BUILDERS OF HIGHWAYS
From everywhere under the dusty sun—
From Mosier, White Salmon, Pendleton,
From Boise, Seattle, Saginaw,
From Buffalo, Little Rock, Waukesha;
Still we are coming, see the train—
From "all points east" to Bangor, Maine;
Up from the Dixies, looming still,
From Charleston, Havana, Jacksonville;
Down from the Old Dominion, see—
From Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary,
We of the people are on our way,
Turning the world to a holiday!
From Mosier, White Salmon, Pendleton,
From Boise, Seattle, Saginaw,
From Buffalo, Little Rock, Waukesha;
Still we are coming, see the train—
From "all points east" to Bangor, Maine;
Up from the Dixies, looming still,
From Charleston, Havana, Jacksonville;
Down from the Old Dominion, see—
From Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary,
We of the people are on our way,
Turning the world to a holiday!
And vast are the hollows from crest to crest
Where stretches the hand of the big Northwest
And out of the winds from her frozen peaks
A welcome speaks:
"Come all you people! Come and keep
Tryst in our mountains! Play and sleep,
Wrapped in the silence here that lies
Under our star-jeweled western skies;
Wake if you will and see the sun
Unveiling our canyons one by one,
Slanting his golden fingers till
The shadows have crept from each drowsy hill,
Rousing the giants in their beds—
See how they lift their hoary heads
Where stretches the hand of the big Northwest
And out of the winds from her frozen peaks
A welcome speaks:
"Come all you people! Come and keep
Tryst in our mountains! Play and sleep,
Wrapped in the silence here that lies
Under our star-jeweled western skies;
Wake if you will and see the sun
Unveiling our canyons one by one,
Slanting his golden fingers till
The shadows have crept from each drowsy hill,
Rousing the giants in their beds—
See how they lift their hoary heads
[13]
