When bold Columbus touch'd those verdant isles,
Behold the red man owned the land before;
Yet now how changed save for that copper face—
Gone are the tent and campfire as of yore.
Behold the red man owned the land before;
Yet now how changed save for that copper face—
Gone are the tent and campfire as of yore.
Whence came that strange, barbaric, valiant race?
Were theirs the hands that strawless bricks once made
Ere sprang to light those Pyramids of old
Whose mighty blocks by Pharaoh's slaves were laid?
Were theirs the hands that strawless bricks once made
Ere sprang to light those Pyramids of old
Whose mighty blocks by Pharaoh's slaves were laid?
Were they the "Ten" from "Israel's pastures" strayed,
Who braved Siberia's fields of Arctic snows,
Like sailless ships on unknown billows tossed
Midst frozen seas and warlike, cruel foes?
Who braved Siberia's fields of Arctic snows,
Like sailless ships on unknown billows tossed
Midst frozen seas and warlike, cruel foes?
That strange nomadic race have furled their tents
In forest, field and flowing stream beside;
Whilst o'er the lands their fathers knew of old,
In luxury the white man's chariots glide!
In forest, field and flowing stream beside;
Whilst o'er the lands their fathers knew of old,
In luxury the white man's chariots glide!
1918
Kind Nature's Solitude
O ye far hills of Evergreen,
Where shady valleys lie between;
Where bending willows touch the brook,
And flowers bedeck each rural nook!
See yon gigantic leaning pine,
Whose tangled roots 'neath waters shine!
Spy the smooth rock now mossy green,
Where rushing waters once were seen.
Behold the sparkling waterfall
Where verdure fain would cover all,
And in the silvery pool below
See rainbow trout their flashes show.
We list at eve to whippoorwill,
Whilst far away the wood birds trill;
The sportive squirrel scales the trees;
The air resounds with hum of bees.
Above the scene from leafy throats
The swaying treetops add their notes;
We look away, and seem to spy
The Hand that stirs them from on high!
What wonders to the mind unfold!
Such lore no saint or sage e'er told.
O'er midnight oil the sophists strain,
But Nature shows their work in vain.
The waving treetops overhead,
A shower of slanting sunbeams shed,
And souls at rest now soar away
To realms beyond the orb of day.
O solitude! here are thy charms!
As darkness shades the neighboring farms;
Through the still night no sound is heard
Save liquid notes of wakeful bird.
How sweet the hours thus silent spent,
Alone with the Omnipotent!
Where shady valleys lie between;
Where bending willows touch the brook,
And flowers bedeck each rural nook!
See yon gigantic leaning pine,
Whose tangled roots 'neath waters shine!
Spy the smooth rock now mossy green,
Where rushing waters once were seen.
Behold the sparkling waterfall
Where verdure fain would cover all,
And in the silvery pool below
See rainbow trout their flashes show.
We list at eve to whippoorwill,
Whilst far away the wood birds trill;
The sportive squirrel scales the trees;
The air resounds with hum of bees.
Above the scene from leafy throats
The swaying treetops add their notes;
We look away, and seem to spy
The Hand that stirs them from on high!
What wonders to the mind unfold!
Such lore no saint or sage e'er told.
O'er midnight oil the sophists strain,
But Nature shows their work in vain.
The waving treetops overhead,
A shower of slanting sunbeams shed,
And souls at rest now soar away
To realms beyond the orb of day.
O solitude! here are thy charms!
As darkness shades the neighboring farms;
Through the still night no sound is heard
Save liquid notes of wakeful bird.
How sweet the hours thus silent spent,
Alone with the Omnipotent!
1919
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