SELECT POETRY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume III, Issue 178, 10 June 1864, Page 3

SELECT POETRY.

IN MEMORIAM. W kkt', England, weep, a nation’s tears for Hamilton should flow, Who bravely fought and nobly fell, hlafa.ce toward the foe; Who, sword in hand, with gallant Hay, sought out the Maori’s den, And scaled the breach In front of all his band of eager men. hong will the hardy band he led that fatal shot deplore ■Which robbed them of a friend as true as e’er left England's shore. Let Maoris boast of this our loss, but now the time has come When tars will strike fDr him and Hay, as well as Queen and Jhonio. Where shall'wo seek a leader now ?~where can we find his peer. Who courted thus a certain death without ashade of fear? Disdaining craven artifice he rushed upon the foe. And met, with the ball which gave the fatal blow. Not’tears ofhlood from them would blot the mem’ry of that day, But all their bravest chiefs must bleed to wash its stain away; And let them dig their trenches deep, and hoist the flag again. Revenge shall hoist the Union Jack, and fill each trench with’^slain. Some gallant leaders still are spared to lead us on again. And many a ball shall force its way to many a Maori’s brain; And sharpest steel on hardest hearts its bitter truths shall write, When hand'to hand in pa or plain we meet again in fight. We’ask no quarter, and we wish' to meet them but as foes. Where Victory may crown the band who deal the hardest blows: Our leader's death will nerve our arras and steel with senfold might; For.many a gallant comrade lost we then shallhave to fight Our friends we with our captain mourn who shared his" noble end; For Fuller, Lee, and Dalton died their country to defend. Where Duff and Hay the trenches scoured, and foremost fought and fell, A host of heroes sprang to light, and did their duty well. Full many a gallant soldier took the watchword “Do and dare,” , And many a dead and dying form spoke of devotion rare. All honor to the true and bravo, the wounded and the slain, Their names will live in English hearts whene’er we fight again. J. H. Able Seaman, H.M.S. Esk.