Читать книгу Cross Roads - Margaret E. Sangster - Страница 7

AT DAWN

I. THE CAVEMAN

I live! And the scarlet sunrise is climbing the

mountain steep,

I live … And below, in the caverns, the rest

of my clansmen sleep;

But I—I am here, and chanting, I could slay a

beast with my hand,

And I thrill as the mist of the morning creeps up

from the rock-strewn land!

I live, I have strength for fighting—and courage to

rend and slay,

I live! And my eyes are lifting to gaze at the new-

born day;

And I pause, on the way to my hewn-out cave,

though I know that she waits me there,

My mate, with her eyes on the scarlet dawn, and the

wind in her flame-like hair.

I live—and the joy of living leaps up in my searching

eyes,

I live, and my soul starts forward, to challenge the

waking skies!

Far down are the torrents roaring, far up are the

clouds, unfurled;

And I stand on the cliff, exultant, akin to the waking

world.

The mists are gone, and an eagle sweeps down from

the mountain high,

And I wish that my arms were feathered and strong,

that I, too, might fly;

I live! I am one with the morning! Ah, I am a

MAN, and free!

And I shout aloud, and the scarlet dawn shouts back,

on the gale, to me!