UNKNOWN

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 251, 31 March 1888, Page 5

UNKNOWN

The sad tired earth had sobbed herself to :>lccp Upon the bohiiin of the restless bca. And tne pale swewt stais above did nap A reflex of man s> inhumanity. For De.it h in armour fought ins sister Hate, Whilst outmgd h aven rang its warning kneil; Gum carnage made each nat on desolate, An.l cities bluzd like a tara of a he))! The blivc shoos off his rusting gyve and chain, The dt spot huii'd his lemons m the light, And Abel was the slayer of his Cain, The weak became the victor OTer might' Sweet Mercy, weeping, Hew from hill to lull ll > ra> l iitj her sister Love return once nwrc ith smiles of peace . but ruthless carnage still Made weeping vaieso'errun with human gore! And bv historic Danube falls the pride Of totn ring Jfilam rule; nobtmerfor Drank up ti.e life-blood o! thy pierced .side Proud Ituss, nor hid th> ehi\ali\\ to low ' Unhappy lust ' for g>or.\ , or for praise, ~-ow each he^ angled in war's dea ly arms, Ami In vis englhen into murderoub da.\s. And nigh: frowns h.deous witn her dire alarms. W here Pnri- stood, niagnifionnt and nioud. With gay volupt ous temi les of the night. Tne i.v nmg hulwb, anasiill tins ted, ctowil To ie\el on her dead— unhappy bight - llei palace chamber but a dead man s vault. Her abbe) -> \ ile iei pts of fcst'nng slain ' No living son of thine to "hare t>.y fault. Nor daughter i> tears to flow with thine again ' And Berlin weep . her final o\ orlhrow— \i;ain no ijr.m shall distress the world. Or hold the balance of its mirth or woe, Por from hiMhiont ths < ictor now is li'irl'd, Tliy .inn ur (1 slaves he cold and v.wr still ; Obedient nations are there none toned Si t\ile to tlue ; thoti has laltill'd thj will. And melted from the presence ot thy God! And Hritain falls ' Her for is a. her door. \ud hmleth forth her chmueiKs starved bones : Tlieitreetai.ru reekinc; with her countless poor, \m\ fester with the rottenness of thrones. Poor La "ims haa ai nioured for the fraj , And Ohesli « diunken on the Altar flags ; Niyhi blubhenf>'r tl.e horrors of tne day— And Worth dies?, bleeding in her tilth and rags. F.nr Austral apinu oder lands in crime. With palace tow'rp o erh,ini?injf mis'ry's den. Though bloom of nceta 1 ' '-cents her sumiuer clinic. Her realm is but the Hcmilehro of men; Hei lordlmgs. risen fioin a brother's toil. Forget the, cot wheie their forefathers wept, Or honestb mgathcred from the woil The joys ol summer whilst the weak ones slept. j The rottenness of empire is her curse, And tilled emptiness her bitter ban ; Aj ! Thou wert in thy happy j outh the nurse Of lofty teachings to the hju! of man ; But, careless thou—thy poor ones weep in vain— Tis Britain's rurne to suifer, starve and sigh : Thy rieli may revel, but tbj poor in pain Herd with the reptile and with famines die! Yet royalty still roars it* throne divine (Divinity has mined more than tbee). Hark at yon shout ! The angry mob is thine ; They'ie rearing {tods of wildest anarchy. Thur work u thine! Too vile neglect and shame Have turn'd Ul3 sons to lieive and murd'rous foes. And Freedom blushes at thy bastard fame : For thou hast sought, and won, alas, thuso woes And ever Riot stalks ahumd-tho towns Are strewn with broken idols of the great : The hungry children play with monarchs' crowns. And palace domes are level'd. Bitter hate, With envj, sweeps throughout the wailing Ian 1 '. I*,1 *, With a ice to lead, and a ongeanee in their cry. Each willing beiu t obeys the dire commands. And thus revenge but bids it& victims die ! Science, thnl rear'd aloft her lowering head, Lies low to-dnj— hor chain of lire, that bound Tho world in com cisc, onward wildly sped To help in man a destruction. Nought is lound Of greatness but the littleness of man. Nature, enchained, asserts again her right ; Her blessing worketh onl> as a ban. As the light of ages fadeth into night. '

And wraith, like to rlic nightmare of the brain, ( Dances a wretched rare of hope and dread ; She, hoards her treasures of the K^Mon Krain, Yet in her ufHucnui- cries in vnin for bread; Si.o sees her i 'ol lu-lplcss, void and done) Our, misor'ri miser, thy trod at la-4 1-, cold, None i>nvj . lonjy for, sin fnr-lite is fled TJiat made a monarch of thj idol, cjoirt ! Religion, with her Miou and fanes and creedb, Calhodia)^. temples, ann hcrabbc\s, fall; In I oim of dread how frail her aimless needs, In vain she prays witli snpplicalinu: call. For lust of power o'orruled the reiijn ol .ovc. And in the turmoil malice, pride, and hate Were cmh'cnis of the cnsrle. not the dove. And Fai'h, Love. Chanty wqvg desolate. No morp shall "oland wcop. nor fcol the chain Of her oppressor : for the bond and fiec, The tjranf > n 1 his \ ictim. on ttie phi in ie fide by Hide, and war no moro shall be. Tho vanity of kin^s. man's hi'-tand urcad Shall torture none, and fraud the world no more ; Nor unfed children suffer in their n^ed— Their starved live-, their living deaths are o'er !