Original Poetry.

Thames Star, Volume IIII, Issue 1764, 28 August 1874, Page 3

Original Poetry.

1 TBE V7HETU PL:AINS. ' j A lonely rock übqv* a midnight,plain',,' - A sty across whoso Vrondrous brightness' flies '" ' ''" ' " " ' * No shadow from the Children of thoßiitii ] A stream whoso double crcicont far off lies, i And sepips to flitter back the silver of the; ekierf !t '' ' ( n''< ') ! j The table-lands stretch, step by step, below •} In giant terraces whose deeper ledges \ Aro black with bands of swamp (that near; I know Convolvulus-entwined) whoso whitened; edges ■ Aro ghdslly silken flags of seeded water-! aedges. ; AH etill, all eilonf, 'lisa songlcas land, j That hears no echo of the nightingale ; \ No sound of .waters filling lon* and grand ii Through sighing forests to tho lower valo, j No whisper in the gtass, so wan, and grey,) and pale. ; When Earth was tottering iaita infancy, " ; This rock, a 'drop ef 'xrolten Bton?J was- - hurled ' !■,,'!' And tosb on waves of fii\, (hko't'hoao we see ; Distinctly though af«r), evolved and) whirled "'"'■ ■ A photosphere of flame around the aolari world. ' " •' ' ; Swift from tho central deeps the lightning! flow, ! Piercing the heart of Darkness liko a apeir,j Hot blasts of si earn and rnpour tlmndorcd. through ' The lurid blackness of the atmosphere* ! A million years hay« passed and left strange', quiet here, i Ftaco, the deep pence, of universal death, : Enfjlds the f*ir and kindly earth of old. ; The air is dead, and stira no living breath To break these awful silences that hold > The spirit in their clutch and numb the: heart withhold. , , ' \_ .My soul hath wept far Eeifc with loagipgi tears, " i Called it the perfect crown of human 1 life, \ But now I shudder lest the coming yeara j Should be with these moat gloomy terrors \ rife, When' palsied arms'drop down outweariod, with the strife. \ May age conduct me with'a gentle hand! ' ; Beneath the quiet shadows brooding o'er : The solemn twilight «f the Evening Land, Where Earth's discordant noises pierce no; more, ; But sleeping waters dream along a sleepy; shore. ! Where I, when Life hath spent jita fiaryj strength, ■. , K . .., .... .... „ , „ i Arid flickers low; may rest in quietness, ■ Till on my waiting brow thore. fills at lengthj | The deeper calm bf^ther^DeßAh-Aagerß kiss,! ! But not, oh G-od, such peace, such awfuli 'v peace,'as this.ll ■' •-'■'■■*'<' .<•; :.; ■;■•:- • ... ' ■ . . :- -;^E. ;