Savage – The Baits on the Skyline

Today’s post is a poem entitled “The Baits on the Skyline” written by Walter John “Rocke” Savage (1873-1942), a veteran of the Boer and First World Wars from England, who subsequently became a farmer in Manitoba.

It’s another entry in “Bread for the Journey”, a journal kept by the father of our dear friend, Heather, over his 90+ years until he passed away in 2024.

When all things are cast in the balance
And their values are tallied and weighed
It’s not what your pile is that matters
But just how your hand was played;
And not by your contrast with others
Shall judgement be meted to you,
But only on how you have handled
Your talents, been faithful and true.

When young and the morning is freshest
And your spirits are keyed for the fight
The glittering baits on the skyline
Allure in the dazzling light,
But if solely you follow what beckons,
With full subjunction of soul —
Be it fame, be it riches or glory —
And make it your solitary goal,
You’ll tramp underfoot in your hurry
The things of intrinsic worth
And your youth and your manhood you’ll barter
For the glittering baubles of earth.

When after long years of endeavour
When you grasp at the thing that you sought
You’ll find there’s a something that’s lacking
It’s far from the thing that you thought;
For fame is as unstable as water
And proves but a balm to the mind
When the purpose and effort that won it
A service has rendered you kind;
And those who for wealth have struggled
Have ventured and gambled their all,
Would never repeat the same error,
If the past they could only recall.

Far better a competence garnered
For the years when the shadows fall,
To know that you’ve shirked not your duty
And crowded no man to the wall;
To have culled from the works of the masters
The lore and the beauty inlaid,
‘Till the soul is enriched with the knowledge
And full of the music they made;
By its fostering noble ideals,
By the thoughts altruistic we shape,
That the breadth of the chasm is widened
‘Twixt us and the tropical ape.