Life in the West.

Ho! brothers--come hither and list to my story--         Merry and brief will the narrative be.     Here, like a monarch, I reign in my glory--         Master am I, boys, of all that I see!     Where once frowned a forest, a garden is smiling--         The meadow and moorland are marshes no more;     And there curls the smoke of my cottage, beguiling         The children who cluster like grapes round my door.     Then enter, boys; cheerly, boys, enter and rest;     The land of the heart is the land of the West!             Oho, boys!--oho, boys!--oho!     Talk not of the town, boys--give me the broad prairie,         Where man, like the wind, roams impulsive and free:     Behold how its beautiful colors all vary,         Like those of the clouds, or the deep-rolling sea!     A life in the woods, boys, is even as changing;         With proud independence we season our cheer,     And those who the world are for happiness ranging,         Won't find it at all if they don't find it here.     Then enter, boys; cheerly, boys, enter and rest!     I'll show you the life, boys, we live in the West!             Oho, boys!--oho, boys!--oho!     Here, brothers, secure from all turmoil and danger,         We reap what we sow, for the soil is our own;     We spread hospitality's board for the stranger,         And care not a jot for the king on his throne.     We never know want, for we live by our labor,         And in it contentment and happiness find;     We do what we can for a friend or a neighbor,         And die, boys, in peace and good-will to mankind.     Then enter, boys; cheerly, boys, enter and rest;     You know how we live, boys, and die in the West!             Oho, boys!--oho, boys!--oho!