SELECTED POETRY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 11881, 1 February 1902, Page 1 (Supplement)

SELECTED POETRY.

MILDEWED. BY N. ». URNEB. 1 bowed my head against the storm, And hnrried o'er the Park, When suddenly a woeful form • Arose from out the dark ; And alms were craved in husky tones That thrilled my very soul, For they recalled the scenes of old, Of youtb, and joy, and scatter ed gold And Pleasure's mantling bowl. I seized the wretdft. au<3 drew him near A street- lamp's flickering light, Ab, yes I 'twas he, with vision blear, In most unhappy plight ; An titter wreck, and yet withal The friend of other days ! His utterance died within his throat, His ragged knees each other smote, He cowered at my gaze. A mildew blight, a fungous mold, The man bad all bespread, Just as it grieves some ruin old Where footstep* fear to (read, Tfce sodden rags, reluctant, hid, The musty form beneath ; The hair thut once in ringlets tossed €iung to his crown, dry, gray and mossed, Like BOtue old charnel- wreath. "The jovial air, so debonair, Had changed io one of fear, The smile, oace bright beyond compare, ' Was now a hideous leer ; The rust, and must, and dust of life Lay on him deep and dire ; And still, with oatalretched, trembling j palms, In rasping tones he whined for aim", To quench a thirst of fife. The horrid laugh he gave tthen I Spoke of the -golden Past, Will haant my ears until I die, "' ~^And made me stand aghast, Be clutched the trifling coins I gave, j And with a ghastly grin, liike that which marks a body stark, | He sped across the lonely Park, I To haunts of vice and sin. I I waited by the City Hall Till the last echo died, Afar — away — beyond recall, Then turned with homeward stride ; -But ere I reached the lighted street, With voice of solemn power, And every stroke a sepaiate 6hock, The huge, white-laced, black-handed clock Tolled the Eleventh Hoar.