Sthephan G. Stephansson Poetry

Where the Red Deer River runs
From the Rockies toward the dawn,
Through Alberta's bellying hills,
Basin’d strath and grassy lawn,

Here the herdsmen have their home,
Haunt the hollows and the spurs;
Some drive shambling sheep; some, bulls—
Shameless, green-eyed murmurers.

Hell's retired henchmen here,
Heaven's lost servants, sullen, slow,
Lag like Greeks by Lethe stream,
Letting all commandments go.

Written in 1889

Translated by Watson Kirkconnell.