The Toil of the Trail
Reading edition
What have I gained by the toil of the trail? I know and know well. I have found once again the lore I had lost In the loud city’s hell. I have broadened my hand to the cinch and the axe, I have laid my flesh to the rain; I was hunter and trailer and guide; I have touched the most primitive wildness again. I have threaded the wild with the stealth of the deer, No eagle is freer than I; No mountain can thwart me, no torrent appall, I defy the stern sky. So long as I live these joys will remain, I have touched the most primitive wildness again.
Hamlin Garland