Select Poetry.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 13, Issue 658, 22 February 1869, Page 4

Select Poetry.

EXCELSIOR. ffTEADILYt steadily, foot by foot, gy Up, up, the venturous builders go, Carefully placing stone upon stone— Thus da.the loftiest temples grow. The artist toils at his work alway; Touching it here, and touching it there—patiently! patiently, day by day, With faith and hope to sustain baa careTill little by little the picture grows Into hues of beauty, forms of grace, And the life that on the canvass glows Will evermore in the world have place. This works the poet ;—Hour after hour He listens to catch the faintest chimes That ring on his soul with mystic power, And burst through his pen into, magic rhymes— Blowly, carefully, word by word, Line by line, ana thought by thought, He fastens the golden tissue of song— And thus are immortal anthems wrought. Ho' ye who toil with purpose high, And fondly the proud result await. Murmur ye not, as the hours go toy, That the season's long, the. harvest late. Remember that brothers strong and true, Builders, and artists, and bards sublime. Who lived in the past, and worked like you, Worked and waited a wearisome time. Dark and cheerless and long was their night, But still they worked at their task begun; Till, lo! through the clouds broke morning light, Hooding the soul when success was won.