THE LAUREL WAITS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2507, 9 April 1902, Page 60

THE LAUREL WAITS.

Man s heart has not half uttered itself yet, And much remains to dOj as well as say.'" — Feslius. O say not thai the lords of song have gone For ever from us; that these later times Must lack their poet-prcphets— those witTi might To move the multitude !o r.ction, stii The pulses of our spirits; to arouss From lethargy our shallow, sordid lives, And force us. feel that Godhead bide= and brcathca About us, though mechanically move Wheel within wheel the systems we survey. What and wlicr.ee are we? Whither are we bound 9 Ah' wherefore do we sin and suffer here' Whj should such hopes and aspirations house In such a fragile dwelling"' Why should we Wither and perish while the fuller light Flickers and beckons from afar? O why Should myiiad mysteries mc-ct our questioning With mute denial 9 When unr.umberecl daj3 Have overgone, say. will our souls aribe To gaze upon the glorious Deity? O ask, immortal spuit, ask of Him Who flings immensities of matter forth Fro .ii th' unuttsrpble solitude where He Sits splendour-girt, supernal. Ask again, And yet again, and He will answer thee Witli th' magnificence of melodies Unheard of sexual ears. Then, when thy soul Is filled with floods of glory, thou wilt feel Thyself coeval with the hills and seas, The sun, the moon, the sohtaiy stars; Yea, do-.vered with, something deathless, deep, divine, That drsv.'s thee upward, ojward evermore Fiorn hcly height to height immaculate. O then, when thou art swept by floods of song This truth will burn itself upon thy son!, Th" mightiest utterances of men are but Chi'fl hsp.Hga, caught from the cantata God Wakes in the outmost of His myriad woilds. Then thou wilt know that gloom and stiife pnd storm. The agonies of all the ages, dcr.s Of infamj, and horrib'e durance aie The nightmares of a moment, doomed to melt Ard flee away before the beauteous face Of Hun who bringeth life and love to all. O theii. when thou art swept by floods of =ong. Thy spirit comprehend unnumbered spheres Of bhss and bitterness about thee, all The loveliness of all the wor'.ds will he Upon thy panting spirit hke the touch Of tei.dei kisses oil a face forlorn. And thou wilt fcsl thy youthfulness renewed; The golden light of gladsome infancy \ Will flood the myriad valleys of thy mind. And songs unutterably sublime will swel' And pulse within thee though they want for words Meet for their message. Thou wilt ask no more, But set thy feet upon the golden m.igs, And mount the ladder of immortality. —Charles Oscar Palmer. Brentwood Farm, March 21, 190-2.