Select Poetry.
THE WORN-OUT FOUNT OF IYPE. [boston journal.] I am sitting by my desk, George: Before me on the floor, There lies a worn-out fount of type, Full twenty thousand score; And many months have passed George, Since they were bright and new, And many are the tales they've told— The false, the strange, the true. What tales of horror they have told, Of tempest and of wreck; Of murder in the midnight hour, Of war full many a " speok !" Of ships that lost away at sea Went down before the blast; Of stifled cries of agony As life's last moments passed. Of earthquakes and of suicides, Of failing crops of cotton, Of bank defaulters, broken banks, And banking systems rotten, Of boilers bursting, steamboats snagged, Of riots, duels fought, Of robbers with their prey escaped, Of thieves, their booty caught. Of flood and fire and accident, Those worn-out types have told, And how the pestilence has swept The youthful and the old ; Of marriages, of births and deaths, Of things to please and vex us, Of one man's jumping overboard, Another gone to Texas. They have told us how sweet summer days Have faded from our view, How Autumn's chilling winds have swept The leaf-crowned forest through ; How winter's snow hath come and gone, Dark reign of storm and strife— And how the smiling spring hath warmed The pale flowers back to life, I can't pretend to mention half My inky friends have told, Since, shining, bright, and beautiful, They issued from the mould ; How unto some they joy have brought To others grief and tears; Yet faithfully the record kept Of fast receding years.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBT18710221.2.8
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 949, 21 February 1871, Page 3
Word count
Tapeke kupu
277Select Poetry. Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 949, 21 February 1871, Page 3
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.