The Lords of Labour.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 156, 12 June 1886, Page 1

The Lords of Labour.

Thby come, they cbnie in a glorious march, vx on can hear thoir stoanvsteeds noigh As they dash through Skill's triumphal arch, Or plunge 'mid the dancing spray. Their hole fires blaze in the mighty forge, Their lifo-pulso throbs in the mill, TnSlr lightnings shiver the gaping gorge, < And their thunders shake the hill. Ho I thoai are tho Titans of toil and trade, The heroes who wield no sabre ; . But mightier conquests roapeth the blade That is borne by the Lords of Labour. Brave hearts like jewels light the sod. Through the mists of commerce shine, And souls flash out, like stars of God, From the midnight of the mine. No palace is theirs, no castle great, No princely pillar'd hall; But they well may laugh at the roofs of state 'Neath the heaven which is over all. Ho! these are the Titans of toil and trade, The heroes who wield no sabre, But mightier conquests reapeth tho blade, Which is borne by the Lords of Labour. ISach bares his arm for the ringing strife That marshals the sons of the soil, And the sweat drop 3 shed in their battle of life, Are gems in the crown of toil. And better their well-worn wreaths, I trow, Than laurels with life blood wet; And nobler the arch of a bare bold brow Than a clasp of a coronet. Then hurrah for each hero, although his deed Be unblown by the trump or tabor, For holier, happier far is the meed That crowneth tho Lords of Labour

James Macfarlane.