THE KING LIVES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 21, 25 January 1936, Page 9 (Supplement)

THE KING LIVES.

At midnight tolls a passing bell; §| High in the windy darkness it intones 83 A solemn requiem and farewell P Whose grave, deep thunder shakes the H| crumbling stones §| Of ancient fanes. ffl It is the King's knell. The King is dead; he has laid down B His sword, his sceptre and his crown; Symbols of little worth, these things That hedge the stately lives of kings (| With pomp and pageant in the piteous | plan I Of the man-made magnificence of man i That hath no stay, for Death's dark | wings f Shall winnow it like chaff away. | Yet the King lives; the sacred flame | Imperishably burns the same U On the high altars of a Nation's shrine S And still the Law prevails by right j divine. \ He hath gone hence, that King beloved k of all, ' i And peace enfolds him in her silver 5 wings; j But kingship still endures though kings g should fall j And all the might end majesty of kings. |jj There is a greatness that survives | The little span of mortal lives; j. There is a spirit that transcends % The littleness of human ends, Like pentecostal fire com© down 5 From king to king—a mystic crown. j A shadowy pageant passes by, j The dead kings in their last array, | The long-dead kings who do not die « Though all their pomp has passed away. | Immortal, while Death holds his state | The King shall live; the Throne shall j stand; j For lo' a king strides through the gate,' I The torch has passed from hand to hand. j Deathless! Then, Death, where is thy sting? j The King is dead ! | GOD SAVE THE KING ! i —Isabel M. Peacocke. J January 20, 1936. ' £