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MOUNTAIN MEN, by                    
First Line: They are lean, and they are brown
Last Line: To stoic turn and meet the ground.


They are lean, and they are brown,
The mountain men who come to town
From lonely cove and laurel glade,
Stealthily, but unafraid,
Bringing a breath of piney air,
Tying gaunt horses in the square;
Slow of speech, but quick to act,
Fierce as panthers when attacked;
Low in fortune, high in pride,
Mountain men can shoot and ride;
Cold in love, but hot in hate,
Mountain men can watch and wait;
Burning eyes and jaws square set,
Mountain men do not forget,
Sparing neither means nor end
To kill a foe or help a friend.
Mountain men know how to die,
They stare with hard eyes at the sky,
For they are by tradition bound
To stoic turn and meet the ground.





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