THE FATAL CIRCLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1031, 2 September 1871, Page 20

THE FATAL CIRCLE.

" From whence rome war* and fiuhtinyx among j/c 7 Ye luxt, and have not ; ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain." — James iv. v. I, 2. I have sometimes a dreadful thought,

Forcing itself upon my brain,— That all the good by genius wrought,

For man's Advance may be in vain, And every field for truth's sake fought,

The world will have to fight again. Freedom and peace, just laws, reforms,

Arc slowly won— relapse and pass ; All tilings seemed based on force of arms,

And patriot hearts beneath the grass, While nations drudge thro' storms and calms—

The noble horse, the patient ass. Arts rise and fade— and rise again,

Progressing but to one fixt height ; Science new powers doth attain,

And despots use them as their right ; Man dares not face his own clear brain,

But staggers on with dazzled sight. O, " Civilisation," what art tliou ?

And -what the " Christian's" moral law ? When men's eyes like mad tigers' glow. — When harvest-homes are smouldering straw, — When life- streams o'er field-shambles flow,—

Because two royal heads make war ! Ye " barbarous" times— "dark ages" call'd !

Come back and taunt us— as you may — In all our Knowledge high enstall'd,

'Midst all refinements of our day ; Behold the millions late enthrall'd,

While Kings prayed God for power to slay ! All things wheel round— and with the wheel Successive throng* of buzzing flies ; And all we think, and do, and feel,

Is an old story in the skies : Thus ages upon ages steal, And nature changes not, nor dies. Yet, for the sake of one grnnd chance

That man's best spirit muy obtain Dominion o'er life's slavish dance,

By w ill and action, pure as rain, Let no man sit with resting lance, Nor, hopeless, watch, the eternal main.