THE END OF THE TRAIL
Sunset—and the end of the Trail;Here the last faint footsteps failAnd I go on aloneInto the untracked ways;I who in other daysBlazed many a road straight upTo the peaks that touch the sun—But now is the climbing done.No more to my feet the trail;No more to my hand the rein;No more—Ah! never againThe sun and the wind, and free!The far stars over me!As the Wilderness called I went;Now deep and solemn and lowA Mightier calls—and I go.Nor guide nor compass nor sign;Face out, to the uttermost dark;And the wind in the strong boughs—Hark!Paean and dirge for a king!Life, I have loved you well;Forget the rest when you tell—This soul did not falter, nor quail,Nor shrink at the end of the Trail.