The men who camp with
Are mostly quiet men:
And one may use a rifle,
And one may use a pen,
And one may strap a
In deserts to his bike;
But men who sleep with
Are pretty much alike.
To men in places
Or in the barren
There’s Danger ever present –A half unheeded guest.
But , thoughtful for the stranger,
The timid or the weak –The men who camp with
Keep watch but do not speak.
The men who go with
Are mostly
Upon the swooping fo’c’sle.
Or by the camp-fire side,
And when they sit in darkness,
To show us where they are:
The glowing of a
And often a
The men who camp with
Have quiet humour too,
And songs that you’ve forgotten,
And real good yarns for you.
There’s little you can tell
Of yourself or your
That men who’ve lived with
Have never felt or known.
The men who sleep with
Sleep soundly while they may,
But always wake at
Or just before the day.
A something in the
That shudders at the dawn –A side-mate softly wakened,
A rifle swiftly drawn.
The men who sail with
As actors are ideal:
They lightly laugh to fool
When Danger’s very real.
The men who sail with DangerA wondrous insight have:
They know if you are timid,
They know if you are brave.
The stewards set the
With careless, practised care,
And take accustomed
To sea-sick cabins there.
They knock at doors of
With broth and tea and toast,
While well they know, it’s touch and go,
And death sits on the coast.
The man who lives with
Has knowledge all his own;
The instinct of a woman,
Of men who fight alone.
He learns from peace and comfort,
He learns from care and strife;
Unwittingly from all
And from his native wife.
The men who live with
See sermons in a log;
They have the nerves of horses,
The instincts of a dog,
When illness comes to loved
They know where’er they roam –Have you seen, without for reason,
A farther start for home?
They know and feel our "warnings"As only Gipsies do;
They know the Norse Vardoger –They hear and see it, too.
They know when death has passed them,
And the death watch is at end.
They know when he is coming –The Unexpected Friend.
The men who live with Danger,
They take things as they go –In seeming unpreparedness,
To those who do not know.
They sleep when they have toiled and
And fought for someone’s sake;
But Danger whispers in their ear,
And they are wide awake !
