VERSES OLD AND NEW.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1295, 25 November 1911, Page 9

VERSES OLD AND NEW.

EARTH'S TRAGEDY. Can it bo on this Earth alone,—this star . So puny, tho great Sun himself, whoso sway She owns, may searco discern her feeble ray Aniony his mightier Satellites, so far X)o they outshine her—, in th' abysmal war 'Twixt Good and 111 that men have souls to savbi Can it bo only here that Death and the Grave May vaunt their dread impenetrable bar To love bereft? If in her agony Of strife between Heav'n and Hell Earth stands alone. Mid countless worlds none elso to share her oursc, Her hope: If only here Faith's victory ,uu-? P ,m 3 trium P hs at tho Great White Throne: Earth's is tho Tragedy of the Universe 1 —Lowther Bridger. : THE ANCHORITE. My soul apart upon the arid slopes leading towards the dwellings of the gods, lakes heed but faintly of the joys and hope 3 lhat rnovo the multitude in Babylon. In this pure air, strange voices, deep and low, Speak of tho- Mysteries of Life and Death. . . . All earthly sounds aro dim and faint— although Tho Temple Drums are struck in Babylon. The scanty herbs amongst theso frowning rocks Know not the'seasons' changing moods. . . yot now, Down theVe,' the perfumed Spring God's bright , hand knocks Upon the garden gates of Babylon. Ah, griefs and joys were there ... a smile . if tear, Clasping tho soul-in bonds of Heav'n or Hell! What were the things I held so dread, so dear, In days of old in splendid Babylon? Tho gods encompass ma with holv cloud, with-promise of Eternal Dawn. . . . No Sacred Things arc uttered in tho loud, Long rituals of tho Priests of Babylon. Tho Light shines ever clearer from abovo, Showing tho steps by which I must ascend ; Ah, would I held tho hand of one T love. Whose body -walks with mine in Babylon! '-Enid Campbell Dauncoy, in the "Westminster Gazette."

INCENSE. Think not that incenso smoke has had its day. My friends, the incense time has but begun. Creed upon creed, cult upon cult, shall bloom, Shrine after shrine, grow gray beneath tho sun. And mountain bonlders in our aged West Shall guard tho graves'of hermits truthendowed; And there the scholar from the Chineso hills Shall do deep honour, with his wise head bowed. And on our old, old plains some muddy stream, Dark as the Ganges, shall, liko ' that strange tideWhispering mystery to half the earthCrather tho praying millions to its side, And flowjast halls with statues.in white stone To saints" unborn~t6~dryrwhose"~lives"~<>f grace •''■"■■ Shall muke one shining universal church Where all .faiths, kneel, us brothers, in one place*. " ' • " Vachel Lindsay, in the "Outlook."