POETRY OLD AND NEW.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13778, 17 June 1908, Page 9

POETRY OLD AND NEW.

DAFFODILS. I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats en high o'er vales and bills, When ail at once I saw a crowd A host of golden daffodils ; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Flattering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous M the stars fiat shine And twinkle on the Milky Way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay; Ten thousand saw I at a glance. Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. And oft when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills And dances with the daffodils. Wordsworth. ALVEARY LOT IS THINE. " A weary lot is thine, lair maid, A weary lot is thine '. To pull t'he thorn thy brow to braid, And press the rue for wine. A lightsome eye, a soldier's mien, A feather of the blue, A doublet of the Lincoln greenNo more of me you knew. My love 1 No more of me you knew. " This morn is merry June, I trow, The rose is budding fain ; Rut she shall bloom in winter snow Kre v.ii two meet again." Ho turned his charger a* he spake Upon the river snore, He gave the bridle -rein* a shake, Said, " Adieu for evermore. My love ! And adieu for evermore." Sir Walter Scott THE CHEAP JACK. His loud voice rings across (he fair, Above the hubbub's rise and fall; Full many a stentor's lungs are there, But his'are strongest of them all. The organ of the. roundabout Is less insistent; than his shout. He has but trashy wares to sell, But that will cause him small distress; In ready patter he can tell The virtues they do not posses*. And blithely with "each purchase he Will give his worthless guarautce. He has a confidence immense, Vviiiab criticism fails to touch: Yet somehow men of common sense Distrust him, for he talks too much, Although his loud and bumptious style May win the tribute of a smile. His terminology, they note. Bristles with inexactitudes. They do not like his patchwork coat. And when at length his speech concludes, The knowing fellows at tho fair Bestow their patronage elsewhere""Tot/CHSTOjrEr,