[THE BALLAD OF THE BOUNDARY LINE]
"Here shall the Boundary Line be laid."
"Not so, but here," the other said.
Clamor of contest ran fierce and high,—
Defiant challenge and proud reply.
For heights of the Andes rose between
The Chilean States and the Argentine;
And the mooted question, day by day,
Was "What doth limit my neighbor's sway?"
The sunlight rose and the shadows fell
On either slope, but none could tell
Just where the morning's magic wand
Touched the Argentine or Chile land.
Fair in their verdure, pure in their snow,
So near to heaven their summits go—
Why should they ever by man be trod?
'Twould seem they should only belong to God.
But the strife went on with passing years,
Fed by resentment and pride and fears;
Nor priest nor people could yet define
The rightful range of the Boundary Line.
The strife went on with its loss and shame,
As generations went and came,
And each in its turn the task essayed
To solve the problem so long delayed.
* * * * *
Then kinder, kinglier thought prevailed,
Where threat of sword and gun had failed;
And love-illumined reason wrought
The adjustment long so vainly sought.
"For how can a trifle of earth and air
With the worth of human lives compare?
And what can it matter if thine or mine
Be the narrow side on the Boundary Line?