That highest growth has come to man in countries white with snow;
And they tell of truth and wisdom that to northern folk belong,
And claim the brain is feeble where the south winds always blow.
They forget to read the story of the ages long ago:
The lore that built the pyramids where still the simoom veers,
The knowledge framing Tyrian ships, the greater skill that steers,
The learning of the Hindu in his volumes never done,
All the wisdom of Egyptians and the old Chaldean seers,—
Came to man in summer lands beneath a summer sun.
It is said that human nature needeth hardship to be strong,