POETRY OLD AND NEW.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15685, 12 August 1914, Page 10

POETRY OLD AND NEW.

THE REWARDS OF VIRTUE. Heaven may awhile correct tho virtuous; Yet it will wipe their eyes again, and moke Their faces whiter with their tears. Innocence Conceal'd is the Stol'n Pleasure of the Hods. Which never ends in shame, as that of Men Doth ofttimes- do;.. like ..the Sun breaks forth, When it hath gratified another world;

And to our unerpectina eyes appoarß More glorious through its late obscurity. —Jobs Fountain (1661)

A BRIDAL SONG. The golden gates of Sleep unbar Whero Strength and Beauty met together, Kindle their image like a star In a sea of glassy weather." Night, with all thy stars look down,— Darknoss. weep thy holiest dew,— Never smiled the inconstant moon

On a pair so true . Lot eyes not Bee their own delight — Haste, swift Hour, and thy flight Oft renew. —SHKLIiBI.

A HOLIDAY.

Let mo bo careless for a space. Gay as iho happy birds above, And lot me glory in thy face, Ah! lot mo glory in thy love. After long weariness of pain And disappointment, I have come To that fair land of hope again, Whore burns tho light to lead mo home. Let mo be happy for ft day, Ono clay brimful of joy will do, If I may fling till care away, If I may share my joy with you. —H. It. FKEBTOJJ. NARCISSUS. Almighty, wondrous, everlasting,, Whother in a cradle of astral whirlfiro. Or globed in a piercing slur thou slumb rest. The passionless body of God: , Thou deep i' the core of Almighty!— From numbing stress and gloom profound Ma-dost escape in life desirous To embroider her thin-spun robe. 'Twas down in a wood— toll— In a running water thou so-west . thyself, Or leaning over a pool. The sedges Woro twinn'd at the mirror brim: The sky was (hero and the Almighty I— A bird of a bird, and white.clouds floating, And seeing thou knewost thino own linage, And lov'd it beyond all else. Then wondering didst thou speak Of beauty and wisdom of art and worship, Didst build the fanes of Zeus and Apollo, Tho high cathedrals of Christ. All that, we love is Almighty!— Heart-felt music and lyric song. Language, the eager trrasp of knowledge, All that wo think is thine. Rut whence?— Beauteous everlasting!— Whence and whither? Hast thou mistaken? Or dost forget? Look'again! Thou seest A shadow, and not thyself. —Robert Bninofls, THE COLOURS OF THE FLAG. What is the blue on our flag, boys? The waves of tho boundless sea,' Whero our vessels ride in their tameless pride, And the feet of tho, winds are free: t From the sun and.smiles of the coral isles To flic ice of tho South and North, Wilh dauntless tread through tempests dread The guardian ships go forth. What is the white on our flag, boys? The honour of our land, Which burns in our sight like * beacon light, And stands while tho hills shall stand; Tea, dearer than fame is our land's great name. , , And we ficrht. wherever we be. For the mothers end wives that pray for the lives „ Of the brave hearts over tho sea. What is the red on our fla/r, boys? The blood of our heroes slam On the burning sands in the wild waste lands And the froth of the purple mam. And it erica to God from the crimson sod, And the crest of the waves outrollcd, That Ho send us men to fight again As our fathers fought of old. Wn'll stand by the dear old flag, boys, Whatever be said or done, Though the shots eomo fast, as we face the bin st. ■ , And tho fee bo ten to ono: Though our only reward be tho thrust of A sword. And a bullet in heart or brain. Whn-t matters one eono if tho flag float on, And Britain bo lord of the main. —Casob Scott,