The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse
The Arctic Indians FaithThomas DArcy McGee (18251868)
W
Through our land of ice and snow;
We know not His face, we know not His place,
But His presence and power we know.
To find his pathway far?
What guide has he to the hidden ford,
Or where the green pastures are?
Is peering out of the shade?
Who teacheth the doe and the fawn to run
In the track the moose has made?
Spirit of earth and sky;
Who hears with the Wapiti’s eager ear
His poor red children’s cry.
That stirs the birch canoe;
Who hangs the reindeer moss on the trees
For the food of the caribou.
Through our land of ice and snow;
We know not His face, we know not His place,
But His presence and power we know.