AMBITION OR CONTENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2181, 19 December 1895, Page 20

AMBITION OR CONTENT.

■»■ - By S. Or Cope. The night's dark shadows slowly ch&rge to grey, The grey resolves ifceelf to lighter hue : The ruing sun betokens bieak oC day, And golden gleams fall on tbe sparkling dew, The lark, in haste, ascends to great the dawn, Filling tbe earth with glorious notes of song; The former, wakening, finds that it is morn. Aud risas, f eating he has slept too long. From early -lighted fires the curling smoke Drift* slowly in tli9 scarcely moving air, And tileutly asserts the village folk Their homely morning meal betimes prepare. And now from yonder cot l agty ii y y decked, Step forth two youths juft in tbe prirco of life, When boyhoods fancier are. n<-t wholly wrecked By ce&selojs combat ia a world of &lrife>. s A mother's blessing and a sire's godepeed Are from the open door afresh be* towed. ••Gcod-byea" are echoed, and the twain proceed, With hopeful hearts, along Life's lengthy road. Soon fades the hamlet from the travellers' view, And change of scene tends to divett the mind ; ThougLta oi their friends and home give way to new, Atd inmost hope and wish expression fiud. With humble lot the one would be content, And ask of Fortune but a modes* meed ; The other's tiros in reading had been spent, And in his mind was sown Ambition's seed. Whether warricr bolJ, with honours rich ; Popular statesman, learned in debate ; Oi* philosopher wise — he recked not; which ; He Binply lelt a yearning to be great. On roll the yearp, and Fate to both ia kind, If to grant rcottal'a wish a kindness be. Throne doth on a farm employment find. And soon a homeiteid of his own has he. In happiness serene aud sweet content, With th' if ty housewife and midst children dear { In health, with ne'er a care, his life is spent — Envyiug lions, nor having aught to fear. Leaving this frctne, our steps we now retrace, And seek to learu of him whose higher aim Despised such modesfc lot, and hoped to place His name upon the glitterirg scroll of Fame. His journey ceased not till he reached at length Lofidon, the greatest city of the earth ; Wbo*e bnny turmoil acd-whose mighty strength Piove Britain's greatness and proclaim her worth. Vies^ing, firru-zed, this hurrying, earnest throng, The wanderer ft-ela a solitude supreme ; And through the crowd he slowly moves along As ono experiencing a hideous dream. Though saddened and discouraged at the sight, And seeing now with what be had to cope ; Like Paudi ra'a Box, after Misfortune's flight, His mind retains tbal fojthiug influence — Hopa. Many laborious days and studious nights, In spite of ftvtred brain and aching eye?, This hopeful country youth hia battle fights, Aud Fortune now and then throws him a prize. Sweet rest or calm contest he never feels, Success but serves to fan ambition's fire ; Each peak he climbs a higher one revealsEach victory made itior«ases bis desire. Hia old familiar friends now strangers are; Nor does his hmryirg pace permit new ties. His parent? worship him as from afar, Such unwonted greatness dazzling their eyes. This constant toil, continuous mental strain, Endows him with old age while yourg in years. And now, in pessimists-unhappy vein, A mighty column of regrets he rears. His life, devoted to bis selfish aims, Neglc elf ul of hia fellow.-creatures' needs, No goodly deed bis history proclaims Or to the autbor any joy concedes. The ploughman, whistling as his team he drives, Is to this Bated creature's eyes more blest Than he who for Ambition's greatness strives And stranger is to love, content, or rest. His pasfc has been a weary, huriied race, Ambition leading on and Death behind. Erratic, one ; the other tura in pace : Ambition touching few ; Death, all mankind. And, as his halting step now slower grows, Death gently whißpers to his troubled mind— " Come, Irav'ler, cease thy strife, leave all these woe> a And in my narrow cradle rest now fiad." So ends a life to mortal greatness given, To Fame devoted, and to self all spent. Honour he won on earth, but none in heaven* And. to bis fellow men a thoucht ne'er, lent.