ODE To the Vanishing forests of NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Graphic, 25 December 1896, Page 4

ODE To the Vanishing forests of NEW ZEALAND.

Samuel Cliall White Kenneth Walkins

By

groves, ye roofe ef shade, jK> you aF last on haifingTedJ come, weary cities allloo long delayed, my proper home. profound, .Where oft in dreams beneath thy douded dome have strayed, M hear, rdrink iny deep melodious Sound!

c -’;, • what Ao you whisper In your leav XlS>ng since I heard the winged wind depart®, ! V<’e. <> wharmean W birds iharily among your eaves, Sweetening the silence with aYoant of song ? jiSpeak ye joys to be, whereof my heart® senseless ? Do ye Quake fdr tear I am near? -tF^LSVely^nes do you wrong J

J ' A Ys/ r Woc, td hear and understand, delighT am many years estranged, life’s joyous fountains choked with sand, rSs^ rc^4 rov X^ ,n L v/^ere e my feet have ranged, ir iear, - yioar leaves have changed, tseetnern whiten swiftly, bough to bough, 3Rey blanch and Quail - & .tL’x t . L /1/also have grown pale • With griefs, griefs n? longer now. .£T Cll O|? fe*r your silken speech, JVhefficr TTbe of hope or hushed despair, was sound more fair. X-Jh? purplewave'thaT' sighs aponffie beach yOnce in aJfopic day, the song of bees

flowers that Sway and swoon in samnxrair /Aave net >o sweet, s© deal' a lone, then or mean c x ' woods,and charm lite chancing hee3e. . The air as with a gleaming pearl of i&in, fhe shining-cuckoo sweeties on lite hill His veritriloQuial strain. 1 Aitor, thou hawk I *£wnT the harsh pheasant inttte fields ot grain. ; Ihetoi in lite blossom dips his bill, rodlow laugh and bursts of diamond talk.

y ;:. >•' . W• W-_. £<«*».• <-- ■. lovely terms of this shade, , zjme shapely palm shored ©nine silver creek, l Tree-fern spreads her locks across the glade, N' Ihe lofty kauri, towering to a peak, K Where clouds and stars his topmost branches seek. Irhe pensive rimu, leaning Yromthe sky, f z slhe rala rude, ► • \ ;»/ 3haf demon of the wood, Who burns in bloom while they That bear him die. k: kowhai lamps alight in rain and wind, Ma ke golden birds that swing in nets of full-mooned elematis,who wreathes the jaws 0f tfiy black shadows blind In ropes of milky light,

WMr u- • +• «he perries raoy-pngr rich beaeilyclolhelhy naked claws ) fine fi Imy ferns upon the fallen dead, * ! With tiny hands extendedtothe son, . f < v ■ bolder spirits who run »( < Z?(Jp the roughlfees, by nghtdews sweetly fed: 0 teyely shapes! 0 dim and restful sound! 0 bright melodious birds! And winged bijeif •7* Why do y<?u whisper,Trees ?. < fii Ibreathe your spirit lingering, btitnoT long- ’ O 11 .> \ O gloom profound, c Jb ijK I love you and I Would not do you wmn£t IEiKI ■" ■UN

tjl Who are these that' byllte shallow stream kt > Have sei Iheirtents in line ? fFI he clustered tfee-tferns dioop their leaves and dream, r m fair wstals of the grove. With what design I,( Gome ye, white-clad, withi merry Song,and gleam / Of steel ho broaderthan a hand ? What would ye in Ibe land ? «. ' ‘ « - I

We an? of them toretold. I The eaiih hdli lightened and darkened, days and nights. I. 'Jhemo->n halhi round her rolled, y | Atoln-liKc about the sun her giddy flights gd nave swept, and years are gone, and ages gone, "And we are come. " U Woods, imperative nature drives us on, y w . Pleasant Io us year home. Pleasant the shade of your green dome , \ i "And all your Sounds and sights,

:Tair> would we spare you, fain withold our hand, E>ut we are driven and may not withstand ”

whaT sounds are they lhatin the lonely wood Scatter the peeping birds ?

The lighT*leafedTawa sheds her milky blood, phsee me flesh of her side as white as cord’s 5 ohe sighs a«d groans, and shakes her feathery hood, drops her red Trait to the groundWhal means the 2

« y.;. &©AV©©d§, we spare you nof, '* ' } Aye Sparc of you neither ffie young nor old, m “JIB’ all ah egual lof. fern falls, "the grass yellows on the mould, JrW Shapely besomed palm falls onfheTern, on fhe palm // Jhe Taraire Tails,ffie hinauTails infrim. r WTer Ifie blissTtil calm 0f ages high abovelfieToreSt realm, *® e pine-tree, migKty boiled, > jgvvays Severed, and with dreadful roar he springs jEJown the dark gaily on his dusty wings.

ra,s P’ n S W| tf’ arms and knees . j -.. ,‘W breathless Trees, Tall with their fiery blossomstull oT bees, vlhe miro, lovely heiress oflhe £rove •

v--?: T9rops with ine Teedi ng dove, Mpefttchsia Tails, the sf ’©ng par iri tai Is, maire and ? the ake seekthe earth. * K 0 Vfo^dS, the sunlight breaks into your halls J Bpoo long debarred he bringsthe Seeds < birth, Swathed in his beams the new-born age ; - consuming rage V ../C wither and grew sere, ye fade and

We see fair Summer pass you with a sigh, K, S><at with the autumn, robed in gorgeous 2old, > w one treadsthe tallen woods onfeet of Mis yenneil wings, deep-dyed, lowai'd t from your dwellings old 1

>Me bears you softly fotne skies, ; Jg Jr /Wid plants you by the pools of paradise

Ofc 7 _f' 0 vanished woods|o loved and lovely wpo&fl 0 verdurous haunts lhaf to man’s eyes no more k 12,t>ring restful shade, or to his listening ear ‘■- * Sound of wind, or Tai I, or murmurous stream/ , Or Song of bird, bdtall is hushed and waste 1 - V-T 1 _ And 0 ye yetunfallen sancTuaries, Primaeval temples, dim deserted shrines. ..Sjffl

\ X \ \• /I ’ • ' IW.I » WC-OC! ICU Olli IHCO, \ where no man prays and no god comes again, ' /Nor any more is heard the wood-nymph’s voicej .. .. 0 loved and lost, we - also, even we ~x Whose ruining hands must, break the things we prije,

/Andall Ine ancient loveliness of earth Despoil And shatter, we, vvetbo, are doomed - in IlSal hour.that Sees us boro -fo change, Io fade ,"to die, to go we know not where ! And even as ye before the'fatal "tread Of man must fall and pass, 50 also Ke, Driven of talc through DealK,and Change, and Time -Moves onward, pluching al the golden days, To some far, fated bourn beyond'the world.

(See page 8.)