SELECTED VERSE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1797, 15 August 1906, Page 60

SELECTED VERSE.

ROUNDEL. When Sorrow came he bowed my head, As one whose lif e had lost its aim ; “What boots it still to strive?” I said When Sorrow came. He seared my soul as with a flame That on its baser substance fed— The pomp of pride, the shreds of shame— Yet gave withal fresh strength to tread The path of duty, and to claim Clear vision from the light he shed When sorrow came. —A. J. CAMPBELL THE SONG OF THE AXE. My realm it lies? in the forest shaded I am monarch of all that stand On the bush-clad hills, where the mountain rills Rush down to the rivers grand. A tyrant I, and merciless, No trunk shall bar my way; The grandeur I turn to a wilderness, The gloom to the sun’s bright ray. Maitai and graceful Miro, Hinau and Kahikatea tall, See how I swing, Hear how I ring— I am the King of all. The jagged stump, the blackened root, The damp and rotting trunk—’Tis all that’s left of those I cleft, The majesty I sunk. I revel in destruction ; The hawk affrighted screams; I spoil beyond construction, While the sun on my keen edge gleams. Deep in the iron-hearted Maire, In the shade where the tuis call, See how I swing; Hear how I ring— I a-m the King of all.

With scornful sweep I strike them down Where lowly sorub uprears; In tho giant’s sap I madly lap The blood of a thousand years. In glee I tear at each stout heart, While the winds in their branches moan, '.'ill their pride is broke, and the echoes start With the noise of their dying groan. Rata and stately Rimu, Tawa and Totara fall; See how I flash, Hear how they crash— I am the King of all. —ML- W. DONOVAN. Ng&tiawa, July 16th.

CHANGE. Life is_not all. One diay it shall be all—• Life, love, and rest; But now, the groping hands; the un« answered call— The bitter quest. Death is not all. No life that death could hold Of good or ill, Completes to us, when we are still and cold, What life did not fulfil. But there is life past life; beyond all death, Where promised things shall be; Where groping hands hold firmest faith. And diinnest eyes shall see. —ALEX. J. GRANT in the “Sunday Strand.” A LETTER FROM HOME. From the land where the thistle and rose are entwined, From the home of my heart, deeply graved on iny mind, ~» Wide oceans divide me, and here I sojourn On a pilgrimage, waiting the day to return. Around me are palm-trees and dusky Hindoos, And millions of wily Parsees and Baboos, Mohammedan mosques, and Buddhistical shrines, And images graven in varied designs. Luxuriant beauties of Nature abound On the tropical plains, and here may be found The glamour of ages on many a hand, Enhancing the charms of this tropical land. But sweeter to me than the sunshine and flowers The tropical palms and rich floral bowers, Are the hours of arrival, from over the foam, Of tho P. and 0. steamer with letters from Home.

Givo the merchants their mails; let them gloat o’er the news Of a rise in the markets, while others peruse Tho political notes or War Office decrees ; But my letter to me surpasses all these. Fragrance of roses, the scent of the heather, And scmg of the skylark seem blending together, As I muse on the letter which crossed o’er the foam To link us together—dear letter from Home! —ANGUS MACLEOD in “The Master Hand.” INITIATION. The garden was lovely with bud and blossom, Yet you plucked no rose as you wandered through it. You scorned the flowers and the garden knew it — All but the rose I wore in my bosom. “Give me your rose ! How its heart uncloses To the warmth of your heart” you said. And I gave it. Now it'lieo in the dust, and I cannot save it, And your hands are full of the other roses. —E. N. WHAT MAKES A MAN? From the German of E. M. Arndt.) What makes the man? I’ll tell thee now In simple words and plain. Grapple thou with each greed and sin Till they are conquered, slain. Then will remain the merest film Of self, and purged thou art, And that is left which, soaring high, Keeps sm and thee apart. What is this film that conquers dross In lifers unceasing flight? Mmi call it spirit, it is clad In robes of shining light. —II. F.