AMONG THE POETS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11757, 22 July 1916, Page 8

AMONG THE POETS.

THE BIVOUAC GF THE DEAD. Tho muffled drum's sad roll has beat The soldier's last tattoo; No more on Life's parade shall meet That brave and fallen few. On Fame's eton».l camping ground Their silent tents are spread, And Glory guards, with solemn round, Tho bivouac of the dead. No rumour of tho foe's advance Now swells upon tho wind: No troubled thought at midnight haunts Of loved ones left behind : No vision of the morrow's strife Tho warrior's dream alarms; No braying horn or screaming fifo At dawn shall call to arms. Their shivered swords aro red with rust; Their plumed heads are bowed; Their haughty banner, trailed in dust, | Is now their martial shroud. And plenteous funeral tears have washed The red stains from each brow, And tho proud forms, by battle- gashed, Are free from anguish now. The neighing troop, tho flashing blade, The bugle's stirring blast, The charge, the dreadful cannonade, Tlio din and shout are past; Nor war's wild note, nor glory's peal, Shall thrill with fierce delight Those breasts that nevermore may feel Tho rapture of the fight. Like tho fierco northern hurricane That sweeps his grcatfplateau. Flushed with the triumph yet to gain, Came down the serried foe. Who heard the thunder of the fray Break o'er the field beneath, Knew well the watchword of that day Was "Victory or Death." Long had the doubtful conflict laged O'er all that .stricken plain, For never fiercer fight had waged Tho vengeful blood of Spain; , J And still the storm of battle blew, Still swelled the gory tide;_ Not long our stout old chieftain knew, Such odds his strength could bide. 'Twas in that hour his stern command Called" to a martyr's grave Tho flower of his beloved land, j Tho nation's flag to save. By rivers of their father ? s gore* His first-born laurels grew, And well ho deemed the sons would poui 1 Their lives for glory, too. Full many a norther's breath V& swept O'er Angostura's plain-r-And long tho pitying sky has wejl j Above its mouldered slam. | The raven's scream or eagle s flight Or shepherd's pensive lay, _ : Alone awakes each sullen height j That frowned o'er that dread naySons of the Dark and Bloody ground, : Ye must not slumber there, Where stranger steps and tongues re- , sound j * Along tho heedless air. . ... Your own proud land's heroic soil Shall be your fitter grave; She claims-from war his richest spoil The ashes of her brave. Thus 'neath their parent turf they rest, ■ Far from the gory field Borne to a Spartan mrother s breast On many a bloody shield; The sunshine of their native sky Smiles sa'dlv on them here, , And kindred eyes and hearts watch oy The heroes' sepulchre. Rest on; ercbalmed and sainted dead! Dear as the blood ye No impious footstep here shall tread The * herbage of your grave; Nor shall your story be forgot. While Fame her record keeps. Or Honour points the hallowed spot Where Valour proudly sleeps. Yon marblo minstrel's voiceless stone Tn deathless, song shall tell When many a vanished age hath flown The story how ye fell; Nor wreck, nor change, nor wmtei s blight. Nor Time's remoreless doom, Shall dim one ray of dory s light That gilds youi* deathless tomb. —Theodore O'Hara. THE SCIENTISTS. Professor Amariah Tibbs was all "unknown to fame Until one day he set about to make himself a name. , He got out his old telescope and aimed It at the stars . . , , o And much to his surprise he found a brand new wart on Map. No one had ever seen the thing before, it was a famous find; Tho whole world paid its tribute to his scientific mind. Professor Tibbs's discovery created such

a- stir A lecture bureau signed him at one hundred dollars per.

Professor -Tamos Terwillinger long occupied a chair ; The oue-horso college salary gave him no cash to spare., , Tho futtiro seemed quite hopeless to the scientist until One day he found some microbes on an old one-dollar bill. Of course the papers got the news and soread it far and wide. And much learned comment editorial beside. He trained a. troupe of these microbes and put them on the stage, And now' in high-priced vaudeville he is the current rage.

Professor Alexander Butts knew rot the spot-light's glare. , It sometimes struck the faculty, but ■not. his humble chair "One day lie wrote a treatise on " What Modern Dramas Mean." A circus was the only show that he had

ever seen. The " Modern Drama " stuff went great and ho ivas in demand. He spoke before the woman's clubs through the entire, land. He's quoted as authority and worshipped from afar, .And when he travels now it's in a handsome private car. —''Technological Journal."

FROM STANZAS WRITTEN ON BATTERSEA BRIDGE. The wind has found me and I do remember The strong scent of the foam.

Woods, darlings of my wandering feet, another Possesses you, another treads thee down; The South West Wind that was my elder brother Kaij come to rue in town.

The wind is shouting from the hills of morning,I do remember and I will not stay. I'll take tho Hampton road without a warning And get mo clean away.

The Channel is up, the little SPfIS are leaning, The tide is ma-king over Arun Bar: And there's my boat, where all tho rest are sleeping And my companions are.

I'll board her, and apparel her, and I'll mount her, My boat, that was the strongest friend to. mo — That brought my hovhood to its first encounter And taught me the wide sea. —Hilairo Bellcc.