Page:Livingstone in Africa.djvu/41

For I will never cease from journeying,
Until the length and breadth of all the land
Shine forth illuminate from shore to shore!
My life is one long journey; and I love
Peril, and toil, and strange vicissitude;
Exploring all the wonder of the world
On sea and land; wonder for evermore;
And all the marvellous miracle of man.
I am urged ever by a restless ghost,
And may not fold my hands in tranquil sleep.
Yet when we have grown old, we want the glow
Of our own generous children in their prime,
Warming our twilight; they love thought for us,
As we of old for them; their little ones
Play, like a dear last dawn, around our age;
And I too long to be at home again
By the sweet firelight of my northern land!
At Christmas-time, the room is bright with green,
And far bells faintly peal athwart the snow:
Then quiet firelight, wavering with soft sounds,
Pleasantly ruddies gold and silver hair:
But in the summer, little children sing