The Birds and Poets 47 



By the calm of the river's flow to a goal that is hidden, 

 By the trust of the tree that clings to its deep 



foundation, 

 By the courage of wild birds' wings on the long 



migration, 

 (Wonderful secret of peace that abides in Nature's 



breast!) 

 Teach me how to confide, and live my life, and rest." 



Edwin Markham appropriately compares our 

 civilization with that of the ants, in a poem which 

 he has beautifully named "Little Brothers of the 

 Ground" : 



"Little ants in leafy wood, 

 Bound by gentle Brotherhood, 

 While ye gaily gather spoil, 

 Men are ground by the wheel of toil ; 

 While ye follow Blessed Fates, 

 Men are shriveled up with hates ; 

 Yes, they eat the wayside dust. 

 While their souls are gnawed by rust. 



Ye are fraters in your hall. 



Gay and chainless, great and small ; 



All are toilers in the field. 



All are sharers in the yield. 



But we mortals plot and plan 



How to grind the fellow man; 



Glad to find him in a pit. 



If we get some gain of it. 



So with us, the sons of Time, 



Labor is a kind of crime, 



