SUNL1GHT AND SHADOW.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 280, 11 July 1888, Page 6

SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW.

The -.inning clouds in robe of pearly whiteness Are gliding swan-like o'er the crescent moon The stars ai - e radiant with unusual brightness. Ln realms remote from all material gloom. Boncath me, ab it were, tho Thames is sleeping, A ml restful save for its unresting tide ; While the night-shadows, unperccived, arc sweeping. A nd closing in the landscape far and wide. The villago-lights begin to twinkle faintly. The busy wheels of toil no more resound. The stillness hath become more pure and saintly, And all is cradled in repose profound ! I list the sighing of the autumn breezes Among the branches of majestic trees: The strain is mournful, but it strangely pleases, And yet it should not altogether please. "What is the burden of this strain whose sweetness So keenly tascinates my listoning car .' Dors it not to 1 of Time's iinerrbijj Hoetncss, That in the midst of life grim death is near I Change upon change so gradually merges, VVe scarce perceive the insidious spoiler near Before we sink beneath oblivion's surges. And ccaso the while to be remembered here. But hark ! from yonder villa rosc-ombowored in rippling cadence, fairy-like and sweet, Another music hath the zephyrs dowered, And which, in ?ooth. I cannot else but greet, Jt (ells of gaicl> and youthful gladness, The twinkling measures of the mazy dance. And bunishes whate'er of pain and sadness These contemplations have induced perchance.

Upon n lawn, whose velvet turf encloses Parterre* where summer's blooms arc lingering yet. My gaze upon a brilliant scene reposes, Where you tli and beauty Cor awhile have met. And this T gather from Ihe mirth and laughter That faintly echoes from the pray saloon : It is unwise to look before and after To the exclusion of the pleasant boon. Enjoy and utilise the fleeting present ; Spurn not the guileless picasiu-e in its way, It serves to mitigate the cares incessant J'hat crowd upon our path from day to day. The heart relaxing never in Us closeness Shuts from itself the purer joys of life ; True love rfpenys with cynical moroseness And love itseli' subdues material strife ! Holensville. A. W. Hurry.

' Well, haw i^ this, my dear sir V inquired the local practitioner. ' You sent me a letter stating that you had been attacked by smallpox, and I find you suffering from rhcnir.abibin V ' Well, you sec doctor, it's like this,' said the patient. ' Thore wasn't u .soul in tho house that could spoil rheumatism.'