RUKAL DEPLETION 41 



that they have not. Then why so many fleeing from the 

 country ? 



Ah, to be a woman! to be left to pique and pine, 



When the winds are out and calling to this vagrant heart of 



mine, 



Whisht! it whistles at the windows, and how can I be still? 

 There! the last leaves of the beech-tree go dancing down the 



hill. 



All the boats at anchor they are plunging to be free 

 Oh! to be a sailor, and away across the sea! 

 O bird that fights the heavens, and is blown beyond the shore, 

 Would you leave your flight and danger for a cage, to fight 



no more? 



No more the cold of winter, or the hunger of the snow, 

 Nor the winds that blow you backward from the path you 



wish to go? 

 Would you leave your world of passion for a home that knows 



no riot? 

 Would I change my vagrant longings for a heart more full of 



quiet? 



No for all its dangers, there is joy in danger, too; 

 On, bird, and fight your tempests, and this nomad heart with 



you!* 



But where there is not the vagrant spirit, what impels 

 our girls to leave ? 



A fourth form of social strain ought perhaps to be 

 discussed. It is said that leaders are leaving the 

 country. Those who are drawn away include many of 

 the ablest and most progressive. There are, however, 

 higher qualities than ability and energy. I have known 

 of more than one case where young men, and of still 

 more cases where young women, remained on the farm 



* Dora Sigerson Shorter, " A Vagrant Heart." 



