POETRY. DEGENERACY.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 290, 15 August 1888, Page 6

POETRY. DEGENERACY.

Tho mountain labours, after all tho I'us3 Appears nought bigger than a paltry mouse, Gicat endb in small, the giant breeds a dwarf ; Tlio wise man fathers some poor moonstruck calf— Ilcir 10 Ills genius— what a fall is there ! Degenerate ncidns everywhere appear. Systems are no exception ; they decay, And, tailing over, pass in timolaway, Leaving n gruesome shadow round us cast Fioin the ii.a'estic prosenee of the pa&t, .So slwpele&s and unlike the glory gone We can but wonder as we gaze lliurcon : "Tib true, 'tis pit.) , pity 'tis, 'tis true' The old hcqueathe-* a bastard to the new. For instance let ltcligion tell her tale — The source how noble, our best efforts fail To paint it in its worthiness, the pcu Falters ; we try and fail, and try again, Maify bpirir, vcarnuig lor tho better part, Striving to tell what li\ cs within his heai t ; To build — like Jacob— up fiom earth to heaven A btair which they may tread to whom 'tis given. With brave though haply halting steps to rise, Seeking hlo's secret-, written in tho bkic&— 'io strike ooine choid, which may attune men's eai s And swell the cthcioal music of the spheres. Ijile alter lite arises, w rit in gold Unearthly in its beauty; thcro is told To the caro-doariou'd car&.of. Aveary men Some story, which they hear and hear again, So strange, so i'» csh, so winning that jt seems The iancy-born creation of our dreams. Such was its origin, j ot irom buch .source Wo trace the o d degeneracy to worse; The light grows clouded— the blight ciysta stream Flows into murkier channols, wherein gleam, Unly by tar reflection Irom the past, Pale, transient light Hakes, all too trail to last Love Uiriib lo hatred, narrow, se fish crecdb J'jiithral religion, all the deeper neuds Ol Jilo are iro/on into lorms and sham, And, wbeie ttiey should bo blowing, churches damn. AU v axej told and lifeless, and we see Go 1 lost in w tr Is and mere formality ; Yofc can we boaofc a churon in e\ ory ton n. On all the liomes of men lier spiles look down. Pointing, perchance in mockeiy, to the sky 'Jo lell with silent voice that God is nigh. Priests, narrow and exclusive, swarm around, Playing their part with ctreai y, doubt I ul soundTo utter what source one at heait believe^ And state dogmatic truths wiiich none recei\ cs — Till— U-, (he iyjuc of the solemn farce— A general slate ol ehaob comes to pass. * What wo believe we say not ; Avhat avo say We don't believe, or in seme tortuous way Twist, till we make a uuce 'twixt sense and sound, And in tho a' tempt both brains and soul confound. What olbe can be expected, Avhen we close The gates ot heaven lo the man who knows, Put premiums on shallow ignoiance, And at the feailcss thinker look askance? AVould'st lollow A\heie of old Religion trod, »S'c< /. Jor llii/sclf the mysteries of God. This was their secret who, with tongue of 11am c, Of. old proclaimed the glory of His name. They look no deity at second hand, L/ttur'd no dogmas, spoken to command ; No cuckoo voice was tlieirs— the soul within Furnished their gObpel, by whose aid to win The way through laihues, dangers, and featA way whereon they trod A\ith Vecding feet. Wisdom, by process slow, came to their aid .Serene and lotty, e\cr undismayed, Leading them np the height with tooting nice, Fiee from illusion and oil prejudice. Till in the inner circle they; should stand Sclt-ccntred, holding God at their command Abo\ c the mists ot envy, lust, and greed, Louis ot each maibhallcd thought and Avord and deed, Shining— such glory came they to possess — The incarnation of all love. mess. Be thou like them ; their footsteps make thine oavd, And slanu, as they once stood, at hay, aloneNo creatinvs of tho sj stem which had been, But sclf-cvoh ed, in loneliness serene, ({od lies A^ ithin ihee. In thine oavh control Thou ho dest all the issues ot tho soul. 1C thou ait brave to quell the lower self, To spurn tho sordid dreams of fame or pelf. That which is in thee to call forth, and know Thyself, with all the secrets high or low That lurk A\ithin~too oltcn under ban, Or else unknown, undieamt ol— God in man incarnate shalt thou he, passing through life l.ike tho meat sun o'eihead, A\ith blessings life Till m the gloAv -tinned ocean ot the weot Thou sinkest, sunlike, in the eternal rest, liJ. H. Gut/LIVkR.