ORIGINAL RHYME.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 79, 14 August 1869, Page 6

ORIGINAL RHYME.

IN MEMORY OF OLD PETER PIPER, DECEASED.

Weep, weep, Otago, for thy loss is great ; Thou art o'ertaken by a cruel fate, For one is gone— swept off with wanton haste, Who, being lost, can never be replaced. Like his great namesake (who shall contradict ?) His peck of pepper Peter Piper picked ; Then resting from his weary labours, iried, " Farewell, Otago ! " so old Peter died. Where lives the man who, having Tead the Times, Could perpetrate the grossest of all crimes In sneering at the boundless flow of soul That gushed from Peter's pen— who held control O'er all the elements which mark the sage, Converting life into a deathless page. What logic, wit, profundity of thought ; What powers of argument were ever brought To bear upon his ever-varied themes, Which far eclipsed the wildest, maddest dreams Of sane humanity before or since Old Peter's time. Nor failed he to convince His old friend Sandy of his mental hoard, Tho' stubborn Sandy oft poor Peter floored ; And some there were, with cruel critics' spite, Declared it served Old Peter Piper right. The great man smiled whene'er his friend was wrong : He spared the weak and battled with the'strong. Immortal Peter, to thy honoured name I pay this humble tribute ; for thy fame Will live when lesser things are sank to rest, Unmourned, and hiddenjin oblivion's breast ; And knowing this, a future age shall say, Thus Peter lived : thus Peter passed away.