THE EXILE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20596, 21 June 1930, Page 28 (Supplement)

THE EXILE.

Serena and. gentle, placid, kind and. fair. She looked oround and breathed the alien ■ air. . " ;

No more, no more, her dark and pensive

eyes Shall seo the paler blue of English skies, No moro, no more familiar field and lane, The homo she loved, feel her firm tread

again. She lifts her face to feel the mellow breeze; '' ' r But from dark wooded hills it brings a

stir, , . " It bears no scent of budding English trees; Odours and sounds all strange, all strange to her.

A deep unease aches in her patient breast, After the ocean's tumult, still no rest! Oh! for the meadows where the wild flowers dream And 'catkined willows sway into the

stream! Around her, murmuring, ardent with

amaze, Deeply respectful stood the crowd to gaze. Old rangitiras, children brown of cheek; "A portent! 10, and can this marvel speak ?"

Sho spoke—tho portent tossed her graceful head, At the first move the staring circle fled. One long regretful moo expressed her grief, Then, more content, she pulled and ate a leaf. The gentle stranger, stranger now no more, Tho first cow landed on New Zealand's shore! y' , '•

From Philip Briddock, Beach Road, Papakura. (Age 13.)