Moving Onward.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XL, Issue 7768, 16 February 1904, Page 6

Moving Onward.

Years moving onward, 'ciward,— Whence, and Whither, and Why ? Age after . Age in the self-same,

woa-ld, with the self-same stars in the sky, The self-same glory of Light in Heaven, and Light that Is still

on the 'Outloolcjng- rr aze O f v the 'damsel 'dawn, and droop of declining day. All things aluaj-s the same, un- ' cliaasxid, unctoaiiigeablo, .^ all save ■ we, . ■ i ":.'".,"'..-'. ,"'"'>■■■ - ■"■".". -. ••.■.■ Who; come like: clouds, like clouds disappear, form and- fall like

waves of the sea, : : Message and. greeting o f severed friends, ' Yule . carol, New Year ' /xhinuv '■ -. v ".....••■• .- !;'-.: .':■. ..■' -r •:■•,".:■' .

And ; eterriitj- moving oil and on, . on ; .the.. passionless wheels o£ .;,■"■• time." '.- .' ;;' -.'- ■.= ■•■■■•' ■ ■''. ... .■'

Peace but a -bungry duel for life, dai-JNtening to-.menace of! War, ; And Muscovite.legions tramping- on doing the wilL of the Tsar. -

New ■ Philosophies, policies new, .new but like to the old. Fervent in faith at the. ■birth, then questioned, railed! at, obsolete, cold ;.:■■..■ ' , • [ Mailed mastodons ploughing the ■ main, their backs ..bulging, over the foani, • '" /

Watching- to vomit forth leehal . fire and drive desolation home ;; ; Fretful heart of some dreaming boy in the crimsoning coverts of Spring, Moving, .mellowing, slowly on, to, •become a Poet and sing ; ■ Or .idestined'iby: Heaven: to ; wake and shake! the world with a mighty voice, ' And make the knees of the tyrant quail, and the hearbli of. the slave rejoice, To gather the tumult of every tide and the; fury of every blast. And pile fresh thunders of Thought upon the freshening storms of the Past. British sentinels standing mute at •. the fortress gates of the. world, And the British Flag on every sea, with. ' its splendid symbol unfurled ; , -•■ Carrying Liberty, Reverence, Law, wherever wave pulses reacdi. To bale-laden <quay, to highway . stream, anh palm-wattled island beach.

Lovers, husbands, like you, like me, toi^n from their homes afar,: Marching, marching; ■ onward and on;- doing the will of the Tsar, . Past. 'slinking and snarling, whitefanged sloth through limitless leagues of snqw. Moon after liioon of monotonous months,, till the iblue-eyed sciilas •blow",. And the cold-sleeping rivers yawn ■and wake, and mightily flush and -flow. ■ "•■-.'■ - Peasant mother and maiden left at their desolate-doors ajar, While their sons : and lovers march warward, doathward, doing the of the Tsar. in/ ,

But still the glory of light in Heaven, and light that is still oa its way ; : Faint hearts that despond of tomorrow, look up, and be done with despair or dismay ; » For Britis-h sentinels stand erect at the fortress gates of the world, And the .Br tish Flag is-oh every '■•■' sea, with its: splendid symbol unfurled ; . And the Lord ol Right still sits on His < throne, still weilds. his sceptre and rod, ... ■ . And the winds, and the \;'av"es, and tlie ' Years inovc on, doing the ■ Will of God. ;"'■;■ .ALFRED AL, hTTS,>