THE PIONEER OF THE AIR.

Otago Witness, Issue 3830, 9 August 1927, Page 73

THE PIONEER OF THE AIR.

I’m the buoyant, agile, and free, Final craft of the Powers that Be; And I swoop and I swerve, And I circle and curve— I’m the ship of the Uppermost Sea. With my white sails outspread, and my prow Pointing high o'er the luminous brow Of the cloud mountains, I Cleave my way through the sky; I’m the marvel of Nineteen-and-now. Wings—to keep time to the breeze as it sings Songs of adventure and quest; Tail—to disport with the tempest or gale— Ho, for the East and the West! I’m the sum of the deeds Man has done, I’m the substance of victories won; The vague dream of the vast Many centuries past— And the fact of the one now begun. And the sunshiny air billows, whirled Right and left by my swift keel and curled Into vaporous spray, One by one fall away O’er the farthermost rim of the world. Wings —to give hail to the breeze as it brings Word of wet weather or drought; Tail—to wigwag to the tempest or gale — Ho, for the North and the South! Um the scion of races outworn, I'm the sire of great peoples unborn; And my scintillant wake Is the path Man must take — As he travels from midnight to morn. For my white sails outspread, and my prow Pointing high o'er the luminous brow Of the cloud mountains steep, , Find a way through the deep; I’m the r.arvel of Nineteen-and-now. Wings—to give heed to the breeze as it brings Promise of worst or of best; Tail—to take earc of the tempest or gale— Ho, for the East and the West! -—James Ball Naylor, in the Week (Columbus).