SELECTED VERSE

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 11 July 1925, Page 18

SELECTED VERSE

SOME TIME AT EVE. Some time at eve when the tide is low, l shall slip my moorings and sail With no response to the friendly hail Of kindred craft, in the busy bay, In the silent hush of the twilight pale, When the night stoops down to embrace the day, , And the voices call in ths "waters flow— Some time at eve when the tide is low, . . I shall slip my moorings and sail away. Through the purpling shadows that darkly trail O’er the ebbing tide of the Unknown I shall fare me away, with a dip of sail And a. ripple of waters to fell the tale Of a lonelv vovager sailing away To the Mystic Isles, where at anchor iay The crafts of those who have sailed before O’er the Unknown Sea to the Unseen Shore. A few who have, watched m e .sail away Will miss my craft from the busy hay ; Some friendly barks that were anlield near, Some loving -sou’s that my tneart Jield dear. In silent sorrow will drop- a tearBut I shall have peacefully furled bysail In mooring sheltered from storm or gale, - And greet- the friends who have sailed before O’er the Unknown Sea to the Unseen Shore. —Lizzie Clark Hardy.

WINTER TIME. Late lies the wintry sun a-bed, A frosty, fiery sleepy head; Jilinks but an hour or two; and then, A blood-red orange, sets again. Before the stars have left the skies, At morning in the dark I rise; And .shivering in my nakedness, Jiy the cold candle, bathe and dress. Close by the jolly fire I sit To warm my frozen bones a bit; Or, with a 'reindeer-sled, explore The colder countries round the door. When to go out, my nurse doth wrap Me in my comforter and cap, The cold wind burns my face, and blows Its frosty pepper up my nose. Black are my steps on silver sod; Thick blows my frosty breath abroad; And tree .and house, and hill and lake Are frosted like a wedding-cake. —R. L. Stevenson.

FOGGY DAYS. Sungoid, Sungold, where are you gone? Tne brown leaves flutter blindly, 'i'he pal of fog creeps on I Tree.s sum cl stark in loneliness, A turgid stream mourns by, Blue Day wears all her sombre dress — And Sunlight’s child am I! Sungo’d, Sungold, weary for you, The bees are stowed, chili are the And I am we.uy, too! [birds, The mountain top,-, in silence dream, Brooding fern gullies sigh; Strayed fleet of ghostly shallops seem The pale mists floating by.

Sungold, Sungold, ships grope for you, O’er sea and murky river Gaunt sparts stare blindly through. Sungo-’d, break the mists apart! Ream bright o’er stream and tree; Wake Hope in every shiv’ring heart; Give back my dreams to me! —M. B. Paton.

THE NORSEMAN. "When Olaf Oglund put to sea the sail was is.Jning- merrily, And clustered on the yellow sands, the women laughed and clapped their hands. Hi s .-Norsemen shouted, wild with glee, when Olaf ogiund put to sea. Loud would his men their sagas roar, and call upon tiie great God Tnor, His longships, witn striped painted sines, supped rapidly athwart the tides, The men stood straining at ,the oar when Olaf Oglund went to war.

They went, these men with yellow hair, to catch the Briton unaware, Slav and capture, loot and plunder, aided bv their God of Thunder. And cries of anguish filled the air when Olaf Oglund left his lair.

Then loud the startled watchdog bayed, and louder shrieked the helpless maid. And high the fierce flames did mar. Blood soaked the erstwhile peaceful shore. For swift they slew. Red was the blade when Olaf Uglund made a raid.

Then home, and on the fjord’s strand they- drew their ship s up on the sand, And sword gave place to drinking horn, with feast and song from mght tomorn. And loud the praises filled the land of - Olaf Oglund and his band.

Bat Olaf Oglund put to sea one night, a night of misery. No oarsmen chanted wild and gay, hut dead and dying round him lay. And dead within their midst lay he, when Olaf Oglund put to sea.

His ship, unguided, blindly sailed, while on the sands the women wailed. Bright in the night the flames rose high’r above that floating fun’ral pyre Fill ui the' darkened distance paled. For Olaf to Valhalla sailed. — G. H. Gill.