The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse
The FutureGeorge Frederick Cameron (18541885)
O P
Of the dead Present, bid thee hail!
Come forth and speak,—our speech shall die:
Come forth and sing,—our song shall fail:
Our speech, our song fall barren,—we go by!
And beats to bursting at the wrong:
There never sets a sun but tells
Of weak ones trampled down by strong,
Of Truth and Justice both immured in cells.
A maze of high desires and aims;
Would seek a prize, but, ah! our eyes
Fail as we face the fallen fames
Of the great world’s Olympian games.
Grow heartsick at the sight, and choose
To hold in fee what things there be
Rather than in the hazard use,—
Than stake the all we have—to lose!
An ever-upward sloping way;
Deep chasms and dark are round us spread
And bale-fires beckon us astray:
But thou shalt stand upon the mountain head.
And see the mist of error flee,
And see the happy suns arise
Of happier days that are to be,—
On greener, gladder earth, and clearer skies.
The dawn afar: thine eye shalt see
The full and perfect day unfold,—
The full and perfect day to be,
When Justice shall return as lovely as of old.
In words of subtle, silver sound,—
In words not futile now, nor weak,
To all the nations listening round
Until they seek the light,—nor vainly seek!
That, when your day-star rises clear,—
A perfect splendour in the air,—
A glory ever, far and near,—
Ye write such words—as these of those who were!