Part 7 (1/2)
THE WORD OF AN ENGINEER
”She's built of steel From deck to keel, And bolted strong and tight; In scorn she'll sail The fiercest gale, And pierce the darkest night.
”The builder's art Has proved each part Throughout her breadth and length; Deep in the hulk, Of her mighty bulk, Ten thousand t.i.tans' strength.”
The tempest howls, The Ice Wolf prowls, The winds they s.h.i.+ft and veer, But calm I sleep, And faith I keep In the word of an engineer.
Along the trail Of the slender rail The train, like a nightmare, flies And dashes on Through the black-mouthed yawn Where the cavernous tunnel lies.
Over the ridge, Across the bridge, Swung twixt the sky and h.e.l.l, On an iron thread Spun from the head Of the man in a draughtsman's cell.
And so we ride Over land and tide, Without a thought of fear-- _Man never had The faith in G.o.d That he has in an engineer!_
LIFE
Out of the infinite sea of eternity To climb, and for an instant stand Upon an island speck of time.
From the impa.s.sible peace of the darkness To wake, and blink at the garish light Through one short hour of fretfulness.
SLEEP
O Sleep, thou kindest minister to man, Silent distiller of the balm of rest, How wonderful thy power, when naught else can, To soothe the torn and sorrow-laden breast!
When bleeding hearts no comforter can find, When burdened souls droop under weight of woe, When thought is torture to the troubled mind, When grief-relieving tears refuse to flow; 'Tis then thou comest on soft-beating wings, And sweet oblivion's peace from them is shed; But ah, the old pain that the waking brings!
That lives again so soon as thou art fled!
Man, why should thought of death cause thee to weep; Since death be but an endless, dreamless sleep?
PRAYER AT SUNRISE
O mighty, powerful, dark-dispelling sun, Now thou art risen, and thy day begun.
How shrink the shrouding mists before thy face, As up thou spring'st to thy diurnal race!
How darkness chases darkness to the west, As shades of light on light rise radiant from thy crest!
For thee, great source of strength, emblem of might, In hours of darkest gloom there is no night.