BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 508, 15 May 1909, Page 9

BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

VERSES OLD AND NEW. AN EAST-END COFFEE-STALL. ..:...Down i tlio (lark, alley a , rihg of orange / light ' ■ . Glows.. Got], 'what-leprous tatters of distress, ffi,";' 1 Droppings of' misery, -rags ..of /Thy loneliness -.- vermin, out of tho night! v.: Lite/crippled, rats,' orcoping .out of tho gloom, : ' :0 Life, -iorono of thy terrible moments there, Lit by tho littlo flickering, yellow flare,, yw;' -v-Facea-that moot at, life;and death aiid'doom. Faces• that long, long since have:-known the uorst, Faces of .women that have scon tho child, ; ■ Waste in their arms, and strangely, terribly, •• % . smiled y.'■ ' • , • When' the dark nipple of death has eased its . ' thirst; .:' ; I.;' !•;. Races] ofmen - that once,. though loilg ago,:. . Saw tho faint light. of hope,, though far ■■'■r'-A'--' away,— . -. • i..:. Hope;tuat,' at: end.of some' tremendous day, They, yet might reach-, some.- life whero tears •• . could flow; . • . •' - ■ . Faces of our humanity, ravaged, white, Wrenched with old love, old ihato, older despair, , ■ •- ■- • ; v Steal-out of vilo t filth-dropping dens .to stare' On . that wild monstrance of a naphtha light. They crowd before tho stall's bright, altar-rail, . .Groteisquei/and''sacred,:for that.light's brief ;.-.'A. .span, -, :And' all, tho shuddering: darkness 'cries,, "A ..- "■ -■ -hail, ■ i- .- —• Daughters'and Sons of Man!" See, see,-once more, though all their Bonis 1 dead, ' : ..They hold,it-np,'. triumphantly hold it-.up; They feel, -they .warmtheirhands upon tho Cup; Their .crapulous hands, their olaw-like hands . break Bread! - Beo, with lean faces-rapturously- a-glow •For a brief, while.they,,dream and munch and drink; ' r. .j:, Then, one by one, once .more, silently slink ~ 'Back, . back - into - the .gulfing: mist. They go, : -.One by. pne,:ont of .tho ring of light! " ; ,v; They.'oreep.'like:crippled rats, into the.gloom,'. Into tho fogs ,of life;nnd death and doom, ' .j , Into , the, night,' the .immeasurable night. —Alfred Noves, in tho "Westminster [■\ ' ': ■;<; i , XjXJJES on-a bullfinch, FEEED. "' U. ,Who onco was held in durance vilo •'' Now_ flits among tho leafy, trees, Nor wit, nor will, nor food, nor guilo '• /', May luro him bac,k. to;. captive easo. : .-. / ■ Where finches' throng in buoyant'flight '; - He dips and ;rises with the rest; .': And tho warm amber of tho light ;; Flushes tho ruby .of his breast.: . ; ; Araohg tho cool of willow 6cdge - Where grasses', droop a. tawny seec}, ' - Wo mark him by...the river's edge, His light weight balanced on a reed. And it may be tho vrJiilewG watoh . In silence, from a drifting boat, . . Hid in the leaves, our ear shall catch .V-'. . The.small.perfection-,of his.note. - Then let him thieve.'the garden still, A -blessed -birdVbeyond. our reach, With all tho .ebon of his bill. ' .. ' Bright, with tho nectar of his peach. ■ ' -':. An through' a wealth of ransomed days :: Let .him uplift his wifigs to 'fly,'' :. ''. .Let his he .all the woGuihnU .'wayß . . . . r And the wido places of .the'sky.:.. , ' —Pamela Tennant, in' "Tho Spectator."': A DEEAM OF FEAR. 1 'Unseen the ghostly hand that led ■ ■'■' I walked where: all'was' darkness, savo : - What light-the moon, half-wasted, gave . ■' ' Above a city of, tho dead.' ■- j• :';.' •• ■: .: . ..So lone itwas, so grey, I deemed '' */ ' That death jtself was scarce.so old;: . I'he moonlight fell.forlorn andcold.-.. On tombs; where Time lay dead, it seemed, Si-^' :.; .Within its gate3_l r heard tho sound \ v ..; .Of winds canght ' •'i /i'_; Of ..huddling trees that moaned, .and sought ' , t - - To :whisp|.r .-syha their roots had found. '.. '. Within its gates my soul was;led, •.'■■"./.■!«.■'4 - . Down nettle-jhoked and haunted' way— .r .- ' ,' ,An atom of tho Dark's dismay, ' ' ' In deaf immensities of dread.:;, In broken crypts whero ghouls had slept'• I saw how, muttering devils sate ~'Vr: •- .; 1 7 (Knoiving. tho. final grasp of Fate) ; . ' And told grim' auguries, and.'wept.-' i*'. 1 -. : ■' . '•'■'r/.J-'.' " : /"i r,■ . The.night was mad with nameless fear, :" '■"> The, Powers of Darkness.feared the gloom . ~:_From,'sentried sky to anxious tomb '. Kan messages I bent to hear. ; Wine ears were sealed, nor heard I save . r.; The secret, known to Endor's witch— '!. AVhisper'ed to lemur,and to lich' , • From lips mado wiser by tho grave. > ' .O'or.tarns. wliere spectral vapours flovred ■ 'Antar.es shook'.with bloody: light, And guarded,on its haughty flight : > :.; '* The offended-fire of 'Alphard glowed. - ' Tho. menace of infinity . - ; - Constrained the cavern of the skies.- - ■ . ' J felt, the gaze of ''solemn-eyes-. ' : 111 hostile gulfs intent to. see;. , Gwe oi whoso imminent designs, J • Satanic Armageddon broke, P 0 ?%°.?3 vans in blackness spoke' - ; - Tho flight of Evil on the Signs— -■ ; '/. Abysmal ocdultation'cast '■ ' v - 1 - : . : : : ,-V ! ' • > By kingdoms of the sunken noon, : : - ■ An , l !^adow-shafts.tjiat smote the moon.". ; At altafs of tho cloven Vast! ~ :: , ,■; To worlds that faltered'-on their way -■ '. ,Python's intolerable hiss' . .: Told-from tho jaws of his abyss '' j* Malign amazement and :dism'ay.' ' i .' liy god or demon.undestroyed, • ,'i In malediction sate tho stars, :• from ..Titanic wars'-'- '■ To cry the judgments of tho Void.. . 1 Assigned, implacable, supreme, ;' V J'lie heralds of tho Curse'came'down: 5 ' - I felt the eternal bastions' frown; • • -I.;saw colossal. ceremonies-gleam; . J ' • ' Convoking trumpets shook tlio gloom. . . .Their, incommunicable word v' • i ■ -« Announce A o'er Time's foundations, stirred ' ; -All vasts; and.covenants of.doom./ t if aw. the light of dreadful fanes. ■ ' ' '•I heard enorraotis valves resound, • - : f ■ : For eoils sealed in crypts profound, '■ j And clangour of ascending cliains. —George Sterling in "Tho Wine of Wizardry."