Select Poetry.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1206, 26 December 1871, Page 3

Select Poetry.

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* Is there aught liveth for itself alone ? " I asked Creation, and ten thousand tongues Responded " No! " —from angels on their throne To birds that filled the forest with their songs.

" Is there aught liveth for itself alone ? " The sunflower oped its lips, and breaihed, " Not I, Ten aromatic ounces I have strown, A daily offering to my King on high."

" Is there aught liveth for itself alone ? " The dewdrop's tiny orb, with twinkling beams, Exclaimed, " Not I! In nestling nooks I'm sown; And flowers refreshed enshrine me iu their dreams,"

" Is there aught liveth for itself alone P " The mignionette made the same answer sweet, The lilac-blossom, aud the chestnut cone, And every shrub whose heart with perfume beat,

There is naught liveth for itself alone ! A million hearts throb in a drop of rain, Perchance with joys aud sorrows of their own ; And autumn leaves bear worlds in every stain

And canst thou play, 0 man J an idle part In this great uuiverse of light and life ? Ah, no! With each pulsation of thy heart Eternal issues mingle with the strife.

Soul answers soul as sound responds to sound, By sympathy of feeling, thought, aud will. Some strange and subtle influence doth bound From mind and matter, working good or ill.

" Is there aught liveth for itself alone." Then like an instrument with golden chords, O'er which a seraph's fingers flash, a tone In thunder burst, and echoed back the words,

Sun, moon, and stars prolonged the happy strain, Which seas in music rolled from zone to zone. Oh, let it ring through every heart and brain, "There is naught liveth for itself alone I"

Sheldon Chadwick