THE TRAIN DOGS

A poem by E. Pauline Johnson

THE TRAIN DOGS

Photograph: B. Brill

Out of the night and the north;
Savage of breed and of bone,
Shaggy and swift comes the yelping band,
Freighters of fur from the voiceless land
That sleeps in the Arctic zone.

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Laden with skins from the north,
Beaver and bear and raccoon,
Marten and mink from the Polar belts,
Otter and ermine and sable pelts -
The spoils of the hunter's moon.

Out of the night and the north,
Sinewy, fearless and fleet,
Urging the pack through the pathless snow,
The Indian driver calling low,
Follow with moccasined feet.

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Ships of the night and the north,
Freighters on prairies and plain,
Carrying cargoes from field and flood
They scent the trail through their wild red blood,
The wolfish blood in their veins.