Page:A Treasury of South African Poetry.djvu/145

 PAST AND PRESENT. the waters wild and deep, Where the storm-waves roll, and the storm-winds sweep— Over the waters see them come! Breasting the billow's curling foam, Fathers for children seeking a home— In Afric's Southern Wilds.

Wilderness lands of brake and glen, The wolf's and the panther's gloomy den; Wilderness plains where the springbok bounds, And the lion's voice from the hills resounds; And the vulture circles in airy rounds— Are Afric's Southern Wilds.

"Hand to the labour! heart and hand! Our sons shall inherit an altered land. Harvests shall wave o'er the virgin soil, Cottages stand, and gardens smile, And the songs of our children the hours beguile— 'Mid Afric's Southern Wilds.

"Make we the pride of the forest yield; Wrest from the wilderness field on field; And to brighten our hope, and lighten our care, And gain the aid of our Father there, Raise we to heaven the voice of prayer— From Afric's Southern Wilds."