ON THE BAR.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 201, 30 April 1887, Page 6

ON THE BAR.

The lifoboat of my soul went out, The seas were calm, the winds were fa I heard the pilot loudly S' out— " Thebar is breaking- beware ! beware " On ! On !" I cried, "my boat is true, Its sails are free as poets' song. Who cares for breaking l^ars ? Not I ; My ship is staunch, n>y heart is strong, And never a wave shall \ueck " y soul, And nevec a storm shall do mo wrong The lifoboat of my soul flew on The seas were rough, the skies were bin. Again the pilots' warning song— •' The bar is breaking, put back ! put bac " Onl on !" I cried, ' The day is past, I hear the breakers on the strand, The raging waves, are yawning graves, T is now too late to reach the iand." But O ! for the pilot's warning voice And 0 ! for the pilot's guining hand. The lifeboat of my s>oul lies wrecked On the shifting sand« of • arc and doubt. - Its bails are torn, its anchors ding, And I wildly throw its ballast out! I btand on the reck of a sinking craft, And the night-winds chide, and mourn and fret, And I hail the pilot. Oh ! wili ho come Wirh the kindly voice when first we met? But I hear no sound but (he breakers' roar And the hissing waves that round me fr.t! 0 ! the breaking surf that round me frets O ! the tossing waves that hiss and raye — My lifeboat dasliing before the storm, Around me only u yawning grave ! Yet cheer, poor heart there's a guiding star, A shining gem in the frowning sky ; I see the light, I feel the hand That guides to port in " the by and byo 1 " Ay ! a light to guide my lifeboat home, And a pilot to hear my latest sigh. W» It. Wills,