THE SWEETEST TIME OF LIFE.

NZ Truth, Issue 70, 20 October 1906, Page 7

THE SWEETEST TIME OF LIFE.

There's a time m our existence, Our cup of joy o'erflowe, When the senseii glow with rapture "' ' Like blooms upon the rose; Then our feelings— all m ecstasy — ■ ' Throb uniform and true, And the world gleams bright and sparkling, Like violets bathed m dew. Were those the brightest moments, say, Ere childhood's fancy fled? When mother taught us to repeat— "Give us our daily bread!" Oft tucked within my little cot I've Been the angels there, With wings and swords to guard me as My mother asked m prayer. ' Or are the sweetest hours of life When School expands the mind?— When Fables fly before hard facts Like chaff before the wind, When Knowledge beckons us to drink At her pure running brook— The thirst we there sought to appease But increased as we took. Lord Byron said, "Life's sweetest draught Is when first lovers kiss," Then youths and maidens swing between Celestial worlds and this, When passion thrills with rapture's x noles. And hearts together beat Like skylarks, soaring high above— The world— is at our feet. 1 Or is it at our own fireside When children round us kneel, While she who promised to be true ' Prepares the evening meal ? ' " When nlippers ease the weary feet, And she (who loves you well) "' Eelates the exploits of your child,Or shows you where he fell ? When middle age is reached anon, And health its balance keeps, : " Life seems so well adjusted then That man joy's harvest reaps; When sons and daughters round the bo.ard Sit circumspect and free, Like sentinels to guard the homo 'Gainst wrong and poverty. And even when age chills the blood, .And three score years and ten Remind us that the grave is nigh, And conscience asks,' "What then?" Tis thoughts of happy. days we've spent That makes .us stout and brave, And lights the lonely path of ago That leads but to. the grave. N.S.W. JAMES HAERADINE.