AT THE SIGN OF THE LYRE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1264, 21 May 1896, Page 12

AT THE SIGN OF THE LYRE.

ORIGINAL VEIISE. THE CALL OF THE SEA. ('Written for the Neve Zealand .Mail.) The birds aro still, the sun has gone to rest, The scarlet clouds are dying in the west; The cold, grey moon hangs low above the sea, And the dim twilight breathes of mystery. Drear is the fading east, and void of light, Swift comes the silence of tho summer night; A lingering blackbird pipes, then all is still As tlie last gleam dies on tho distant hill. Low breathes the night-wind o’er the heaving main, The pallid stars peer out and hide again, Spectral they wander through the misty gray, While dropping dews bewail tlie dying day. And now comes Night, the Queen, whose sable cloud Towers like a throne, the dark sea wails aloud Beneath the moon, where ghostly faces toss’d On the pale breakers, throng the dreary coast. The Midnight wraps them in her ebon veil, But o’er the shingle still their bony feet Kobo, and ever comes that ghostly wail From ffeshloss lips, whore tlie dark waters beat The iron rocks upon tlie far-off shore. The dead rise ever while tho surges ilow, Calling those phantoms from tho deops below To haunt, tho lonely coast for evermore ! C.E.M. OUTWARD AND INWARD. (Written for the Niue Zealand Mail.j When one, in old times, had with angels been, Men knew it in a moment from his face, By presence of supernal joy and grace, And bv his altered tones and radiant mien So, alter converse sweet with thee, my Queen, In me my comrades all these signs can trace; And, as my joyous smiles each other chase, They say, “Ah, ah! we know whom thou liast seen!” They see the outward only: could they know How fast my heart beats when I think of thee, With what bright thoughts my mind doth overflow, Or feel the hope which thou inspires! in 1110— “ Some Goddess loves him,” they would say, “ and so Creates within his breast such ecstasy!” J. Stuart Kelly. 18th May, 1800. SELECTED VERSE. THE II A Pl> IE ST HEART. By John Vance Cjieney. "Who drives tho horses of the sun Shall lord it but a day ; Better the lowly deed were done, And kept the humblo way. Tho rust will find the sword of fame; Tho dust will hide the crown ; Ay, none will nail so high his name Time will not tear it down.

The happiest heart that ever boat Was in some quiet breast That found the common daylight sweet And loft to Heaven the rest. —Ha rper’s Ha get :ine OLD FRIENDS. By David Banks Sickkls There are no friends like old friends, And none so good and true; We greet them when we meet them As roses greet the dew; No other friends are dearer, Though horn of kindred mould ; And while we prize the new ones, We treasure more tho old. There aro no friends like old friends, Where’er we dwell or roam In lands beyond the ocean Or near the bounds of home ; And when they smile to gladden, Or sometimes frown to guide, We fondly wish those old triends Were always by our side. There are no friends like old friends, To help us with the load That all must hear who journey O’er life’s uneven road And when uncomiucrcd sorrows Tho weary hours invest, The kindly words of old Iriends Are always found the best. There are no friends like old friend j, To calm our frequent fears, When shadows fall and deepen Through life’s declining years; And when our faltering tootsteps Approach the Great Divide, We’ll long to meet the old friends Who wait the other side.