POETS' CORNER.

Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 66, 28 August 1880, Page 4

POETS' CORNER.

• ■ WHY DO. I LIVE? -'; "Why clo I live on thii beautiful farth, That vingelii with --music, ui,d rapture, and mirth, 'Mid the nlory of day, 'mid the grandeur; - . Of High I, •■...-.... : '■:;• i The centre ot ail .this vast palace of light? Is it to float on t.e suipofch-llow ing tide,- ; "With every grand .purpose, of -promise- untrie;/, cWhiloniMny/ proud heights yet remain to i ■' . le.won, : ; • And unachieved triumphs still beckon me ou? ••■• ;-. . ; Tclive is to kin r lle of knowledge the fires ; To livo is to clievi^li tlie blood of our sires yTo live'ia-.to' conquer the passions of slaves ;i To live is with "honor to go to our graves ; i To livei? to quicken the heart with love's ••' thrill; .■■:.•..:.■■- : To live is crealic.u. with gladness to fill; To live is to scatter of wisdom the seeds, ' T-ill blosabms of thought grow to fruits of good deeds. I 'Tis to rescue the branded ones tempted and tried, / [ In haunts where the stricken and dissolute hide, .-.-•(. The outcast m darkness, the captive m chains. .... : With blood lik-3 out own flowing warm m their veins, ".'•..' -.. ; Ouv brotlioi's and sisters, though lost and , .*i • -.doWQtl'<yjl,-... „ . .'.. •. ,:v.i' .-..'-i And made like! oarselves: itl the image of '' Gtod; . Oh, this is to live a life sweetest and best ; Tliricc-happj m labours, both blessing and ■'bloat. Why am I here on this- beautiful earth ? To love and ennoble the land of my birth ; To crown it with freedom, to wreath it witn fume, Till every heart leaps at the sound of its name ; With courage undaunted to battle for truth, [Behind me to leave bright examples for youth ; To follow those heroes whose spirits enthral, Till on them their mantles of majesty fall. Why do I live but to labour, each day — , For all whd have erred still to hope and to praj ; , < To cherish tho dear ones bound up m my heart, ' . ' ' At the brink of the- grave with me soon they must part. ! -I And, oil ! .with a fervour no lauguage can I tell, I would have them to think of me kindly and well — Ijrouldthaye them to feel m that desolate . hour. '. : .- .-■ ._' ."■■ ';; ] Some good deed. of mine had a life-giving , power. To live' is to plead wirh humanity's voice, Till wastes that are barren with beauty rt'joiep. I a3k for a tongue as a seraph|s divine ; ' I ask for a fire to e'rikindle' the shrine j I ask for a harp that to music shall turn The sighs m sal hearts, that most bitterly yearn ; ' Impassioning «ouls that have Buffered and striven, Till eartli shall enjoy all we picture of heaven. • Sheldon Cha"dwiok.