Sioux County pioneer. (Fort Yates, Sioux County, N.D.) 1914-1929, 1921-02-17
/. THE WOODS
BY DOUGLAS MAILocH
THE sLETTER.

Il ] g. -. d
II CAN'T tell you, girl. how love you
j it is something the woods never
teach;
I can lie all the night and think Of you.
but. I can't put the matter in speech
But it's love like the blue skies above you
that around the whole universe reach.
It is love that is wide as the arches Of
stars from the east to the west;
Il is love that is long an the marches Of
sunrise to sunset and rest:
It Is love that Is strong as the larches
that mount TO earths uttermost
crest. @ WIN
In the woods we are rougher than others
you know in the parlors OF town:
To the wolf and the wild we are brothers,
we are kin to the creatures of brown:
It ts long since we Icrept to our mothers
aud slept on our pillows Of down.
For we sleep in the huts OF the humble
and we live on q sturdier fare;
And the music we hear is the rumble Of
thunders Of earth and Of air
Where the pine and the tamarack tumble
and the pathway Of progress pre-
Yet this land Is the land Of the lover.
the place for q love such as mine;
Oh, sweet Is the scent Of the clover, but
strong 10 the heart Of the pine; ,
Loves cup in the town bubbles over.
but here 1t is purple as wine.
We live and we love and we labor up
here on mightier scale;
To the north and the night we are neigh
Dor. we are kin Of the star and the
gale; M ID "A
The lightning It threats with its sabre,
the northwind 1t stinEs with its hail,
And the heart Of the man is made strong
or with the strength Of the thing
that he fights. ~. ~
And the love Of his heart IL made longer
by the length Of the loneliest nights
. For the lover whose heart ia a-hunger
longs most for q lovers delights.
The fellow away from the city the tricks
Of the city forgets:
{ He can't say the thing that Ii witty, he
can't breathe his soul in regrets:
He can't say the thing that IL pretty to
L.eass the pink ear Of coquettes.
For the bigness Of life is about him. the
bigness of heaven and star:
Though the city runs onward without
him. forgetting the forest afar,
When he speaks let no cleverness doubt
him, for he speaks Of the things as
they are.
And this 10 the love that / bring you, the
love Of the man out-of-doors:
And this 10 the song that sing you, the
song that the nightingale pours.
The song that the neghtingales fling you
from eventidess musical shores.
The shepherd boy carols his meter, and
follows. the feet Of the herds;
Tho song Of the skylark IL fleeter because
Of the absence Of words;
10 the language Of ,mortals the sweeter,
moro sweet than the music OF. hirdb7
Ny lips they may tremble to say Il.
however my pulses may beat;
The tale that tell you may weigh It and
ind It . tale Incomplete 3 i
But here Is my heart and I lay It, all
voicelsss and mute. at your feet
I can't tell you, girl, the old story. em-
bellished With cfty-bred lies.
The tale that q planet grown hoary still
i hears with the olden surprise
But the night III, all starshine and glory
because ! have looked in your eyes.
= The night 10 Ill starshine and splendor
. up here In the tamarack lands;
I The night d all moonlit ana tender be-
cause Of the touch Of your hands
And your eyes, they may widen with
wonder, but ] know that your heart
understands. IS
(copyright) ~