The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse
The PlayersBliss Carman (18611929)
W
As old as earth,
Between the wings of night and day,
With tears and mirth.
From whence it came,
No legend of the playwright’s hand,
No bruited fame
On that first night,
When God drew up His curtain vast,
And there was light.
From age to age,
Flare up the footlights of the dawn
On this round stage.
Vague shadows loom;
And sounds like muttering winds are there
Foreboding doom.
And as we mend
The blundering forgotten words,
Hope to the end
Fill our desire,
When the dark Prompter gives us pause
And we retire.