REVIEW.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 2, Issue 409, 30 July 1881, Page 2

REVIEW.

“ The Wreck of the s,s. Taeaeca." A Poem. By “ Leumak” PubHihid by J. T. Smith and Co., Christchurch. We have received a copy of the above poem. The subject itself abounds in striking incidents, And might furnish excellent materials for a poem by one of the very few high-class poets our country still contain?. Ouf local author, however, has hardly_pro-.. duced a poem ih the strict sense OfTfhe term. He is not a “ poetaa creator —shows no power of original thought, and from his first line to. his last there is not a solitary ray of “ the fight “that never shone on seaorshore.” Blithe is, without doubt, a versifier of consider* able talent, writes always clearly ifid'in good taste. Should he cultivate that talent he may, perhaps, A some future time, give proof of bpkkg. a.genuine poet. In the progress Of art in Europe the unthinking but Troubadours helped in the fonmtiM of a Dantd, and the lively but Uhthihk* ing Trouvefes in thfe formaften -Ofl Chaucer. We extract the 'fine# ’of “ Leumas’ ” poem in which hedekaibel the vessel striking Otara ! though dread was thy terrible roar, ’Tis now still m6re awfulthanever before! For, with .faltering tremor, and sickening dread, The mariner passes the home of the dead I O, hear the deep groan from thy rough, rocky tomb, Of those who were lost in thy mist and thy gloom I Strike, strike a deep trichord, rocks, breakers, and surge. And solemnly chant a sad sorrowful dirge I Yet, though ’neath thy furious, treacherous wave, Thou’st buried the noble, the good, and the brave. Still know that the arm of Omnipotence reigns. O’er earthly dominions and nature’s domains I ’Tis He who in majesty sittetbj ’tis'Hc ' ‘ ' * Who hushed the tempestuous dark Galilee I * And thovgh thy huge waves o’er the body miy roll, The spirit immortal they cannot control I For the body is dust, and returns to the clod, But the soul, which is deathless, goes Hm-fr to its God! -■■J Let,us hope that triumphant, amid-the dark strife, ' - 7 . Those undying souls passed from death unto life; ■ From the surf-beaten shore of the earth’s restless

sea, , To the brightjTolden shore of Eternity 1