So for one the wet sail arching through the rainbow round the bow,
And for one the creak of snow-shoes on the crust;
And for one the lakeside lilies where the bull-moose waits the cow,
And for one the mule-train coughing in the dust.
Who hath smelt wood-smoke at twilight? Who hath heard the birch-log
burning?
Who is quick to read the noises of the night?
Let him follow with the others, for the Young Men’s feet are
turning
To the camps of proved desire and known delight!
_Let him go--go_, etc.
I
Do you know the blackened timber--do you know that racing stream
With the raw, right-angled log-jam at the end;
And the bar of sun-warmed shingle where a man may bask and dream
To the click of shod canoe-poles round the bend?
It is there that we are going with our rods and reels and traces,
To a silent, smoky Indian that we know--
To a couch of new-pulled hemlock with the starlight on our faces,
For the Red Gods call us out and we must go!
_They must go--go_, etc.
II
Do you know the shallow Baltic where the seas are steep and short,
Where the bluff, lee-boarded fishing-luggers ride?
Do you know the joy of threshing leagues to leeward of your port
On a coast you’ve lost the chart of overside?
It is there that I am going, with an extra hand to bale her--
Just one able ’long-shore loafer that I know.
He can take his chance of drowning, while I sail and sail and sail
her,
For the Red Gods call me out and I must go!
_He must go--go_, etc.
III
Do you know the pile-built village where the sago-dealers trade--
Do you know the reek of fish and wet bamboo?
Do you know the steaming stillness of the orchid-scented glade
When the blazoned, bird-winged butterflies flap through?
It is there that I am going with my camphor, net, and boxes,
To a gentle, yellow pirate that I know--
To my little wailing lemurs, to my palms and flying-foxes,
For the Red Gods call me out and I must go!
_He must go--go_, etc.
IV
Do you know the world’s white roof-tree--do you know that windy rift
Where the baffling mountain-eddies chop and change?
Do you know the long day’s patience, belly-down on frozen drift,
While the head of heads is feeding out of range?
It is there that I am going, where the boulders and the snow lie,
With a trusty, nimble tracker that I know.
I have sworn an oath, to keep it on the Horns of Ovis Poli,
And the Red Gods call me out and I must go!
_He must go--go_, etc.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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