Original Poetry.

Otago Witness, Issue 1417, 18 January 1879, Page 22

Original Poetry.

LOVE AMONGST THE ROSES. By M; W. Stack. 11 Detective Farrell locked up two children for stealing flowers."— Wellington telegram. " Could great men thunder As Jove himsell does. Jove would ne'er bo quiet, For every pelting petty officer WouM use his heaven lor thunder; nothing but thunder. — Thou rather^with thy sharp and sulphurous bott, Bplitt'st the unwedgeable and gnarled oak Than the soft myrtle ;-but man, proud man ! Dreat in a little brief authority- ' Most ignorant of what he's most assm d, His glassy essence.-like an angry ape, Plays tuch fantastic tricks before high heavon As make the angels weep ; who, with our spleens, Would all themselves laugh mnrta'. — Shakbspbarb : Measure for Measure. The rose's maker is the roses' owner, And for the owner is each child trustee ; And man-made mandates 1 disobey the donor, If infant " thieving" is called larceny." Confine the rose and thou wilt be consistent--Its blushing beautiea . caused tho child to steal; „ . Arrest each leaf, but, bear in mind, assistant Of law and order, we can c en appeal From judges' precedents a "d petty fury To Heaven's Umpire and spotless jury. The lovely crimson .caught ,tho infant's eye— Detective Farrell caught her by the neck ; The charming violet's too-heavenly dye Entranced her youthful vision, and a wreck Of virtue did her soul enclo."<j ! 0, fatal Farrell ! still more-tatal rose ! The law is made, and n w,it is a crime ■ For lovely infants to steal Heaven s lear.^ Go, catch the culprits in their tend'rest prime. And brand the rose-child with the brand of "thief!" Enclose her in a prison's atmosphere, And pour gaol poison in her tender ear. " Put bracelets on her tender wrists, Teach her lips of innocence to swear, Menace her with fast detective fists, And with affidavits big declare She is a filcher foul of flowers most fair ! God might have placed our mother Eve in halls , , • • • Where gaudy curtains met the gazing eye ! He might have refuged her in pala.ce walla, With stoned seats and rich artistic dye. But no ! " Within a garden's cultured round," Where rival beauties met the gaze, Our earliest mother and her husband found An ample heritage for endless days. . And mother Nature, in her rich domain, • For infants specially' her feast provides, # And Nature's law o'errales the curb and rein Of man in office when "red " rule decides To trample beauty' in the dust of law, And promise " cases " for its hungry maw ! Oh, gentle prisoners ! the great heiler, Time, Will smooth the furrows which to you are "double." Receive my sympathy, albeit in rhyme, And that officialdom will seldom trouble The younger spirits is my fervent prayer— Oh, leave the children go their Maker's care. " I stole a rose," in fancy I do hear The little accents tremblingly relato ; '.' I loved its beauty, and I wandered near To spy its bushes, as it wood its mato. It seemed to ask me to touch and bless it— And God, I fancied, .whispered, Child, possess it!'" The stolen rose has withered on its stem, The heart may wither that did seek its ■favour; '. ' The dew of' innocence received by them May 'neath suspicion lose its pristine flavour. God's mint-mark by bad rumour may be blot' ted And infant souls by slander may be spotted. Oh ! Farrell, Farrell, had you e'er a mother ? In child petition did thy palms ne'er close,And did thy dearest earthly author smother The infant's struggles to receive a rose ? If flowers and infants are thy targets here, , Thou'lt feel unwelcome in a brighter sphere. Go worship flowers, and put thy baton, down ! Go worship children ! they are little saints ! The infant prince who wears a baby crown, The peasant's bairn, whom the sunshine paints, Are each and all the tenants of (rod s garden. Down on your knees, fcir, and ask the royal pardon ! Fare thee well ! and may thy better senaea Thy hotter passion in the future rule ; May Heaven's grammar— all its moods and tenseo — , ' Bo e'er thy guide, and may the higher school Of Nature supersede tho law of might, And beauty's realm conquer legal right.