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SPRINGER BRIEFS IN APPLIED SCIENCES AND
TECHNOLOGY  COMPUTATIONAL MECHANICS

Fakhrizal Azmy Nasruddin

Muhamad Noor Harun · Ardiyansyah Syahrom
Mohammed Rafiq Abdul Kadir
Abdul Hafidz Omar
Andreas Öchsner

Finite Element
Analysis on
Badminton
Racket Design
Parameters

123
SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences
and Technology

Computational Mechanics

Series editors
Holm Altenbach, Magdeburg, Germany
Lucas F.M. da Silva, Porto, Portugal
Andreas Öchsner, Southport, Australia
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8886
Fakhrizal Azmy Nasruddin
Muhamad Noor Harun · Ardiyansyah Syahrom
Mohammed Rafiq Abdul Kadir
Abdul Hafidz Omar · Andreas Öchsner

Finite Element Analysis

on Badminton Racket Design
Parameters

13
Fakhrizal Azmy Nasruddin Mohammed Rafiq Abdul Kadir
Sport Innovation and Technology Centre Medical Device Technology Group
(SITC), Institute Human Centred ­(MediTeg), Faculty of Biosciences
­Engineering (IHCE) and Medical Engineering
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Johor Johor
Malaysia Malaysia

Muhamad Noor Harun Abdul Hafidz Omar

Sport Innovation and Technology Centre Sport Innovation and Technology Centre
(SITC), Institute Human Centred (SITC), Institute Human Centred
­Engineering (IHCE) ­Engineering (IHCE)
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Johor Johor
Malaysia Malaysia

Ardiyansyah Syahrom Andreas Öchsner

Sport Innovation and Technology Centre Griffith School of Engineering
(SITC), Institute Human Centred Griffith University (Gold Coast Campus)
­Engineering (IHCE) Southport Queensland, QLD
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Australia
Johor
Malaysia

ISSN 2191-530X ISSN 2191-5318 (electronic)

SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology
ISSN 2191-5342 ISSN 2191-5350 (electronic)
SpringerBriefs in Computational Mechanics
ISBN 978-3-319-21734-5 ISBN 978-3-319-21735-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-21735-2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015948713

Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London

© The Author(s) 2016
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
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Abstract

In the sport of badminton, the racket plays an important role because it is the
main instrument to drive the shuttlecock. A good design of the racket is crucial
to achieve better game performance. However, there is inadequate scientific study
in the development of badminton racket design. The aim of this research is to
identify the characteristics of racket design parameters which influence the racket
performance. Designing a racket requires one to fully understand the racket per-
formance characteristics. Basically, racket performance is referred in terms of
sweet spot, which is the spot on a racket head that produces more power and con-
trol if a shuttlecock hits on it. Determination of coefficient of restitution (COR)
can help to determine the sweet spot on a racket. In this study, several designs
of badminton rackets were analyzed using finite element approach to investigate
the design parameters that influence a racket performance. Each racket model
was created in three-dimensional CAD software (SolidWorks®) and imported into
ABAQUS (Explicit) for finite element analysis. The finite element simulation
mimics the collision between rubber ball and badminton racket. The results from
finite element simulation were compared with experimental results for validation.
The parametric studies were conducted using validated finite element model to
investigate the effect of string tension, racket structural stiffness, and racket head
shape designs with respect to racket performance. Reducing the string tension
from 34 lbs to 14 lbs could increase 2.4 % of COR. There was at least a 6 % dif-
ference in COR between hollow shaft and solid shaft. Isometric head shape racket
produces better COR compared to oval and round shape. It is recommended that,
the racket design should consist of low string tension, stiffer racket shaft, and big-
ger head size in order to produce higher shuttlecock speed.

v
Contents

1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 General About Badminton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Player’s Characteristics and Player’s Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Law and Regulations of Badminton Racket. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4 Evolution of Badminton Racket. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.5 Racket Performance and Racket Design Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.5.1 Sweet Spot and Dead Spot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.5.2 Swing Weight and Swing Speed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.6 Finite Element Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2 Coefficient of Restitution in Badminton Racket. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.1 Coefficient of Restitution (COR). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2 Finite Element Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2.1 Racket Frame Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2.2 String-Bed Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.3 Rubber Ball Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.3 Finite Element Simulation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.4 Experimental Procedures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.5 Validation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.5.1 Mesh Convergence Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.5.2 Validation of Finite Element Simulation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3 Effect of String Tension Toward Racket Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

3.1 Fundamental of Deflection of String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.2 Finite Element Study on Effect of String
Tension Toward Racket Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.2.1 Relationship Between String
Tension and Deflection of String. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

vii
viii Contents

3.2.2 Effect on Racket Structural Stiffness

on String Tension Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

4 Stiffness of Badminton Racket. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

4.1 Relationship Between Stiffness and Deflection
of Badminton Racket. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.2 Effect of Shaft Cross-Sectional Design
Toward Racket Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.2.1 Structural Stiffness of Badminton Racket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.3 Parametric Study on Shaft Cross-Sectional Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.3.1 Effect of Shaft Cross-Sectional Diameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.3.2 Effect of Shaft Cross-Sectional Thickness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.3.3 Effect of Shaft Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

5 Head Shape Design Analysis of Conceptual Badminton Racket . . . . . 43

5.1 Finite Element Simulation of Racket Head Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
5.2 Effect of Racket Head Shape Design
Towards Racket Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

6 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Chapter 1
Introduction

Abstract This chapter provides crucial information that was found to be relevant
to the present study. Related information regarding the badminton games such as
game’s law and regulations, player’s characteristic, player’s performance, racket
design parameters and a brief history about badminton racket evolution were
presented. Additionally, several previous studies on the analysis of the racket
performance were reviewed in order to improve the understanding about design
parameters in badminton racket.

Keywords Badminton Racket · Racket Design Parameter · Racket Performance ·

Sweet Spot

Badminton was commonly known as the fastest racket sport due to the s­ huttlecock
speed produced during games. Based on Guinness World Records, the o­fficial
record for the fastest smash produced in competition was 332 km/h done by Fu
Haifeng during the Sudirman Cup 2005 tournament [1]. In 2013, Malaysian men
doubles, Tan Boon Heong has unofficially beaten this record by producing a smash
speed of 493 km/h during the experiment conducted by Yonex to test their brand
new racket model [2]. Thus, this shows that badminton is a highly intensive game
which requires players to have good stamina, speed and agility [3]. The ability to
produce powerful strokes was one of the advantages and a key point for players
in the quest of winning a game. It was proven that a smash shot was indeed the
most effective stroke in gaining points during a badminton game [4]. Moreover,
besides the physical and physiological factors such as technique, strength, stamina
and speed, the racket design is undoubtedly considered as among the key factor
that brings significant improvement on stroke power and accuracy [5–7].
In badminton, the racket holds an important role in controlling the game
whereby a good racket should have the ability to communicate effectively with
its handler. Hence, racket design and its traits need to be highly reliable and main-
tain consistent performance throughout a match. The innovation in sports technol-
ogy brings to the development of various racket designs and each design has its

© The Author(s) 2016 1

F.A. Nasruddin et al., Finite Element Analysis on Badminton Racket Design
Parameters, SpringerBriefs in Computational Mechanics,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-21735-2_1
2 1 Introduction

own functional criteria that would significantly enhance the racket performance. In
essence, racket performance is usually assessed based on its ability in command-
ing good control and power [7, 8]. Power is referred to as the rebound speed of the
shuttlecock, while control is the precision of the stroke [8, 9]. Therefore, within
the same context, the development of a good racket design would be imperative in
achieving an optimum speed, precision and accuracy of racket handling.
Previous tennis studies have done remarkable works in investigating the effect
of racket design parameters on the racket performance. Based on tennis litera-
tures, sweet spot, swing weight and swing speed were some of the parameters that
affected the performance of the racket. Sweet spot can be described as the spot on
the racket string that can improve power and accuracy to the shuttlecock [10–12].
For example, hitting the shuttlecock on the sweet spot can give a lot of advan-
tages, such as reduce the jarring on the gripping handle, produce more accuracy,
and imparts maximum speed to the shuttlecock [11]. Other contributing factors
that would affect the performance of the racket are swing weight and swing speed.
Theoretically, swing weight can be described as the moment of inertia (MOI)
of the racket while swing speed is commonly referred to the angular velocity of
the swinging racket [13]. Racket that is equipped with higher swing weight and
swing speed is able to produce more power to the ball. Previous studies on tennis
rackets were conducted to find the correlation between swing weight and swing
speed to its performance [9]. Similar approach of studies should be emulated and
performed on the badminton racket in order to produce a more responsive, highly
­reliable and enhanced commanding ability by its handler.

1.1 General About Badminton

The modern badminton game was developed in England during 1800s [14]. The
game was played on a rectangular court and the opposition players were separated
by net. This game can be played either in a single game with two opposing play-
ers or in a double game with two opposing pairs. Generally, players get points by
striking a shuttlecock with their rackets so that it passes over the net and lands into
their opponent’s court [15]. Each side may only strike the shuttlecock once, before
it passes over the net.
The popularity of badminton increased after it was officially contested in the
1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona [16]. Recently, this game has been dominated
by Asian players especially from China, Malaysia and Indonesia. Compared to
other racket sports such as tennis and squash, badminton is known as the fastest
racket sport in the world. Tsai et al. recorded that the initial shuttlecock speed pro-
duced during smash was in the range of 55–70 m/s [17]. In 2013, the Malaysian
badminton player, Tan Boon Heong broke the Guinness World Record for the fast-
est badminton smash with a shuttlecock speed of 493 km/h [2]. Thus, the afore-
mentioned indicated that badminton players need to possess good agility, speed,
strength, and motor skill in higher level of games [16, 18–20].
1.1 General About Badminton 3

In order to achieve optimal games performance, racket selection is deemed

among the critical factors that should be taken into account. As stated previously,
a good racket would have the ability to communicate well with the player and ulti-
mately complements the physical traits and skills that one has to deliver optimum
performance in the context of power and accuracy. Recently, with the adoption
of advanced technology in sports, the market is witnessing growing numbers and
varieties of badminton racket designs. It is fairly common for racket manufactur-
ers to claim that their products are far superior, have better built and design which
can improve a player’s performance compared to their fellow competitors. Hence,
players need to be wise in making their selection whilst analysing every aspect
and parameters of the said racket before making an informed-decision in choos-
ing their racket. Both racket and player should be thoroughly analysed, taking into
consideration the complementing and suitability factors before a selection can be
made.

1.2 Player’s Characteristics and Player’s Performance

Each player is unique and poised to have different psychological and physi-
cal traits. Every aspect of these traits could be weighted collectively to create a
character of a player. This character would be the driving force in determining the
player’s style, responsiveness and patterns during a match. One player may have
the tendency to play offensive, defensive or control which is fully dependent on
the character of the player itself. Thus, the design of a racket should be accus-
tomed to the character and physical traits of the respective player.
An offensive player can be described as a player with the tendency to commit
numerous fast smashes, fast drop shots and net shots to overwhelm their opponent.
This type of personality is usually considered as aggressive, with good strength,
agility and speed. Hypothetically, an offensive player would prefer to use a heavy
head racket in order to improve the smashing power. On the other hand, a defen-
sive player tends to enjoy long rallies by committing a lot of clear shots onto the
backcourt and sharp drop shots near to the net. Usually, this type of player can
be described as a calm player with good stamina and typically commits only
few mistakes. A light weight racket with good manoeuvrability may be suitable
for this class of player. A control player can be described as a deceptive stroke
player who tends to trick their opponent by tricky shots. Basically, a control player
has good skills, techniques and higher shot accuracy. This type of player usually
uses a weight balance racket that provides ease to control. Another class of player
would usually have a combination of two or more styles in their play. This kind of
character is commonly seen among the elite players. Therefore, most world class
manufacturers strive to improve the proprietary design of their racket based on the
common characteristics and abilities of the players in order to improve the game
performance. Figure 1.1 shows types of badminton player pattern play.
4 1 Introduction

Fig. 1.1  Types of badminton

player pattern play

In-depth analysis with understanding of the player’s characteristics, allows

researchers to understand the player’s capabilities and help in the development
and improvement of a racket design. Performance of a player can be influenced by
physical and psychological factors among others. Physical and physiological fac-
tors are described as player physical abilities which includes the anthropometric,
agility, speed, strength, and fitness of players [19, 21, 22]. A study done by Ooi
et al. has shown the importance of physiological factors on a badminton player’s
performance [16]. Ooi et al. reported that elite Malaysian male badminton players
have better physical strength compared to sub-elite players, and are capable in pro-
ducing faster shuttlecock speed as opposed to the sub-elite players.
Psychology is another factor that affects the player’s performance. The quality
of decision making during games is relatively important as it executes motor skills
and these are vitals in determining the successes of sports performance. Soltani
et al. compared some physiological features of Turkish badminton elite players
with amateur badminton players [21]. As a result, the elite players had lower level
of somatic anxiety compared to non-elite badminton players and showed ability
to perform well in major tournaments due to their ability in managing stress and
pressure during matches.
Sportsmen are expected to be equipped with good technical skills, tactical,
specific physiological fitness and psychological preparation in order to succeed.
The same is expected with no exception to a badminton game as it requires play-
ers to master various technical skills especially stroke techniques such as service,
drop shot, overhead smash, forehand stroke, backhand stroke, etc. These strokes
are directly correlated to power and control, whereby power is referred to shuttle-
cock speed produced by a player while control is referred to the accuracy of a shot.
Statistically, smash shot is the most effective stroke, contributing to a higher suc-
cess in winning points [4]. Lo et al. concluded that the combination of power and
speed in a smash makes it the most powerful offensive stroke in badminton [18]. A
study done by Sakurai and Ohtsuki analysed the smash stroke between unskilled
and skilled players. The result indicated that strokes of skilled players are relatively
more accurate as opposed to the sub-skilled players [23]. Another study done by
Tsai et al. established that elite players produced 15–20 % faster shuttlecock speed
compared to collegiate players [17]. Based on these, it can be deduced that shuttle-
cock speed is among the parameters in determining a player’s performance.
1.3 Law and Regulations of Badminton Racket 5

1.3 Law and Regulations of Badminton Racket

Most major sporting events around the world are governed by legislative bod-
ies that function as the regulator that oversee the major fixtures, setting up rules
and guidelines, and also directives in maintaining safety and effectiveness of
matches. For example, soccer is governed by International Federation of Football
Association (FIFA), basketball in North America by the National Basketball
Association (NBA), Formula 1 by the International Automobile Federation (FIA)
and badminton by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). These international
governing bodies would also be responsible in laying out the fundamentals and
specifications of every instrument used in each sport. In badminton, BWF provides
rules on any question of whether any racket, shuttle, equipment or any prototype
used in the playing of Badminton complies with the specifications. Such ruling
may be undertaken on the Federation’s initiative or on application by any party,
including any player, technical officer, equipment manufacturer or members of its
association [15].
The BWF has outlined several guidelines to govern the overall shape, length
and size of a badminton racket. These laws and regulations released by the BWF
explicitly described the physical characteristic of a badminton racket and became
the guiding principle for racket manufactures in developing a new racket design.
Badminton rackets can be divided into several sections consisting of the head,
string-bed, throat, handle, and shaft as shown in Fig. 1.2 [15]. According to the
BWF, the overall racket dimension must not be more than 680 mm in length and
230 mm in width. The stringed area must be bounded to the racket head frame.
The maximum tolerance size for the stringed area is 280 mm in length and
200 mm in width. The stringed area shall be flat and consisting of a pattern of

Fig. 1.2  Part and dimension

of a badminton racket [15]
6 1 Introduction

crossed strings either alternately interlaced or bonded between cross strings. The
stringing pattern shall be generally uniform and, in particular, not less dense in the
centre than in any other area.

1.4 Evolution of Badminton Racket

Major efforts have been undertaken by racket manufacturers to enhance the racket
performance, by improving the material used and optimizing the racket designs
and racket weight [10]. The early models for badminton rackets were made from
wood with an oval head shape, used animal gut strings, and the racket handle was
designed only for comfort rather than performance. This wooden racket was heavy
and less flexible compared to its modern counterpart. In terms of ergonomics, the
wooden racket was not very appropriate use due to its heavy weight and stiffness.
In term of performance, players have to put lots of strength and energy to drive
and swing the heavy racket [13].
The injuries that commonly happen to badminton players are shoulder impinge-
ment, shoulder dislocation, wrist injuries and tennis elbow [24]. Weir and Watson
reported based on an epidemiology study in Ireland that badminton was among
the top sports with the most injuries compared to other sports [25]. These prob-
lems bring to the development of the light weight racket where it was initially
made from light steel material such as aluminium alloy. A study on the tennis
racket done by Brody found that reducing the racket mass was one of the meth-
ods to improve the swing speed of the racket [13]. However, if both light weight
and heavy weight rackets were swung at the same speed, the speed of ball gener-
ated by the light weight racket was lower compared to the heavy weight racket.
Another tennis racket study done by Cross and Bower discovered that the swing
speed of the racket can be increased by reducing the mass and length of the racket
[9]. The development in advanced material technology brings to the latest carbon
fibre that make rackets feels much lighter and more flexible.
During the 1960s, rackets with wooden frames and metal handles became
widely popular after being used by several elite players. Indonesian badminton
legendary player, Rudy Hartono employed Yonex B-6000 Five-Ace Deluxe, a
racket with a combination of wood (head frame) and metal (shaft) that won him
several titles. In the late 1960s, racket manufacturers further improved the material
used in racket production by introducing a fully metal racket frame by either com-
bining materials like aluminium and steel or fully aluminium.
During the 1970s, rackets became lighter when the manufacturers decided to
produce rackets out of carbon materials. During that time, the carbon based racket
emerged to be the most popular racket at that time. However, the price for rackets
became increasingly expensive and the racket was less durable. To overcome the
problem, racket manufactures came up with graphite rackets that gained popular-
ity in the 1990s. By mixing titanium alloy and graphite, manufacturers were able
to produce much lighter rackets without compromising its durability. Later in the
1.4 Evolution of Badminton Racket 7

Fig. 1.3  Various design of badminton racket

20th century, the advancement of material designs for rackets became more evi-
dent when racket manufacturers began adding nanomaterials such as fullerene to
graphite rackets to make the racket stronger. This advancement has enable sig-
nificant improvement in racket design with superior badminton rackets being pro-
duced and utilised worldwide. As a result, faster smash shots can be achieved and
more new smash shots are recorded periodically.
The racket development is not only confined to material development, it also
involves the improvement of racket designs. The racket head was originally
designed with a round shape. Further improvements on the head design were made
by introducing several designs including teardrop, Y-joint, oval and isometric
head designs (Fig. 1.3). In the early stage, the design of badminton rackets were
only based from ecstatic point of views, players’ feedbacks, and less scientific
approach. Presently, the advancement in technology has witnessed the addition
of the latest isometric head shape design that was claimed to have a much larger
‘sweet spot’ by racket manufacturers globally. The research on sweet spots of a
rackets was initiated on the tennis racket. Brody managed to discover the existence
of sweet spots in tennis rackets and located the exact locations for every sweet
spot on the tennis racket [10, 11]. According to Brody, the head shape and size of
a racket were some of the factors that influenced the enlargement of sweet spot in
racket design.
String is another critical component in badminton rackets that affects the per-
formance of a player [26–28]. Traditionally, badminton strings were made from
natural animal gut. These animal gut strings did not stand higher tension due to its
less mechanical material properties. Then, synthetic strings made from nylon were
introduced and was ascertained capable of sustaining higher tension. There are
many arguments on the effect of string tension on a player’s performance. Bower
and Cross’s studies on tennis investigated the effect of string tension on a player’s
performance and found that about 27 % of the subjects tested were sensitive to
various string tension and experienced 2 % ball speed increases by decreasing the
string tension [5]. Another study conducted by Bower and Cross postulated that
8 1 Introduction

the string tension has significant effects to ball rebound speed and accuracy [28].
Increase of string tension improved about 15 % of ball accuracy while the lower
string tension was more suitable for long shot accuracy.

1.5 Racket Performance and Racket Design Parameters

A racket’s performance is usually described from the perspective of power and

control where power is referred to as the ball speed and control is referred to as
the shot accuracy. To be clear, a racket that is able to produce higher shuttle speed
and accuracy is classified as an excellent racket. In essence, design parameters of
a racket would greatly influence the racket performance. Improvement on racket
design parameters will lead to better racket performance. Several terminologies
are commonly used to describe racket design parameters namely sweet spot, dead
spot, swing weight, and swing speed.
To the best of the author’s understanding, there are similarities on the racket
performance between tennis and badminton. This is especially evident and can be
witnessed by looking into the concept of both types of rackets, functionalities and
their abilities to swing and drive the shuttle. Based on apparent limited literatures
and publications, it can be deduced that researches on badminton racket design
parameters are very limited to almost non-existence. Therefore, tennis literatures
have been used as the reference to analyse the design parameter on badminton
racket.

1.5.1 Sweet Spot and Dead Spot

Lots of effort has been done in the study of tennis racket to investigate the char-
acteristics of racket design parameters toward racket performances. The most
interesting parameters that are commonly referred to are the sweet and dead spot.
Sweet spot is a term widely used to describe the spot or the point in the racket that
gives a sensational feel when hitting a ball thus producing more power and con-
trol [10, 11]. Head defines the sweet spot as the region on racket faces (string-bed
area) that give the maximum coefficient of restitution (COR) when the racket han-
dle is firmly clamped. This finding was supported by Brody in the research relat-
ing to sweet spots in tennis rackets. Brody elaborated the sweet spot into three
areas which comprise of power region, centre of percussion and node point. He
also managed to develop a mathematical model form of a physics equation to sup-
port the definition of each sweet spot. In order to analyse the sweet spot, Brody
developed a system of apparatus consisting of a photodetector, an oscilloscope and
laser to measure the dwell time of a tennis ball on the string tension of a racket
(Fig. 1.4) [10]. The study discovered that hitting a ball on the right area or spot
on a racket face can give added advantages such as reducing the jarring on the
1.5 Racket Performance and Racket Design Parameters 9

Fig. 1.4  The illustrations

of experimental setup to
measure the dwell time of a
tennis ball on the string-bed
of tennis racket [10]

gripping handle, producing more accuracy and imparting maximum speed to the
ball. Brody also described power regions as the area on the string-bed that gen-
erates the maximum rebound velocity of a ball. Power region can be found on
the longitudinal axis between the tip and throat of a racket where it indicates the
maximum COR. Furthermore, the values of COR can be controlled by two main
parameters which are the stiffness of the racket and the string tension.
According to Brody, the centre of percussion (COP) and the node point were
related to the vibration of the racket [11]. The COP was an impact point on the
racket string-bed to produce the right combination between translational and
rotational motion of a racket during collision with a ball. The node point was a
point on the string-bed where impact on it can generate maximum vibration on
the racket handle. Hitting on these spots produce great rebound velocity of a ball
and less collision force is transmitted to the gripping hand where it vibrates less.
Therefore, most of the researches in tennis were focused on reducing the vibra-
tion of the racket. Tennis scholars mentioned that often injuries on tennis happen
due to the high impact from the ball that resulted in elbow injuries. It was recom-
mended to use a vibration damper to reduce the impact of vibration. In badmin-
ton, injuries related to vibration of rackets were not significant with only 5 % of
reported injuries [24]. Figure 1.5 shows the location of the sweet spot on a tennis
racket.
10 1 Introduction

Fig. 1.5  The sweet spot on a

tennis racket [10, 11]

Cross discovered a new spot on the tennis racket and recommended the spot
as the best place to hit during serving and smashing [29]. This spot is called the
dead spot and was defined as the point where an incident ball stops statically on
a stationary racket. Therefore, the dead spot was the area on the racket head that
generated minimum values of COR. Based on the analysis of the tennis racket,
Cross concluded that the dead spot was located near to the tip area of the racket
head (string-bed area). This conclusion leads to the development of overhead size
tennis rackets.

1.5.2 Swing Weight and Swing Speed

Another important parameter that affects the performance of a racket is swing

weight and speed. The relationship between swing weight and swing speed to
sport equipment performance was widely discussed in several swinging sports.
Research done by Cross and Nathan investigated the importance of swing weight
on the performance of sport equipments in three major swing sports including ten-
nis, baseball and golf [30]. Other than that, Schorah et al. investigated the rela-
tionship between swing weight and swing speed in nine major swinging sports
1.5 Racket Performance and Racket Design Parameters 11

including badminton, tennis, cricket, etc. [31]. The finding shows that badminton
rackets produced higher swing speed but lower swing weight when compared to
other swinging sports such as tennis, baseball and golf.
Another study of the tennis racket conducted by Brody described swing weight
as the moment of inertia (MOI) of the racket [13]. He managed to analyse several
variety of tennis rackets in order to obtain its MOIs. It was found that rackets with
heavy heads had larger swing weight and can improve ground stroke power. The
values of MOI can be controlled by manipulating the length, mass, and balance
point in the racket. In practice, the MOI of the racket can be improved by add-
ing weight to the edges of standard size racket or making the racket head wider.
Another study done by Cross and Bower analysed the effect of swing-weight on
swing speed by representing the racket as uniform rod [9]. The study found that
mass, length, and balance point were the parameters that influenced swing-weight
and swing speed. This study discovered that increase of swing weight could
reduce swing-speed.

1.6 Finite Element Analysis

Recently, finite element simulation was extensively adopted in the development

of sport equipment mainly in racket-based sports. This approach allows research-
ers to conduct a more competitive analysis without having to produce prototypes
and ultimately reducing cost and time. Several analytical studies on racket design
parameters on tennis rackets were done using this method. Glynn et al. analyzed
two tennis racket models using finite element simulation to investigate the effect
of string tension, head size design, weight, length, and balance point of racket on
the racket’s performance [32]. Moreover, Goodwill et al. developed a finite ele-
ment model of a tennis ball to simulate the oblique impact between a ball and a
rigid surface [33]. This finite element simulation was validated through an experi-
ment using high speed camera to determine the velocity, angle, and spin of the ball
during impact.
Banwell et al. applied finite element analysis in tennis study to determine the
natural frequency and corresponding mode shapes of a racket [34]. This simula-
tion used a string-bed model that was created as a single plane to represent the
actual inter-woven shape. Banwell et al. continued the finite element study on the
tennis racket by analysing the frequency, damping ratio of freely suspended racket
and hand gripped rackets in order to determine the characteristics of the impact
vibration on racket handle [35]. Another finite element study on the tennis racket
was performed by Gu and Li. The vibration characteristics of two different string
tensions were compared to obtain the mode shape of the racket. The results indi-
cated almost 70 % reduction of vibration frequency on higher tension in handle
clamped condition [36]. It was supported by Li et al. on the study of string tension
effect in several impact locations [26]. This study found that reducing string ten-
sion can increase vibration, while at the same time increasing COR. Furthermore,
12 1 Introduction

vibration of the racket can be reduced by hitting the ball at node point in string-
bed area [11, 26, 37].
Allen et al. developed several finite element simulations in order to analyse
racket performance [38, 39]. Allen et al. managed to develop a finite element
model of string-bed of tennis racket in inter-woven patent to imitate the actual
condition [39]. The simulation mimics the impact of a tennis ball on a freely sus-
pended racket to investigate the effect of racket stiffness and ball inbound spin
speed on racket performance. Another simulation done by Allen et al. analysed the
effect of resultant rebound velocity and spin for a simulated groundstroke [38].
Allen et al. compared several racket models consisting of various racket design
parameters such as racket stiffness, balance point, and mass to investigate racket
performance in various impact locations on the string-bed area. Based on the
results, Allen et al. recommended that the rebound speed and topspin of the ball
can be increased by adjusting the racket balance point closer to the racket tip.

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sworldrecords.com.
2. Sputnik News. (2013). Malaysian Badminton Star Breaks Smash Speed Record-Russia.
http://www.sputniknews.com/sport.
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754–764.
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org/.
15. Badminton World Federation. (2014). Handbook II-Laws and General Competition
Regulations.
References 13

16. Ooi, C. H., Tan, A., Ahmad, A., Kwong, K. W., Sompong, R., Ghazali, K. A. M., et al.
(2009). Physiological characteristics of elite and sub-elite badminton players. Journal of
Sports Science, 27(14), 1591–1599.
17. Tsai, C., Huang, C., & Jih, S. (2012). Biomechanical analysis of four different badminton
forehand overhead stokes. Journal of Physics Education, 22(1), 189–200.
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cal features of elite youth national and amateur badminton players. Journal of Physical
Education and Sport Sciences, 6(3), 244–250.
19. Andersen, L. L., Larsson, B., Overgaard, H., & Aagaard, P. (2007). Torque-velocity char-
acteristics and contractile rate of force development in elite badminton players. Journal of.
Sport Science, 7(3), 127–134.
20. Fahimi, F., & Vaezmousavi, M. (2011). Physiological patterning of short badminton serve: A
psychophysiological perspective to vigilance and arousal. World Applied Sciences Journal,
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21. Soltani, H., Reddy, K., & Hosseini, S. (2012). Comparison of competitive state anxiety
among elite and non-elite badminton players in Iran. Journal of Advance Environment, 6(10),
2698–2703.
22. Yasin, A., Omer, S., & Ibrahim, Y. (2010). Comparison of some anthropometric character-
istics of elite badminton and tennis players. Journal of Science, Movement and Health, 2,
2008–2010.
23. Sakurai, S., & Ohtsuki, T. (2000). Muscle activity and accuracy of performance of the smash
stroke in badminton with reference to skill and practice muscle activity and accuracy of per-
formance of the smash stroke in badminton with reference to skill and practice. Journal of.
Sport Science, 18(1), 901–904.
24. Yung, P. S., Fong, D. T., & Chan, R. H. (2012). Research in sports medicine: Epidemiology
of injuries in Hong Kong elite badminton athletes. Research in Sports Medicine, 15(1),
133–146.
25. Weir, M., & Watson, A. (1996). A twelve month study of sports injuries in one Irish school.
Irish Journal of Medical Science, 165(3), 165–169.
26. Li, L., Yang, S. H., Hwang, C.-S., & Kim, Y. S. (2010). Effects of string tension and
impact location on tennis playing. Journal of Mechanics Science and Technology, 23(11),
2990–2997.
27. Zhu, Q. (2013). Perceiving the affordance of string tension for power strokes in badmin-
ton: Expertise allows effective use of all string tensions. Journal of Sports Sciences, 31(11),
1187–1196.
28. Bower, R., & Cross, R. (2005). String tension effects on tennis ball rebound speed and accu-
racy during playing conditions. Journal of Sports Sciences, 23(7), 765–771.
29. Cross, R. (1997). The dead spot of a tennis racket. American Journal of Physics, 65(1),
754–759.
30. Cross, R., & Nathan, A. M. (2009). Performance versus moment of inertia of sporting imple-
ments. Sports Technology, 2(1–2), 7–15.
31. Schorah, D., Choppin, S., & James, D. (2012). Investigating the relationship between swing
weight and swing speed across different sports using historical data. Procedia Engineering,
34, 766–771.
32. Glynn, J. A., King, M. A., & Mitchell, S. R. (2010). A computer simulation model of tennis
racket/ball impacts. Journal of Sports Engineering, 13(2), 65–72.
33. Goodwill, S. R., Kirk, R., & Haake, S. J. (2005). Experimental and finite element analysis of
a tennis ball impact on a rigid surface. Journal of Sports Engineering, 8(3), 145–158.
34. Banwell, G., Mohr, S., Rothberg, S., & Roberts, J. (2012). Using experimental modal analy-
sis to validate a finite element model of a tennis racket. Procedia Engineering, 34, 688–693.
35. Banwell, G. H., Roberts, J. R., Halkon, B. J., Rothberg, S. J., & Mohr, S. (2013).
Understanding the dynamic behaviour of a tennis racket under play conditions. Journal of
Experimental Mechanics, 54(4), 527–537.
14 1 Introduction

36. Gu, Y., & Li, J. (2006). Dynamic simulation of tennis racket and string Gu. ISBS Symposium,
24(1), 3–6.
37. Mohanty. P. and Rixen. D. (2002). Measuring sweet spots of tennis rackets. Conference and
Exposition on Structural Dynamics, 10(0), 1539–1545.
38. Allen, T. B., Haake, S. J., & Goodwill, S. R. (2011). Effect of tennis racket parameters on a
simulated groundstroke. Journal of Sport Engineering, 29(3), 311–325.
39. Allen. T., Goodwill. S., & Haake. S. (2008). Experimental validation of a finite-element
model of a tennis racket string-bed (P21). Journal of Sport Engineering, 7(1), 116,123.
Chapter 2
Coefficient of Restitution in Badminton
Racket

Abstract This chapter explains in greater detail on the development of generating

the finite element model for badminton racket using ABAQUS (Explicit). Among
the details involved material selections, measurement and important boundary
conditions of the finite element models were presented. Several relevant theories
behind the analysis of the badminton racket’s performance, such as the equation
of coefficient of restitution, COR in badminton racket were explained. Other than
that, the important information about the experimental procedures and appara-
tus setup were explained in detail. The experimental analysis is crucial since the
results will be used to validate the finite element model.

Keywords Coefficient of Restitution · Sweet Spot · Finite Element Analysis

2.1 Coefficient of Restitution (COR)

The theory of coefficient of restitution (COR) was commonly used to analyse

the performance of racket based sports such as badminton, tennis, squash and
table tennis. In theory, the coefficient of restitution (COR) was a measurement
of the energy loss between collisions of two bodies, whereas COR was ranged at
0 ≤ COR ≤ 1 [1–3]. In ideal cases, COR = 0 was referred to as perfectly inelas-
tic collision while COR = 1 was for perfectly elastic collision. In the collision
between ball and racket, COR was defined as the ratio of ball rebound velocity,
v2 to the ball incident velocity, v1. The COR can also be determined by using the
equation

v2 hr
COR = = (2.1)
v1 hd

© The Author(s) 2016 15

F.A. Nasruddin et al., Finite Element Analysis on Badminton Racket Design
Parameters, SpringerBriefs in Computational Mechanics,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-21735-2_2
16 2 Coefficient of Restitution in Badminton Racket

Fig. 2.1  Illustration of
collision between a ball and a
surface complying with COR
theory, a incident velocity, v1,
b rebound velocity, v2

where,
v1 is the incident velocity,
v2 is the rebound velocity,
hr is the ball rebound height, and
hd is the ball drop height.
The common procedure in obtaining COR was by dropping a ball onto the racket
string-bed with the racket handle or racket head clamped [1, 3, 4]. Normally,
rackets that produce higher COR value is categorised as a good racket. Thus, the
value of COR is used to measure the potential performance for specific racket.
Figure 2.1 shows the illustration collision between a ball and a surface complying
with the COR theory.

2.2 Finite Element Model

In this study, finite element simulation was developed as a tool to analyse the
racket design parameter towards racket performance. Basically, the finite element
model for this simulation consists of three major components; the racket frame
model, the string-bed model and the rubber ball model. Each 3D model was cre-
ated in SolidWorks® 2012 and then imported to ABAQUS Explicit for the employ-
ment of finite element analysis. Then, results from this simulation were compared
with experimental results for validation processes. The complete methodology for
the development of finite element analysis on the badminton racket is summarized
in Fig. 2.2.

2.2.1 Racket Frame Model

The main finite element model of the badminton racket frame was developed
based on an isometric head shaped racket design. The overall dimensions of the
isometric head frame are 197 mm in width, w and 249 mm in length, l. This racket
frame model has the total overall length, lo of 516 mm. This model also consists of
2.2 Finite Element Model 17

Fig. 2.2  Research
Start
framework of finite element
simulation of badminton
racket
Construction of Finite Element
Model

Development of Finite
Element Simulation

No Validation Using
Experimental

Yes
Parametric Studies

Output

the shaft cross-sectional diameter, do of 7 mm and shaft cross-sectional thickness,

t of 1 mm. Figure 2.3 shows the schematic diagram of the badminton racket frame
model.
The finite element model of the badminton racket was assigned with linear
elastic material to enable the deformation of the racket frame during the simula-
tion [5]. The material used for the racket frame model was carbon fiber material
which had Young’s modulus, E of 25,000 MPa, density, ρ of 1750 kg/m3, and
Poisson’s ratio, ν of 0.3.

2.2.2 String-Bed Model

The string-bed model was inter-woven to replicate the actual string-bed design.
Figure 2.4 shows the schematic diagram of the isometric string-bed model. The
isometric string-bed model had the overall dimensions of 239 mm length, l and
187 mm width, w with 22 main (longitudinal axis) and 22 cross strings.
The diameter of cross-section area of the string, φ was set at 0.66 mm. The
material used for the string was made of nylon having a Young’s modulus, E of
7200 MPa, density, ρ of 1100 kg/m3 and the Poisson’s ratio, ν of 0.3 [6]. The
18 2 Coefficient of Restitution in Badminton Racket

Fig. 2.3  Schematic diagram

of badminton racket frame
model

Fig. 2.4  Schematic diagram

of inter-woven string-bed
model of a badminton racket

interaction between string in the string—bed area was defined as surface-to-sur-

face contact (explicit) with a friction coefficient of 0.4, while the interaction of
rubber ball and the string-bed was defined as surface-to-surface contact with a
friction coefficient of 0.1 [6]. Since there were limited studies done on the bad-
minton racket, the friction coefficient of 0.4 and 0.1 for the string and string-
bed and also rubber ball and the string-bed respectively, were selected as the
2.2 Finite Element Model 19

reference obtained from previous studies on tennis rackets. These coefficients

were used merely to set a benchmark in designing the finite element analysis of
the badminton racket. The latter may be expanded and further investigated once
the fundamentals of the finite element model for the badminton racket have been
clearly established. The interaction of surface-to-surface contact was set based on
ABAQUS Explicit’s requirement to prevent any unintended penetration between
string-to-string and string-to-ball. To connect the string-bed with the racket head,
the end of each string was applied using tie constraint with outer surface of the
racket head frame.
The tension of the string is another important boundary condition that should
be considered in order to simulate the actual string-bed condition. In this finite
element study, the most critical boundary condition is to ensure the string-bed
behaves such in a constant initial tension condition. Theoretically, if the string was
applied with tensional force at the end of the string, internal normal stress would
be present. Therefore, in order to replicate the behaviour of string tension, another
alternative method was applied using normal stresses on the string-bed. This can
be done by applying stress in INITIAL CONDITION using Edit Keywords func-
tion in ABAQUS Explicit [5]. By applying this technique, the string-bed would be
constantly in tension condition.

2.2.3 Rubber Ball Model

In this study, the rubber ball has been chosen to replace the shuttlecock for the
simulation impact on the badminton racket’s string-bed. The shuttlecock has sev-
eral limitations that would greatly affect the COR result in the finite element simu-
lation. Basically, the cork section is heavier compared to the feather section, thus,
the difference of the weight distribution of the shuttlecock makes it less stable
and more inclined to flip during the collision. As a result, inconsistent values of
rebound velocity will be obtained and affect the COR performance. Due to the
geometry issue of the shuttlecock, the rubber ball has been utilised in order to
obtain precise and consistent results of COR.
The dimension of the simulated rubber ball model is based on the real-life rub-
ber ball dimension used in the experiment whereby the outer diameter, do of this
model was set at 43.5 mm and thickness, t of 4.5 mm (Fig. 2.5). The rubber ball

Fig. 2.5  Schematic diagram

of rubber ball model
20 2 Coefficient of Restitution in Badminton Racket

model consists of Mooney-Rivlin hyper elastic material model with constants

C10 = 0.69 MPa, C01 = 0.173 MPa and D1 = 0.0145 MPa−1 [5]. The density, ρ of
the rubber ball was set to be 1068 kg/m3.

2.3 Finite Element Simulation

This finite element simulation mimics the collision between a rubber ball and a
badminton racket. The simulation was performed using an isometric head shaped
racket model with the total overall racket length, lo of 516 mm, shaft cross-sec-
tional diameter, do of 7 mm and shaft cross-sectional thickness, t of 1 mm. The
head of this racket model was anchored as a boundary condition for this simula-
tion as shown in Fig. 2.6 to prevent any uncalled head movement during collision.
The simulation was carried out with varying string tension from 14, 20, 24, 28
and 34 lbs. The rubber ball was dropped with initial height, hd of 10 mm under
the gravitational acceleration, g of 9.81 m/s2 onto the COM of the racket string-
bed. Then, the maximum rebound height, hr of the ball was analysed to obtain the
values of COR. Later, the results from this simulation were compared with experi-
mental results for validation analysis.

2.4 Experimental Procedures

The main purpose of conducting this experiment was to validate the finite ele-
ment simulation of the badminton racket. The experiment was performed by col-
liding the rubber ball with the badminton racket. The racket head was clamped in
order to preserve the integrity of the shaft’s structural stiffness and thus, prevent-
ing any involuntary effect as a result from the collision on the COR performance.
Therefore, the performance of COR was only affected by string parameters. The
racket head frame was assumed to behave as a rigid body condition where there
was no deformation of the said frame during the impact.
Then, the rubber ball was freely dropped from a 10 mm height, hd onto the cen-
tre of mass (COM) of the string-bed [7]. The COM of the string-bed is the softest

Fig. 2.6  Badminton racket

frame model in anchored
boundary condition
2.4 Experimental Procedures 21

Fig. 2.7  Phantom V12.1

high speed camera

Fig. 2.8  Illustration of the

experimental apparatus setup

area on the racket string-bed whereby it produces the maximum value of COR
[4]. The location of COM of the string-bed was obtained based on the measure-
ment from a 3D model of an isometric racket in SolidWorks®. This experimental
procedure was repeated 10 times to get the average values of ball rebound height,
hr. The rebound heights, hr of each trial were recorded using a Phantom V12.1
high speed camera (HSC) with frame rates of 1000 fps (Fig. 2.7) [6, 8]. Figure 2.8
shows illustration of the apparatus setup for this experiment while Fig. 2.9 shows
the picture of the experiment setup. Later, the data obtained were analysed using
Phantom Camera Control Version: 9.3.692.0-C PhCon:692 software in order to
determine the maximum values of ball rebound height, hr.

2.5 Validation

The validation of finite element model is very essential and necessary in order
to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the finite element simulation results.
Theoretically, the finite element model is reliable if the simulation results have
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Shall that great gulf be passed, and sin be sown again?—
We know but this, the book of truth proclaimeth gladly, Never!

There remaineth the will of our God: when He repenteth of His

creature,
Made by self-suggested mercy, ransomed by self-sacrificing justice,—
When Truth, that swore unto his neighbour, disappointeth him, and
cleaveth to a lie,—
When the counsels of Wisdom are confounded, and Love warreth
with itself,—
When the Unchangeable is changed, and the arm of Omnipotence is
broken,—
Then,—thy quenchless soul shall have reached the goal of its
existence.

But it seemeth to thy notions of the merciful and just, a false and
fearful thing,
To lay such a burden upon time, that eternity be built on its
foundation:
As if so casual good or ill should colour all the future,
And the vanity of accident, or sternness of necessity, save or wreck a
soul.
Were it casual, vain, or stern, this might pass for truth:
But all things are marshalled by Design, and carefully tended by
Benevolence.
O man, thy Judge is righteous,—noting, remembering, and weighing;
—
Want, ignorance, diversities of state, are cast into the balance of
advantage:
The poisonous example of a parent asketh for allowance in the child;
Care, diseases, toils, and frailties,—all things are considered.
And again, a mysterious Omniscience knoweth the spirits that are
His,
While the delicate tissues of Event are woven by the fingers of
Ubiquity.
Should Providence be taken by surprise from the possible impinging
of an accident,
One fortuitous grain might dislocate the banded universe:
The merest seeming trifle is ordered as the morning light;
And He, that rideth on the hurricane, is pilot of the bubble on the
breaker.

Once more, consider Matter, how small a thing is father to the

greatest;
Thou that lightly hast regarded the results of so-called accident.
A blade of grass took fire in the sun,—and the prairies are burnt to
the horizon:
A grain of sand may blind the eye, and madden the brain to murder:
A careful fly deposited its egg in the swelling bud of an acorn,—
The sapling grew,—cankrous and gnarled,—it is yonder hollow oak:
A child touched a spring, and the spring closed a valve, and the
labouring engine burst,—
A thousand lives were in that ship,—wrecked by an infant's finger!
Shall nature preach in vain? thy casualty, guided in its orbit,
Though less than a mote upon the sunbeam, saileth in a fleet of
worlds;
That trivial cause, watered and observed of the Husbandman day by
day,—
In calm undeviating strength doth work its large effect.
Thus, in the pettiness of life note thou seeds of grandeur,
And watch the hour-glass of Time with the eyes of an heir of
Immortality.

There still be clouds of witnesses,—if thou art not weary of my

speech,—
Flocks of thoughts adding lustre to the light, and pointing on to Life.
For reflect how Truth and Goodness, well and wisely put,
Commend themselves to every mind with wondrous intuition:
What is this? the recognition of a standard, unwritten, natural,
uniform;
Telling of one common source, the root of Good and True.
And if thus present soul can trace descent from Deity,
Being, as it standeth, individual, a separate reasonable thing,
What should hinder that its hope may not trace gladly forward,
And, in astounding parallel, like Enoch walk with God?
Yea, the genealogy of soul, that vivifying breath of a Creator,
Breath, no transient air, but essence, energy, and reason,
Is looming on the past, and shadowing the future, sublimely as
Melchisedek of old,
Having not beginning, nor end of days, but present in the majesty of
Peace!

O false scholar, credulous in vanities, and only sceptical of truth,

Wherefore toil to cheat thy soul of its birthright, Immortality?
Is it for thy guilt? He pardoneth: Is it for thy frailty? He will help:
Though thou fearest, He is love; and Mercy shall be deeper than
Despair:
Even for thy full-blown pride, is it much to be receiver of a God?
And lo, thy rights, He made thee; thy claims, He hath redeemed.
Hath the fair aspect of affection no beauty that thou shouldst desire
it?
And are those sorrows nothing, to thee that passest by?
For it is Fact, immutable, that God hath dwelt in Man:
With gentle generous love ennobling while He bought us.
What, though thou art false, ignorant, weak and daring,—
Can the sun be quenched in heaven—or only Belisarius be blind?

But, even stooping to thy folly, grant all these hopes are vain;
Stultify reason, wrestle against conscience, and wither up the heart:
Where is thy vast advantage?—I have all that thou hast,
The buoyancy of life as strong, and term of days no shorter;
My cup is full with gladness, my griefs are not more galling:
And thus, we walk together, even to the gates of death:
There, (if not also on my journey, blessing every step,
Gladdening with light, and quickening with love, and killing all my
cares,)
There,—while thou art quailing, or sullenly expecting to be nothing,—
There,—is found my gain; I triumph, where thou tremblest.
Grant all my solace is a lie, yet it is a fountain of delight,
A spice in every pleasure, and a balm for every pain:
O precious wise delusion, scattering both misery and sin,—
O vile and silly truth, depraving while it curseth!

Darkling child of knowledge, commune with Socrates and Cicero,

They had no prejudice of birth, no dull parental warpings;
See, those lustrous minds anticipate the dawning day,—
Whilst thou, poor mole, art burrowing back to darkness from the
light.
I will not urge a revelation, mercies, miracles, and martyrs,
But, after twice a thousand years, go, learn thou of the pagan:
It were happier and wiser even among fools, to cling to the shadow
of a hope,
Than, in the company of sages, to win the substance of despair;
But here, the sages hope; despair is with the fools,
The base bad hearts, the stolid heads, the sensual and the selfish.

And wilt thou, sorry scorner, mock the phrase, despair?

Despair for those who die and live,—for me, I live and die:
What have I to do with dread?—my taper must go out;—
I nurse no silly hopes, and therefore feel no fears:
I am hastening to an end.—O false and feeble answer:
For hope is in thee still, and fear, a racking deep anxiety.
Erring brother, listen: and take thine answer from the ancients:
Consider every end, that it is but the end of a beginning.
All things work in circles; weariness induceth unto rest,
Rest invigorateth labour, and labour causeth weariness:
War produceth peace, and peace is wanton unto war:
Light dieth into darkness, and night dawneth into day:
The rotting jungle reeds scatter fertility around;
The buffalo's dead carcase hath quickened life in millions:
The end of toil is gain, the end of gain is pleasure,
Pleasure tendeth unto waste, and waste commandeth toil.

So, is death an end,—but it breedeth an infinite beginning;

Limits are for time, and death killed time: Eternity's beginning is for
ever.
Ambition, hath it any goal indeed? is not all fruition, disappointment?
A step upon the ladder, and another, and another,—we start from
every end?
Look to the eras of mortality, babe, student, man,
The husband, the father, the death-bed of a saint,—and is it then an
end?
That common climax, Death, shall it lead to nothing?
How strong a root of causes flowering a consequence of vapour:
That solid chain of facts, is it to be snapped for ever?
How stout a show of figures, weakly summing to nonentity.

Or haply, Death, in the doublings of thy thought, shall seem

continuous ending;
A dull eternal slumber, not an end abrupt.
O most futile chrysalis, wherefore dost thou sleep?
Dreamless, unconscious, never to awake,—what object in such
slumber?
If thou art still to live, it may as well be wakefully as sleeping:
How grovelling must that spirit be, to need eternal sleep!
Or was indeed the toil of life so heavy and so long,
That nevermore can rest refresh thine overburdened soul?—
Sleep is a recreance to body, but when was mind asleep?
Even in a swoon it dreameth, though all be forgotten afterward:
The muscles seek relaxing, and the irritable nerves ask peace;
But life is a constant force, spirit an unquietable impetus:
The eye may wear out as a telescope, and the brain work slow as a
machine,
But soul unwearied, and for ever, is capable of effort unimpaired.

I live, move, am conscious: what shall bar my being?

Where is the rude hand, to rend this tissue of existence?
Not thine, shadowy Death, what art thou but a phantom?
Not thine, foul Corruption, what art thou but a fear?
For death is merely absent life, as darkness absent light;
Not even a suspension, for the life hath sailed away, steering gladly
somewhere.
And corruption, closely noted, is but a dissolving of the parts,
The parts remain, and nothing lost, to build a better whole.
Moreover, mind is unity, however versatile and rapid;
Thou canst not entertain two coincident ideas, although they quickly
follow:
And Unity hath no parts, so that there is nothing to dissolve:
An element is still unchanged in every searching solvent.
Who then shall bid me be annulled,—He that gave me being?
Amen, if God so will; I know that will is love:
But love hath promised life, and therefore I shall live;
So long as He is God, I shall be His Creature!

And here, shrewd reasoner, so eager to prove that thou must perish,
I note a sneer upon thy lip, and ridicule is haply on thy tongue:
How, said he,—creature of a God, and are not all His creatures,—
The lion, and the gnat,—yea, the mushroom, and the crystal,—have
all these a soul?
Thy fancies tend to prove too much, and overshoot the mark:
If I die not with brutes, then brutes must live with me?—
I dare not tell thee that they will, for the word is not in my
commission;
But of the twain it is the likelier; continuance is the chance:
Men, dying in their sins, are likened unto beasts that perish;
They are dark, animal, insensate, but have they not a lurking soul?
The spirit of a man goeth upward, reasonable, apprehending God;
The spirit of a beast goeth downward, sensual, doting on the
creature:
Who told thee they die at dissolution?—boldly think it out,—
The multitude of flies, and the multitude of herbs, the world with all
its beings:
Is Infinity too narrow, Omnipotence too weak, and Love so anxious
to destroy,
Doth Wisdom change its plan, and a Maker cancel His created?
God's will may compass all things, to fashion and to nullify at
pleasure:
Yet are there many thoughts of hope, that all which are shall live.
True, there is no conscience in the brute, beyond some educated
habit,
They lay them down without a fear, and wake without a hope:
Hunger and pain is of the animal: but when did they reckon or
compare?
They live, idealess, in instinct; and while they breathe they gain:
The master is an idol to his dog, who cannot rise beyond him;
And void of capability for God, there would seem small cause for an
infinity.
Therefore, caviller, my poor thoughts dare not grant they live:
But is it not a great thing to assume their annihilation—and thine
own?
Would it be much if a speck on space, this globe with all its millions,
Verily, after its pollution, were suffered to exist in purity?
Or much, if guiltless creatures, that were cruelly entreated upon
earth,
Found some commensurate reward in lower joys hereafter?
Or much, if a Creator, prodigal of life, and filled with the profundity of
love,
Rejoice in all creatures of His skill, and lead them to perfection in
their kind?
O man, there are many marvels; yet life is more a mystery than
death:
For death may be some stagnant life,—but life is present God!

Many are the lurking-holes of evil; who shall search them out?
Who so skilled to cut away the cancer with its fibres?
For wily minds with sinuous ease escape from lie to lie;
And cowards driven from the trench steal back to hide again.
Vain were the battle, if a warrior, having slain his foes,
Shall turn and find them vital still, unharmed, yea, unashamed:
For Error, dark magician, daily cast out killed,
Quickeneth animate anew beneath the midnight moon:
Once and again, once and again, hath reason answered wisely;
But not the less with brazen front doth folly urge her questions.
It were but unprofitable toil, a stand-up fight with unbelief:
When was there candour in a caviller, and who can satisfy the
faithless?
Too long, O truant from the fold, have I tracked thy devious paths;
Too long, treacherous deserter, fought thee as a noble foeman:
Haply, my small art, and an arm too weakly for its weapon,
Hath failed to pierce thine iron coat, and reach thy stricken soul:
Haply, the fervour of my speech, and too patient sifting of thy
fancies,
Shall tend to make thee prize them more, as worthier and wiser:
Go to: be mine the gain: we measure swords no more;
Go,—and a word go with thee,—Man, thou ART Immortal!

Child of light, and student in the truth, too long have I forgotten
thee:
Lo, after parley with an alien, let me hold sweet converse with a
brother.
Glorious hopes and ineffable imaginings, crowd our holy theme,
Fear hath been slaughtered on the portal, and Doubt driven back to
darkness:
For Christ hath died, and we in Him; by faith His All is ours;
Cross and crown, and love, and life; and we shall reign in Him!
Yea, there is a fitness and a beauty in ascribing immortality to mind,
That its energies and lofty aspirations may have scope for indefinite
expansion.
To learn all things is privilege of reason, and that with a growing
capability,
But in this age of toil and time we scarce attain to alphabets:
How hardly in the midst of our hurry, and jostled by the cares of life,
Shall a man turn and stop to consider mighty secrets;
With barely hours, and barely powers, to fill up daily duties,
How small the glimpse of knowledge his wondering eye can catch!
And knowledge is a noting of the order wherein God's attributes
evolve,
Therefore worthy of the creature, worthy of an angel's seeking;
Yea, and human knowledge, meagre though the harvest,
Hath its roots, both deep and strong; but the plants are exotic to the
climate;
All we seem to know demand a longer learning,
History and science, and prophecy and art, are workings all of God:
And there are galaxies of globes, millions of unimagined beings,
Other senses, wondrous sounds, and thoughts of thrilling fire,
Powers of strange might, quickening unknown elements,
And attributes and energies of God which man may never guess.

Not in vain, O brother, hath soul the spurs of enterprize,

Nor aimlessly panteth for adventure, waiting at the cave of mystery:
Not in vain the cup of curiosity, sweet and richly spiced,
Is ruby to the sight, and ambrosia to the taste, and redolent with all
fragrance:
Thou shalt drink, and deeply, filling the mind with marvels;
Thou shalt watch no more, lingering, disappointed of thy hope;
Thou shalt roam where road is none, a traveller untrammelled,
Speeding at a wish, emancipate, to where the stars are suns!

Count, count your hopes, heirs of immortality and love;

And hear my kindred faith, and turn again to bless me.
For lo, my trust is strong to dwell in many worlds,
And cull of many brethren there, sweet knowledge ever new:
I yearn for realms where fancy shall be filled, and the ecstasies of
freedom shall be felt,
And the soul reign gloriously, risen to its royal destinies:
I look to recognize again, through the beautiful mask of their
perfection,
The dear familiar faces I have somewhile loved on earth:
I long to talk with grateful tongue of storms and perils past,
And praise the mighty Pilot that hath steered us through the rapids:
He shall be the focus of it all, the very heart of gladness,—
My soul is athirst for God, the God who dwelt in Man!
Prophet, priest, and king, the sacrifice, the substitute, the Saviour,
Rapture of the blessed in the hunted One of earth, the Pardoner in
the victim;
How many centuries of joy concentrate in that theme,
How often a Methusalem might count his thousand years, and leave
it unexhausted!
And lo, the heavenly Jerusalem, with all its gates one pearl,
That pearl of countless price, the door by which we entered,—
Come, tread the golden streets, and join that glorious throng,
The happy ones of heaven and earth, ten thousand times ten
thousand;
Hark, they sing that song,—and cast their crowns before Him;
Their souls alight with love,—Glory, and Praise, and Immortality!—
Veil thine eyes: no son of time may see that holy vision,
And even the seraph at thy side hath covered his face with wings.

Doth he not speak parables?—each one goeth on his way,

Ye that hear, and I that counsel, go on our ways forgetful.
For the terrible realities whereto we tend, are hidden from our eyes,
We know, but heed them not, and walk as if the temporal were all
things.
Vanities, buzzing on the ear, fill its drowsy chambers,
Slow to dread those coming fears, the thunder and the trumpet;
Motes, steaming on the sight, dim our purblind eyes,
Dark to see the ponderous orb of nearing Immortality:
Hemmed in by hostile foes, the trifler is busied on an epigram;
The dull ox, driven to slaughter, careth but for pasture by the way.
Alas, that the precious things of truth, and the everlasting hills,
The mighty hopes we spake of, and the consciousness we feel,—
Alas, that all the future, and its adamantine facts,
Clouded by the present with intoxicating fumes,—
Should seem even to us, the great expectant heirs,
To us, the responsible and free, fearful sons of reason,
Only as a lovely song, sweet sounds of solemn music,
A pleasant voice, and nothing more,—doth he not speak parables?

Look to thy soul, O man, for none can be surety for his brother:
Behold, for heaven—or for hell,—thou canst not escape from
Immortality!

OF IDEAS.
IND is like a volatile essence, flitting hither and thither,
A solitary sentinel of the fortress body, to show himself
everywhere by turns:
Mind is indivisible and instant, with neither parts nor
organs,
That it doeth, it doth quickly, but the whole mind doth it:
An active versatile agent, untiring in the principle of
energy,
Nor space, nor time, nor rest, nor toil, can affect the
tenant of the brain;
His dwelling may verily be shattered, and the furniture thereof be
disarranged,
But the particle of Deity in man slumbereth not, neither can be
wearied:
However swift to change, even as the field of a kaleidoscope,
It taketh in but one idea at once, moulded for the moment to its
likeness:
Mind is as the quicksilver, which, poured from vessel to vessel,
Instantly seizeth on a shape, and as instantly again discardeth it;
For it is an apprehensive power, closing on the properties of Matter,
Expanding to enwrap a world, collapsing to prison up an atom:
As, by night, thine irritable eyes may have seen strange changing
figures,
Now a wheel, now suddenly a point, a line, a curve, a zigzag,
A maze ever altering, as the dance of gnats upon a sunbeam,
Swift, intricate, neither to be prophesied, nor to be remembered in
succession,
So, the mind of a man, single, and perpetually moving,
Flickereth about from thought to thought, changed with each idea;
For the passing second metamorphosed to the image of that within
its ken,
And throwing its immediate perceptions into each cause of
contemplation.
It shall regard a tree; and unconsciously, in separate review,
Embrace its colour, shape, and use, whole and individual
conceptions;
It shall read or hear of crime, and cast itself into the commission;
It shall note a generous deed, and glow for a moment as the doer;
It shall imagine pride or pleasure, treading on the edges of
temptation;
Or heed of God and of His Christ, and grow transformed to glory.

Therefore, it is wise and well to guide the mind aright,

That its aptness may be sensitive to good, and shrink with antipathy
from evil:
For use will mould and mark it, or nonusage dull and blunt it;—
So to talk of spirit by analogy with substance;
And analogy is a truer guide, than many teachers tell of,
Similitudes are scattered round, to help us, not to hurt us;
Moses, in his every type, and the Greater than Moses, in His
parables,
Preach, in terms that all may learn, the philosophic lessons of
analogy:
And here, in a topic immaterial, the likeness of analogy is just;
By habits, knit the nerves of mind, and train the gladiator shrewdly:
For thought shall strengthen thinking, and imagery speed
imagination,
Until thy spiritual inmate shall have swelled to the giant of Otranto.

Nevertheless, heed well, that this Athlete, growing in thy brain,

Be a wholesome Genius, not a cursed Afrite:
And see thou discipline his strength, and point his aim discreetly;
Feed him on humility and holy things, weaned from covetous desires;
Hour by hour and day by day, ply him with ideas of excellence,
Dragging forth the evil but to loathe, as a Spartan's drunken Helot:
And win, by gradual allurements, the still expanding soul,
To rise from a contemplated universe, even to the Hand that made it.

A common mind perceiveth not beyond his eyes and ears:

The palings of the park of sense enthral this captured roebuck:
And still, though fettered in the flesh, he doth not feel his chains,
Externals are the world to him, and circumstance his atmosphere.
Therefore tangible pleasures are enough for the animal man;
He is swift to speak and slow to think, dreading his own dim
conscience;
And solitude is terrible, and exile worse than death,
He cannot dwell apart, nor breathe at a distance from the crowd.
But minds of nobler stamp, and chiefest the mint-marked of heaven,
Walk independent, by themselves, freely manumitted of externals:
They carry viands with them, and need no refreshment by the way,
Nor drink of other wells than their own inner fountain.
Strange shall it seem how little such a man will lean upon the
accidents of life,
He is winged and needeth not a staff; if it break, he shall not fall:
And lightly perchance doth he remember the stale trivialities around
him,
He liveth in the realm of thought, beyond the world of things;
These are but transient Matter, and himself enduring Spirit:
And worldliness will laugh to scorn that sublimated wisdom.
His eyes may open on a prison-cell, but the bare walls glow with
imagery;
His ears may be filled with execration, but are listening to the music
of sweet thoughts;
He may dwell in a hovel with a hero's heart, and canopy his penury
with peace,
For mind is a kingdom to the man, who gathereth his pleasure from
Ideas.

OF NAMES.
ADAM gave the name, when the Lord had made His creature,
For God led them in review, to see what man would call them.
As they struck his senses, he proclaimed their sounds,
A name for the distinguishing of each, a numeral by which it should
be known:
He specified the partridge by her cry, and the forest prowler by his
roaring,
The tree by its use, and the flower by its beauty, and everything
according to its truth.

There is an arbitrary name; whereunto the idea attacheth;

And there is a reasonable name, linking its fitness to idea:
Yet shall these twain run in parallel courses,
Neither shall thou readily discern the habit from the nature.
For mind is apt and quick to wed ideas and names together,
Nor stoppeth its perception to be curious of priorities;
And there is but little in the sound, as some have vainly fancied,
The same tone in different tongues shall be suitable to opposite
ideas:
Yea, take an ensample in thine own; consider similar words:
How various and contrary the thoughts those kindred names
produce:
A house shall seem a fitting word to call a roomy dwelling,
Yet there is a like propriety in the small smooth sound, a mouse:
Mountain, as if of a necessity, is a word both mighty and majestic,—
What heed ye then of Fountain?—flowing silver in the sun.

Many a fair flower is burdened with preposterous appellatives,

Which the wiser simplicity of rustics entitled by its beauties;
And often the conceit of science, loving to be thought cosmopolite,
Shall mingle names of every clime, alike obscure to each.
There is wisdom in calling a thing fitly; name should note particulars
Through a character obvious to all men, and worthy of their instant
acceptation.
The herbalist had a simple cause for every word upon his catalogue,
But now the mouth of Botany is filled with empty sound;
And many a peasant hath an answer on his tongue, concerning some
vexed flower,
Shrewder than the centipede phrase, wherewithal philosophers invest
it.

For that, the foolishness of pride, and flatteries of cringing homage,

Strew with chaff the threshing-floors of science; names perplex them
all:
The entomologist, who hath pried upon an insect, straightway shall
endow it with his name;
It had many qualities and marks of note,—but in chief, a vain
observer:
The geographer shall journey to the pole, through biting frost and
desolation,
And, for some simple patron's sake, shall name that land, the happy:
The fossilist hath found a bone, the rib of some huge lizard,
And forthwith standeth to it sponsor, to tack himself on reptile
immortalities:
The sportsman, hunting at the Cape, found some strange-horned
antelope,
The spots are new, the fame is cheap, and so his name is added.
Thus, obscurities encumber knowledge, even by the vanity of men
Who play into each other's hand the game of giving names.

Various are the names of men, and drawn from different wells;
Aspects of body, or characters of mind, the creature's first idea:
And some have sprung of trades, and some of dignities or office;
Other some added to a father's, and yet more growing from a place:
Animal creation, with sciences, and things,—their composites, and
near associations,
Contributed their symbollings of old, wherewith to title men:
And heraldry set upon its cresture the figured attributes as ensigns
By which, as by a name concrete, its bearer should be known.

Egypt opened on the theme, dressing up her gods in qualities;

Horns of power, feathers of the swift, mitres of catholic dominion,
The sovereign asp, the circle everlasting, the crook and thong of
justice,
By many mystic shapes and sounds displayed the idol's name.
Thereafter, high-plumed warriors, the chieftains of Etruria and Troy,
And Xerxes, urging on his millions to the tomb of pride, Thermopylæ,
And Hiero with his bounding ships, all figured at the prow,
And Rome's Prætorian standards, piled with strange devices,
And stout crusaders pressing to the battle, clad in sable mail;
These all in their speaking symbols, earned, or wore, a name.
Eve; the mother of all living, and Abraham, father of a multitude,
Jacob, the supplanter, and David, the beloved, and all the worthies of
old time,
Noah, who came for consolation, and Benoni, son of sorrow,
Kings and prophets, children of the East, owned each his title of
significance.

There be names of high descent, and thereby storied honours;

Names of fair renown, and therein characters of merit:
But to lend the lowborn noble names, is to shed upon them ridicule
and evil;
Yea, many weeds run rank in pride, if men have dubbed them
cedars.
And to herald common mediocrity with the noisy notes of fame,
Tendeth to its deeper scorn; as if it were to call the mole a
mammoth.
Yet shall ye find the trader's babe dignified with sounding titles,
And little hath the father guessed the harm he did his child:
For either may they breed him discontent, a peevish repining at his
station,
Or point the finger of despite at the mule in the trappings of an
elephant:
And it is a kind of theft to filch appellations from the famous,
A soiling of the shrines of praise with folly's vulgar herd.
Prudence hath often gone ashamed for the name they added to his
father's,
If minds of mark and great achievements bore it well before;
For he walketh as the jay in the fable, though not by his own folly,
Another's fault hath compassed his misfortune, making him a martyr
to his name.

Who would call the tench a whale, or style a torch, Orion?

Yet many a silly parent hath dealt likewise with his nurseling.
Give thy child a fit distinguishment, making him sole tenant of a
name,
For it were a sore hindrance to hold it in common with a hundred:
In the Babel of confused identities fame is little feasible,
The felon shall detract from the philanthropist, and the sage share
honours with the simple:
Still, in thy title of distinguishment, fall not into arrogant assumption,
Steering from caprice and affectations; and for all thou doest, have a
reason.
He that is ambitious for his son, should give him untried names,
For those that have served other men, haply may injure by their
evils;
Or otherwise may hinder by their glories; therefore, set him by
himself,
To win for his individual name some clear specific praise.
There were nine Homers, all goodly sons of song, but where is any
record of the eight?
One grew to fame, an Aaron's rod, and swallowed up his brethren:
Who knoweth? more distinctly titled, those dead eight had lived;
But the censers were ranged in a circle to mingle their sweets
without a difference.

Art thou named of a common crowd, and sensible of high aspirings?

It is hard for thee to rise,—yet strive: thou mayest be among them a
Musæus.
Art thou named of a family, the same in successive generations?
It is open to thee still to earn for epithets, such an one, the good or
great.
Art thou named foolishly? Show that thou art wiser than thy fathers;
Live to shame their vanity or sin by dutiful devotion to thy sphere.
Art thou named discreetly? It is well, the course is free;
No competitor shall claim thy colours, neither fix his faults upon
thee:
Hasten to the goal of fame between the posts of duty,
And win a blessing from the world, that men may love thy name:
Yea, that the unction of its praise, in fragrance well deserving,
May float adown the stream of time, like ambergris at sea;
So thy sons may tell their sons, and those may teach their children,
He died in goodness, as he lived;—and left us his good name.
And more than these: there is a roll whereon thy name is written;
See that, in the Book of Doom, that name is fixed in light:
Then, safe within a better home, where time and its titles are not
found,
God will give thee His new Name, and write it on thy heart:
A Name better than of sons, a Name dearer than of daughters,
A Name of union, peace, and praise, as numbered in thy God.

OF THINGS.
AKEN separately from all substance, and flying with the
feathered flock of thoughts,
The idea of a thing hath the nature of its Soul, a separate
seeming essence:
Intimately linked to the idea, suggesting many qualities,
The name of a thing hath the nature of its Mind, an
intellectual recorder:
And the matter of a thing, concrete, is a Body to the
perfect creature,
Compacted three in one, as all things else within the
universe.
Nothing canst thou add to them, and nothing take away, for all have
these proportions,
The thought, the word, the form, combining in the Thing:
All separate, yet harmonizing well, and mingled each with other,
One whole in several parts, yet each part spreading to a whole:
The idea is a whole; and the meaning phrase that spake idea, a
whole;
And the matter, as ye see it, is a whole; the mystery of true triunity:
Yea, there is even a deeper mystery,—which none, I wot, can
fathom,
Matter, different from properties whereby the solid substance is
described;
For, size and weight, cohesion and the like, live distinct from matter,
Yet who can imagine matter, unendowed with size and weight?
As in the spiritual, so in the material, man must rest with patience,
And wait for other eyes wherewith to read the books of God.
Men have talked learnedly of atoms, as if matter could be ever
indivisible;
They talk, but ill are skilled to teach, and darken truth by fancies:
An atom by our grosser sense was never yet conceived,
And nothing can be thought so small, as not to be divided:
For an atom runneth to infinity, and never shall be caught in space,
And a molecule is no more indivisible than Saturn's belted orb.
Things intangible, multiplied by multitudes, never will amass to
substance,
Neither can a thing which may be touched, be made of impalpable
proportions;
The sum of indivisibles must needs be indivisible, as adding many
nothings,
And the building up of atoms into matter is but a silly sophism;
Lucretius, and keen Anaximander, and many that have followed in
their thoughts,
(For error hath a long black shadow, dimming light for ages,)
In the foolishness of men without a God fancied to fashion Matter
Of intangibles, and therefore uncohering, indivisibles, and therefore
Spirit.

Things breed thoughts; therefore at Thebes and Heliopolis,

In hieroglyphic sculptures are the priestly secrets written:
Things breed thoughts; therefore was the Athens of idolatry
Set with carved images, frequent as the trees of Academus:
Things breed thoughts; therefore the Brahmin and the Burman
With mythologic shapes adorn their coarse pantheon:
Things breed thoughts; therefore the statue and the picture,
Relics, rosaries, and miracles in act, quicken the Papist in his
worship:
Things breed thoughts; therefore the lovers at their parting,
Interchanged with tearful smiles the dear reminding tokens:
Things breed thoughts; therefore when the clansman met his foe,
The bloodstained claymore in his hand revived the memories of
vengeance.
Things teach with double force; through the animal eye, and through
the mind,
And the eye catcheth in an instant, what the ear shall not learn
within an hour.
Thence is the potency of travel, the precious might of its advantages
To compensate its dissipative harm, its toil and cost and danger.
Ulysses, wandering to many shores, lived in many cities,
And thereby learnt the minds of men, and stored his own more
richly:
Herodotus, the accurate and kindly, spake of that he saw,
And reaped his knowledge on the spot, in fertile fields of Egypt:
Lycurgus culled from every clime the golden fruits of justice;
And Plato roamed through foreign lands, to feed on truth in all.
For travel, conversant with Things, bringeth them in contact with the
mind;
We breathe the wholesome atmosphere about ungarbled truth:
Pictures of fact are painted on the eye, to decorate the house of
intellect,
Rather than visions of fancy, filling all the chambers with a vapour.
For, in Ideas, the great mind will exaggerate, and the lesser
extenuate truth;
But in Things the one is chastened, and the other quickened, to
equality:
And in Names,—though a property be told, rather than some
arbitrary accident,
Still shall the thought be vague or false, if none have seen the Thing:
For in Things the property with accident standeth in a mass concrete,
These cannot cheat the sense, nor elude the vigilance of spirit.
Travel is a ceaseless fount of surface education,
But its wisdom will be simply superficial, if thou add not thoughts to
things:
Yet, aided by the varnish of society, things may serve for thoughts,
Till many dullards that have seen the world shall pass for scholars:
Because one single glance will conquer all descriptions,
Though graphic, these left some unsaid, though true, these tended
to some error;
And the most witless eye that saw, had a juster notion of its object,
Than the shrewdest mind that heard and shaped its gathered
thoughts of Things.

OF FAITH.
CONFIDENCE was bearer of the palm; for it looked like conviction of
desert:
And where the strong is well assured, the weaker soon allow it.
Majesty and Beauty are commingled, in moving with immutable
decision,
And well may charm the coward hearts that turn and hide for fear.
Faith, firmness, confidence, consistency,—these are well allied;
Yea, let a man press on in aught, he shall not lack of honour:
For such an one seemeth as superior to the native instability of
creatures;
That he doeth, he doeth as a god, and men will marvel at his
courage.
Even in crimes, a partial praise cannot be denied to daring,
And many fearless chiefs have won the friendship of a foe.

Confidence is conqueror of men; victorious both over them and in

them;
The iron will of one stout heart shall make a thousand quail:
A feeble dwarf, dauntlessly resolved, will turn the tide of battle,
And rally to a nobler strife the giants that had fled;
The tenderest child, unconscious of a fear, will shame the man to
danger,
And when he dared it, danger died, and faith had vanquished fear.
Boldness is akin to power: yea, because ignorance is weakness,
Knowledge with unshrinking might will nerve the vigorous hand:
Boldness hath a startling strength; the mouse may fright a lion,
And oftentimes the horned herd is scared by some brave cur.
Courage hath analogy with faith, for it standeth both in animal and
moral;
The true is mindful of a God, the false is stout in self:
But true or false, the twain are faith; and faith worketh wonders:
Never was a marvel done upon the earth, but it had sprung of faith:
Nothing noble, generous, or great, but faith was the root of the
achievement;
Nothing comely, nothing famous, but its praise is faith.
Leonidas fought in human faith, as Joshua in divine:
Xenophon trusted to his skill, and the sons of Mattathias to their
cause:
In faith Columbus found a path across those untried waters;
The heroines of Arc and Saragossa fought in earthly faith:
Tell was strong, and Alfred great, and Luther wise, by faith;
Margaret by faith was valiant for her son, and Wallace mighty for his
people:
Faith in his reason made Socrates sublime, as faith in his science,
Galileo:
Ambassadors in faith are bold, and unreproved for boldness:
Faith urged Fabius to delays, and sent forth Hannibal to Cannæ:
Cæsar at the Rubicon, Miltiades at Marathon; both were sped by
faith.
I set not all in equal spheres: I number not the martyr with the
patriot;
I class not the hero with his horse, because the twain have courage;
But only for ensample and instruction, that all things stand by faith;
Albeit faith of divers kinds, and varying in degree.
There is a faith towards men, and there is a faith towards God;
The latter is the gold and the former is the brass; but both are sturdy
metal:
And the brass mingled with the gold floweth into rich Corinthian;
A substance bright and hard and keen, to point Achilles' spear:
So shall thou stop the way against the foes that hem thee;
Trust in God to strengthen man;—be bold, for He doth help.

Yet more: for confidence in man, even to the worst and meanest,
Hath power to overcome his ill, by charitable good.
Fling thine unreserving trust even on the conscience of a culprit,
Soon wilt thou shame him by thy faith, and he will melt and mend:
The nest of thieves will harm thee not, if thou dost bear thee boldly;
Boldly, yea and kindly, as relying on their honour:
For the hand so stout against aggression, is quite disarmed by
charity;
And that warm sun will thaw the heart case-hardened by long frost.
Treat men gently, trust them strongly, if thou wish their weal;
Or cautious doubt and bitter thoughts will tempt the best to foil thee.
Believe the well in sanguine hope, and thou shall reap the better;
But if thou deal with men so ill, thy dealings make them worse;
Despair not of some gleams of good still lingering in the darkest,
And among veterans in crime, plead thou as with their children:
So, astonied at humanities, the bad heart long estranged,
Shall even weep to feel himself so little worth thy love;
In wholesome sorrow will he bless thee; yea, and in that spirit may
repent;
Thus wilt thou gain a soul, in mercy given to thy Faith.

Look aside to lack of faith, the mass of ills it bringeth:

All things treacherous, base, and vile, dissolving the brotherhood of
men.
Bonds break; the cement hath lost its hold; and each is separate
from other;
That which should be neighbourly and good, is cankered into
bitterness and evil.
O thou serpent, fell Suspicion, coiling coldly round the heart,—
O thou asp of subtle Jealousy, stinging hotly to the soul,—
O distrust, reserve, and doubt,—what reptile shapes are here,
Poisoning the garden of a world with death among its flowers!
No need of many words, the tale is easy to be told;
A point will touch the truth, a line suggest the picture.
For if, in thine own home, a cautious man and captious,
Thou hintest at suspicion of a servant, thou soon wilt make a thief;
Or if, too keen in care, thou dost evidently disbelieve thy child,
Thou hast injured the texture of his honour, and smoothed to him
the way of lying:
Or if thou observest upon friends, as seeking thee selfishly for
interest,
Thou hast hurt their kindliness to thee, and shalt be paid with scorn;
Or if, O silly ones of marriage, your foul and foolish thoughts,
Harshly misinterpreting in each the levity of innocence for sin,
Shall pour upon the lap of home pain where once was pleasure,
And mix contentions in the cup, that mantled once with comforts,
Bitterly and justly shall ye rue the punishment due to unbelief;
Ye trust not each the other, nor the mutual vows of God;
Take heed, for the pit may now be near, a pit of your own digging,—
Faith abused tempteth unto crime, and doubt may make its monster.
Man verily is vile, but more in capability than action;
His sinfulness is deep, but his transgressions may be few, even from
the absence of temptation:
He is hanging in a gulf midway, but the air is breathable about him:
Thrust him not from that slight hold, to perish in the vapours
underneath.
For, God pleadeth with the deaf, as having ears to hear,
Christ speaketh to the dead, as those that are capable of living;
And an evil teacher is that man, a tempter to much sin,
Who looketh on his hearers with distrust, and hath no confidence in
brethren.
All may mend; and sympathies are healing: and reason hath its
influence with the worst;
And in those worst is ample hope, if only thou hast charity, and faith.

Somewhiles have I watched a man exchanging the sobriety of faith,

Old lamps for new,—even for fanatical excitements.
He gained surface, but lost solidity; heat, in lieu of health;
And still with swelling words and thoughts he scorned his ancient
coldness:
But, his strength was shorn as Samson's; he walked he knew not
whither;
Doubt was on his daily path; and duties shewed not certain:
Until, in an hour of enthusiasm, stung with secret fears,
He pinned the safety of his soul on some false prophet's sleeve.
And then, that sure word failed; and with it, failed his faith;
It failed, and fell; O deep and dreadful was his fall in faith!
He could not stop, with reason's rein, his coursers on the slope,
And so they dashed him down the cliff of hardened unbelief.
With overreaching grasp he had strained for visionary treasures,
But a fiend had cheated his presumption, and hurled him to despair.
So he lay in his blood, the victim of a credulous false faith,
And many nights, and night-like days, he dwelt in outer darkness.
But, within a while, his variable mind caught a new impression,
A new impression of the good old stamp, that sealed him when a
child:
He was softened, and abjured his infidelity; he was wiser, and
despised his credulity;
And turned again to simple faith more simply than before.
Experience had declared too well his mind was built of water,
And so, renouncing strength in self, he fixed his faith in God.

It is not for me to stipulate for creeds; Bible, Church, and Reason,

These three shall lead the mind, if any can, to truth.
But I must stipulate for faith: both God and man demand it:
Trust is great in either world, if any would be well.
Verily, the sceptical propensity is an universal foe;
Sneering Pyrrho never found, nor cared to find, a friend:
How could he trust another? and himself, whom would he not
deceive?
His proper gains were all his aim, and interests clash with kindness.
So, the Bedouin goeth armed, an enemy to all,
The spear is stuck beside his couch, the dagger hid beneath his
pillow.
For society, void of mutual trust, of credit, and of faith,
Would fall asunder as a waterspout, snapped from the cloud's
attraction.

Faith may rise into miracles of might, as some few wise have shown:
Faith may sink into credulities of weakness, as the mass of fools
have witnessed.
Therefore, in the first, saints and martyrs have fulfilled their mission,
Conquering dangers, courting deaths, and triumphing in all.
Therefore, in the last, the magician and the witch, victims of their
own delusion,
Have gained the bitter wages of impracticable sins.
They believed in allegiance with Satan; they worked in that belief,
And thereby earned the loss and harm of guilt that might not be.
For, faith hath two hands; with the one it addeth virtue to
indifferents;
Yea, it sanctified a Judith and a Jael, for what otherwise were
treachery and murder:
With the other hand it heapeth crime even on impossibles or
simples,
And many a wizard well deserved the faggot for his faith:
He trusted in his intercourse with evil, he sacrificed heartily to
fiends,
He withered up with curses to the limit of his will, and was vile,
because he thought himself a villain.

A great mind is ready to believe, for he hungereth to feed on facts,

And the gnawing stomach of his ignorance craveth unceasing to be
filled:
A little mind is boastful and incredulous, for he fancieth all
knowledge is his own,
So will he cavil at a truth; how should it be true, and he not know it?
—
There is an easy scheme, to solve all riddles by the sensual,
And thus, despising mysteries, to feel the more sufficient;
For it comforteth the foul hard heart, to reject the pure unseen,
And relieveth the dull soft head, to hinder one from gazing upon
vacancy.
True wisdom, labouring to expound, heareth others readily;
False wisdom, sturdy to deny, closeth up her mind to argument.
The sum of certainties is found so small, their field so wide an
universe,
That many things may truly be, which man hath not conceived:
The characters revealed of God are a strong mind's sole assurance
That any strangeness may not stand a sober theme for faith.
Ignorance being light denied, this ought to show the stronger in its
view,
But ignorance is commonly a double negative, both of light and
morals:
So, adding vanity to blindness, for ease, it taketh refuge in a doubt,
And aching soon with ceaseless doubt, it finisheth the strife by
misbelieving.
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