[British-born Canadian Poet — 1874-1958.]
Author of "The Spell of the Yukon", "Ballads of a Cheechako", etc.
1912 edition, 1917 printing [Some very minor changes have been made in spelling and punctuation after consulting another edition.] </h5 I have no doubt at all the Devil grins, As seas of ink I spatter. Ye gods, forgive my "literary" sins — The other kind don't matter.
RHYMES OF A ROLLING STONE
Prelude
I sing no idle songs of dalliance days,
No dreams Elysian inspire my rhyming;
I have no Celia to enchant my lays,
No pipes of Pan have set my heart to chiming.
I am no wordsmith dripping gems divine
Into the golden chalice of a sonnet;
If love songs witch you, close this book of mine,
Waste no time on it.
Yet bring I to my work an eager joy,
A lusty love of life and all things human;
Still in me leaps the wonder of the boy,
A pride in man, a deathless faith in woman.
Still red blood calls, still rings the valiant fray;
Adventure beacons through the summer gloaming:
Oh long and long and long will be the day
Ere I come homing!
This earth is ours to love: lute, brush and pen,
They are but tongues to tell of life sincerely;
The thaumaturgic Day, the might of men,
O God of Scribes, grant us to grave them clearly!
Grant heart that homes in heart, then all is well.
Honey is honey-sweet, howe'er the hiving.
Each to his work, his wage at evening bell
The strength of striving.
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