POETRY FROM PERIODICALS

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13435, 13 March 1907, Page 9

POETRY FROM PERIODICALS

SUNSET FROM CORNWALL PARK. IN that great overflowing of the -west Even the olive grove put off her chill, Accepting beauty; and along the hill The aspens and the evening airs, possessed Of some dear joy. each unto each confessed Their secret in a tone that flung a thrill To the by-passer; as though One Grand Will Would stir to gladness e'en the most unblest. Beyond the path a lonely aspen stood. Sad and dismembered, voicing wistful sighs. When lo! the round sun, setting red as blood, And flaming like the gems of Paradise, 'Gainst that one tree his far-off light subdued To a near, fretted splendour of disguise. A.B. THE SONS OF STEAM AND STEEL. There's not a ship puts out to' port that has not known our skill; There's not a rivet, bolt, or nut that grew not from our will. From high top-gallant masts and stays, down to her mighty keel. She is our child, who tells our strength, a child of steam and steel. The crane that waits with pulsing heart to break her cargo free; The gate that guards her from the tide, that holds the seeking sea; The panting, shunting, throbbing trains that bear her goods awheel— They answer, as we call the roll, the sons * of steam and steel. The engine at the black pithead, that winds the humming rope; The rattling, clanging pumps that with manhunting waters cope; The fans that, keep the thick air sweet; the wired lights that gleamAre the proud children of our loins, the sons of steel and steam. —Pall Mall' Gazette. ZOOLOGICAL. A periodical called The Nature Care gives prominence to the following statement: — "We have human tigers and human elephants in our midst." That many folk are animals, Alas! is very true; The world is a menagerieSociety a zoo. And some, beloved as saints and sages. Ought really to be lodged in cages. Your neighbour, Smith, may be a fox f And Brown, perhaps, another; And Robinson a prize-fed oxAlas! my poor brother! Whilst Jones— dreadful, stupid boreSeems fresh from out the ark of Noah. The man next to you in the 'busThat stoutisb sort of chapMay be a hippopotamus, Or grizzly bear, mayhap. If that is so, I'm rather puzzled Why he should walk about unmuzzled. Can " C.-B " be a gentle lamb? Can " Arthur" be a wolf? And does the latter.wish to cram The former (or engulf) In his fierce Parliamentary maw? The prospect fills me full of awe. The a3ses that one sees about Are manifold, to-day; If of the fact you are in doubt, Just listen to 'em bray! And many a goose with doleful quack Is 'now in Parliament—alack! —Daily Chronicle.