasons, And smooth, deceitful words; And how the first pale-faces Fought with the last who came, Until a war of races Set all the woods aflame. 7. How valiant deeds and noble Shone out amid the night, Illuming scenes of trouble, With Heaven’s blessed light; How oft, in human nature, Though wofully defaced, Was seen some god-like feature— A flower in a waste; 8. Till now, through God’s good guiding, Those who as foemen strove, With heart in heart confiding, As brothers join in love; Till, from lake, sea and ocean, Mountain and woody dell, Is heard, with glad emotion, Division’s passing-bell. V.
- 42. So she hears,not in words, but in spirit, the changeful tale of the past, As she leans to the sun with veins that are blue like the blue of the sky, Hears with a smile on her lips that the demon Division is cast Into the river of death, as a monster worthy to die. VI. And she hears many tongues of men, that are singing as one in her praise, Calling her, all, by one name, a name that is noble and old, Singing a pæan of joy for the light of the gladdest of days, Making a noise of thanksgiving for union more precious than gold. VII. 1. Canada, Canada, land of the maple, Queen of the forest and river and lake, Open thy soul to the voice of thy people, Close not thy heart to the music they make. Bells, chime out merrily, Trumpets, call cheerily, Silence is vocal, and sleep is awake! 2. Canada, Canada, land of the beaver, Labour and skill have their triumph to-day; Oh! may the joy of it flow like a river, Wider and deeper as time flies away. Bells, chime out merrily, Trumpets, call cheerily, Science and industry laugh and are gay. 3.
- 43. Canada, Canada, landof the snow-bird, Emblem of constancy change cannot kill, Faith, that no strange cup has ever unsobered, Drinketh, to-day, from love’s chalice her fill. Bells, chime out merrily, Trumpets, call cheerily, Loyalty singeth and treason is still! 4. Canada, Canada, land of the bravest, Sons of the war-path, and sons of the sea, Land of no slave-lash, to-day thou enslavest Millions of hearts with affection for thee. Bells, chime out merrily, Trumpets, call cheerily, Let the sky ring with the shout of the free. 5. Canada, Canada, land of the fairest, Daughters of snow that is kissed by the sun, Binding the charms of all lands that are rarest, Like the bright cestus of Venus in one! Bells, chime out merrily, Trumpets, call cheerily, A new reign of beauty on earth is begun! VIII. 1.
- 44. The ocean haskissed her feet With cool, soft lips that smile, And his breath is wondrously sweet With the odours of many an isle. 2. He has many a grand old song Of his grand, old fearless kings; And the voice from his breast is strong, As he sings and laughs as he sings. 3. Though often his heart is sad With the weight of the gray-haired days That were once as light and as glad As the soul of a child that plays. 4. But to-day at Canada’s feet, He smiles, as when Venus was born, And the breath from his lips is as sweet As the breath of wet flowers at morn. IX. 1. The mountains raise their faces Up to the face of God; They are fresh with balmy graces And with flowers their feet are shod.
- 45. 2. In their soulis a noise of gladness, Their veins swell out with song,— With a feathery touch of sadness, Like a dream of forgotten wrong. 3. They have set their song to the metre Of the bright-eyed summer days, And our Land, to-day they greet her, With lips that are red with praise. X. 1. Lake is calling to lake With a ripply, musical sound, As though half afraid to awake The storm from his sleep profound. 2. The hem of their garments is gay With gardens that look to the south; And the smile of the dawn of to-day Has touched them on bosom and mouth. XI.
- 46. The rivers havegladly embraced, And carry the joy of the lakes, Past mountain and island and waste, To where the sea’s laughter outbreaks. XII. And sea and lake and mountain, And man and beast and bird— Our happy Land’s life fountain— By one great voice are stirred. Bells chime out merrily, Trumpets call cheerily, Cannons boom lustily, Greet the glad day! Rose-wreath and fleur-de-lys, Shamrock and thistle be Joined to the maple tree Now and for aye! XIII. Let the shout of our joy to-day be borne through the pulse of the sea, To the grand old lands of our fathers,—a token of loyalest love; And may the winds bring back sweet words, O our Land, to thee— As, in the far old time, the peace-leaf came with the dove. XIV.
- 47. And long, longages hence, when the Land that we love so well Has clasped us all (as a mother clasps her babe) to her motherly bosom, Those who shall walk on the dust of us, with pride in their Land shall tell, Holding the fruit in their grateful hands, of the birth of to-day, the blossom. IN MY HEART. I. In my heart are many chambers through which I wander free; Some are furnished, some are empty, some are sombre, some are light; Some are open to all comers, and of some I keep the key, And I enter in the stillness of the night. II. But there’s one I never enter,—it is closed to even me! Only once its door was opened, and it shut for evermore; And though sounds of many voices gather round it, like the sea, It is silent, ever silent, as the shore. III. In that chamber, long ago, my love’s casket was concealed, And the jewel that it sheltered I knew only one could win; And my soul foreboded sorrow, should that jewel be revealed, And I almost hoped that none might enter in. IV.
- 48. Yet day andnight I lingered by that fatal chamber door, Till—she came at last, my darling one, of all the earth my own; And she entered—and she vanished with my jewel, which she wore; And the door was closed—and I was left alone. V. She gave me back no jewel, but the spirit of her eyes Shone with tenderness a moment, as she closed that chamber door, And the memory of that moment is all I have to prize,— But that, at least, is mine for evermore. VI. Was she conscious, when she took it, that the jewel was my love? Did she think it but a bauble, she might wear or toss aside? I know not, I accuse not, but I hope that it may prove A blessing, though she spurn it in her pride. SISERA. Judges v., 28-30.
- 49. “Why comes henot? why comes he not, My brave and noble son? Why comes he not with his warlike men, And the trophies his sword has won? How slowly roll his chariot wheels! How weary is the day! Pride of thy mother’s lonely heart, Why dost thou still delay? He comes not yet! will he never come To gladden these heavy eyes, That have watched and watched from morn till eve, And again till the sun did rise? Shall I greet no more his look of joy, Nor hear his manly voice? Why comes he not with the spoils of war, And the damsels of his choice?” Years rushed along in their ceaseless course, But Sisera came no more, With his mighty men and his captive maids, As he oft had come before. A woman’s hand had done the deed That laid a hero low;— A woman’s heart had felt the grief That childless mothers know. COLUMBA SIBYLLA.
- 50. Ex mediis viridemsurgentem ut lœta columba Undis aspexit, post tempora tristia, terram, Et levibus volitans folia alis carpsit olivæ, Pacifera et rediit, libertatemque futuram Navali inclusis in carcere significavit; Sic terram, lœtis, super œquora vasta, Columbus Insequitur, ventis astrisque faventibus, alis; Inventam et terram placidis consevit olivis. Aevorum super æquora parva columba Columbum Inscia persequitur cum vaticinantibus alis! Omina nomina sunt et Verbo facta reguntur, Prœteritum nectitque futuro Aeterna Catena. SUMMER IS DEAD. I. Summer is dead. Shall we weep or laugh, As we gaze on the dead queen’s epitaph Which Autumn has written in letters of gold: “She was bright and beautiful, blithe and young, And through grove and meadow she gaily sung, As with careless footsteps she danced along To the grave, where she now lies cold?” II. Shall we weep that her beauty from earth has gone? Shall we weep for the friends that with her have flown? Shall we weep for those that with her have died? For the man that has perished in manhood’s pride? For the maiden that never can be a bride? For the hearts that are left alone?
- 51. III. Shall we laughas we stand at earth’s palace-door, With the faded crown that poor Summer wore, And placing it on her sister’s brow, Forget the face that once smiled beneath That faded crown, and the flowery breath That parted those lips now cold in death? For Autumn is monarch now. IV. Summer is dead. Shall we laugh or weep? Is she really dead or only asleep With her sleeping garments on? She only sleeps, and in meadow and grove Again in gay dances her steps shall move; But shall she come back with the friends we love? God knows, and His will be done. ON A DEAD FIELD-FLOWER.
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