Page:Songs, Legends, and Ballads.djvu/286

272 Ah! could that sister see the future day When her own wealth and strength are shorn away, And she, lone mother then, puts forth her hand To rest on kindred blood in that far land; Could she but see that kin deny her claim Because of nothing owing her but shame,— Then might she learn 'tis building but to fall, If carted rubble be the basement-wall.

But this my tale, if tale it be, begins Before the young land saw the old land's sins Sail up the orient ocean, like a cloud Far-blown, and widening as it neared,—a shroud Fate-sent to wrap the bier of all things pure, And mark the leper-land while stains endure.

In the far days, the few who sought the West Were men all guileless, in adventurous quest Of lands to feed their flocks and raise their grain, And help them live their lives with less of pain Than crowded Europe lets her children know.