Geopoetry

Mente et Malleo

By thought and dint of hammering
Is the good work done whereof I sing,
And a jollier crowd youll rarely find,
Than the men who chip at earths old rind,
And often wear a patched behind,
By thought and dint of hammering.

We crack the rocks and make them ring,
and many a heavy pack we sling,
We run our lines and tie them in,
We measure strata thick and thin,
And Sunday work is never sin,
By thought and dint of hammering.

Some people think us wondrous wise;
Some maintain were otherwise;
Were simply piercing Natures guise
By thought and dint of hammering.


- A.F. Lawson, 1888,
formerly of the Geological Survey of Canada
and the University of California