| William Wilfred Campbell, comp. The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse. 1913. | | | | Epitaph for a Voyageur | | By Theodore Goodridge Roberts (1877–1953) |
| | | CHANGE was his mistress, Chance his counsellor. | |
| Love could not keep him. Duty forged no chain. | |
| The wide seas and the mountains called to him, | |
| The grey dawns saw his camp-fires in the rain. | |
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| Sweet hands might tremble—Ay, but he must go. | 5 |
| Revel might hold him for a little space, | |
| But turning, past the laughter and the lamps, | |
| His eyes must ever catch the luring face. | |
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| Dear lips might question! Yea, and ask again. | |
| Rare lips, aquiver silently implore, | 10 |
| But ever he must turn his furtive head, | |
| And hear the other summons at the door. | |
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| Change was his mistress, Chance his counsellor, | |
| The dark firs knew his whistle up the trail. | |
| Why tarries he to-day?—and yesternight | 15 |
| Adventure lit her stars without avail! | | | | |
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