NOW AND AFTER.

Auckland Star, Volume XII, Issue 3540, 10 December 1881, Page 4 (Supplement)

NOW AND AFTER.

To gHde like phantoms, horo and thcro, In ceaseless quest of shadowy tilings ; That lure-then vanish into air On noiseless visionary wings. To still nursuo tho same dull round With aching hearts, from day to day ; f. • •>iiu:rt, like tho tortoiso, to tho ground. Whilst birds above us wing their way! To 300 tho dourest uiulitho best Slip, ono by one, into tho night That shrouds the far-off realm of rest. Where haply " Faith is lost In sight! To wince at slander's vonomod darts, To sec love blighted by a breath ; O saddened souls! 0, weary hearts! \i this be Life, how sweet is Death To honr tho angels whisp'riug low, TO feel the pressure of a hand That softly lingers as vvo go Alone into " tho Silent Land. To hoar the old familiar hum Grow fainter yet in dying years; To know the end of pain lias come— Tho birth of joy—tho death ot tear.3l To fade into tho future dim, Far from " tho fever and the fret; Beyond tho ocean's westorn lino, To follow where the sun has set; To hear tho grand harmonious roll Of seraph song; to rest from strife: 0 weary heart! O, saddened soul 1 If this be Death, how bitter Life ! F. B. Dovcton.