A Warning Note

Bruce Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 2962, 24 May 1898, Page 2

A Warning Note

I sat and thought the other night When everything was atill. I fancied that I saw a fltg Uufarled upon a hill ; The Lion rampant and tbo Crown Flattered gaily to the sky, Bat the softest breezes marinated " Young New Zealand, mind your eye." I listened, and I thought I heard The voioea of a throng, Singing in gayest revelry An old and worn-oat eons; ; " Britannia rales tho waves," they Bang, •' So hoisi her fhg on high," Bat the softest breezes murmured " Young New Zealand, mind your eye." I looked across the dark blue sea, And the sun was ohining bright, But turning round I saw sou* west A oloud as black as night ; And on it came, and soon a gloom O'erctpread the snnny sky — Still the softest brsezos murmured •' Yoang New Zealand, mind your eye," Down came the threatened storm, And thunder rent the air — The black and murky olouds quite hid That flattering emblem fair— And then a foarful earthquake shook The hill where it did fly, And the moaning tempest murmured "Young New Zealand, mind your eye.' Again I looked, and the pennant line Bore another flag unfurled, And over them iho numbers read — 11 Defiance to the world," The Lion and the Stars and Stripes They now were flying high, Bat the roaring tempest murmured 11 Young New Zealand, mind your eye." Onoe more I looked across the sea, And the sun was Bhining bright, The ahadows of the far-off clouds Seemed to beautify the light, Tne horizon was bo clear, defined, There was BtillneßS in the air, Those waves that onoe were hissing foam Now scaroely a ripple there ; And the flags upon the pennant line Hang listlessly bnt free, And the softest breezsß eeem to murmur " Hands across the sea." — T.A.