POETS' CORNER.
THE ENGLISH LABOURER'S RESPONSE TO THE SONG OF THE CANTERBURY EMIGRANT (Vida " Lyttelton Times," 26th April.) I've heard your lay of hope and love, I like its cheery tone, And emulate the honest toil By which your joys have grown: I've toiled, with a tenacious faith, For many a weary year, But see no ' independence' rise My autumn-days to cheer. 'Tis not that on your southern home A brighter sun has smiled, Or that my mother-country's soil Will not support her child ; But when I echo back your song, And towards New Zealand turn, I feel that there they value men, And native worth discern. I dread lest these my children should Those bitter feelings know, That from the rich man's scorn result, Or from oppression grow ; Although Old England is endeared By many ties to me, Ere they shall bite the dust, I'll seek A home beyond the sea. And so I gather up my flowers, Before their brightness fades ; Thank God no broken law enchains, No conscious thought upbraids; Amid those 'low thatched cottage roofs' Our future home we'll raise, And by God's blessing earn.respect, And' happy ' coming' days.
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Bibliographic details
Lyttelton Times, Volume I, Issue 18, 10 May 1851, Page 7
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193POETS' CORNER. Lyttelton Times, Volume I, Issue 18, 10 May 1851, Page 7
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