Strange look and far, not those we saw of old
Safe moored in haven skies above our fold.
THE QUEST OF YOUTH
Year by year the hills of blue
That bounded our homeland nearer drew,
One by one the old enchantments
Passed away from the paths we knew.
Many a boon the old days brought,
Many a joy that we held as nought,
Hopes, but never the great fulfilment,
Love, but never the love we sought.
Now we must part from home and friend.
We have treasures of youth to spend:
Braver ventures, fairer maidens
Wait for us where the old ways end.
Now for the quest unknown, untried,
Now for the path with none to guide.
Dawns that glimmer on new horizons,
Starlit camps on the mountain side.
For our dreams remain, and the wonders flown
From the world that we knew and called our own,
Are ours to follow by shores uncharted,
Ours to seek in a land unknown;
Dreams that give to the thing life shows,
What the sky gives earth, when the evening glows
On the lonely hills, and the distant places
Blossom in gold and purple and rose.
Spake to us voices of scorn and ruth:
“He who follows the dreams of youth,
He who seeks for an outworn wonder
Flies himself from the whips of truth.”
“For yours is nought but the hunter’s zest;—
Your love but love of the unpossessed.
Is the world God filled with the light not fairer
Than all the dreams of your soul’s unrest?”