Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts (1860–1943)

HE, who, but yesterday would roam

Careless as clouds and currents range,

In homeless wandering most at home,

Inhabiter of change:

Who wooed the West to win the East,

And named the stars of North and South,

And felt the zest of Freedom’s feast

Familiar in his mouth:

Who found a faith in stranger speech,

And fellowship in foreign hands,

And had within his eager reach

The relish of all lands—

How circumscribed a plot of earth

Keeps now his restless footsteps still,

Whose wish was wide as ocean’s girth,

Whose will the water’s will!