| Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936). Verse: 1885–1918. 1922. | | | | The Voortrekker |
| | | THE GULL shall whistle in his wake, the blind wave break in fire. | |
| He shall fulfil God’s utmost will, unknowing his desire. | |
| And he shall see old planets change and alien stars arise, | |
| And give the gale his seaworn sail in shadow of new skies, | |
| Strong lust of gear shall drive him forth and hunger arm his hand, | 5 |
| To win his food from the desert rude, his pittance from the sand. | |
| His neighbours’ smoke shall vex his eyes, their voices break his rest. | |
| He shall go forth till south is north sullen and dispossessed. | |
| He shall desire loneliness and his desire shall bring, | |
| Hard on his heels, a thousand wheels, a People and a King. | 10 |
| He shall come back on his own track, and by his scarce-cooled camp | |
| There shall he meet the roaring street, the derrick and the stamp: | |
| There he shall blaze a nation’s ways with hatchet and with brand, | |
| Till on his last-won wilderness an Empire’s outposts stand! | | | | |
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