Alone

The purple hills rise far behind, Before me spreads the plain. The tall grass bends beneath the wind Like surges on the main. Thin mists have girt each low hill's crest, The bright sun burns in cloudless blue, A mirage gathers in the west, And trembles into view. It gathers in the swimming haze — A silver lake of dazzling sheen; Its wares are bright with dancing light And tender tints of blue and green.

A phantom sea, bright, limpid, wide, Sailed o'er by phantom ships; Ah! Well I know that rippling tide Could never cool my lips. My tongue is swollen in my mouth, My burning lips are cracked and dry, I hear the Spirit of the Drouth Whisper "Thou soon shalt die." The living shadow of a man, The living shadow of a horse, Thro' heat and glare, in grim despair, We stagger on our unknown course.

Thro' shimm'ring grasses on I ride Across the yellow plain. My comrades one by one have died, And I alone remain. They sickened one by one and died, The stout of heart, the strong of hand, Some lie upon the dark hillside, And some upon the sand. Where never white man rode before, Thro' scrub, o'er plain, up mountain cleft, We forced our way, and now to-day This horse and I alone are left.

Comrades, whose worth was sternly tried Thro' hunger, thirst, and pain, I ne'er shall see you at my side Nor clasp your hands again. My own weak hand scarce feels the reins. The hot wind burns my withered cheek, So calm, so awful are the plains, The silence seems to speak. It almost seems to speak and say, "Those wronged by thee demand redress The hour draws nigh when thou shalt die Alone within the wilderness."

Down! With a long and lurching stride, The good horse fails to earth, With glazing eyes and nostril wide Small need to loose the girth; The awful craving in his eyes Is almost more than I can bear; "Water" is what he mutely cries, But not a drop is near. He feebly sniffs my sunburnt hand, He feebly answers my caress; Then gives one moan — I stand alone — Alone within the wilderness!