Knowing nought of the fall of kingdoms And palaces razed to the dust, But awaiting through endless ages The future with infinite trust. Well knowing afar in the future Were men who its beauty should see; The men who would honor its waiting, The men who as brothers would be. And knew when the Pole was a comrade, Instead of a luring den That guarded its mighty secret Away from the eyes of men; Which beckoned the brave when they sought it, Alluring them on to their doom; To mock them, their quest unaccomplished, Deserting them far in the gloom. But welcomed the few when it saw us, And glad that its waiting had passed. By yielding itself to our moulding; The first of the lands and the last. And broke, with the song of its freedom, The silence that long held it dumb: "I've waited and waited and waited! The men I awaited have come!" It told us of those who before us Had sought it, abusing its trust. But knowing the Maker's decision, Had levelled them, dust to the dust. And knew through the ages of dreaming, The day we its silence should end. Give us, as a bride to her husband, Her honor to love and defend. It knew we would shatter its secret, Forever its beauty would blight; But knew that the promise was given, "At evening it shall be light." And after the ages of waiting, Surrendered itself to our hands To fall as a child in the making, To rise as a king in the lands. Accepting the trust that it gave us, And doing our best to fulfill The plans that were laid in Creation, Obeying the Master's will. We gave it the child of its fancy, Instructions we took at its hand. The line we surveyed in location, The track that we built in the land. Some say that the end is approaching, The desert shall bloom as the rose; And back it with sundry quotations, Selected from Biblical prose. So we further Creation's purpose, The eve of Eternity's dawn When the Master shall say "It is finished," And Gabriel blows his horn. MY PAL The Rhyme of the Old Pioneer You're old and you're dirty, I know. You've laid in the mud and the snow. Were you ever so old, And whatever the cold, Your dirt had a treasure below. When grub and the water was low, You'd ever your faithfulness show. And you'd never complain, When again and again The blizzards would over us blow. We've travelled together, I've said; You've followed wherever I've led. And you never have failed, On the path we have trailed, My dirty old comf'table bed. THE UNASKED QUESTION We ask them "When?" and "Where?" but never "Why?" In the land of new beginnings, there's a question never asked, There are reasons into which we never pry. Silent men who seek our friendship with a page forever passed, They have come, we never seek to ask them "Why?"