PROFESSOR JOE* 

 By D. S. Richardson 



OUR ranks are few, Professor Joe, 

 Who loved thee in that long ago 

 Of smiles and tears. 

 But still the perfume of thy days 

 Floats downward to us through the maze 

 Of vanished years. 



Thrice blessed is he whose memory 

 Comes back in music from the sea 



Of other days ; 

 Nor builds he surer monument 

 Than that which speaks the heart's content 



In words of praise. 



We see him still amid the throng — 



So grave and sweet, so wise and strong — 



So shaped in gentleness ; 

 The lover of all things that be, 

 The fount of truth and chivalry — 



The refuge of distress. 



Thou art not dead. The simple stone 

 Beneath the oaks which thou hast known 



Records thy name ; 

 But, graven on the hearts of men, 

 'Tis writ in light and lives again 



In deathless flame. 



February, 1919 



* Professor Joseph Le Conte was alwaj's affectionately known as "Professor Joe" 

 to his students. He was a charter member of the Sierra Club and one of its first 

 directors. 



