RETRIBUTION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 438, 1 October 1908, Page 4

RETRIBUTION.

SEPTEMBER 26, 1908

The following verses written by Lionel Terry in Lyttelton Gaol, have been sent specially to The Dominion for publication :

Athwart the northern sky dark clouds assembling Cast o’er the earth a shroud of dreadful gloom An evil nation . . . panic stricken . . . trembling, Awaits the crash of doom. 11. Far o’er the silent sea the blood light-gleaming, Proclaims the rising of a pagan foe, Steel fortresses in grim procession steaming Herald the hour of woe. 111. Thou hast no hope, O blind and foolish nation ! Thou would'st not heed the prophet’s warning cry, The ancient law decrees its consummation— All things corrupt shall die. IV.

When the pagan cry “ Banzai ! Banzai!” shall ring in the bloody street, And the fortress wall shall totter and fall to the guns of the pagan fleet, That shalt know once more the ancient Taw from the throne of the God above, Which thou would’st not heed in thy cowardly greed when ’twas taught in pity and love.

When thy women stand in the market place ’mid the taunts of a hideous throng To be bought and sold for the pagan gold, and to suffer the deadly wrong, Thou shalt feel the flame of thy burning shame and bitterly thou shalt rue The day thou did’st brand the prophet as mad and follow the lure of the Jew. VI. See now amid despair and desolation, The wrath of God revealed throughout thy land ; Flood, fire and strife shall end in devastation The ancient Taw shall stand ! VII. Where are thy fighting men? Where are thy fortresses ? Slaves cannot keep the furious foe at bay! The thousand miles of mortgaged wilderness Thine impotence betray. VIII. A country bare of human habitation ; Slave-crowded cities open to the foe ; A people steeped in vice and degradation ; 0 thou hast fallen low ! IX. As bursts the thunderbolt from blackened heaven, So shall the awful Truth burst o’er thy land, As falls the mighty rock by lightning riven, So shalt thou fall. Tionei, Tkrry.