ENDMION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2663, 29 March 1905, Page 77

ENDMION.

With solemn roll the briny waters break Along the rugged land. The sullen cloud Broods down and bitter sleet is swept about The darkening hills. Oh, desolate, far away, Is that secluded valley where she read The poem that is with me evermore — "Endymion"— the old Hellenic tale. He was a youth who shunned the common

ways, Communing with the solitary hills, The hollow main, the lone, mysterious glens, The solemn rivers and the silent stars. He had no heart to touch the hands that

gave Warm pressure, or to look upon the eyes Keen with the kindling message that he knew But transient, for he sought eternal love. He had uo heart to join the passing throng, To lose himself with noise and shallow-ness ; To \irge the foaming steeds along the sand; Pant with the runners, with the wrestlers

tread The sward in giant strain. He had no heart To jjress the bi-istled boar from iair to lair Among the rocks. lie shrank from wordy

strife, The vain philosopher with his subtleties, The swelling statesman with his catch-words

for The common ear. The wild v,-as beautiful For him. Oh, every sheeny blade of dewy

gra.ss Was rife with Deity. The tender v/ind Whispered of love. The stream that glided round The mossy roots of forest sentinels Murmured of immortality. Ah, man, Why art thou hurried when the ages wait? So ever with his truer self he held Deep intercourse, and solemnly he yearned For one — the sweet ideal of his soul. He sought her ever, ardently — at dawn, While yet the valleys, wan, in shadow lay, Ere light and fragrance filled the ferny dell, Eic -waking birds gave music to the breeze That ruffled all the shimmering stream. He

sought At noon, wh.cn filmy lawn had veiled the

snows Of lonesome summits, when far and far away The landscape faded into smoke and dim The ocean spread below the hazy land. Hs sought at eventide, when hollowly The dreary wind beneath the darkening trees Tolcl of some maiden by some movintain stream, Wistful, alone. Beneath the starry heaven, The instifferable blaze of majesty, He longed to meet his love. He came at last Upon a piny eminence. The sea, Slow, ominous, rolled below, and far around The icy steeps, coeval with the stars, Spake of an awful isolation. Worn With years of solitude he sat him down And waited. Soon a tender, silvery ligh> G-ave beauty to the summits. From the sea, Slow, radiant, full, the moon, ascending, gave A. mystic beauty to the sleeping earth. O did he dream, or did his love indeed. Lean, to his clasping arms and take his kiss Upon her wistful faoe, and did she steal His spirit from the earth that needed not His high devotion? Kay! He wooed her

to His lowly hermitage. The common lot "Was theirs, but glorified. Without upon Their mountain passes beat the restless pulse Of passing empires, but he liveth now A sacred inspiration. Wedded souls, A blessed lot, a sabred charge is yours, To suffer with the lowliest— to live By gjiiet ways — to give to other times Heroic heritage — to prove that love — ■ High, virginal — is God's best gift to man. — Chablbs Oscar Palmeb. K&hswtara, March 17»