Page:The roamer and other poems (1920).djvu/131

Rh To ruins known, that crumble in the sun,

Shadowless, noiseless, lifeless, left of man

Unto the footing of forgotten years

And years to be forgotten; rubble and stone

Made difficult the way; but soon o'ercrost,

The dismal tract upon the level plain

Showed like a wave, black-crested, on the sea,

Horizon-high; now straight before rose up

What seemed a natural stone of antique rite,

A boulder rude; and, thither drawing close,

The Roamer heard one cry who stood erect

Beneath it, like a guardian of a gate,

And like a leveled spear his challenge was:

"What dost thou in this haunt of memory

Where I abide, alone of all my race,

Exiled from man?" The Roamer touched at heart,

Made answer, "Exile too am I;

A stranger from new lands and seas far off,

I seek the fair companions of my soul

Whom life to me denied, nor could I know

Their light and leading, nor their burden share.

I pray thee to receive me as a friend."

"A friend!" The sigh he drew echoed a woe

From long-past years beyond the reach of time,

And more the lover than the warrior showed

In his remembering eyes and wistful tones;