Life in the woods

Lines on the struggles of the early settlers.

Canada hath wealthy yeoman
Whose fathers overcame the foeman ;
The enemy they boldly slew
Was mighty forest they did hew,
And where they burned heaps of slain
Their sons now reap the golden grain ;
But in the region of North West,
With prairie farms they are blest ;
Though this to them it may seem good
Yet many blessings come from wood.
It shelters you from fierce storm,
And in the winter keeps you warm ;
For one who hath his forest trees
He builds his house and barn with ease,
And how quick he gets from thence
Timber for bridge and for his fence.