MONOLOGUE—O DEATH!

New Zealand Graphic, Volume X, Issue 10, 11 March 1893, Page 223

MONOLOGUE—O DEATH!

BY REV. CHARLES It. CURREY. August Reaper of Creation, Thy mighty scythe, remorseless sweeps To dread Oblivion’s awful bourne, All mundane forms of sentient life Which spring from dust, to dust return, Darkness gathers at Thy presence ; Destruction maiks Thy swift career ; All before Thee grimly vanish— O Death ! From primal dawn of new-born Light, Throughout fair Nature’s vast expanse, Corruption throws its ghastly pall O’er buoyant youth and trembling age. Earth’s vain grandeur, wealth, and power, Delusive glory, pomp, and pride, Sink into abject nothingness, Dissolving at Thy fatal breath, O Death I

Thy ruthless empire knows no bounds, No rival heeds, but quenchless Life Renewed with stiengtb, from age to age Thy desolations to efface, And clothe again with lichest forms Of beauty, majesty and grace, Thy dismal realm—to pioudly wrest From Thy stern brow Thy victory, O Death I

Ah I who the problem shall unfold, And soothe for Aye the human heart ; Which throbs aud groans in anguish wild, And shrinks from Thy unsparing hand. Earth has no answer— no response Breaks the weird silence of the Tomb. Thy wondrous secrets only shall be known When Man within Thy portals stand. < • Death I

Auckland, New Zealand, February 15th, 1893.

Mysterious Law, which mortals daze, And baffied Reason ne’er can solve ; Dread Death from Life, rich life from death, Whilst Time its cycles endless toll. Hope ever gilds the Future’s page, With radiant beams of fadeless joy ; The Grave with holy light illumes. Where then Ttiy final triumph? Where? O Death I