Selected Poetry

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 10, 18 March 1925, Page 32

Selected Poetry

Till] FRIENDLY TREE. (For the N.Z. Tablet.) Dear friendly tree, how kind in summer's heat Thy pleasant shade, when toiling up the hill, In thy oasis, from the desert street, One stands to rest, to pause, to drink one's fill Of cooler air; a gracious friend in days Of gorgeous sunshine when the heart is light And sings gay melodies of endless mirth, Unshadow'd; how the soft wind crisply, plays Among thy foliage, through which as bright As mermaids' eyes, the sky peers down on earth. And still upon a rainy day, dost try To keep thy faith and prove thyself a friend To those who, storm-bound, thee descry, And hasten where thy drooping' boughs extend ' Kind shelter; 'neath thy green-clothed arms, one feels Secure, and looks forth, waiting for the rain To stay its wrath; but inch by inch, in . crawls The dampness; in the dreary coldness steals, Unwelcome, selfish guests who forth again The victim drive amid the rain that falls. Like thine, do seem to me all human arms; In days of sunshine giving rest, delight, And soft allurement when no loud alarms Of strife and turmoil sound; but of the night With storms tremendous blacken all the way Of life, what then? What then? Ah! Then Doth fail mere human consolations, e'en Of truest friend ; 'tis God alone can lay Sween consolation's balm on souls of men, He, Who, Samaritan, hath ever been. —Angela Hastings. * THE PRIEST. At the white altar he stands, In his vestments of gold; He will take Our Lord in his hands Like Mary of old. Bread of the wheat will be broken, And wine in a cup be spilled ; He will speak as Christ hath spoken : They shall be Christ, as He willed. * Anointed and like the saints wise With a wisdom which may not appear, He will offer the Sacrifice Of Calvary here.

He will go out from this place, A Martha, will welcome him Still with that light on his face Which her cares cannot dim. He will go forth to the stricken, Pastor keeping good ward; Graces and blessings will quicken From him of the Lord. —P. J. O'Connor-Duffy in the Irish Itosary i.i MY MORNING THRUSH. Halfway up the incline That leads to the railway station I hear him, old friend of mine, Bursting with jubilation. The meeting is nothing new, But he seems as surprised as ever With his gay "What you? What you What you? Well, I never!" "Here again? Here again? Here again?' 'Tis a jest that he loves repeating. But his heart, like mine, is fain o.f our regular morning meeting. High from his tree-top there His welcoming voice is ringing, For whatever the weather, foul or fair. He is singing. Such liquid joy as he spills! While he sits on his lofty perch he Pours forth his phrases and trills With the ease of a Galli-Curci. Dear friend, as I pass along Bo sure I shall not forget you. ''So pleased, so pleased, so pleased," goc the song, "To have met you!" ■ —"Touchstone,'' in the Daily Mail. »»♦» DUNCTON HILL Ho does not die that can bequeath Some influence to the land he knows, Or dares, persistent, interwreath Love permanent with the wild hedgerows He does not die, but still remains Substantiate with his darling plains. The spring's superb adventure calls His dust athwart the woods to flame; His boundary river's secret falls Perpetuate and repeat his name. He rides his loud October sky: He does not die, He does not die. The beeches know the accustomed head Which loved them, and a peopled air Beneath their benediction spread Comforts the silence everywhere; For'native ghosts return and these Perfect the mysteries in the trees. So, therefore, though myself be crosst The shuddering of that dreadful day When friend and fire and home are lost, And even children drawn away —

The passer-by shall hear me still A boy that sings on Duncton Hill. p—Hilaire Belloc, in An Anthology of f. Modem Verse. | LOVE NOT ME for COMELY grace. Love not me for comely grace, For my pleasing eye or .face, Nor for any outward part, No, nor for a constant heart: y. For these may fail or turn to ill, So thou and I. shall sever: Keep,, therefore, a true woman's eye, And love me still hut know not why— So hast thou the same reason still To doat upon me ever. —From John Wilbye's Second Set of Madrigals, 1609. , SPLENDID<S LONGUM VALEDICO NUGIS. Leave me, 0 Love, which readiest but to dust, "' And thou, my mind, aspire to higher things. Grow rich in that which never taketh rust: Whatever fades, but fading pleasure brings. Draw in thy beams, and humble all thy might To that sweet yoke where lasting freedoms be; Which breaks the clouds and opens forth c the light A That doth both shine and give us sight to ' see. 0 take fast hold! let that light be thy guide In this small course which birth draws out to death, And think how evil becometh him to slide ,eS Who seeketh Heaven, and comes of heavenly 'breath. i Then farewell world! thy uttermost I see: Eternal Love! maintain thy life in me. —Sir Philip Sidney. TO RUPERT BROOKE. i; In Scyros of the far lonian Isles There lies eternally a dust concealed — An English dust within that foreign field Whoso lips God must have loved. Beyond all trials, All torturing dreams, disasters, and betrayals He sleeps to whose clear gaze Beauty revealed Her lustrous eyes, to whom, she lent her shield Of grace, and eloquence no hate defiles. . . . He sleeps with the elect among the brave- % A. golden youth of lineage too proud, |% : Too old, too English in reserved disdain "lm To share the burden of the modern slave, ''<«: To stand for peace against the madding ..'}". crowd, >' > Or for Truth's sake to wear a galling chain! '; j Brent Dow Allinson in The World To :■ Morrow. ,'. ' .

Leader, p. 33. Notes, p. 34. Topics, pp. 22-32. Complete Story, p. 11. Invercargill's k Great Achievement, p. 13. The Church in j N.Z., p. 19. Notes of Travel (by J.K.), p. 25. St. Paul's' (London), p. 27. Wren's Dome, p. 29. A Meditation on Roads, p. 49. Sunday Afternoon Readings, p. 51. The Logic of the Higher Criticism, p. 57.

MESSAGE OF POPE LEO XIII TO THE " N.Z. TABLET." Pergant Directores et Scriptores New Zealand Tablet, Apostolica Benedictione confortati, Beligionis ct Justitice causam promovere per vias Veritatis et Pads. LEO XIII, P.M. T)ie 4 Aprilis, 1900. Translation.—Fortified by the Apostolic Blessing, let the Directors and Writers of the New Zealand Tablet continue to promote the cause of Religion and Justice by the ways of Truth and Peace. April 4, 1900. LEO XIII., Pope.