LINES WRITTEN ON THE OCCASION OF EXHIBITION OF MR. JOHN GULLY'S PAINTINGS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIX, Issue 225, 1 October 1884, Page 2

LINES WRITTEN ON THE OCCASION OF EXHIBITION OF MR. JOHN GULLY'S PAINTINGS.

Nova Zealaudia, hail: the child late born Of bold Discovery, not inaptly named "The Britain of the South," though brighter suns Engiltl thy dimpling hills, and balmier airs Breathe all thy dales and plashing streams along, Than o'er tho Northern cradle of thy sous. Those hardy, enterprising sous, in whose One brief and busy life, as if by magio, Have upsprong along these imbay'd shores A century of towns and cities, proud, (Memorials of the great in the old home); While on the plains and gentle slopes around Upclimb a thousand villas — worthy crowns Of industry and honourable toil. Those sons, in whose indomitable pluck Is read the evidence of Saxon blood! Those grand " Prospectors," pioneers of peace, Whose labours, long enduring, have transformed The wilderness, primeval, and its wastes Into a land of pastured flooks and herds : Bade its dull, fruitless, glades all gladsome ''smile With wavy corn;" aud for the tangled bush Transplanted flowers of Eden and its fruits. These grand prospectors, pioneers of peace. With nerves und.au.uted— muscles inly strung, In their keen quest, alternate delve and soar From the dark mine, where the " Black Diamond " hides. Where ingots glow— a Croesus might enrich, To where the ti-oreo, and the totara, till, Clothe the hill sides, rough aud more rugged yH, Or wave atop, like plumes on warrior's crest. Thus Green, all-daring, with his venturous band Clomb to the giJdy nidus of the storms. Ilatch'd where, snow-capp'd. Mount Cook, pre-eminent, Emblazons that illustrious name for aye. Thus some for greed, and some for gloi'3 r toil. And eonie for good and grace of human kind. Such are the mission bands: of all the '• finds" Their best and most enduring. Bishops, e'en , Here " prospect" oft by field and flood, with risk Of life and limb — nor He of Nelson far Behind the first. Of sturdy mould, athlete, And labour laving, oft he scarcely knows To spare — the least himself. Krsfc on his rounds He. keen, espied a Gully, rich in wealth Pictorial, and ripe fruits — of promise full For future harvests. Anxious, he at once The mine secured, and now with heirloom thought?, Before his much loved Nelson spreads the spoil, Circa inspire, and, woiul'ring, own 'tis wise. There looms, mysterious. Milford thro' her port. Stupendous, entrance fit for Titans' cave. Sec how the rooks ou either hand ascend Till the cleft Mitre's peaks are lost in clouds, Commingling heav'n and earth, promiscuous. Deep, deep their roots, unfathom'd.lio below The plummet's vast profound. There cling the ferns, Last remnants of a pre-historie growth, Unenvious of th' aspiring' pirns above. There, deep in dimming distance, cove on c >ve Are losj; beneath fche raven locks of Night. Meanwhile Aquarius, from o'er-brimming por, Sheds plenteous streams, like silver veils of nymphs, O'er rock and tree, more beauteous iu their tears. Such was ab least the scene that met these

eyes, And such the product of the easel, true; As if tho artist caught the primal change Wh'ui this rude world of chao?, nebulous, Was taking form, familiar to young eyes. Fitting fibqd.o for half tho Maori gods, Hail, soft Kaikoura, hail, Thy plated bay, Which guards Whakuri and Kailarau round, VVit.li the rich circlet of thy snowy hills, Suggests 1b.»3 fsui'y garden of the lust [lesperidos, K'eu as I g'i/,0, en nipt, rim breezes bltmfc of .sun and crispy snow, convince that 'tis a luxury to live, 3nc///'rt/'.v, muthiuks, thot-ilcuceof thosudollp, Che noisclurs ripple on that painted ghovo. How changed the scene! Transj orted at one bound.

We skirt the shores of zigzag Waknfcipu, And quaff, delicious, of her balmy airs. There tower the huge Remurknbles, wheveon The ti-tree spreads, and shrubs, with tussock grass, Where graze the flocks below the partial snows. Here Quecnstowu nosbles at Ben Nevis' foot As on we speed benea.h the summer's sun. To whero the southern Switzerland, sublime, t-hall feast our longing eyes. B.hold ! 'tis there

That length 'ning line of snow-capp'd peaks, serrate — That infant glacier in its icy bed — Tht\t ilextral curve to meet ihe sinister Where Enrnelaw, hoary, proudly sits enthroned, As if, with stony arms, in strong embrace He held the lake, all-lovely, for his own. ! Enrnslaw, how changed from when thy bosom heaved Witb the primeval fires ! This all, and more, Our artist's keen, discriminating eye, And soul, appreciative, saw, and with His faithful pencil fixed — till, as we gaze From the swift deck, we feel the creeping chill..

And closer wrap our too attenuate garb. Say who our artist school'd .' Who taught his baud. Untvain'd, to sweep the curvo of beauty! who, To choose the colours, various or adverse. And blend them all in one harmonious whole? 'Twos Nature's self. In her wide school he learnt Lines geoineiric find tha easel's use. Here gt»udy Iris all her colours blent For her apt scholar. Meditation taught Wise combination of the simpler rules, The grouping of '• Rough Sketches" into one. Sketches of mountains, lakes ; of sea and shore ; The Morning's glow and sombre Evening's close, With the long ridges purpling into nighr, The landscape, panting in the noontide sun, Or drowsy 'neath the evening star — till j rove Gully is Nature's pupil and her best. J. Taylok, D.D. Nelson, 29th Sept., 1884.