 | The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer |  |
329
OUR PIONEERS.
“Fortes ereantur fortibus et bonis.”
Thanks to the son of art whose hand
Has nobly labored to portray
The features of that gallant band
Who pioneered for us the way.
Has nobly labored to portray
The features of that gallant band
Who pioneered for us the way.
Bold forest-tamers! they have scared
The wild beast from his savage den—
Our uplands to the sunshine bared,
And clothed with beauty hill and glen.
The wild beast from his savage den—
Our uplands to the sunshine bared,
And clothed with beauty hill and glen.
And never in the battle's van
Have men at death more calmly smiled
Than our first settlers who began
The work of culture in the wild.
Have men at death more calmly smiled
Than our first settlers who began
The work of culture in the wild.
The perils of a frontier life
They braved with breasts of iron mould,
And sternly waged victorious strife
With famine, thirst, and pinching cold.
They braved with breasts of iron mould,
And sternly waged victorious strife
With famine, thirst, and pinching cold.
They vanish from us, one by one,
In death's unlighted realm to sleep,
And, oh! degenerate is the son
Who would not some memorial keep:
In death's unlighted realm to sleep,
And, oh! degenerate is the son
Who would not some memorial keep:
Whose sordid heart yearns not to save
A transcript of their reverend faces,
When the dark curtains of the grave
Have closed around their coffin-cases.
A transcript of their reverend faces,
When the dark curtains of the grave
Have closed around their coffin-cases.
The car of steam is thundering by
The place where blazed their cabin-fires.
And where rang out the panther's cry
Thought speeds along electric wires.
The place where blazed their cabin-fires.
And where rang out the panther's cry
Thought speeds along electric wires.
330
They toiled, that WE the prize might share—
They conquered, that WE might possess,
Converting to our Eden fair
The terrors of the wilderness.
They conquered, that WE might possess,
Converting to our Eden fair
The terrors of the wilderness.
The bard, with soul to beauty wed,
Is filled with rapture to behold
The portraits of the mighty dead
That crowd the galleries of old.
Is filled with rapture to behold
The portraits of the mighty dead
That crowd the galleries of old.
While the weird light of painting warms
The pictured canvas on the walls,
Attended by majestic forms,
The solemn past unlocks its halls.
The pictured canvas on the walls,
Attended by majestic forms,
The solemn past unlocks its halls.
I deem those hearts of little worth,
In view of such a pageant bright,
And lodged in frames of common earth,
That wake not to a wild delight.
In view of such a pageant bright,
And lodged in frames of common earth,
That wake not to a wild delight.
Lo! Power resumes his ancient reign—
Wrecks change to cities on the shore;
All that was dead revives again,
All that was lost is found once more.
Wrecks change to cities on the shore;
All that was dead revives again,
All that was lost is found once more.
The martyr at the stake still bears
Unflinching witness to the truth,
And freedom's scarred apostle wears
The glory of a second youth:—
Unflinching witness to the truth,
And freedom's scarred apostle wears
The glory of a second youth:—
And the “gray fathers” who have laid
An empire's deep foundation here,
In life-like tints should be portrayed
When generations disappear.
An empire's deep foundation here,
In life-like tints should be portrayed
When generations disappear.
While heirs to win as pure renown,
By their example taught—endeavor,
Their honored faces should look down
From consecrated walls forever.
By their example taught—endeavor,
Their honored faces should look down
From consecrated walls forever.
| The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer | |