VERSES OLD AND NEW.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 764, 12 March 1910, Page 9

VERSES OLD AND NEW.

COMET AND EVENING STAR. , (The winds are laid and. all tho woods . have vest) The storm-clouds vanish, skies arecalm i . and clear, * burning like a jewel in tho mere CLhe Star ol Lovo sinks, downward to tho west: But Britain heeds not;.in her people's t / ■ breast ' ' . ' Is war of cloudy faction far and near; i The peace of brotherhood has flpvm; X ' . . : hear ' '' '' •' • \ Cries of : the conqueror 'and the dispos- ,-" ■ 1 ■ / Ah!'would to God for longing eyes were •' given - Som.' star of love that earthward would de-scend ' . . To follow:'sunshine down .the silent stair; And this. wild comet-torch wonld •. wave despair : To other worlds, nor fatefully portend ■Tho fall of princes, and the ■ "wrath- of 4 . Heaven. •-H. D. Itawnsley,; th the "Westminster - Gazette."

THE BANSHEE. fh. voice came crying to me window In the wind and the rain; 1 " Jjite the voice of an old, old woman \ Who was crying- in pain; 1 ; I'And I knew that Michael (God-Test him,!) Would never spake again. : H knew, but I didn't let oh J ; knew, ■ For fear the childherji had ,lieard: fl lad it ready onfnie"tbrigue'to say, ! It was only, ai MWKr!.IBnt the voice cried mighty loud and close, • And not one of the childhern stirred. Not'one of the childhern moved in dheir '. sleep —But the red fire shone; tod out dhere in the wet blue of the . night . . . The voice went on— 1 it was sad with the sorrows that are to come • .'And the griefs that aro-'gone. .For the heart of the creature was fuli'of j ■ love ■ She was longing to spake. God knows how far she had come in 'the,: ; ; dark, ■ . : And all for my sake— ■. IBut her tongue (God help her!) was a ; ' heatjicn thing, • •-..- ■ ;lake-the •cry of a kitKwnke. 1 V- • m v l -knew .she had passed by the '• ship 1 . : ,': •:•,■ v..'As it rose and fell;. (And looked at mo Michael walking the . • deck, ; •'• • And:him alive and well; !And seen the.body of him sewn in a sail And-sunk in the swell: . 'And the creature (God.help her!). Was sorry, and trying to tell. The trouble she must have.: seen! It was all her cry: . /The pain of the unborn", lives ; And the lives gone by: (And she keened ior.me Michael; and not ,-one of his fatherless chiidhern ~ . As much as opened an eye M. Little, in the "Spectator." LONDON. '

rfee, what .a mass of gems the city,wears Upon her broad, live bosom! row on * 'row, ■ .• : , •-. Enbies and emerafdf'Vand 'amethysts' glow. ■,■ • :• •See! that huge circle like a necklace, ' : stares • iWith thousands ,: of. bold eyes to heaven, and dares The golden'stars to dim the lamps be- - low, : And in the mirror of the mire I lcnoW The moon has left h£tMmage : unawares. tiiC - • tr'.A.b Vvi &•"> J: >« i i 'A' Stoat's the great town, at nigfit;' I seevher' . 'breasts,' Pricked out with lamps,' theyretand iilco ' huKe.i.black .tqwersr ' >1' - I think they. move! 3 .,.1: hear her ; .panting ■' breath; , . ' ;i ■ V}.: •'And that's her head where the .tiara - ■' rests. ; 'And in her brain, through, lanes' as dark • •as death,': Men creep like thoughts . . .'The lamps are 1 like, pale flowers. 1 —Lord Alfred Douglas, in "The Academy..