''The Bridge Builder'' is a poem written by

Will Allen Dromgoole Will Allen Dromgoole (October 26, 1860 – September 1, 1934) was an author and poet born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She wrote over 7,501 poems; 5,000 essays; and published thirteen books. She was renowned beyond the Sou ...

. "The Bridge Builder" has been frequently reprinted, including on a plaque on the

Bellows Falls, Vermont Bellows Falls is an incorporated village located in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,747 at the 2020 census. Bellows Falls is home to the Green Mountain Railroad, a heritage railroad; the ...

Vilas Bridge The Charles N. Vilas Bridge is a two-span concrete deck arch bridge over the Connecticut River between Bellows Falls, Vermont and North Walpole, New Hampshire. It was built in 1930 and has been closed since March 19, 2009. History Colonel Enoch ...

in New Hampshire. It continues to be quoted frequently, usually in a religious context or in writings stressing a moral lesson. The text has been attested since at least 1898 in ''Rare Old Chums'' by

. In said book, the poem is titled ''Building the Bridge'', and is composed and sung by a girl living near Elk River in Eastern Tennessee. The 1898 version of the text appears below in its entirety.

Building The Bridge (1898)

An old man, going a lone highway, Came, at the evening, cold and gray, To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide, Through which was flowing a sullen tide. The old man crossed in the twilight dim; The sullen stream had no fears for him; But he turned, when safe on the other side, And built a bridge to span the tide. "Old man", said a fellow pilgrim, near, "You are wasting strength with building here; ''Your'' journey will end with the ending day; You never again will pass this way; You've crossed the chasm, deep and wide, — Why build you this bridge at the eventide?" The builder lifted his old gray head: "Good friend, in the path I have come", he said, "There followeth after me to-day A youth, whose feet must pass this way. This chasm, that has been naught to me, To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be. He, too, must cross in the twilight dim; Good friend, I am building this bridge for ''him''."

References

External links

Vilas Bridge webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridge Builder, The 1900 poems Poems about bridges