After millennia when she belonged to no one— Those we supplanted inhabited her more gently Than we who came after to build What we had to build—to tear down What we had to tear down—to change what We had to change into something rich and strange— None could possess her who were not Possessed by her—who could only possess Without understanding so that by our withholding We were made weaker until we found That by ignoring what gifts she might have given We could conquer thereafter the depths Of her valleys—the widths of her fields— The heights of her mountains left undefended— Open to pillage—such as she is—such As she must become—as providence Would have it under our mandate—