POETRY. SUCCESS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 422, 23 November 1889, Page 6

POET R Y. SUCCESS.

Success ! aye that's the idol of the street, The vulgar deity that acorns defeat; Crowning its votaries with wealth or fame. Or the poor dower of an empty name. 'Tis ■well, perchance, 'tis so, yet some there bo On whom success smiles not, too proud, too free To stoop their shoulders neath the heavy yoke. Worn by Jilc's favourites ; they cannot cloak Themselves in falsehood, bend the servile knee ; Curb the proud tongue, or fawn in flattery. Not theirs the paltering which too oft bestows What's called success in life. For them there glows Another light than that which beacons men— Their iellows deem it failure, and again Turn to (heir quest of power, fame, or greed, With shrug of scorn— purblind, they cannot read The beauty and the greatness which, I ween, ltesplendent in such lives full oft are, seen, y el.is it failure ?— with undaunted brow To stand at-bay where others crouch and bow, To bear the awful doom of loneliness Scarce soothed by love— lacking the kind caress That friendship offers— some great thought to tend Unmurmuring, unfaltering, to the end ; Serene, tho' others scoff, patient and brave, To see their plans defeated, yet to have The lofty confidence begot of faith, Which knows nor change nor doubt even until death ; To cherish in the thoughts blanche purityBadge of the knightly soul— and fealty, Honour's escutcheon ; in the realms of thought To wander all unshackled, fancy fraught, Not asking whither tends the popular vote, What the last Shibboleth from Demos' throat, That brings preferment when 'tis spoke aloud And wins the suffrage of the fickle crowd. Is it failure ? Nay, a glory dims mine eyes Unveiled appear the regions of the skies, ' Marshalled in order in their ranks are seen Man's loftiest brotherhood— calm and serene. The ethereal brow, lit with high wisdom's sign, Tho majesty of thought, the seal divine, Which , marks them as lightbearers in their age, Heirs to man's highpst, holiest heritage j Such are their attributes. Mild Buddha stands Blessing humanity with outstretched hands. Lo ! ancient aages from fair India's dawn, Or where bright Athens, like the sun at morn, Scatters her blessings in the words that burn And thoughts that breathe ; our weaker spirits yearn In fond faint emulation ; here are they Who followed Christ along His narrow way And trod undaunted where His footsteps shone, Daring the worst although they stood alone. Yet such were failures, so at least men deemed ; To most, their lives misguided, wasted.seemed. Fame knew them not as wealthy, high or great, Seldom were titles theirs or vast estate ; Or, if perchance, their birth or station high They bore it with a proud humility. Yet now their toil is o'er, the battle done ; Victory's proud badge is theirs, the palm branch Avon. Failure no more consigns them to disdain. Nor are their lives condemned as lived in vain : In the clear light that comes with later years Their work in its magnificence appears., And we discern that failure oft may be" Rut the *ign-manual of man's majesty. The knightly badge worn by a stainless few. Earth's best nobility, the wise and true, Who bear their shields unsullied, and would die Sooner than smirch their inborn chivalry. Living their own brave lives, content to win Naught but the meed of conscience locked within. Whose still small voice amid the din of strife Proclaims the truo signiticance of life, Till, neath a touch of subtlest alchemy,. Its dross becomes pure gold, whose lustre may not die. E. H. Gulliver.