VERSE OLD AND NEW

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17144, 28 December 1929, Page 10

VERSE OLD AND NEW

THE POETRY OF LACE

A sweet disorder in the dress Kindles in clothes a wnntonness: A lawn about the shoulders thrown Into a fine distraction — An erring lace, which here and there Enthrals a crimson stomacher— A cuff neglectful, and thereby Ribbons to flow confusedly— A winning wave, deserving note, In the tempestuous petticoat— A careless shoe-string, in whose tie 1 see a wild civility— Do more bewitch me, than when art Is too precise in every part. —Herrick. OX LIGHTING DIKES AGAIN. Outside the fiery flowers die, Bright dahlia and snapdragon; And in the place where late they slum o Gay drifts of glowing petals lie, Or on the autumn wind float by. Summer at last is put to rout; A sudden rain brings in the night. I set my little lire alight And watch the flames go in and out, And throw their flickering beams abon t. 0 friendly lire, burn brave and clear, That all who enter here may see In thee warm hospitality: And with thy far-flung radiance cheer This ltouse throughout the darkling year. 4 Let thoughts and things that fret and jur Be changed for an enchanted space By virtue of thy lovely grace, That we may seem, though wood must char, To warm our hearts against a star. —Kathleen Lee, in the Sunday Times. SALIX BABYLOXICA. Men plant the weeping willow trees Wherever they may go; Sweet sorrow’s symbol, bringing ease To lovers in their woe; The green, green willows, By singers loved and sung, Stilt ageless, as in years agono Beside the waves of Babylon, Where exiles wept in Babylon, When yet the world was young. —Ella McFadyen.

A CHANGE OF POSITION. [On discovering that one of the patents recently taken out for new inventions relates to "a combined double-chin reducer and hair-wave preserver,” for wearing in bed.] 1 thought that I heard a sad lady bemoaning ' The suite of her features with grief and chagrin; “I can’t keep a curve in my hair,” she was groaning, “While curves uurequired are invading my chin. One’s sense of well-being ami beauty it cripples, \ ' Ah, what can one do with a problem like that— A chin that insists on indulging in ripples But hair that remains irretrievably flat?” Then quoth the inventor, “Dear madam, how trying— Your trouble is one that would harass a saint! But hero is a gadget that £ am supplying To cure your by no means uncommon complaint; Attach it at night and it proves an unerring Corrective of contours that cause you despair, For while you’re asleep my device is transferring That permanent wave from the chin to the hair!” —Lucio, in .Manchester Guardian.