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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Canada, My Land, by W. M. MacKeracher
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Canada, My Land
+ and Other Compositions in Verse
+
+Author: W. M. MacKeracher
+
+Release Date: August 21, 2011 [EBook #37155]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CANADA, MY LAND ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CANADA, MY LAND
+
+AND OTHER COMPOSITIONS IN VERSE
+
+
+
+BY
+
+W. M. MacKERACHER
+
+
+
+
+TORONTO
+
+WILLIAM BRIGGS
+
+1908
+
+
+
+
+Copyright, Canada, 1908, by W. M. MacKeracher
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CANADA, MY LAND
+ There may be more enchanting climes
+
+FORWARD, CANADA!
+ Northland of our birth and rearing
+
+CANADIAN-BORN
+ Although I'm not unduly proud
+
+KNOW'ST THOU THE LAND!
+ Know'st thou the land where the pious and bold
+
+O MAPLE LEAF!
+ Thee best of leaves I love
+
+DOMINION DAY
+ Where the purple-vestured mountains
+
+CANADA'S EIGHTEEN
+ At Paardeberg they fell
+
+DOMINION DAY, 1900
+ Rejoice, O Canada, rejoice
+
+O CANADA, MON PAYS, MES AMOURS
+ O Canada, my country and my love
+
+SOL CANADIEN, TERRE CHERIE
+ O soil Canadian, cherished earth
+
+MY OWN CANADIAN GIRL
+ The demoiselles of sunny France
+
+THE ST. LAWRENCE
+ Though like Ulysses, fam'd of old
+
+ST. LAWRENCE AND THE COMING SHIPS
+ I cannot loiter on my way
+
+THE QUEBEC EXODUS
+ Why should we leave the soil our fathers cleared
+
+HEAT
+ The fickle sun that had the earth caress'd
+
+INVOCATION TO SUMMER
+ Come, Summer, come, nor in the south delay
+
+SIR SUMMER
+ When conquering Summer stalks the street
+
+THE NIGHT
+ A tremor, a quiver, through her ran
+
+TO BEAUTY
+ Beauty, beloved of all gentle hearts
+
+THE DOCTOR
+ He bent above our darling's bed
+
+MY VALENTINE
+ O Dorothy, sweet Dorothy
+
+MY FRIENDS
+ Some to and fro for converse flit
+
+NOTHING TOO GOOD FOR THE IRISH
+ It's the Emerald Isle is the beautiful land
+
+AN ENGLISH TOAST
+ The English soil!--'tis hallowed ground
+
+THE SCOT
+ That no Scotsman is perfect, we freely confess
+
+THE ROARIN' GAME
+ The roarin' game, the roarin' game
+
+THE OLD SCOTTISH MINISTER
+ A man he was of Scottish race
+
+THE MACS
+ There's a race, or a part of a race, if you will
+
+THE PARSON AT THE HOCKEY MATCH
+ It's very disagreeable to sit here in the cold
+
+
+
+
+ CANADA, MY LAND.
+
+ There may be more enchanting climes
+ Within a southern zone;
+ There may be eastern Edens deckt
+ With charms to thee unknown;
+ But thou art fairest unto me,
+ Because thou art mine own,
+ Canada, my land.
+
+ More spacious plains and loftier heights
+ In other realms may be,
+ And mightier streams than those which bear
+ Thy waters to the sea;
+ But thou, great handiwork of God,
+ Art grandest unto me,
+ Canada, my land.
+
+ More glorious records may adorn
+ The annals of the past
+ Than those which tell the rise and growth
+ Of thy dominion vast;
+ But I am proudest of the land
+ In which my lot is cast,
+ Canada, my land.
+
+ Beneath thy green or snow-clad sod
+ My fathers' ashes lie;
+ Thou hast my all, to thee I'm bound
+ By every dearest tie;
+ For thee I'll gladly live, for thee
+ I cheerfully would die,
+ Canada, my land.
+
+
+
+
+ FORWARD, CANADA!
+
+ Northland of our birth and rearing,
+ Bound to us by ties endearing,--
+ Forward ever, nothing fearing!
+ Forward, Canada!
+
+ Hear thy children's acclamations!
+ Vanquish trials and vexations!
+ Higher rise among the nations!
+ Forward, Canada!
+
+ Not by battles fierce and gory,
+ Not by conquest's hollow glory,
+ Need'st thou live in deathless story:
+ Forward, Canada!
+
+ Not by might and not by power,---
+ Truth shall be thy fortress tower;
+ Arts of peace shall be thy flower:
+ Forward, Canada!
+
+ Yet if tyrant foe should ever
+ 'Gainst thee come with base endeavor,
+ Strike, and yield thy freedom never:
+ Forward, Canada!
+
+
+
+
+ CANADIAN-BORN.
+
+ Although I'm not unduly proud,
+ Inordinately vain,
+ But humble, as will be allowed,
+ And modest in the main;
+ I must confess to pride of birth,
+ And all detractors warn
+ To let alone one land on earth:
+ I am Canadian-born.
+
+ In one respect I fill the bill
+ As well as any man
+ Between Vancouver and Brazil,
+ Morocco and Japan.
+ From Hobart Town to Hammerfest,
+ From Greenland to the Horn,
+ My native land is much the best:
+ I am Canadian-born.
+
+ The Greeks beside their Hellespont
+ Thought all but they were scum;
+ The Latins loved the classic vaunt,
+ "Civis Romanus sum."
+ I'm not so impudent as they
+ To hold the world in scorn,
+ But have a better boast to-day,
+ "I am Canadian-born."
+
+ My land is beauty's flag unfurled,
+ A garden of increase,
+ The crowning wonder of the world,
+ Creation's masterpiece;
+ And deathless deed and kingly name
+ Her chronicles adorn;
+ I'm pardonably proud to claim
+ I am Canadian-born.
+
+ I love her cities old and new,
+ Her crested mountain-chains,
+ Her lakes and rivers fair to view,
+ Her meadows and her plains,
+ Her tented fields of yellow sheaves,
+ Her spears of towering corn,
+ Her forests with their maple leaves:
+ I am Canadian-born.
+
+ I love her verdant springtime sweet,
+ Her autumn red and gold;
+ I love her summer's tropic heat,
+ Her winter's arctic cold,
+ The splendor of her evening glow,
+ The glory of her morn;
+ And day and night I love to know
+ I am Canadian-born.
+
+ All honor to her pioneers,
+ The gallant sons of France;
+ All honor to their British peers,
+ Who aided her advance;
+ To workers like the great Champlain,
+ And Dufferin and Lorne,
+ And those who could take up the strain,
+ "I am Canadian-born."
+
+ Here my allotted time I'd live
+ And play my little part,
+ My service here to Nature give,
+ To Industry and Art;
+ Here pluck life's roses when I may,
+ And when I feel the thorn
+ Look up with fortitude and say,
+ "I am Canadian-born."
+
+ And should unfriendly circumstance
+ (Which Providence forbid!)
+ Decree that from my latest glance
+ My country should be hid,
+ Ah, then 'twill ease my parting sigh
+ And cheer my heart forlorn,
+ To think, wherever I may die,
+ I am Canadian-born.
+
+
+
+
+ KNOW'ST THOU THE LAND?
+
+ Know'st thou the land where the pious and bold
+ Beared Christianity's emblem of old,
+ And civilization's beneficent reign
+ Extended o'er anarchy's savage domain?
+ The land of the dauntless explorers who prest
+ Upstream, through the wilderness, into the West?
+ Know'st thou the land of the soldier and knight,
+ The land of adventure and toil and delight?
+ Know'st thou the land?
+ Know'st thou the land?
+ 'Tis the land of my home, my beloved native land.
+
+ Know'st thou the land where the Briton and Gaul,
+ In courage and prowess supreme over all,
+ Contending for lordship and vying for place,
+ Collided and locked in a mighty embrace
+ So bravely that fame has awarded the palm
+ Of deathless renown to both Wolfe and Montcalm?
+ Know'st thou the land for which heroes have died,
+ The land of the strong and the true and the tried?
+
+ Know'st thou the land of the broad maple tree?
+ The noblest and best of his fellows is he:
+ He grows in the meadow, the grove and the wood;
+ His trunk is for timber, his sap is for food;
+ His boughs are for fire in the cold winter days;
+ His leaves are for shade from the summer sun's blaze.
+ Know'st thou the land of the maple benign,
+ The land of the elm and the oak and the pine?
+
+ Know'st thou the land where the great inland seas
+ Are tossed by the tempest or fanned by the breeze;
+ The land of Superior's crystalline tide,
+ Of Huron's exuberant vigor and pride,
+ Of Erie's alluring voluptuous glance,
+ Ontario's laughing Elysian expanse?
+ Know'st thou the land that is praised evermore
+ By the chant of their surge and Niagara's roar?
+
+ Know'st thou the land of the clear-flowing streams
+ That mirror the stars and reflect the sun's beams?
+ Through the woods and the farmland they wander at large,
+ And the deer and the kine come to drink at their marge;
+ They flash in the distance like ribands of white;
+ Their trout-haunted pools are the angler's delight.
+ Know'st thou the land of the rivers and rills,
+ The boon of the lowlands, the joy of the hills?
+
+ Know'st thou the land where St. Lawrence proceeds
+ By cities and hamlets and blossoming meads
+ And islands and waters of lesser degree,
+ With his tribute to pour in the lap of the sea?
+ His shining battalions he halts to deploy,
+ Or leaps through the rapid with turbulent joy.
+ Know'st thou the land that he laves in his flow,
+ Where deep-laden argosies royally go?
+
+ Know'st thou the land of the mountains that rise
+ Till their summits are lost in the depths of the skies?
+ Their granite foundations are far underground,
+ Where the gold and the coal and the iron abound;
+ And the sun on their white-headed majesty flings
+ The radiance of crowns and the purple of kings.
+ Know'st thou the land of these citadels tall,
+ With their ramparts and battlements, wall upon wall?
+
+ Know'st thou the land where the ice and the snow
+ On all things a magical beauty bestow?
+ Then the earth is a bride and the tingling air wine,
+ The frosty sky sparkles, the Pleiades shine,
+ And the bright "merry dancers" in gorgeous array,
+ Like ghosts of dead sunbeams, come forth to their play.
+ Know'st thou the land of the sleigh-bells, the land
+ Of the warm fireside and the welcoming hand?
+
+ Know'st thou the land where kind Nature has given
+ In earth's beauty and grandeur a foretaste of heaven;
+ Where History lingers, enthralled with the view
+ Of as splendid exploits as the world ever knew;
+ Where Industry reaps the rewards of her toil
+ In the wealth of the cities, the fruits of the soil?
+ Know'st thou the land which the Muses regard,
+ The land of the sculptor, the singer, the bard?
+
+ Know'st thou the land where the spell of the past
+ Is over the mind irresistibly cast;
+ Where the present fulfills the fond hopes of the years,
+ The dreams of romancers, the visions of seers,
+ Where the future inspires with a prospect sublime,
+ Maturing the fairest fruition of time?
+ Know'st thou this land of Heaven's favor possest,
+ The fortunate land of a destiny blest?
+ Know'st thou the land?
+ Know'st thou the land?
+ 'Tis the land of my home, my belov'd native land.
+
+
+
+
+ O MAPLE LEAF!
+
+ Thee best of leaves I love,
+ In forest or in grove,
+ O Maple Leaf;
+ O thou which art the sign
+ Of this dear land of mine,
+ What loveliness is thine,
+ O Maple Leaf!
+
+ Naught can with thee compare,
+ On earth or in the air,
+ O Maple Leaf;
+ Wondrous thy beauties are;
+ Thy form is like a star,
+ But thou art not afar,
+ O Maple Leaf.
+
+ When drops of dew adorn
+ Thy surface in the morn,
+ O Maple Leaf,
+ No hue so fair is seen,
+ In silk or satin's sheen,
+ As thy rich shade of green,
+ O Maple Leaf.
+
+ No music in my ear
+ Is half so sweet to hear,
+ O Maple Leaf,
+ As that which thou dost make
+ When winds of summer shake
+ The branches of the brake,
+ O Maple Leaf.
+
+ Most beautiful in pain,
+ When suns begin to wane,
+ O Maple Leaf,
+ Thou never growest old,
+ But in the time of cold
+ Thou turnest but to gold,
+ O Maple Leaf.
+
+ And when the earth expires,
+ And mute are all her choirs,
+ O Maple Leaf,
+ Thy dower thou dost shed
+ Of tribute, richest red,
+ Upon her sombre bed,
+ O Maple Leaf.
+
+ May heaven bless thy land,
+ And make it strong to stand,
+ O Maple Leaf;
+ For it we humbly pray
+ That God will be its stay,
+ Now, henceforth, and for aye,
+ O Maple Leaf.
+
+
+
+
+ DOMINION DAY.
+
+ Where the purple-vestured mountains
+ Bear their summits crowned with snow,
+ Haughty lords of all the riches
+ In the rocks and streams below;
+ Tow'ring to the azure heavens,
+ Frowning on the sapphire sea:
+ There to-day, O wide Dominion,
+ Thine own children honor thee.
+
+ Where the shadeless, open prairie
+ Spreads its lone expanse unstirred
+ By a sound of living creature,
+ Save the lowing of the herd,
+ And the half-grown wheat in verdure
+ Reaches thickly to the knee,
+ There to-day, O fair Dominion,
+ Thine own children honor thee.
+
+ Where the south wind from the bushes
+ The large, luscious berry shakes,
+ And the commerce of the cities
+ Meets the traffic of the lakes,
+ And the thunderous Niag'ra
+ Sings the paean of the free:
+ There to-day, O strong Dominion,
+ Thine own children honor thee.
+
+ Where the deep, majestic river
+ Bears upon its solemn tide,
+ By the haunts of ancient story
+ And the seats of former pride,
+ Ocean argosies to markets
+ Where the world is held in fee:
+ There to-day, O great Dominion,
+ Thine own children honor thee.
+
+ Where the stalwart sea-girt peoples
+ Keep the gateway of the land;
+ In the meadows of New Brunswick,
+ On the Nova Scotian strand,
+ In the Gulf's fair island garden,
+ Sheltered by the maple tree:
+ There to-day, O blest Dominion,
+ Thine own children honor thee.
+
+ In thy cherished mother country,
+ In thy sister lands afar,
+ On the burning eastern desert,
+ Underneath the southern star,
+ 'Midst the speech of alien races,
+ Wheresoe'er thy children be,
+ There to-day, O dear Dominion,
+ Loyal hearts remember thee.
+
+
+
+
+ CANADA'S EIGHTEEN.
+
+ At Paardeberg they fell,
+ Within the Orange State;
+ They did their duty well;
+ They bravely met their fate.
+
+ A stubborn fight they made
+ Upon the level plain,
+ While from the barricade
+ The bullets poured like rain.
+
+ They fiercely charged the trench;
+ They took the outer line;
+ Who saw a visage blench?
+ Who heard a voice repine?
+
+ They bore the ruthless fire;
+ But deadly was the cost:
+ They lived not to retire,
+ Nor saw their capture lost.
+
+ No lustrous deed they wrought
+ To prompt the epic pen:
+ They only bravely fought,
+ And gave their lives like men.
+
+ And yet no hero's fame
+ That rings across the seas,
+ Shall e'er eclipse the name
+ And memory of these.
+
+ While suns shall rise and set
+ Upon the fatal scene,
+ We never shall forget
+ Our Canada's Eighteen.
+
+ And now, as Britain weaves
+ The garland of her grief,
+ We place among the leaves
+ A blood-red maple leaf.
+
+
+
+
+ DOMINION DAY, 1900.
+
+ Rejoice, O Canada, rejoice,
+ On this thy natal day;
+ In East and West lift up thy voice,
+ And to thy children say:
+ "Behold me now to stature sprung;
+ Acclaim my second birth;
+ A Nation now I stand among
+ My sisters of the earth."
+
+ The wrath of man doth praise the Lord;
+ And, glorious be His name,
+ An Empire, fashioned by the sword
+ And welded in the flame,
+ Hath risen o'er the battle-smoke,
+ And near and far unfurled
+ Its righteous standard to evoke
+ Heaven's blessings on the world.
+
+
+
+
+ O CANADA, MON PAYS, MES AMOURS.
+
+ (Title of a French-Canadian song.)
+
+ O Canada, my country and my love,
+ Held in my heart all other lands above;
+ To thee to whom my homage should belong
+ I pay the cheerful tribute of my song,
+ And swear allegiance as on bended knee,
+ And vow undying fealty to thee,
+ O Canada, my country and my love.
+
+ I crave no land of epic story cast
+ In giant shadows on the misty past;
+ No land illustrious in former time,
+ Which has outlived the vigor of its prime;
+ No lordlier land renowned across the sea,
+ Nor any other land on earth but thee,
+ O Canada, my country and my love.
+
+ Past is thy night of darkness and of tears;
+ Thy radiant dawn hath driv'n away our fears;
+ Thy sun in morning splendor mounts the sky;
+ Thy hopes, thy aims, thy destinies are high.
+ God make thee great, as thou art fair and free,
+ And give thee sons and daughters worthy thee,
+ O Canada, my country and my love.
+
+ Eternal blessing rest upon thy head!
+ Abounding Plenty heap thy board with bread!
+ Justice and Peace upon thy steps attend,
+ And Virtue be thy guardian and thy friend!
+ And Righteousness, like thine own maple tree,
+ Flourish and rear her shelter over thee,
+ O Canada, my country and my love.
+
+
+
+
+ SOL CANADIEN, TERRE CHERIE.
+
+ (From the French of Isidore Bedard.)
+
+ O soil Canadian, cherished earth,
+ The brave, the noble, peopled thee;
+ They left the country of their birth,
+ And sought a land of liberty.
+ It was from glorious France they came:
+ They were the pick of warriors, they;
+ The shining lustre of their fame
+ Is kept untarnished till to-day.
+
+ How beautiful thy fields appear!
+ How much thou hast to give content!
+ All hail, ye mountains that uprear
+ Your lordly heights magnificent!
+ All hail, St. Lawrence' noble tide!
+ Hail, land by Nature richly deckt!
+ Thy children's hearts should throb with pride,
+ Thy sons should walk with head erect.
+
+ Still honor the protecting hand
+ Of Albion, friend of the opprest;
+ And harbor no malicious band
+ Of traitors nourished in thy breast.
+ Yield never in the storm, be brave;
+ Thine only masters are thy laws;
+ Thou wast not made to be a slave;
+ Fear not, thy rights are Britain's cause.
+
+ If that belov'd, protecting hand
+ Should ever fail thee, undismay'd
+ Stand by thyself, alone, my land,
+ Rejecting, scorning foreign aid.
+ From glorious France thy founders came;
+ They were the pick of warriors, they:
+ The shining lustre of their fame
+ Unsullied shall be kept for aye.
+
+
+
+
+ MY OWN CANADIAN GIRL.
+
+ The demoiselles of sunny France
+ Have gaiety and grace;
+ Britannia's maids a tender glance,
+ A sweet and gentle face;
+ Columbia's virgins bring to knee
+ Full many a duke and earl;
+ But there is none can equal thee,
+ My own Canadian girl.
+
+ Thy hair is finer than the floss
+ That tufts the ears of corn;
+ Its tresses have a silken gloss,
+ A glory like the morn;
+ I prize the rich, luxuriant mass,
+ And each endearing curl
+ A special grace and beauty has,
+ My own Canadian girl.
+
+ Thy brow is like the silver moon
+ That sails in summer skies,
+ The mirror of a mind immune
+ From care, serene and wise,
+ Thy nose is sculptured ivory;
+ Thine ears are lobes of pearl;
+ Thy lips are corals from the sea,
+ My own Canadian girl.
+
+ Thine eyes are limpid pools of light,
+ The windows of thy soul;
+ The stars are not so clear and bright
+ That shine around the pole.
+ The crimson banners of thy cheeks
+ To sun and wind unfurl;
+ Thy tongue makes music when it speaks,
+ My own Canadian girl.
+
+ God keep thee fair and bright and good
+ As in thy morning hour,
+ And make thy gracious womanhood
+ A still unfolding flow'r.
+ And stay thy thoughts from trifles vain,
+ Thy feet from folly's whirl,
+ And guard thy life from every stain,
+ My own Canadian girl!
+
+
+
+
+ THE ST. LAWRENCE.
+
+ Though like Ulysses, fam'd of old,
+ I travell'd, or the wandering Jew,
+ No nobler sight could I behold
+ Than one which daily meets my view,
+ This mighty stream, my country's pride,
+ St. Lawrence' broad, majestic tide.
+
+ By Babylonia's waters, 'mong
+ Unwonted scenes, disconsolate,
+ Their harps upon the willows hung,
+ The Jewish exiles weeping sate,
+ Recall'd the river of their land,
+ And yearn'd to tread its winding strand.
+
+ When stern Elisha bade him lave
+ Seven times in Jordan and be clean,
+ His Syrian upland's flashing wave
+ Seem'd better to the Damascene.
+ "Albana, Pharpar far excel,"
+ He said, "the streams of Israel."
+
+ In India Ganges was rever'd,
+ In Egypt worshipp'd was the Nile,
+ To Romans Tiber was endear'd
+ From Apennine to Sacred Isle;
+ And Rhine and Danube, Thames and Rhone
+ A people's votive love have known.
+
+ And we to this imposing flood
+ A cordial homage needs must pay,
+ Who in the solemn night have stood
+ Upon its banks, and day by day
+ Been fill'd with gladness to behold
+ Its floor of silver flush'd with gold.
+
+ It brings the nations to our marts,
+ It bears our commerce to the sea,
+ Has virtue, too, to cleanse our hearts,
+ And make our spirits strong and free;
+ It flows, our struggling lives to bless,
+ With volume, grace and cheerfulness.
+
+
+
+
+ ST. LAWRENCE AND THE COMING SHIPS.
+
+ I cannot loiter on my way,
+ The ice is drifting through Belle Isle,
+ And far to seaward by Cape Ray
+ Broad leagues of open water smile.
+ Unheeded now, the inland barge
+ Creeps heavily, the fisher dips
+ His meshes in my brimming marge;
+ I go to meet the coming ships.
+
+ They steam from Thames by Dover Strait,
+ They cleave the Bristol Channel's tide,
+ They pass the Mersey's thronging gate,
+ And issue from the crowded Clyde.
+ Out past the homing craft they sheer,
+ The Irish coastline by them slips;
+ Ere many days they will be here:
+ I go to meet the coming ships.
+
+ Full-fraught with wealth of merchandise,
+ They plough the main with furrows deep;
+ Upon the waves they sink and rise,
+ But onward, onward ever keep.
+ And some a viewless message send,
+ Whose airy flight their speed outstrips;
+ And all their yearnings hither tend:
+ I go to meet the coming ships.
+
+ I tarry not by fortress old,
+ Nor pause by any pleasant shore,
+ But hasten, eager to behold
+ Those brave leviathans once more,
+ To welcome them with parted banks,
+ And kiss their prows with loving lips,
+ And soothingly caress their flanks;
+ I go to meet the coming ships.
+
+
+
+
+ THE QUEBEC EXODUS.
+
+ Why should we leave the soil our fathers cleared,
+ And lifelong tilled with patient, loving hands?
+ Why should we leave the homes our fathers reared,
+ And seek strange dwellings in unhallowed lands?
+ Why should we leave the shrines where they revered
+ Their guardian God, and break the golden bands
+ That bind us to the ashes of our sires,
+ Their haunts, their hearthstones and their altar-fires?
+
+ Is it that now no longer from our doors
+ The forest stretches with its gloom profound?
+ That they who first set foot upon these shores
+ Increase and multiply and hedge us round,
+ Co-heritors of the exhaustless stores
+ Of natural wealth that more and more abound?--
+ Because of brethren of a differing speech,
+ From whom we learn, and whom perhaps we teach?
+
+ It was not thus our conquering race arose;
+ It was not thus our copious language grew:
+ The Saxon mingled with his Celtic foes,
+ The Norman brought to both a spirit new.
+ Not thus we read th' heroic tale of those
+ Who built the younger Britains o'er the blue:
+ 'Twas here and there a handful in the earth,
+ Prevailing, not by numbers, but by worth.
+
+
+
+
+ HEAT.
+
+ The fickle sun that had the earth caress'd
+ And quickened all her amorous desire,
+ And brought fresh roses to adorn her breast,
+ Now spurned her in the madness of his ire;
+ A haze of heat half hid the mountain's crest;
+ The very river seemed of liquid fire;
+ The air was flame, the town a stifling pale,
+ And all the land was like a Hinnom's Vale.
+
+ I thought of Hagar and what she endured,
+ Faint in the desert, driv'n from Sara's sight;
+ Of angry Jonah underneath his gourd,
+ Grown in a night and withered in a night;
+ Of the sun-stricken lad Elisha cured
+ For the good, hospitable Shunammite;
+ And of the fiery furnace made to glow
+ For Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
+
+ I called to mind Boccaccio's tale of her
+ Left on a sun-scorched roof, and like to die;
+ And I beheld the Ancient Mariner
+ Becalmed beneath his hot and copper sky;
+ And heard a long-forgotten traveller
+ Speak from a page which made my childhood sigh,
+ And tell of horrid climes by God accurst,
+ And men and horses perishing of thirst.
+
+ And to myself I said, Is this the land
+ Where freezing cold claims sometimes half the year?
+ Is this the region where the streams are spanned
+ With floors of azure crystal, hard and clear,
+ And all the snow-enveloped mountains stand
+ Like hoary chiefs, majestic and austere?
+ Was't here we saw so late King Winter stern?
+ And will he shortly here again return?
+
+
+
+
+ INVOCATION TO SUMMER.
+
+ Come, Summer, come, nor in the south delay;
+ We do thee honor with a longer day;
+ We prize thee more, we better know thy worth;
+ We hold thee dearer in the truer north:
+ Come, Summer, come.
+
+ Come, Summer, come, and in the early dawn
+ Find sparkling dewdrops on the fragrant lawn;
+ Hush all before thy majesty at noon,
+ And hallow the long evening hours; come soon,
+ Come, Summer, come.
+
+ Come, Summer, come, make meadow grasses long;
+ Make all the groves exuberant with song,
+ The pasture corners canopy with shades,
+ And thickly roof the silent forest glades:
+ Come, Summer, come.
+
+ Come, Summer, come, and with thy magic breath
+ Make consummation of the death of death;
+ Complete the work of thy sweet sister, Spring;
+ Life more abundantly give everything:
+ Come, Summer, come.
+
+
+
+
+ SIR SUMMER.
+
+ When conquering Summer stalks the street,
+ His eyes are eyes of fire,
+ The pavement burns beneath his feet,
+ Men droop before his ire;
+ But yonder, out upon the land,
+ His manners are not these:
+ He is a courtier mild and bland
+ Beneath the maple trees.
+
+ He throws his buckler on the grass,
+ Unclasps his sheathed blade;
+ He doffs his helmet and cuirass,
+ And lounges in the shade;
+ His pennon, fastened to a bough,
+ Is fluttering in the breeze:
+ He is at home and happy now
+ Beneath the maple trees.
+
+ No furious rage disturbs his breast,
+ No fever heats his brain;
+ Right cheerily he takes his rest,
+ And views his glad domain;
+ His lady seated by his side,
+ His children on his knees,
+ His heart expands with joy and pride
+ Beneath the maple trees.
+
+ He hears the happy farmer folk
+ Who toss the fragrant hay;
+ Blessings upon him they invoke,
+ And beg of him to stay.
+ The music of the feathered choirs,
+ The murmur of the bees,
+ Are sounds of which he never tires
+ Beneath the maple trees.
+
+ He hums a sweet, melodious tune,
+ His hand a garland weaves,
+ He talks the while he feasts at noon,
+ His laughter shakes the leaves.
+ He tells of conquests in the south,
+ Of triumphs overseas,
+ Of realms redeemed and deeds of drouth,
+ Beneath the maple trees.
+
+ He shouts and holds his jolly sides,
+ And strikes his lusty thigh,
+ To think of how Sir Winter hides
+ His face when he is nigh,
+ Or how with city exquisites
+ His swagger disagrees:
+ Thus glad Sir Summer gaily sits
+ Beneath the maple trees.
+
+ I know where I can find his bower
+ Upon a wooded hill,
+ Where I can pluck his favorite flower,
+ And bathe within his rill;
+ And thither I will take my flight,
+ And loiter at my ease,
+ And pay my homage to the Knight
+ Beneath the maple trees.
+
+
+
+
+ THE NIGHT.
+
+ A tremor, a quiver,
+ Through her ran
+ As over the river
+ The dawn began.
+ She drew her veil
+ Over her eyes,
+ And her face grew pale,
+ As she watched the sun rise.
+ She faded, turned
+ To a ghost, was gone,
+ As the morning burned
+ And the day came on.
+ With veiled, sad eye,
+ And face still wan,
+ She waited nigh
+ When the dusk began.
+ With her tears of bliss
+ The earth was wet,
+ And soothed with her kiss,
+ When the sun had set.
+ And with stately pride
+ She sat on the throne
+ Of her empire wide
+ When the day had gone;
+ And her robes she spread
+ With their sable hem,
+ And crowned her head
+ With her diadem.
+ And the mute earth saw
+ That a Queen was she,
+ And gazed with awe
+ On her majesty.
+
+
+
+
+ TO BEAUTY.
+
+ Beauty, beloved of all gentle hearts
+ And pure, and cherished of the gifted tribe
+ Whose skill to canvas and even stone imparts
+ Such things as words are powerless to describe.
+ And bards, who woo thee in the silent shade
+ And dote upon thee under moonlit skies,
+ And lovers, who behold thee new-array'd,
+ As our first parents did in Paradise!
+
+ These all have been thy priests. In times remote,
+ In Athens and the cool Thessalian dells,
+ They sung thy liturgy with dulcet note,
+ And quaff'd thy chalice from the sacred wells
+ Of leafy Helicon. Beneath the brows
+ Of fam'd Olympus and among the isles
+ Of the Aegean sea they paid their vows,
+ And read thy lore in Nature's frowns and smiles.
+
+ Nor strange to Zion's sanctuaried hill
+ Wast thou, embalmer of the holy page;
+ Ambrosial odors from thy garments fill
+ The garden where the amorous royal sage
+ Walk'd and discours'd with his beloved; there
+ Alluring in thy soft and sumptuous dress:
+ And to his kinglier sire supremely fair,
+ Companion sweet of meek-ey'd Holiness.
+
+ Thou hast no local temple, no set shrine;
+ Thou art diffus'd o'er earth and sky and sea;
+ In every land a thousand haunts are thine,
+ Spirits of every race respond to thee.
+ Here thy Olympus and thy Zion hill,
+ Thy silvery Aegean, I survey;
+ Thy majesty and loveliness at will
+ I view, and own thy tranquilizing sway.
+
+
+
+
+ THE DOCTOR.
+
+ He bent above our darling's bed
+ When her life was ebbing low,
+ And in his serious look we read
+ The truth we feared to know.
+
+ We knew a slender thread was all
+ That held her now; we saw
+ The dark, portentous shadow fall,
+ And near and nearer draw.
+
+ Our hopes were centred all in him;
+ We stood with bated breath
+ As, pitiful and calm and grim,
+ He fought and fought with Death.
+
+ We hung upon the desperate fight,
+ And saw in him combined
+ The tiger's stealth, the lion's might,
+ The man's superior mind.
+
+ We saw the fearful hate he bore
+ His old, relentless foe,
+ His beautiful compassion for
+ The one we cherished so.
+
+ No mortal ever waged alone
+ A conflict so severe;
+ The high-souled, stainless champion
+ Finds heavenly succor near.
+
+ Legions of angels to his aid
+ His pure devotion brought;
+ Celestial strength his spirit swayed;
+ 'Twas Life that in him fought.
+
+ The awful stillness of the night!
+ The long and bitter hours!--
+ It seemed that Time had stayed his flight
+ To watch the battling pow'rs.
+
+ And ere the ghastly night had fled
+ He conquered in the strife,
+ And gently took the slender thread,
+ And drew her back to life.
+
+
+
+
+ MY VALENTINE.
+
+ O Dorothy, sweet Dorothy,
+ You make my heart rejoice;
+ Your presence is like Arcady,
+ There's music in your voice;
+ Heaven's purity is on your brow,
+ Its light is in your eyne;
+ I love you, and I ask you now
+ To be my Valentine.
+
+ Your face is like the lily in
+ The morning's ruddy light;
+ Your dimpled cheeks and tiny chin
+ Are blessings to my sight;
+ Your lips are fairer than the rose
+ And redder far than wine;
+ Your teeth are whiter than the snows:
+ You'll be my Valentine!
+
+ You are not quite so old as I,
+ You've seen but summers three;
+ And that's no doubt the reason why
+ You are not coy with me.
+ I'll come to you to-morrow,
+ And on chocolates we'll dine;
+ And you'll have no thought of sorrow
+ When you are my Valentine.
+
+
+
+
+ MY FRIENDS.
+
+ "My never-failing friends are they,
+ With whom I converse day by day."
+ --_Southey_.
+
+
+ Some to and fro for converse flit
+ And on their friends intrude,
+ Or shun society and sit
+ In cheerless solitude;
+ But I can sit, when night descends,
+ At home among a thousand friends.
+
+ The garish day is left behind,
+ The scurry and the din;
+ The hours of toil are out of mind,
+ As if they had not been.
+ No thought of morrow that impends
+ Comes in between me and my friends.
+
+ We reck not of the flight of time,
+ To them a subject strange;
+ They pass their days in a sublime
+ Indifference to change:
+ Theirs is the life that never ends;
+ Immortal beings are my friends.
+
+ They toil not, neither do they spin;
+ Yet none is meanly drest;
+ And some are clad in costly skin,
+ And some in silken vest;
+ And everyone who sees commends
+ The decent habits of my friends.
+
+ And some are short, and some are tall;
+ Some portly, and some spare;
+ Here is a group of pygmies small,
+ A Tom Thumb family; there
+ A Brobdingnagian row extends,
+ The best-informed among my friends.
+
+ Wot one among them all is low,
+ A fellow to be spurned;
+ And none is ever rude, although
+ Their backs are often turned.
+ No observation that offends
+ Is dropped by any of my friends.
+
+ And some are steeped in classic lore;
+ Some brim with wisdom sage;
+ And some can trace a far-off shore,
+ Or paint a former age;
+ And each his talent freely lends,
+ For talented are all my friends.
+
+ Some tell of deeds and lives sublime
+ And triumphs over foes;
+ Some weave a spell of lofty rhyme,
+ Some charm with stately prose;
+ And here and there a mind unbends
+ Familiarly among my friends.
+
+ In diction antiquated, quaint,
+ Or with a modern sound,
+ They speak their thoughts without restraint,
+ Although they're mostly bound;
+ And cease to speak when none attends,
+ A valued feature of my friends.
+
+ Although they shun the thoughtless crowd,
+ The frivolous disdain,
+ Their titles have not made them proud,
+ Nor all their pages vain;
+ No common mortal less pretends,
+ None can be opener than my friends.
+
+ They care not that they've all been cut,
+ A number by myself,
+ And often taken down, and put
+ As often on the shelf;
+ My estimation makes amends
+ For such ill-treatment of my friends.
+
+ An ever-fresh, unfailing source
+ Of thought and sympathy,
+ What hours of goodly intercourse
+ They have afforded me!
+ I cannot doubt that heaven still sends
+ Us angels while I have my friends.
+
+ If he who sits at home in gloom,
+ Or rushes here and there,
+ Will put a bookshelf in his room
+ And furnish it with care,
+ He'll bless the evenings that he spends
+ With such companions as my friends.
+
+
+
+
+ NOTHING TOO GOOD FOR THE IRISH.
+
+ It's the Emerald Isle is the beautiful land:
+ There's nothing too good for the Irish.
+ O'er the whole of it, Nature, at heaven's command,
+ Has scattered her charms with a prodigal hand
+ From Skibbereen town to the Donegal strand;
+ For there's nothing too good for the Irish.
+
+ And it's many a hero the Irish can claim:
+ There's nothing too good for the Irish.
+ "Red Hugh" put his country's invaders to shame;
+ Owen Roe was a fighter they never could tame;
+ As a nation the Irish have glory and fame;
+ For there's nothing too good for the Irish.
+
+ And the Irish are noted for piety, too:
+ There's nothing too good for the Irish.
+ In the far-away time before Brian Boru,
+ The faith by Saint Patrick was planted and grew,
+ And the "Island of Saints" has had saints not a few:
+ For there's nothing too good for the Irish.
+
+ And the best of all orators Irishmen are:
+ There's nothing too good for the Irish.
+ The voice of Columba was heard from afar,
+ Burke's eloquence rolled like a conquering car,
+ And the name of O'Connell's a radiant star;
+ For there's nothing too good for the Irish.
+
+ And the Irishman always is witty, of course;
+ There's nothing too good for the Irish.
+ And his wit is as genial and kind as its source;
+ It never leaves anyone feeling the worse;
+ He makes bulls, but a good Irish bull's a white horse;
+ For there's nothing too good for the Irish.
+
+ You are thinking, no doubt, to the race I belong:
+ There's nothing too good for the Irish.
+ You think I am Irish, but that's where you're wrong;
+ I am Scotch, but our love for the Irish is strong;
+ We gave them a saint and we'll give them a song;
+ For there's nothing too good for the Irish.
+
+
+
+
+ AN ENGLISH TOAST.
+
+ The English soil!--'tis hallowed ground:
+ Its restless children roam
+ The world, but they have never found
+ So dear a land as home;
+ Their passion for its hills and downs
+ Nor space nor time can spoil;
+ A golden mist of memory crowns
+ The good old English soil.
+
+ The English race!--its pluck and pith,
+ Its power to stay and win,--
+ Wise Alfred's, dauntless Harold's kith,
+ And Coeur de Lion's kin!
+ Sir Philip Sidney, Hampden, Noll,
+ Who sat in kingly place!
+ Wolfe, Nelson, Wellington and all
+ The good old English race!
+
+ The English speech!--the copious tongue,
+ Terse, vivid, plastic, fit,
+ Which Chaucer, Spenser loved and sung,
+ Which gave us Holy Writ;
+ Which Shakespeare, Milton used, to write,
+ Which Taylor used, to preach,
+ And Pitt, to speak, as we to-night--
+ The good old English speech!
+
+ "St. George and Merrie England!"--still
+ The stirring phrase imparts
+ Warmth to the blood, and sends a thrill
+ Through more than English hearts.
+ God save Old England by His grace!
+ We all alike beseech,
+ Who know the English soil or race
+ And speak the English speech.
+
+
+
+
+ THE SCOT.
+
+ That no Scotsman is perfect, we freely confess,
+ Nor has been since the time of the fall;
+ Yet we think, notwithstanding and nevertheless,
+ He is "nae sheep-shank bane," after all.
+ "Sic excellent pairts" as he has will atone
+ For the lack of a tittle or jot;
+ And, although we don't boast, it is very well known
+ For some things you must go to a Scot.
+
+ If you want a sweet song that comes straight from the heart
+ Of a man who had few for his peers,
+ An approved son of genius and master of art.
+ And a lover, with laughter and tears;
+ A song that gives honor to personal worth,
+ And ennobles the lowliest lot,
+ And makes brothers of all who inhabit the earth;
+ You must go "for a' that" to a Scot.
+
+ If you want a good story, entrancingly told,
+ By a genuine king of the pen,
+ A right royal dispenser of things new and old,
+ And a faithful portrayer of men;
+ A tale that will brighten your work and your play,
+ And will do what some others do not,--
+ Give you knowledge and wisdom and heart for the fray;
+ You will go to Sir Walter, the Scot.
+
+ If you want the high spirit that scorns to make truce
+ With a foeman on suppliant knee,
+ The untameable will of a Wallace or Bruce,
+ Or the dash of a Bonnie Dundee;
+ Fierce courage that nothing on earth can subdue,
+ Sense of honor that shrinks from a blot,
+ Inexhaustible loyalty, loving and true,
+ You will find them to-day in a Scot.
+
+ If you want an intense love of country and kin,
+ An attachment as tender as strong,
+ That can gar the blood leap when the pipers begin,
+ And the tear start at sound of a song;
+ A grand patriotic devotion and pride,
+ That makes sanctified ground of the spot
+ Where a Scotsman for freedom has suffered and died;
+ You will find what you want in a Scot.
+
+ If you want a hale-bodied and clear-headed chiel,
+ Independent and honest and good,
+ With a hand that can do and a heart that can feel,
+ And tenacious of purpose--and shrewd;
+ Whose thrift makes the face of prosperity smile,
+ Who's contented with what he has got,
+ But is ready and careful to add to his pile;
+ You may find what you want in a Scot.
+
+ Gin ye wush a douce body, auldfarrant and gash,
+ Unco' waukrife and couthie and braw,
+ Ower eydent wi' daft clishmaclavers to fash,
+ Or to thole whigmaleeries ava;
+ Mak's nae collieshangie wad fley a bit flee,
+ But is siccer and dour as a stot;
+ Tak's the scone and the kebbuck and carries the gree;
+ Ye'll be spierin', gude faith! for a Scot.
+
+
+GLOSSARY.--"Nae sheep-shank bane" (Burns), no unimportant person;
+"gars," makes; "chiel," fellow; "gin," if; "wush," wish; "douce,"
+sober; "auldfarrant," wise; "gash," sagacious; "unco," uncommonly;
+"waukrife," wideawake; "couthie," kindly; "braw," handsome; "ower,"
+over; "eydent," busy; "daft," foolish; "clishmaclavers," idle talk;
+"fash," trouble; "thole," bear; "whigmaleeries," crotchets; "ava," at
+all; "collieshangie," commotion; "fley," disturb; "siccer," steady;
+"dour," stubborn; "stot," ox; "scone," a cake; "kebbuck," a cheese;
+"carries the gree" (Burns), has the pre-eminence; "spierin'," inquiring.
+
+
+
+
+ THE ROARIN' GAME.
+
+ The roarin' game, the roarin' game,
+ From Scotland's bonnie land it came,
+ The land of loch and firth and ben,
+ And comely dames and stalwart men;
+ It crossed the broad Atlantic tide
+ With Scots who came to dwell this side,
+ And bring our country wealth and fame,
+ The roarin' game, the roarin' game.
+
+ The roarin' game, the roarin' game
+ Makes every land to Scotsmen "hame";
+ Where'er the winter's breath congeals
+ The water, see the sturdy "chiels"
+ With "stane" and besom play and sweep,
+ Intently gaze, and shout and leap,
+ With genial fervor all aflame:--
+ The roarin' game, the roarin' game.
+
+ The roarin' game, the roarin' game,
+ Though stupid folk may think it tame,
+ Affect the smile that wisdom casts
+ On rattle-brained enthusiasts,
+ And jest in condescending tones
+ Of boys and marbles, men and stones;
+ 'Tis fine enjoyment just the same,
+ The roarin' game, the roarin' game.
+
+ The roarin' game, the roarin' game
+ Its meed of praise may justly claim:
+ As firm as ice upon the pond
+ It is of hearts a brother bond;
+ It trains us to be wise and true
+ In all we undertake to do,
+ And fits for every higher aim,
+ The roarin' game, the roarin' game,
+
+ The roarin' game, the roarin' game
+ Will never give us cause for shame,
+ No shattered nerves and aching heads,
+ Bad consciences and nameless dreads,
+ But health and strength and minds serene
+ And kindly hearts and friendly mien:
+ No honest tongue will e'er defame
+ The roarin' game, the roarin' game.
+
+
+
+
+ THE OLD SCOTTISH MINISTER.
+
+ A man he was of Scottish race,
+ And ancient Scottish name;
+ Of common mould, but lofty mien,
+ That dignified his frame.
+ And he lived a humble, quiet life,
+ Obscure, unknown to fame;
+ God's glory and the good of man
+ His constant, only aim:
+ Like a fine old Scottish minister,
+ All of the olden time.
+
+ He dearly loved his gentle wife,
+ As everyone could tell;
+ And watched his children as they grew,
+ Lest any ill befell;
+ And as he looked upon his boys
+ His bosom oft would swell;
+ For he reared them in the fear of God,
+ And ruled his household well:
+ Like a true old Scottish minister,
+ All of the olden time.
+
+ A father, too, he was to all
+ His congregation there:
+ To all he felt a father's love,
+ And showed a father's care:
+ He wisely counselled them with speech,
+ And pled for them in prayer;
+ And ever for the needy ones
+ He something had to spare:
+ Like a kind old Scottish minister,
+ All of the olden time.
+
+ The servant of the Lord he was,
+ In hovel and in hall,--
+ The high ambassador of heaven
+ Whom earth could not enthrall;
+ Like Christ among the wedding guests,
+ Or by the funeral pall;
+ And he made his daily life sublime,
+ A pattern unto all:
+ Like a grand old Scottish minister,
+ All of the olden time.
+
+ For truth and righteousness and love
+ His voice was ever heard;
+ And minds were kindled into thought,
+ And consciences were stirred,
+ And weary, heavy-laden hearts
+ To faith and hope were spurred,
+ As from the pulpit he proclaimed
+ The everlasting Word:
+ Like a faithful Scottish minister,
+ All of the olden time.
+
+ And when, amid his elders grave,
+ Extended in a line
+ Beside the table of the Lord,
+ He kept the rite divine,
+ His face with a rapt, unearthly look
+ Was seen to strangely shine,
+ As he broke the white, symbolic bread,
+ And passed the sacred wine:
+ Like a saintly Scottish minister,
+ All of the olden time.
+
+ His lot was hard, his task severe;
+ He found the burden light:
+ When darkly o'er his pathway hung
+ The shadows of the night,
+ His heart was steadfast, for he walked
+ By faith, and not by sight;
+ And ran triumphantly his course,
+ And fought a goodly fight:
+ Like a brave old Scottish minister,
+ All of the olden time.
+
+ And when upon a summer's day
+ He laid him down to die,
+ He called his household to his side
+ Without a moan or sigh,
+ And blessed his children each in turn,
+ And said a fond good-bye,
+ And then consigned his soul to God,
+ And went to live on high:
+ Like a good old Scottish minister,
+ All of the olden time.
+
+
+
+
+ THE MACS.
+
+ There's a race, or a part of a race, if you will,
+ Of renown prehistoric, and vigorous still,
+ Who back from their fastnesses scornfully hurl'd
+ The redoubtable legions that trampled the world;
+ They repelled, and they only, the Roman attacks,
+ The stalwart, courageous, impetuous Macs.
+
+ When the red-bearded pirates, the Saxons and Danes
+ And Angles, came swarming across the sea plains,
+ And the old British stock to exterminate tried,
+ Caledonia and Erin their efforts defied;
+ And the conquering Normans were glad to make tracks
+ From the Macs and the Mics (who are properly Macs).
+
+ Their proud patronymics, they rightfully hold,
+ Proclaim them descended from heroes of old.--
+ Illustrious titles that throw in the shade
+ The dukedoms and earldoms but yesterday made;
+ And even the King with his royalty lacks
+ A lineage as ancient as that of the Macs.
+
+ They are old and yet young, with a spirit possest
+ By the dream of the East and the hope of the West;
+ The earth is their country, the race is their kin;
+ In populous cities their guerdon they win,
+ And in gold miners' cabins and lumbermen's shacks
+ You will find the ubiquitous, venturesome Macs.
+
+ Distinguished they've been with the sword and the pen;
+ In pulpit and parliament, leaders of men;
+ Prime ministers, presidents, merchants, viziers,
+ They have manag'd the business of both hemispheres;
+ And the Dago day-laborers laying the tracks
+ Are boss'd by the Macs or the Mics (who are Macs).
+
+ 'Twas thought by the ancients that Atlas upbore
+ The sphere on his shoulders--'tis thought so no more;
+ Prometheus and Atlas and all of their kith,
+ The Titans, are now but a fable, a myth.
+ The men who are bearing the world on their backs
+ Are the Macs and the Mics (who are mixed with the Macs).
+
+
+
+
+ THE PARSON AT THE HOCKEY MATCH.
+
+ It's very disagreeable to sit here in the cold,
+ And a sinful waste of time--ah, well, it's too late now to scold;
+ I'll think about my sermon and my prayers for Sunday next,
+ And the young folks may be happy--let me see--what was my text?
+ But what a throng of people--an immortal soul in each:
+ With such an audience this would be a splendid place to preach.
+ I'd have the pulpit half-way down--what ice! without a smirch!
+ Here are the men--I wonder if they ever go to church.
+ "The teams?" Ah, yes, "the forwards, point, and cover-point and goal";
+ Thank you, my dear, I understand--is that a lump of coal?
+ "Rubber?" Ah, yes, "The puck?" just so! One's holding it, I see--
+ That fellow with his clothes all on--ah, that's the referee.
+ What was he whistling for--his dog? Why, they've begun to play;
+ Well, well, that's rough; I really think we're doing wrong to stay.
+ It's sickening, deafening; dear! I wish this uproar could be stilled.
+ I do sincerely trust there'll not be anybody killed.
+
+ It's a wondrous exhibition of alertness, speed, and strength.
+ I suppose there's not much danger--there's a fellow at full length.
+ He's up again; that's plucky. Well, the little lad has pluck--
+ And now he's master of the ice, possessor of the puck.
+ He dodges two opponents, but collides with one at last,
+ A Philistine Goliath--David baffles him and fast
+ Darts onward o'er the whitening sheet, while from each crowded row
+ The crazed spectators cheer him on--Look!--has he lost it? No!
+ He's clear again. Played, played, my boy. I'd like to see him score:--
+ (I'll have no voice for Sunday if I shout like this much more)--
+ But there his ruthless enemies o'erwhelm him in a shoal--
+ Well played, you hero, safely passed. Now for a shot on goal.
+ Shoot, shoot, you duffer; shoot, you goose, you ass, you great galoot,
+ You addle-pated idiot, you nincompoop, you--shoot!
+ You've lost it! Never mind--well tried--that other dash was grand.
+ Why do they stop? "Off side," you say? I don't quite understand.
+ That's puzzling. I suppose it's right. I wish they'd not delay.
+ This is a most provoking interruption to the play.
+
+ "Cold?" Nothing of the sort. I was--I'm heated with the game.
+ I'm really enjoying it; indeed, I'm glad I came.
+ I'd like to see both ends at once; I can't from where we sit.
+ They've scored one yonder--What's the row? A player has been hit?
+ Such things are bound to happen in a rapid game like this;
+ They'll soon resume the play, my dear; there's nothing much amiss,--
+ Some trifling accident received in a rough body check,
+ A shoulder dislocated or a fracture of the neck.
+ Oh, no, it's nothing serious--the game begins again.
+ They're here, a writhing, struggling mass of half a dozen men
+ Battling and groaning with the strife, and breathing hard and fast,
+ Swayed back and forth and stooping low like elms before the blast,
+ Changing their places like a fleet of vessels tempest-driven
+ That blindly meet within the waves and part with timbers riven,
+ Waving their sticks with frantic zeal--But isn't this a sight?
+ My goodness! I could sit and watch a game like this all night.
+ There, dirty trousers, there's your chance. Muffed it! Why weren't
+ you quick?
+ This is a sight to make the sad rejoice, to heal the sick,
+ To rouse the drones and give them life to last them half a year--
+ Hit him again!--I wish I had my congregation here.
+
+ My stars! and this is hockey. Hockey's the king of sports.
+ This is the thing to come to when you're feeling out of sorts.
+ This is the greatest holiday I've had for many weeks.
+ This helps one to appreciate the feeling of the Greeks.
+ I understand my Homer now--O Hercules, behold
+ Yon Trojan giant, he that's cast in an Olympian mould,
+ Ye gods, he more than doubled up that other stalwart cove--
+ Here comes swift-footed Mercury, the messenger of Jove.
+ Adown the blue, outstripping all, he speeds. Oh, what a spurt!
+ His shoulders have no wings, but see, he has them on his shirt.
+ He's broken through the forward line, baffled the cover-point,
+ Thrown down the other man and knocked their game all out of joint.
+ And now he rushes on the goal--this makes the senses reel--
+ Goal! goal! hurrah! hurrah! well done, men of the winged wheel!
+
+ At last--how soon!--the game is done; I've scarcely drawn a breath.
+ This getting out is difficult; I'm almost crushed to death.
+ The cars are packed; how we'll get home I'm sure I do not know.
+ Here's room for you; get up, my dears; I'll walk; away you go.
+
+ My sermon's gone, but as I walk I cannot help but think
+ That, after all, perhaps I've found a sermon in the rink.
+
+ This world is an arena with a slippery sheet of ice,
+ And all have skates and hockey sticks and enter without price.
+ And seats are round for those who rest--the idle and the old;
+ But those who are not in the game are apt to find it cold.
+ Some play defence, some forward, with terrific speed and stress.
+ The puck keeps flying 'twixt the goals of failure and success,
+ Now up, now down, across and back, here, there, and everywhere.
+
+ The grit of skates, the crack of sticks, the shouting, fill the air.
+ Some slip and fall a thousand times and spring up in a trice;
+ Some go to pieces on their feet and have to leave the ice;
+ Some play offside, kick, tackle, trip, try every kind of foul;
+ Some players are forever cheered, some only get a howl.
+ We seldom hear the whistle of the watchful Referee,
+ Who mostly lets the game go on as if He didn't see.
+ No gong rings out half-time to let the players get their breath--
+ To most full time comes only with the solemn stroke of death.
+ The winners are not always those who make the biggest score:
+ The vanquished oft are victors when the stubborn game is o'er;
+ For many things are added to make up the grand amount,
+ And everything is taken at the last into account--
+ The sort of sticks we played with, and the way our feet were shod,
+ For the trophy is Salvation and the Referee is God.
+
+ God prosper our Canadian sports and keep them clean and pure,
+ Whole-hearted, manly, generous, and let them long endure!
+ Long live each honest winter sport, each good Canadian game,
+ To train the youth in lusty health and iron strength of frame,
+ To make them noble, vigorous, straightforward, ardent, bold,
+ Nearer a perfect standard than the grandest knights of old.
+
+ Keep in the path of rectitude the young throughout the land,
+ And guide them ever on their way by thine unerring hand,
+ Along the slippery path of life in safety toward the goal,
+ And keep their bodies holy as the temples of the soul:
+ For the river of the future from the present's fountain runs,
+ And a nation's hope is founded on the virtue of her sons.
+
+ The glory of a man is strength, Thy wisdom hath declared:
+ Let strength increase, and strength of frame with strength of will
+ be paired,
+ And let these twain go hand in hand with strength of heart and mind,
+ And strength of character present all forms of strength combined.
+ Oh, make out strength the strength of men to perfect stature grown,
+ And use it for thine ends and turn man's glory to thine own.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Canada, My Land, by W. M. MacKeracher
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