SELECTED VERSE.

Waikato Times, Volume 106, Issue 17804, 31 August 1929, Page 13 (Supplement)

SELECTED VERSE.

THE HOUSE.

There is a house lhat in its garden lies With long low front under a sunny hill, And only Love could such a house devise And only Love its loveliness fulfil. Its short broad windows spread to catch the light, Its heavy door shuts close against the cold; They must have worked with joy to build so right, The men who built that little house of old. The drifting rain darkens its walls to grey, The south-west gales beat full against the glass; The mist hides trees and paths and earth away, Secure and beautiful it sees them pass. It is a house to gather in men's hearts, For women to make homes in, for it stands, Thick-walled, wide-chimneyed, strong in all ils parts, And holy from the touch of workmen’s hands.

TREE BARK.

Even a tree Keeps a hard surface to protect itself; Even a tree Is wise In that it knows It must conceal what lies closest to its heart; The face with which it looks at elements and men Is hard. Except in those seasons when Us smiles become leaves. Even a tree Knows that one cannot always smile; In the winter The cold North Wind would turn its smiles Into brittle, withered things; There are times to smile, But only times. Even a tree Knows that. Madge Ohe, The Nation, of New York.