FOR THOMAS STAMP – Kenyon 1973

“in meadows sweet with asphodel…”

For decades you were chief remembrancer
Of Kenyon’s storied history and lore —
Richer through the grace your words confer.

The THRILL defines the Magic Mountain’s core.
How heartfelt were your warm obituaries
Of those to whom the College sang Farewell,
Making prose like poetry that carries
All in the Kokosing’s own strange spell.
Step by step on Middle Path you led,

So we would feel we walked on holy ground
That gave us art and literature we read.
Angels facing Rosse let bliss resound.
May that Love in all you yearned to give
Preserve the ways you taught us how to live.

—Royal Rhodes, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies