Original Poetry.

Otago Witness, Issue 824, 13 September 1867, Page 14

Original Poetry.

TEUE LOVE.

Talk not of love ii\ mansion halls, With carpets, silken sofas, wine ; For love within a cottage walls Is purest. Then such love be mine.

True love cares not for stately halls, Nor for the light of chandelier ; But where some gushing brooklet falls,} It loves to stray by moonlight clear.

True lovers like to pass away The hours in woodland shades alone, When zephyrs through the branches ph»y r In sighs responsive to their own ; When all is silent, and the night Around the scene her rnantla weaves "; Or when the yellow moon's pale light Comes dancing through the whisp'ring. leaves ; Or seated near some winding stream, While alow, and soft, it flows along : It wafts them to the laud of dreams, Charmed by its sweet and plaintive song*. Compared to that, what is the tone

Of music, that doth loudly sweep Through palace halls ? The gay alone

In mazy dance their vigils keep. In nature's music there's a spell, By which true love is ever bound ; And where 'tis heard it yearns to dwell,

Enchanted by the pleasing sound. The one is but the sound of mirth. ;

'Midst fashion's revelry 'tis given — The transient music of this carth — The other is the song of heaven. J. N. IL