The Bridge Builder
An old man, going down a lone highway,
Came at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim -
That sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when he reached the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting strength in building here.
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way.
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build you the bridge at the 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.
This chasm that has been 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 the bridge for him.
by Will Allen Dromgoole
William Allen ‘Will’ Dromgoole was born on 26 October 1860 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States of America. She became a writer and a poet. She wrote more than 5,000 essays and more than 7,500 poems, and had 13 books published. She was the first woman officer in the United States Navy, and organized the Women’s Press Club of Waco. She taught school for a year in Tennessee and for a year in Temple, Texas. She is known for her novel, “The Island of the Beautiful” (1911), among other works. William Allen ‘Will’ Dromgoole passed on at 73 years of age on 1 September 1934 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America.
An old man, going down a lone highway,
Came at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim -
That sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when he reached the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting strength in building here.
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way.
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build you the bridge at the 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.
This chasm that has been 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 the bridge for him.
by Will Allen Dromgoole
William Allen ‘Will’ Dromgoole was born on 26 October 1860 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States of America. She became a writer and a poet. She wrote more than 5,000 essays and more than 7,500 poems, and had 13 books published. She was the first woman officer in the United States Navy, and organized the Women’s Press Club of Waco. She taught school for a year in Tennessee and for a year in Temple, Texas. She is known for her novel, “The Island of the Beautiful” (1911), among other works. William Allen ‘Will’ Dromgoole passed on at 73 years of age on 1 September 1934 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America.
