By Will Carleton, published in The Motion Picture Magazine in 1911:
Near the ne-er-lifted curtain we sat, clasping hands,
And awaited the coming of seas and of lands,
And of forests whose branches bore fruits of surprise,
Springing forth - leafy miracles - plain in our eyes;
And of cities that glistened in wealth-laden camps,
As if fifty Aladdins were there with their lamps;
And the women and children and men! who, tho small
To the objects around them were greatest of all.
There were those that came out of the mansion's rich gates,
Or that nursed in the hovels their loves and their hates;
There were sailors who courted the sea, foul or fair,
There were birdmen who swam thru the treacherous air;
There were people from all of the corners of earth,
With their comedies, tragedies, sorrows and mirth;
Tho they gave us no sound, tho they spoke not a word,
All they said that was worthy the hearing, was heard.
There was nought that seemed waiting the wizard's command,
All the world to us came, at the touch of a hand.
Still, no treasure that white-stretching canvas would win,
But could fade out as something that never had been.
So I asked, as we came from the dusk-sheltered spot,
"That was surely a picture of life, was it not?
"There is nothing that winsome or lovely may seem,
"But may fade like a vision, and die like a dream."
"Yes, 'tis life acted over," she blithesomely said,
"For it shows there is nothing on earth, that is dead;
"Nought we wish, if our efforts no energy lack,
"But howe'er it may vanish, may some time come back."
