THE TWO DOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2603, 3 February 1904, Page 59

THE TWO DOTES.

From the chelter of the Ark, O'er the waters dim and! daik,

Sped the dove — Wes white birdie, fiail anil fan, Leaving Noah's tender caie,

And his love. But where once hor gentle breast "Warmed the young within her nest,

Now the foam Covered e\ cry cherished place, Leaving not a single trace

Of her home. So the little lonely thing Sought the Ark on drooping wing:

Enteied in. Man" and bird together mourned, For the world that God had scorned For its sin.

Even so, from Heaven above, Came the Father's one White Dove,

Long ago ; Found the woiM rll m =ff by flccd, Not of water, but of blood,

Sin, and woe. Found " noi where to lay His head," For the world in sin was dead;

And in pain 3-o:l reached cut and took His Son— His lamb, His Dove, Hia only one, Back again. . . a Once again in anxious love, Noah waited for his dove

Till 'twas dark. She had gone with morning light; Now she flew on pinions blight Tc the Ark. Brought a leaf for him to sac, Plucked fiom off an olive tree, Fre3h and gieen; Token 'that the* earth would be Cleansed from, all impurity — New and cloan.

So again the Holy One, When earth's day of sin has run

To its nigM, Shall come forth to claim His Brick; And the earth "at eventicte Shall be light." And. the White Dove shall return, Where the Father's heart cloth yearn O'er His own ; Saying, "Lo! ray olive leaves! — Thy White Dove no longer grievea All alone. "There, my deai cues, are my own; Jewels for my crown and throne, They shall shme; Token that the whole wide, world, Now in sin and darkness hurled, Shall be mine." • • • Yeb again sped forth the dove From the ark and Noah's love; But .she oanie To the window nevermore ; For earth's punishment was o'er, And her shame. And the happy birdie found, Springing* from the smiling ground, Grass ancll corn. Fourrd a branch whereon to rest, Found a place "to build her nest That glad morn. ( So when Jesus comes again, With His saints to dwell and reign,

Earth shall be Ready to adore h<jr King — A new, a clea.ii, a ransomed, thing, Pure and free.

—Lilian Greaves

Sydney, January, 1904.