Oh, it isn't for the money and it isn't for the fame And it isn't for the plaudits or the cheers, But for joy that's in the working and for fun that's in the game That we've taken up the trade of Engineers. We may camouflage ideals with some babble—mostly sham— Of our wish to mount the money-temple's stairs, But when it comes to cases we don't give a tinker's dam For the millions of a dozen millionaires. We don't pose as brave crusaders, but we certainly crusade In an everlasting fight with mother earth, Every bridge that we have builded, every tunnel we have made Every line that belts the planetary girth Is a monument of struggle for the betterment of man And we did it, as we do it, and we will By the urge of what's inside us, by the spirit of our clan And it's something more than money pays the bill! Though we like our share of treasure and the pleasure that it brings, It is something else which drives us to our goal, It's the triumph of our labor over elemental things And the Vision which gives splendor to the whole; We are members of an order that is guided on by dreams By the voices of the prophets and the seers, And unless you care for Service more than money-getting schemes You had better never join the Engineers! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE POWER OF ART by GEORGE SANTAYANA CORRESPONDENCES; HEXAMETERS AND PENTAMETERS by CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH FOR THAT HE LOOKED NOT UPON HER by GEORGE GASCOIGNE SPELT FROM SIBYL'S LEAVES by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS PREPARATORY MEDITATIONS, 1ST SERIES: 38 by EDWARD TAYLOR EASTER DAY [IN ROME] by OSCAR WILDE ON HIS MISTRESS, THE QUEEN OF BOHEMIA by HENRY WOTTON A RHYMED REVIEW; 'LAUGHING MUSE' (BY ARTHUR GUITERMAN) by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS |