SELECT POETRY.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 153, 9 February 1872, Page 6

SELECT POETRY.

NOTHIJSTGTO PAY! - There.is no luck about tlie reef ; I'm stranded'h'ard and fast; : - Between two "walls IVe. come to grief— They've'pinched me out at~ last/" " I've sunk of shafts at least a score, Through all sorts of phases; - The, drilling. I alwaysifound a bore, The rock as hard.as blazes. I've.folio wed down : the underlay, Thinking the gold-lay-under But never;found an-ounce to pay For my unlucky blunder I've, pinned my faith to many a leader Of quartz,' and not fashions ;" But never yet could,find a/feeder That even gave me rations. • I've gone down .very deep.-for slate,:' \ <'And always have been-slated"; I'm stricken by a cruel fate, To strike it never fated. Accoutred cap a'pied, in vain I've roamed to lind the cap ; The cap that fits me it 'is plain Cannot be worth a rap. - Days and days I've been prospecting, ... j Washing.countless dishes But .the .prospect I'm expecting . Never meets my wishes. . I've sunk in many a likely spot, But oh ! 1 unlucky-buffer, When others hit it; 'tis my lot" To bottom on a'duffer. While,diggers have been blowing About the ground they know, I'.ve tried it, and their showing Has always proved no show. I never had a crushing That did not crush my hopes" Fine as the tailings rushing Along the river slopes. The tables always look so queer When covered, with my quartz ; T daren't address the engineer _ For fear of his retorts. All my mettle I've expended • " Tracing' the precious metal; Now at last the farce is ended, And I nave grasped the nettle.

When pay-day comes my peace of mind Is broken into pieces ; And though to pay I'm still inclined, My power of-paying- ceases. My ready cash has taken wings, In lunting after patches; This is a pretty state of things, I might as well sell matches. - For'then I'd turn an honest penny, And should not have to wait; But now I work, and don't get any, .Not even,a pennyweight. And when hard up, to sell I try, I* can't, to save my soul; - - Wholesale buyers refuse to 1 buy A half share in my hole. Thus T get in a hole besides The one 1- had ,before; , W ii!s- L , cujl Fortune still derides, - And T am sold once more. I-clearly see that I'm too blind To find the golden vein ; But still my friends cry' "Never mind, But try your luck again." - Bright thought, I'll try the "Never Mind," <. . . . .. f And so pit mind 'gainst matter; Yet well I know-there'll be no find When I'm found pegging at her."