ONE side of the street was given up to the huge factory building. On the other were pleasant homes that evidenced the occupancy of families of the comfortable middle class. Of course these residents did not admire their unsightly neighbor; but they paid him little heed, for though there was much buzzing and humming within the brick walls, the vibrations were monotonous and, blending with the various noises of city life, they passed unnoted. But a day came when the houses opposite the factory were vacated, and when tenants again came into them they paid only half rentals; for a new machine had been installed in the busy factory, one that at frequent intervals gave voice to a shrill wail and pounded out a resounding tattoo. Previously the factory noises had been a nonentity; now they were supplied with motif, and assumed character—unpleasant character.
In music the power of motif or recurrent phrase is utilized with an exactly opposite effect. Many a long and intricate composition is redeemed from the commonplace and made memorable because it serves as a setting for some exquisite gem of melody. This melody may be only a few measures in length, but it is the soul of the composition and determines its character. "Träumerei" illustrates this. Few of us but have listened again and again to its rendition, waiting eagerly for the repetition of the phrase, exquisite in modulation, full of meaning, that gives the selection vitality, force, individuality. As the recurrent tattoo determined the disagreeable nature of factory noise, as the repeated melody gives soul to music, so does recurrent and expressed thought establish the force of a man's life, the quality of his thinking determine the quality of his living. In the lives of those who have served as leaders in the world's history this fact is always evident. In Napoleon's consciousness rested ever the dream of conquest. In Washington the dominant note was personal mastery, and in summing up his life and character one of our American poets utilizes the phrase, "the perfect symmetry of self-control."
Examples of the power of recurrent thought to lift life from the commonplace and establish individuality, might be multiplied indefinitely, but there is one that will suffice for all. We read of Jesus, on the morning that was to be marked by his ascension, that "while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." "While he blessed them"—the phrase is significant, and in reviewing the history of this wonderful man we discern its meaning. Jesus came to earth bringing a blessing. On his birthnight the angels sang, "On earth peace, good will toward men;" and the life of loving service to which he was dedicated received its first recognition. Concerning his early life the Scriptures are strangely silent, but we read that "the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him." Surely for the family surrounding him this was a veritable exhalation of blessing, for nothing serves more to cheer and gladden the life of a home than the harmonious growth and development of the children who claim its protection. At twelve, the boy who knew God as the source of his being and the resource of his daily living, stood before the doctors in the temple, and the record runs that they were astonished at his wisdom. Without conscious effort and without weariness he gave to them of the understanding of Love and Truth that were his very being, his Life. It was the natural overflow from a full fount of thought whose conscious supply was God, good.
