TERRA INCOGNITA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2059, 10 August 1893, Page 39

TERRA INCOGNITA.

There's a gem in the Pacific, Unknown its priceless worth ; With the voice that scattered chaos, Front the sea it had its birth. And its silent sandy resting Never saw' the golden light, Never taught the Btone to sparkle Its rainbow-hued delight. There's a flower in the wildwood That wastes itself away, But you'll never breath its fragrance ' At the dewy break of day J And each golden seaßon passing • Shall bid it bloom anew— The joy of bee and butterfly, But not for mortal view. There's a maiden in the fairland Beyond the bright blue sea With a wealth of golden ringlets That are braided not for thee ; And she's weaving bridal garments In her Island of the west But you'll never press the heart; that beats Beneath her jewelled vest. , There's a world that rolls in darkness, Beyond the sight of man, And I see along its coas tlines Nations standing cold and wan ; For the glad sunlight that warms us Never reaches its dim shore— Ah 1 Must it lie in darkness, Unbroken evermore? _ p Puketoi, August 1893.

AT the suggestion of the late Premier, the Hon. John Ballance, and numerous subscribers to- the Otago Witness, [the author has collected the Poems which have from time to time appeared in that- paper over ,the norn de plume of " Wych Elm,'* in order to issue them m book form. • ' ■ The introduction bas been written by the Hon. W. P. Reeves, Minister for Education. The ' Work is, now published, and may bo had of James. Hobsbubgh, Bookseller, George Street, Dunedin.