I was reading poetry today and remembered a poem my children memorized. I thought I'd share it here.
To a chasm vast and wide and steep,
With waters rolling cold and deep.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim,
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near,
"You are wasting your strength with building here.
Your journey will end with the ending day,
You never again will pass this way,
You've crossed the chasm, deep and wide
Why build you a bridge at eventide?"
The builder lifted his old gray head.
"Good friend, in the path I have come, "
he said,"There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
The chasm that was as naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim--Good friend,
I am building this bridge for him!"
--Will Allen Dromgoole(1860-1934)
I've also had the kids in my class at school commit this to memory.
