VERSES OLD AND NEW.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 978, 19 November 1910, Page 9

VERSES OLD AND NEW.

- FALLS OF THE, WILLAMETTE. Here wheels the thunder-breathing, steed, As if in dread-to stay and heed-; A grander pageant than', his own;. •Wild waters whirl in cresting spray, xflir as the fragrant wreaths'of Slay,.'And loud with laughter, song and moan. Yonder embattled firs around " ' ' Chant high above,.in martial sound, The peans of.the.marching years; And here a dark, historic cliff,. "' .Writ oVr with imany a hieroglyph,' , Echoes an<l answers, leans and hears. ~ And lo! Within- the surge and roar," Scarfed with a/ rainbow evermore, The-pallid'priestess of'the flood;. . > Swinging her censer to and fro, .\' As swift suns whc'ehand soft moons glow ■ Aloof, through lapsing time has stood. The tented and the lawny bands Whose camp-smoko uurled along these sands , ; And climbed and crowned the rocky shore, "■ ' ■ To murmurless deep seas and pale Have passed, with gray and slanting sail, forgetful of the spear and oaf. So now, beside this stoimy gate, Pilgrims'of-brighter visage wait, '.;. To rest.in turn beneath the sod:—. ' •Yet 6hall this melody be rolled for. aye these voices manifold The echo of a changeless God! ... --By SAMUEL L. SIMPSON,' in "The Gold-Gated West." '..

FLEET STREET. Beneath :this narrow, jostling street, . ... Unruffled-by the noise of feet, Like a slow organ-note I liear The pulses of the great world beat., • Unseen beneath the city's shovr ' Through this aorta ever flow . The'currents.of the universe—' A thousand pulses throbbing lowl .Unheard' beneath the pavement's din. ■ Unknown magicians sit within . Dim caves,, and weave life into words. On patient looms that spin and spin, There, uninspired, yet with the dower> Of mightier mechanic power, Some bent, obscure Euripides Builds the loud drama of the hour! •There, from the gaping presses hurled A thousand voices, passion-whirled, With , throats of steel vociferate , ,The incessant story of the world! . v So through this artery from age To age the tides of passion rage, The swift historians of each day Flinging a word upon a page!' v » f And then I pause anU gaze 'mv. fill Where cataracts ,of traffic spill Their foam into the CircuS.' Lo! • Look up, the crown on Ludgate Hill 1 Remote from all tho cily's moods, • In high, untroubled solitudes, Like an old. Buddha swathed in dream, St. Paul's above the city broods! . —Arthur Adams. " THE FORD. ' ["So, that the Night Watch of Eyddysidaill shall join the Night Watch of • Tyndaill at the. Stoneyford."—"Leges : Marchiarum."] ; FIRST WATCHMAN. , 0 Watcher at the ford, your streams run low. Did any rider cross? Did any go l r our way beneath the moon? . SECOND WATCHMAN. The moon is young. I.saw the crescent stoop J. Till.imaged in -the pool her silver loop; No more—she set too soon.

FIRST- WATCHMAN.; -*0 Watcher, heard you'at the strait no' ' sound . Of . feet , that, stumbled on , the stony . ground, "Where ono might take the hill? SECOND WATCHMAN. , I heard tho water wash among the weeds, A hunting otter rustled in the reeds; Naught clso the night was still. : fIK-ST WATCHMAN. • - The night was. still. I rode beside the '■.stream. Heard', you no - cry ? ; I saw a .lanthorn . , gleam. . For vihat searched you'the. wood? SECOND WATCHMAN. There screamed some vermin tangled in •a snare, It was a thieving . fox that I '.fouitd ; there, ■ ' And flung him to the. flood. FIRST WATCHMAN. . . 0 Watcher, where you marked tho drift-wood ride The flood, saw you naught else go down the tide? > ; At dawn tho spate rose high. SECOND WATCHMAN. . Abov ( e this ford you know the haughs are green And many cattle graze. v I may have seen A foundered steer go by, MARNA PEASE, in -the "Spectator." '. • ' - ' THE PURSUIT. _ Dawn's dim hand moves; cloud-han»iuss . " rise, slow furled. ° . Beneath their sorabro veil the dusk-Tev light " - Illumines a robe of mist, all silken-sliglit, riung, leaf-embroidered, o'er a shadowv world. 1 Her -gems, an opal mere with xeeds tear-' pearled, And filigree of marsh streams silverwhite, Gleam where the goddess lay, whence .sprang to flight ; &B hoof-beats nearer drummed and firedust whirled. Bwift from far Eastern portals flash the wheels r.i? ay X flame-golden car. ThoOnanoicer i • Wi pursue' 116 ' h ° PG ' lit bro,T in Tain arS shoot a trailin S m 'et«or past, to .Intojhe hell-dark" West. His wake retfrei?!° eartll ,ree l ,in S in daylight AP ADAM, in. the '.'Daily Nevis."