A SWAGMAN'S REFLECTIONS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1111, 17 January 1885, Page 3

A SWAGMAN'S REFLECTIONS.

NEW YEAR'S MORNING, 1885.

{Original.) I am sad'acld^ick at heart, I have played a sorry part In the world's busy mart Xln daysfthat now are gone. If ifcwereihjghr Heaven's beheßfc, I would fain lie down and rest ; Weary, burdened, and oppressed, My bursting griefs unknown. From this strife I will be free, Careand pain and grief and joy ! When the latest debt I pay At Nature's stern demand. Dull and gifted, rich and poor, Kings and lords and the obscureAll pay equal at Death's door, „. From which there's no remand. How unequal is the race, When this world's gods we chase ? Hustling others out of place, • Striving, gaining all we can. Blushing honor backward thrust, Worth retires iv sheer disgust ; And the crawler in the dust Grasps the trophy in the van. I regret — and with good cause — That I saw the Lamm«rlaws ; Wherefore did I not then pause Ere their snowy tops I gained? But the golden treasure teems, 'Neath their gurgling, laughing streams, That talisman which seems Mankind to hold anchained. The various schemes I thought, That with prudent care I wrought— One and all have come to nought ! Oh ! why should this be so ? And here at length am I — Not one feather left io fly — With old age now diawing nigh With its bitter cup of woe. Youthful days ! how bright they seemed When the glowing future gleamed, And Hope's star so brightly beamed— But now I'm all forlorn ! O'er the hills without a track, With the swag upon my back— Such is life— alack i alack ! Oh, wherefore was I born 1 A rough tussock 'ne&th my head, A rough tussock for my bed, And the silvery moon o'erhead Looks down as if in scorn. With the stars, a gorgeous train, Keeping vigils, till my brain Seems to burn, and I, in pain, Sigh for the dawning morn. —A. Allan.