AMONG THE POETS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11574, 18 December 1915, Page 8

AMONG THE POETS.

THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS. This Ls the ship of pearl which poot® Saijs Uio twiihadowed main— Tin: venturous bartjuo that liings On the swci-b summer wind its puxpl# In gulls enchanted, where the eiron sings, And coral reefs lie bare, Where the cohl sea-maids rises to sun the-ir streaming hair. its webs of living gauze no more unfurl ; Wrecked is the ship of pearl I And every chambered coll Where its dim-dreaming life was wont to dwell, A.s the ,'rail tenant shaped his gvoffmg !<liell, JJefore thee lies revonled— Its irisen! ceiling rent, its feuuless crypt unsealed. Voar after year beheld the silent toil That spr-ead his lustrous coil: Still a.s the fipfral grow, Ho left the past year's dwelling for the new, Swle with soft step its shining archway through, Built up its idle door, Stretched in iii.s last-found home, aaid knew the old no moro. '1 liankft for the heavenly message drought by thee. Child of the* wandering &ea, Cast, froin her lap forlorn! I 4 l'om thy dead lips a clearer uoto is born Than <-ver Triton blew from wreathed born I While on mine easr it rings, Through the deep eaves of thought I hear a roico that sings: Hnild tlieo more stately mansions, 9 Illy SOIll. As' tlir swift season's roll! Ltave thy low-vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the last., Shut thee from heaven with a dorrm more vast. Till thou at length art free, Leaving thin© outgrown shell by life's unresting sea! —Oliver Wendell Holmci, * • • 4 DID HE LITE? So he died for his faith. That is fine— Morn than most of us do. But stay, can you add to that lino That he lived for it too? Did he* live: every day to live out All the truth that he dreamt. While his friends met his conduct with! doubt, And the world with contempt. Was it thus that ho plodded ahead, ISV- ver turning asiae? Then we'll talk of the life that he led—•Never mind how he died. # —Ernest Crosby. THE HAPPY WARRIOR." Who, d'oomed to. g© in. company with pain, And fear, and. bloodshed, miserable train! Turns his necessity to glorious gain; Who, -whether praise of him- must walk the earth Forever, and to noble deeds give birth. Or he must go to dust -without his fame, And leave .1 dead unprofitable name, Findls comfort in. himself and in, his cause; And, while the mortal mist in gathering, draws His breath in confidence of Heavart applause. This js the happy warrior; this ia he Whom every mam in arms should" wish to he." —Wordsworth. * • * • • KISSES. Forgive me, but I need!? mvab press One question, since I love yon so; And kiss iiig. Darling, if it's yes, And, Darling, kiss me if itVi no! It is about our marriage day I fain would have it even here; But kiss me if it's far away, And, Darling, kiss me if it's new! Ah, by the blushes crowding so On cheek and brow, 'tis near I guoss) But, Darling, kiss me if it's no, And, Darling, kiss me if it's yes 1 And with what flowers shall you fee wed 1 ? "With flowers of snow, or flowers of fhvmeP But bo they white, or he they red, Kiss mo, my Darling, all the same. And you have sewed' your wedding dress? Na,v speak not, even to whisper low; But kiss me, Darling, if it's res, And, Darling, kiss me if it's no! „ „ —Alice Carey. AN" EASTERN MORNING. O'er the waving field-3 that murmur moved Which is the kiss of Morn -waking the lands. And in t.lie East that miracle of Day Gathered and grew. At first a dusk so dim, Night seems still unaware of -whispered da-nn, But soon—before the jungle cock crows twico. A white verge clear, a widening brightening white. ' High as the herald-sta.-, which fades in floods Of silver, warming into pale gold caught By topmost clouds, and faming oa their rims To ferveut-goklon glow, flushed fttwn the brink With saffron, scarlet, crimson, amethyst : Whereat the sky burns splendid to the blue. —EdSvin Arnold. • » • , IF ,TT BE TRUE! What hypocrites we are! If wo believe one tithe of what we sav One single sentence of the prayers we pray. How do we dare pursue our small, smug lives, ' While falsehood grows and rank injustice thrives! " In to our neighbour, love!" : ll0 "', ° 1 ' 1 " 1 I,avo v "' to our neighbour I brought That warm deen sympathy, that conMailt thought Which guards our comfort like a cloak and tolls How dearly, tenderly, we love our.SOIVOS. "The band of Brotherhood" ■ Which of us. meeting on the Sabbatli )uor» Bel, forw' S 4 bp^nr-man WOU Eiu-tily biS himd " nd greot him " Tl 'vith mc ,wase ' come . si* ''Judge not, to be not judged 1" But reputnuon can be torn to shreds thTut I,ke ,lsclm ' ravelled LiveSfWai-pcd and rent and gossiped out I ' o ' SP:,C " 01 °" P s!,ort "hcr- '' Sinless 'lien cast the .stone I" each .hv M ' llbl,Ws I,ln * we are, \nd S s!v:"?,i'° m Tho »»"**■ I «>'n away, liv?'s wi; by " ,Gn - Steeped to' tl full'in i, IM tlliskind of If tbo Good Hiw.k- k truef It bo true that in its li nus are given heaven 1 ; 11 ra ' S ° ° Ur !f Umbo true-how poor our chances l'o eatdi the glimmer of its outmost —Florence L. Patterson,