LIFE’S ISSUES.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9393, 13 March 1909, Page 7

LIFE’S ISSUES.

Dream on, sweet child, whose laughter speaking eyes Reflect the sunshine of thy guileless heart Let not dull thought, or moody care :■■■■. arise, ■ • To cloud the "flrarning of thy life’s bright start; Pause not to count the swift-winged happyjhours That .bear thee on thine incense laden way, • Bat bull the fairest of life’s fading flowers On this, its first, sweet, fleeting holiday. All hail ! gay youth, whose mantling brow proclaims The' fervent promptings of thine ardent soul, Heed not the hoary sage whose counsel aims The warm impulse ’Of passion to control, Launch thy light shallop on Life’s tempting tide. Beneath the azure of its cloudless sky, And lightly o’er its gilded billows ride, Scanning their tumult with a careless eye. Arise !—Proud man, ambitions daring flights , Engross thy soul, and nerve thine iron will; Unmarked the silent avalanche from heights ' ' , Whose mystic regions hover o’er thee still; Essay to be a giant in thy race, Bid thy brief world do homage unto thee, Hurl thy proud gauntlet in grave Wisdom’s face, , And dare to shape thine own vain destiny. What though for thee fate’s potent book is sealed? 1 Still let thine erring steps at random climb Till every hidden word shall stand revealed ' By ruthless, hope destroying hand of Time * Assail. 1 Fame’s redking ladder’s slippery length Cleave thy mad way o’er Fortune’s fickle wall Her choicest spoils reward thy soul’s ' spent strength When, lo! her ramparts crush thee in their fall. Brood on Old Age—nor venture to look back Upon the shattered mins of life’s schemes, Thy bleary eyes their wonted lustre lack, Despair and madness mingle with thy dreams, Thy fainting heart, chafed on Perdition s rooks, With chilling doubts and fears is sore oppressed, s Bow to the dust thy scant<and hoary locks And hug thy broken idols to thy breast. Poor fool!—The mocking phantoms thou hast chased Have left thee now, bewildered, lost and late; On Desolation’s dark pnd dreary waste . ! ; Far from the path that leads to Zion’s gate The crown of Life thy vanity hath missed, ■Uo longer holds its beckoning beams for thee The shadows that thy soul could net resist Consign thee to Oblivion’s leaden sea.— JACK VINCENT. Kai Iwi.