REVERIE IN TOWN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 158, 6 July 1935, Page 1 (Supplement)

REVERIE IN TOWN.

Take solace, heart, from misty skies. Soft drooping o'er the garish town. To sift their dust of silver down. And heal the pain of wounded eyes. Take, solace, heart, from trees so fair In this soft haze, that I can drink Their peace with every breath, and think That angels haunt the dingy square; Angels from that lost Paradise No country heart forgets to mourn. The open plains, the spreading skies, The hills that blush with dusk and dawn. God! how I hate the shops, in rows, The endless talk of shows and styles. And painted lips, and painted smiles— Ambition's empty shadow-shows. I want the light of eyes that bless With beauty, drawn from love's calm well. The humble folk who ne'er would sell Their children to the god Success. As I must mine, if here I stay, To meet the siege of measuring eyes, Condemned to learn, or rue the day. The jargon of the worldly-wise. Nay, seal my lips and strip me bare And Silent as the holy trees; The habit of the poor I'll wear, And wait, alone, upon my knees Till God shall give me joy like theirs, And beauty such as he has known — Kagawa, in his slum, alone, Tuned to the rsusie of the spheres. That beauty, drawn from rain and tree, He spent in service, day by day. Take solace, heart, for you, as he May find and spread the peace you pray. And you, as he, in armour clad. May foil the arrows of the proud. Renounce the idols of the crowd, And heal the poor, the sick, the sad. —NELLIE MacLEOD. Christchurch.