FROM the iciest bergs of the Northland Mid the realms of eternal snow To the placid streams of an Eden Where the Regia lilies blow; From the East, where the Sultan's millions Bow down at the muezzin's call, To the West, where the ringing hammers Forever rise and fall; Wherever the Four Winds journey, Wherever the Earth's brown face Is mottled and blotched and teeming With the Ants of the Human Race, Wherever Man's Love of Conquest Has led Man's Foot to stray, Lord over his Hands and the Sweat of his Brow The Work-god holds his sway. He bides in the heat-swept foundry Mid the breath of the molten steel And guides the naked striking-arm With a touch it cannot feel. He enters the soul of the Artist With Nature's beauties rife, And lo, the Painted Bosom Heaves with the Breath of Life. He stands at the Seaman's elbow When the lightning's fitful gleam Lays bare the teeth of the Sisters Three And pales the Home Light's beam. He touches the brain of the Statesman Charged with a nation's cares, And clears the eye, and clams the mind, That guard the State's affairs. The creeds of Mohammed and Buddha May be marked by a race or a clime; Their beginnings and ends are known by Men, And are pricked on the Chart of Time. But behold the Creed of the Work-God Is the Creed of Forever and Aye; It began with the World's Creation, It will end with the Judgment Day. 'Twas the Creed of the Grecian galley slave As he strained at the ashen oar; 'Tis Creed to-day of the engineer When the thundering drive-wheels roar. It heeds not Race, nor Color, Nor Birth nor Boundary Line, For the Yankee is kin to the Malay At the step of the Work-god's Shrine. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE DELICACIES by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS THE RUINED MAID by THOMAS HARDY PRAYER FOR A BOY WITH A KITE by DOROTHY P. ALBAUGH PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 8. MUHAIMIN by EDWIN ARNOLD WRITTEN IN AN ALBUM by BERNARD BARTON THE BOOK OF GOD by HORATIO (HORATIUS) BONAR HINC LACHRIMAE; OR THE AUTHOR TO AURORA: 1 by WILLIAM BOSWORTH |