DEPARTURE.

Otago Witness, Volume 23, Issue 2684, 23 August 1905, Page 68

DEPARTURE.

Autumn's leaf Earthward bore its sigh of grief, Russet- Jeaves and golden, Stamped with sorrows olden : Year by year with weight of woes Autumn gees. Gone art thou, — Half a world away ere now;— Half a world asunder, Hear me, child of wonder; Does your heart with pity fill?— Shun me still? Gone thou art ; For a boding at my heart Night and day distresses; TJnattainecl caresses Srill must nearest be in sleep, Thcmgh I w©ep. Doth thy heart, Moving in strange lands apart, !l?urn a little kindly To the one who blindly Reaches over sea and land Poi thy hand? Only hear; Does the far seem ever near? Dost thou dream caresses For the one who blesses Life, since it but once has given Glimpse of heaven? Might my sighs. Moving under ulien skies Of the sleeping Dragon And the golden Wagon, Move to thee in silent flight Through the night. Earth's wide ball Quenches ere you hear my call,; Half a world asunder, Moving new stars imcler, Not an echo have you heard Of my word. I have naught : Not a kiss to quicken thought; No least touch of fingers In my cold hand lingers; Not one moment did w© resfc Breast to breast. Naught have I: Naught from thee o|_word or sigh; Yet, alone, forsaken, In my heart awaken Memories to lighten dreams Witih eye-beams! Dearest soul! Who could, loveless or heart-whole, See the glows, the flashes Under drooping lashes? All my eoul in trembling bliss Seeks a kiss. Darkness hides; 'Twixt us move the mournful tides;' All my heart is turning, Hacked and sick with yearning, For the light Love once bade rise To thine eyes. Here 'tis night; Earth lies calm in clear starlight: Oh, for silence broken ; — One sweet whisper spoken, Falling from night's starry cope,— "Love, and hope." — Johannes C. Andikmbw. Christchurch, August, 1905.