The Pilgrims, and Other Poems

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1907. Excerpt: ... Sun-tanned, storm-hardened, honest, keen-eyed, Live on the waters that bound and adorn us, Feeding the hosts of the children of men. So when ye pass the city's great markets, Pause for a space at the fishermen's stalls, Where half-buried in glittering ice lie Rigid in rows, with their glassy eyes staring, Wide mouths gaping as if in surprise, Brilliantly-colored with green and vermilion, Yellow or spotted with stripes or with bars, Fishes of all the varied sea-families, Snatched from their homes in the depths of the waters; Then oh remember the labor involved, The infinite perils, the heart-pangs of partings--Pause, breathe a prayer for those men and pass on! 8--THE ROAD MAKERS Con brio OVER the hilltops of New England the first rough roads, Well-called highways, ran, Dotted here and there with the settlers' unpainted abodes. Built on a primitive plan; Everywhere commanding the country in case of surprise By wolf or Indian. Rocky here, or crossing a ledge, and here deep in sand, Gullied by torrents of rain, White, unshaded, with dangerous gulches on either hand, Narrower than a lane, So that if two wagons met the drivers would angrily argue--To pass without thrust were in vain. Here the farmer by working a day once a month could pay The bulk of his county tax; With his cart and his horse he would fill with sods or with clay The damaged and rutted tracks, Or in winter with his ox-team force a way Through the deep snow's drifted packs. Now when a road must be built they invoke the assistance of Science; Surveyors, with compass and chain, Putting the bulwark of hills or the river's vast width to defiance, Conquering forest and plain, Joining with the forces of Nature in splendid and fertile alliance Human genius and brain. Follow the fellers of forests and d...