An old man traveling 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,

The sullen stream held no fear for him;

But he turned when safe on the other side,

And built a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man," cried a fellow pilgrim near,

"You're wasting your time in building here.

You journey will end with the closing day;

You never again will pass this way.

You have crossed the chasm deep and wide,

Why build you this bridge at even-tide?"

The builder lifted his old gray head:

"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said

"There follows after me today,

A youth whose feet must pass this way.

This stream which has been as naught to me,

To that fair-haired youth may pitfall be:

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim-

Good friend, I am building this bridge for him."

-- (bygrace@thru.faith), July 13, 2000

Answers

This was my Grandfather's favorite poem. He had an old newspaper copy of it, he would get teary eyed over it. I hadn't seen this poem in years.

-- Jeanne (jcd51@webtv.net), July 13, 2000.

I can see why he'd get teary-eyed over this; it's just beautiful. Thank you for sharing it.

-- Patricia (PatriciaS@lasvegas.com), July 13, 2000.

I got teary-eyed reading this. It is beautiful.

-- Debra (Thank@You.com), July 15, 2000.