SOUNDINGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2840, 19 August 1908, Page 70

SOUNDINGS.

" Little we know of th« hoary Sea Till tlje Hen of Lead and Line Solve ns a tithe of its mystery, shew Strang« gleams of the limitless life below With their soundings ; here be mine."

"HEAVEN'S PERFECT WAY."

So after nights and days of loving thought And tender preparation; and sweet thrills Of human anxiousness, the chamber stood Empty and lone and still. The days went by And Estelle brooded on her love despised, Her sacrifice rejected ; and her wound Grew ever, and the silence throbbed with pain. One night she sank to sleep heart-sore, end wan In spirit as in cheek, her pillow wet With unrestrained tears, her wearied frame Still shaken with her sobbing. ' But toward mom She wakened wide-eyed, calm, and yet alive In every singing pulse and nerve of her With reasonless unrest. Shejrose and threw A soft white gown about her, passed' ado wn The hall all purposeless, when lo ! from out Each chink and cranny of that guestless room Shone an unearthly radiance, lovelier Than mountain mist lit by a hidden sun, Or luminous snow-field in mid-air aglow. Trembling, yet all unable to refrain, She sought the latch with eager fingers tense, Entered and looked upon the bed, and fell Upon her knees adoring. There He lay Upon the humble trestle. Fine gold hair, A glory of twined sunbeams, framed that face Of perfect beauty, pure as sifted snow On virgin peaks 6oft kist by new-born day ; And O, the wondrous curving of those lips That even in His sacred slumber smiled, While unimagined splendours came and went In endless palpitation rythmical ! Long dumb with ioy — " Dear Lord !" afc length she sighed, And His eyes opened, flooding with their light The light that was, and drowning all her being — Body, Mind. Soul, and Self — in utter bliss. "Daughter," He said, and rose, "it wasso sweet "Of thee thus to prepare a place for Me; " I have slept well." She clasped the lotus feet — " O Master, blees me not ! 'Twas not for Thee " I made the chamber ready, but for one s " Child," broke the gentle accents, while the hand Just toucht the bowed head blessingly, " have I " Been so long with thee and thou hast not known ? "What thou hast done unto the least of these "My brethren, thou hast done it unto Me." The gentle voice ceased, and the light grew dim, And when she dared to raise her eyes once more The Holy One had passed. But all that day Music was in the air, and the whole house Was fragrant with sweet spices and the scent Of dew-waeht violets, and perfect peace Dwelled with her. . . . May it dwell so ever more !

Marsyas.