Because we were glad together among men to whom we were strangers.

It seemed as if I had been reading a book in a foreign language,
And suddenly I came upon a page written in the tongue of my childhood.

This was the gentle heart of my friend who quietly understood me,
The open and loving heart whose meaning was clear without a word.

O thou great Companion who carest for all thy pilgrims and strangers,
I thank thee heartily for the comfort of a comrade on the distant road.




THE WELCOME TENT

This is the thanksgiving of the weary,
The song of him that is ready to rest.

It is good to be glad when the day is declining,
And the setting of the sun is like a word of peace.

The stars look kindly on the close of a journey,
The tent says welcome when the day's march is done.

For now is the time of the laying down of burdens,
And the cool hour cometh to them that have borne the heat.

I have rejoiced greatly in labour and adventure;
My heart hath been enlarged in the spending of my strength.