TWO SONNETS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2331, 3 November 1898, Page 49

TWO SONNETS.

LONDON", 1898. London! when sliall thy greatness have an end? Thy boundaries, when shall they fixed be? When shall Time lay Ins scathing hand on tkee, And thy proud name with ancient darkness blend? Along thy ways what busy thousands wend! Great human floods that all unthinking flee Towards that grey, lone, illimitable sea Whose awful deeps "c'en thought cannot descend. O when I scan thy dim, far-spreading towers, And think what fate may have ioi thee in store, Whether slow Luxury shall waste thy powers, Or swift Invasion batter down thy door, Methiuks the very muse of prophecy Mighi shrink to picture thy futurity. CRAYFORD CHURCH, KENT. A church grown grey with watching and with prayers, A reverend fane, that lifts its time-scarr'd head Most lovingly above the happy dead That calmly sleep away their lifo of caves. Its bell hath toll'd how many solemn years No man can tell, for Time hath slowly spread A veil about tho walls, and mystery shed A charm that more tho holy place endears. Hero hollow-sounding winds have roar'd in vain, And many times without the sacred pale Hath savago man waged Avilder war than they, Yet still it stands, and still its " storied pane " Sheds a soft splendour Avhero .the altarrail Shrines that pure Word that ne'er shall pass away,. October. 18S3. »"S'J'B.