OLDE ENGLYSHE FAYRE.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2823, 12 April 1882, Page 3

OLDE ENGLYSHE FAYRE.

A very sucaesaful “ fayre ” has just been opened in Dunedin in aid of an Episcopalian Church. The Bishop of Dunedin substituted for an inaugural address, a poem , written by himself, which we gladly reproduce. We know several individuals who have poetical aspirations, and we. know that if they only dared they would send us innumerable sheets of rhapsody. This poem of the Bishop’s is an model for would-be poets. It is a simple production to suit a pleasing and passing occasion. No genius was required for; - such a task, but talent, high culture, and intellectual calibre have been brought to npon this’. This is the one point on which we wish to lay stress: The Bishop, referring to a bygone day, did not adopt the verbal peculiarities of that day, which may be easily done, but he did something more. He adopted in an easy, graceful Way, the phraseology, and his verse breathes the spirit of the age he refers to, A poem of such a kind could not fail to please, and we record our appreciation of it as muph because we think every outcome of culture should be noticed, as because we highly esteem Dr Nevill in his Episcopal and personal capacity. 'etfE BISHOP’S GREETING AND EXORDIUM. \V 0 ..,0d citizens who brave the flood And hither come to show that you are good. In spite of outside torrmts you essay To see what you may f ee, and gladly pay Your entrance fee, both for so fair a sight And for so good a cause as ours to-night. And yot a word permit me, ere we hie

I To yonder shops to gaze, admire, and buy ; For hot for sport alone, or love of fun, Hath all this shew been wrought and labour done. Ye know that on the bill, riot far from hence, . ; There lives a godly clerk, who, to dispense His ministry aright, must needs possess A church to pray and preach in, and no ■: less • ' . ' ’ Requires a house for self, and wife and child. The people love him; so .these needs are found And bravely built upon a godly ground ; And yet not fully paid for, since the sum For so great task is more than well can come i : From so few folk, who charge • themselves as well With maintenance of all of which I tell. Same seventeen hundred pounds are needed yet _ ' To free this enterprise from every debt; ’Tis for Dunedin in this week to prove How great a weight the force of love can • iriove. I speak not of the clergyman alone, For many a man, and dame, and maid has shown Through all these months of toil how much they care ; , . , For Christ’s great name, and for hia house of prayer. . We come to aid them, that they all may feel That hand with hand can break a bow of steel. But still a word, good friends I have to say, For ’tis no common sight we view to-day. Pictures and books may tell us somewhat how Our forbears used to dress, to walk to bow; But here New Zealand youth in ruddy prime May cross the seas, turn back the sands of time, . And pace .the street down which an, hour ago Our mother’s grandmother pursued her beau— Nay, at that very stall methinks I spy The witching glance that chained my •> grandsire’s eye _ , From some such chamber window might . ~.bo thrown •• The billet-doux which made him all her own Why should we not look back and live awhile The life of bye-gone days ? Not to beguile A fleeting hour alone ; rather to teach ; What new-world self-esteem might dare impeach— That neither art nor wit science or ; skill, Beauty nor valour, were awanting, till , We graced the platform of the world, and made - • ;■ Ourselves our model,, and .our wits onr ' trade/ . * i Let me not chide I yet still, in ; new-won lands The future, not the past, the most demands Our earnest thought. ’Tis well, then, we should turn To history and her lessons,; lest we spurn As worthless half the grace and charm of life ; , Count’manners folly, honor merely strife Of empty words, not truest sense of truth. ; But I do declare Lam forgetting that this.is a fair And fairly turning to my own affair Of preachitg morals 1 So then, let me say To all this fair assemblage here to-day, That here fair scenes await you, and fair maids Long for ( your fares, for every fairing aids. Fair gbolis deserve fair prices, and fair play Will please all those who come from day to day, For Everything is fair 1 Therefore: say I, Kind friends, farewell ! Let’s to the fair to buy!