A PEASANT'S GRAVE—A MONODY.

Southland Times, Issue 1544, 1 March 1872, Page 3

A PEASANT'S GRAVE— A MONODY.

«. By John G. Smith. Ir e stood beside the tomb where rest the noble and the great — The heroes glorious in renown — the mighty men of state ; I've mused within the gorgeous pile where kings and kaisers sleep, Who climbed for glory's meteor glare Ambition's slipp'ry steep. I've knelt beside the martyr's grave, amid the heather brown, And pondered on the price he paid to win a martyr's crown 5 I've gazed upon the sculptured bust, with laurelcircled brow, Tho' solemn awe enrapt my soul, I never wept till now. I stand beside a peasant's graye — a man of low degree — No flaunting monument is here— no marble tomb has heNo jewelled crown, no glitt'ring star, no royal robes he wore — ' The sacred badge of honest toil was all his scanty store. But yet the sign of noble worth was stamped 1 upon his brow ; Aye! noble worth — not pride of rank — before ! which minions bow. He lived, but not for self, his love was wide as human kind ; I His thoughts, his words, his aspect showed nobility of mind. ' He was a warrior, tho' no field he drenched with human gore, The cares of life he bravely fought, its ills lie nobly bore ; He was a poet, for he loved the beautiful and I true, In earth or ocean, rook or rill, or star-bespangled blue. He was a king, aye ! more than king ! a man of godlike mind ! He 6tood the chief among his peers, the foremost of his kind ; He was a martyr too, for high the flames of envy rose, And slander basely schemed to swell the triumph of his foes. Here let the vernal flow'rets bloom, and tears of dew distil ; Here let bis vesper requiem be the music of the rill ; And here at summer's balmy eve let zephyrs sweetly blow, And breathe a gentle sigh for him who rests in peace below. 1 — — —

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