THE SQUALL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 279, 25 November 1931, Page 2

THE SQUALL

(Contributed). ’Twas dusk, the sun had set, aud ali was stul; I A weiguvy silence settled o’er the land I And smothered with its presence all I the songs | And sounds that gladden people’s , hearts by day. Gilded by the sun’s departing ray A solid rampart slowly rose to snow The world the glory or ns peaks. Here touched with lire, there pale again, It vied with all its changing hues the living Jewels that the peacock's tail displays. No painter could these glories now unfold On canvas, but he were the very pupil jOf the gods. ’Tis hard for mortal j man, uncouth j Unpolished as he is to realise | Or understand the wonders which confront His eyes each day where ’ere he haps to turn. This bank of clouds does seem to him to be Naught but something beautiful to view. It is no more to him than painted canvas, bright With colours that will quickly fade and die. Unreal as dreams, as easy to forget. He does not see their portent, nor can he i Understand their grandeur or their might. fhe cloud bank slowly rose into the sky, And as it came, it darker, blacker grew, its rosy tinted mountains quickly dimmed And faded into one black solid mass. The air grew still and hot. Not e ’en a leaf Could stir. The silence reigned supreme o’er all. The very brook was hushed and scared to play, And when it leaped it gave a sullen splash As if unwilling to disturb the quiet. A sudden flash, the thunders roared aloud: The heavens opened wide. The threshing rain Hissed cvily. And then it ceased to pour. The clouds passed by. The stars began to bathe The earth in their soft light. The thunder’s roar Diminished in the night and all was peace. JAMES M. WILLIAMSON. ,