The Bridge Builder An old man going a lone highway Came to a chasm, deep and gray. The old man crossed in the twilight dim, The sullen stream had no fear for him; But he turned when safe on the other side And built a bridge to span the tide. "Old Man," said a fellow-pilgrim near, "You are wasting your strength with building here; Your journey will end with the close of the day, You never again will pass this way; You've crossed the chasm deep and wide, Why build you this bridge at evening-tide?" The builder lifted his old gray head- "Good friend, in the path I have come," he said, "There followeth after me today, A youth whose feet must pass this way. This chasm that has been as naught to me, To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be; He too must cross in the twilight dim; Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!" -William Allen Dromgoole