Rhymes of the Survey and Frontier
TO YOU WHO WILL UNDERSTAND
You, who have conquered the wilderness,
You, who are building the land,
You, whom I knew in the loneliness,
To you, who will understand,
Rhymes I have rhymed of the lonely ways,
Stories I tell o'er again—
Wandering days by the camp-fire's blaze,
Fancy and frolic and pain.
Far in the silence I seem to see
Shadowy forms in the mist,
Moulding the key of a land to be,
Steeled to its terrors resist;
Daring it all, where the shadows fall,
Lengthening far in the night;
Answering ever to nature's call,
Turning the darkness to light.
Many will follow, but you must lead
The way o'er the ancient clay,
Paying the price of a nation's need;
Comrades you leave by the way.
Yet in the future you see a land
Peopled and loved as a home;
Men who will listen and understand
Your work in the great alone.
Many have judged with a judgment stern
Your pleasures, which e'en are few;
Judging, with little desire to learn,
Of trials they never knew.
Yet you have chosen, and who shall say
Your choosing was not aright;
Willing to follow the silent way,
The way of the long, long night.