VAGRANT VERSE

Southland Times, Issue 19276, 21 June 1924, Page 4

VAGRANT VERSE

THE AWAKENING. (Written for the Southland Times.) Love came to me e'en while I slept, And softly touched me on the bps; And oh! it was a lover’s kiss Which breathed pure incense on my bouL A kiss is such, a little thing To bring this quiv’ring sweetne® in it® train. My soul murmured in heavenly torture, A willing slave to Ixive. A wond’rous peace enwrapped us two about— The kiss and I—twin stragglers from the Lord. A faded, tranquil glory lingering, The faintest glow—the flush of maid®* reticence. These, too, are gone; and comes The lull before th’ approach of thunder— The deathly silence, when the universe hangs breathless; Waiting, alert, significant— The aether of the never-slumbering mind. Sudden and swift it comes, With all the force of swift and sudden night. A crash! The rosy portals of the soul grow dim; Comes sombre consciousness, and vague unrest. In vain the reluctant spirit lights against the dawn, The siege is over, and the battle lost. I woke, oppressed by God knows what accurs-ed bane — The rain in dismal spurts was beating on the pane.