Select Poetry.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1152, 21 October 1871, Page 2

Select Poetry.

EEAPING. Up, mortal, and act, while the angel of light Melts the shadows before and behind thee! Shake off the soft dreams that .encumber thy might, And burst the fiool's fetters that bind thee. Soars the skylark—soar thou; leaps the stream—do thou leap! Jjearn from nature the splendour of action; Plough, harrow, and sow, or thou never shalt reap ; Faithful deed brings divine benefaction. The red sun ons rolled himself into the blue, And lifted the mists from the mountain ; The young hares are feasting on nectar and dew; The stag coals his lips in the fountain; The blackbird is piping within the dim elm ; The river is sparkling and leaping; The wild bee is fencing the sweets of his realm, And the mighty-limbed reapers are reaping. To spring comes the bnddinK; to summer the blush; To autumn the happy fruition ; To winter, repose, meditation, and hush ; But to man, every seasou's condition. He buds, blooms, and ripens to action aud rest, As thinker, and actor, and sleeper; Then withers and wavers, chin dropping on breast, And is reaped by the hand of a Reaper.