THE SHIP OF DAYS

Motueka Star, Volume II, Issue 82, 27 May 1902, Page 4

THE SHIP OF DAYS

,Once on a day, ■ With flying spray. Swift into my harbour sailing, A good ship came, And it bore no name, So this was the way of my hailing : “ O ship most lair, Name the cargo ye bear— Whence come ye, in sooth —whither go ye ? Say whence is your crew, And your captain, too — What flag at the masthead show ye ? ” “ I come from the East, My crew to feast, On the laughter and tears of mortals ; I brook no delays, For my crew is of days, And we’re bound for the Sunset Portals.” “■Why come ye ?” I cried, And the voice replied, “Know ye then that I come for your saying; There are days for work, Which we may not shirk, And your portion be done ere your graving. “ There are days for joy, And for pain’s alloy, And the days to be tenderly grieving; There ard days for thought, And for kind deeds wrought, And days for the dead Past’s weaving.” But the days came sweet, And they seemed not meet For labour and striving and sorrow, So in love ! s fond way, In the arms of To-day, I*dreamed of great deeds for the Morrow. And the ship at last Sailed into the Past ; For the year that is gone I am sighing— But the sails are set, And the decks are wet, With the shear of the white foam flyiqg. —Edna K. Wallac \ in Leslie’s.