TO A WREN.

Otago Witness, Volume 23, Issue 2684, 23 August 1905, Page 63

TO A WREN.

Light nrinstrc 1 of the bush and glade, I hear tLv soft melodious no-tea; < ' As" "flitting • On anon "in light and-shade v Tifidst •vinca'and leaves^, whers peeping through . ' The sunlight on thy beauty dwells, A moment Passing seen, then los£ to view ; i . Thou warbles Ton thy *cdle3S trill % Us in its winding comse a stream Plows rippling From the bosom of a fciJL Like Sorrow winged and astray. Half quitting wrth, but yet withheld And aimless 'Neath the watchful eye of-Jsay. Carearing on and oil forJorn — Dull outcast from a bright sphere - ' . ' Still yearning To regain that blissful bourne. Ethereal, restless spirit free, Sweet poet of the voiceless bush,* Thus pouring " ■ Thy soul- out jn in/slody. "What; nohle-;thonghte inspire the- theme Of thy transporting "song-that thus, Like gentlest' Dying music -in a dream, Steak o'er the drowsing sense, supine f And round it- weaves a subtle spell, ' Consuming # In an esctacy divine. ( Sing thus of beauties ye descry, 'Which Nature shares with Ihee alone, ' Yet lying Undisclosed to mortal «ye? Or of these lovely summer flowers, Pale, am'rous, clinging clematis, Sun loving. Enamoured of^September's hours. The drooping kowhai's golden sheen, Polmtukawa's' flaming bloom ' Of "striking / Contrast to tha sombre green. " Or, since in thy outpourings ring Sweet notes" of. sadness, mingling yet As falling ~ Sunshowers 'ruid tho smiles of spring, Lament ye of that vanished day When Nature's child, the Maori, roamed, --' Still holding Lordly, undisputed Bway ' O'er these fair isles — his rightful placeUnchecked and free; but now, alas! ...--' , A fading, Heartless, . slowly dying race Doomed to extinction as the moa, And other weird and wingless birds, i i 'Fast fleeing From the white man's ceaseless war. Can -thy discerning: eyes foresee JEhe-day; these sacred bush, retreats, ~;„ i .E' cn r dwindling - 'Now, no more' may shelter thee?, -And Solitude,rthy . bride, replaced By noisy Progress ; in whose 'march Destroying Will Be blasted or effaced? All Native charms — on barren hill fri r Foul stoat and rabbit, then supplant The prying Weka, listening to the rills. And brazen ,gorse and broom arrayed In gaudy dress, range wide ihejlaaid, Bruiting "Where the graceful treefern swayed. •And for thy own pure warbling notes, Then 'mid these tearful scenes be hear 3 Discording, Strange cries- fiom alien throats. And when thy trills have ceased to rise, The lark shall voice the newer Ufa In joyous ' Peans of praises to the skies. I fathom not this wild unrest, But yet, loved bird, thy haunting strain; Wakes trembling Chords responsive in my breast. Voice of this, silent solitude, Knew I the secret of your lay,— A stirring Song with love and life imbued, Such as might rouse the world, would flowj But no, sweet epirit — 'tis denied; Stern, frowning Duty calls me— and I go. Yet in these scenes endeared so long, Here let me spend life's closing hours, ' - So dying, I- may hear thy parting song, "When mists involve- my fleeting sense, Q'hen should my "soul to heaven wing . ' Aspiring " _Be thy hymn its passport hence. —0. G. ASTOir. Wellington, August, 1905. * The wren usually frequents the densest and most secluded parts of the bush, apart from other birds. — C. G. A,