VERSES OLD AND NEW.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 45, 16 November 1907, Page 13

VERSES OLD AND NEW.

.. THE HOSTS' OF SLEEP. Out of ft gold and purple dreamland streaming, . , The dark-i-fed ti<>ops of sleep come swift and silent, Fling from'their thin hands drowsy influences, 1 v. Marching to. take The battled burg of Freowill. The'unleashed thoughts run gamesomo in the country, Each racing other, playing, singing, dancing i Some feebly tilling tangled plots of,woodland, , /. Dark, remote, l Far out from the city. ; Some .work si hard, and others play so madly, Thby do not hear the rustle and tho whisper Of the'.dark forces thronging out of dvcam- ■ , ■. land,. ; " ! . ' .Silent, swift, - Breathing 6eouts before them. Sonle 'are taken, flooded by the vast wave— Half-thought thoughts, forgotten in the morn. . . ing; Workers or players, Singers blithe and uan- ;• ' cers . ■ Prone,.cold, .. Motionless for ever.- / . Some catch a distant -warning of the army, -And' flee swiftly, .scurry to the city; Safe till to-morrow, safe within the ramparts; . .Loud, shrill, . .' /. . The A clarions bawl the warning. Tho gates' are closed, Freewill' stands erect, firm, _ Back to : the dimly-woodbd- far horizon Ebb the. dark masses,.melting into distance; Hack, back, , . Streams the host of darkness. The, sentries doze, careless run the young .'...'thoughts,' . , ; .Out again, out, to. tho empty country, Panting m; their play, in their mazy dances, Light, free, . . . Far. from sleep and silence. ;: Full; , fivo",times the great host streams ud ■, . silent, ; . . Lap? iup, the' young thoughts, buries them in .• But-/the' alarm twists upward from .the forV tress,

_■>!; i:: - 'Lank, shrill, ' ' ' Before' they reach the ramparts; ' Then, all the sentries, weary with long watch- .. :-.ing,;■..• . .„•„; r ■.. > \ ,/- Hug the propt spear, blink and nod and murinur,, • '-,-.' . i And■ 'the''last swiftly racing homc- . "• wart!, ; . ■ ' '• - ■ .:.■.!':: Trips, falls, , Close .beside the drawbridge. Silently and grimly stalk" the troops of dreain- ■ '\, l land; '■'. ■'' :■. ■i, • ■• There is no alarm; they swarm upon the high '"'■■ walls, . ■ i ■■" . .. . Take tho hushed city; brood upon it darkly • . ,:■•■- iDowh, down, ' Sinks,the flag of Freewill. like crape before the face of

■.'v- , /mourners, •'■'•', • ■ ■■■'■•■ ■ Blurring, dimming ,, the features of the city. The.:::burßhflrs, kingless,. they lead in danco ,•-,; .'fantastic, , . - :. ■ ',_,, "Sleep, armed sleep. Holds tho walls till morning. ..-•,■ '' ■.■'■ •■'■;■;,•■ '■"..., S ■'■■; '■' : - -Arnold Wall. ."■ THE WIND OF AUTUMN. '' , .; ./',I am the.,wind of autumni. , ; ,'.. ~; : Froni fields, afar I roam,, .: ,'■ I.drV,the .sheaves of harvest, ' ■ 'I blow the swallows .home; . . I fling to earth"thel apples, I sot the gleaners free; • . I. twine a wreath of scarlet • ■ ..' ■■'Around th 3 rowan tree. '.I .break, the withered branches, ' I , .'" :'And strew them in the glen, •;■;..To fill the hands or children,' '■■■!.;■. .'. And. warm' the homes of.men; . '■ .1 bear the wildfowl seaward, ; i : , ■■' ! •■■ -. I pass' the mother-call, -.•-,' / ' ■. .W.hen the far-scattered <coveys .. .. . ,'. V.Glose in at evenfall. , . , ■,-I-kiss the rajn-wet roses, . . ■, : .J' lift the tired leaves down; • ■I* toss, the silver .seagulls. '; ■ Behind the furrows,brown. ... • '". am the .wind.'of "aritilinn; ':' "'.'' ■'.■' : I bidthe .bluebells ,_ring '.. ; ' :. To'spe(yito''sliips i df'sun'ijner' ; '" " x , '-■: ; :Acrb9S the world to, Spring. ' .r- '■;.yse/,—'W& tt'.6gilyie : ,'iin, tho"Scotsraan." ,■ '- : ~\ '-"■;,■■■ V • f; "-- '" : ' .'. .- ".'' ■ . '' > " " ' ■ i ' ' ' ' r . * ' . .. ■ . . ' ■ i