The Redwoods, by Joseph B. Strauss
Here, sown by the Creators hand,
In serried ranks, the Redwood stand:
Not other clime is honored so,
No other land their glory know.
The greatest of Earth’s living forms,
Tall conquerors that laugh the storms;
Their challenge still unanswered rings,
Through fifty centuries of kings,
The nations, that with them were young,
Rich empires, with their forts far flung,
Lie buried now-their splendor gone
But these proud monarchs still live on.
So shall they live, when end our day,
When our crude citadels decay;
For brief the years allotted man,
But infinite perennials ‘span.
This is their temple, vaulted high,
And here we pause with reverent eye.
With silent tongue and owe- struck soul;
For here we sense life’s proper goal.
To be like these, straight, true and fine,
To make our world, like theirs, or shrine;
Sink down, Oh, traveler, on your knees,
God stands before you in these trees.