THE SHEPHERDS OF MOUNT IRA.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 415, 30 October 1889, Page 3

THE SHEPHERDS OF MOUNT IRA.

Tho Caliph saw his flock of gentle sheep Roam o'er the burning Mind; Witthnone to guard them, with none to guido ' them <• Unto some pleasant land. " My sheep,' he cried. " will wander far astray, And reach no tented fold; My lambs beneath the noon-day sun will faint— The nights be bleak and cold. Lo! I will send them shepherds, for their guides; < And they shall gently ltad By running brooks, and fields of tender grass, And by the flow'ry mead." And so the flock—divided into parts, Had each its friendly guide. So he might lead them to the cooling rills. The weak ones, by his side. And in the winter days the Caliph came , To count the flock's increase; Spake he, " O shepherds! have'ye led my lambs With caie and love and peace V And one said: " Lord, I to the north lands went. Amid the frost and snow, And lost the cold winds killed thy early lambs, I dravc them to and fro. Yet many died, and some,' I fear, are weak, And'some have gone astray." The Caliph looked upon the poor, tired sheep, And, weeping, turn'd away. And one said: " Lord, I to the westlands turn'd, Where run the gentle rills; Led I thy flock, beneath the shading trees And to the verdant'hills. And when the summer sun was fierce and high I reared for them their tent. At nightfall played I on the summer reeds, Making their lives content. None have I lost, and none have gone astray, None of the flock are dead." The Caliph looked upon the kind old man, " Thou hast done well," he said. "Ho! Shepherds', Hof" behold our Master calls— " Where is my year's increase? Have ye over-driven my tender lambs, Or led my flocks in peace ? "O, where are the thousands of wand'ring souls. Left to your tender care? O, where are my sheep who have gone astray, Misguiding shepherds—where ?"

W. R, Wills.