Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A HEALTH AT THE FORD, by ROBERT CAMERON ROGERS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A HEALTH AT THE FORD, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Broncho dan halts midway of the stream
Last Line: "to-day at deadman's bar."


BRONCHO DAN halts midway of the stream,
Sucking up the water that goes tugging at his knees;
High noon and dry noon, -- to-day it doesn't seem
As if the country ever knew the blessing of a breeze.
A torn felt hat with the brim cockled up,
A dip from the saddle -- there you are --
It's the brew of old Snake River in a cowboy's drinking-cup --
At the ford of Deadman's Bar.

"Now for a toast, a health before we go, --
A health to the life that makes living worth a try;
A long drink, a deep drink, it's bumpers,
Dan, you know;
No heel-taps now, old pony, you must drink the river dry!
Here's to her then, --every sunrise knows her name,
I've given it away to every star;
Cold water in a hat! Pretty tough, but what of that? --
It's the best -- at Deadman's Bar.

"Where Summer camps all the year by the sea,
By the broad Pacific where your widened waters pour,
Old Snake River, take a message down for me,
Tell the waves that sing to her along the Southern Shore;
Say that I'm a-rustling, though the trail that leads to wealth
Is mighty hard to find and dim and far,
But tell her that I love her, and say I drank her health
To-day at Deadman's Bar."





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