With a sigh for the unknown land fevering his brain, With a pulse as strong as the engine-beat on the rail; With muscle like blue steel hewn for a ship on the main, He crossed the Divide, he mastered the wild trail. No flood of the dark Missouri, no white-hot plain, Could stay the soul of his yearning, could wreck his dream. No mountain-storm in its fury, no savage train Could daunt or defeat: he followed the flying Gleam. He conquered. Men knew his glory, and followed his sign. They swarmed, and followed till Earth was full of the tale. He rose as a hero looms on a battle-line, When the roads are ruts and the whistling balls a gale. So was he hardened, heightened, and given his might To build the State and lift the Law for light. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...INSPIRATION (2) by HENRY DAVID THOREAU GRECIAN KINDNESS: A SONG by JOHN WILMOT BETSY LEE by THOMAS EDWARD BROWN LINES ON HEARING THAT LADY BYRON WAS ILL by GEORGE GORDON BYRON |