POETRY.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 440, 25 January 1890, Page 6

POETRY.

LORDS r>F C ANDON. Among the famed, historic. Surrey hill®. Thyme-scentsd vales, deep woods and pastures green: And trout streams ed ed with yellow daffodils. Lies Onflows’ fair and beautiful demesne. (1) The cite ing park is full of branching trees. The t raoeful elm a id silver-tasselled And snuglv sheltered in the midst of these. Appears the unpretending parish church. The Clandon keeper's tale I’ll not rehearse : The midnight conflict, dark and d< adly strife; Nor hr nd the game laws—tell in language terse Of deeds when hares wore more than human life. Tne Lords of Clandon all were men o' sport. Who briskly rode o’er fields and neighbouring downs. Who freely quailed the song-inspiring port. And dreamed of deer and favourite hunting grounds. Their lives were easy, passed in calm content. Their mi d; «ere free from anxious, wearying th night; One sate for y< ars in the Long Parliament, With Oglethorpe a b oodless duel fought. At Denzil’s home great men would often dine. Upon the hest, the very best'of are. On turkey, pheasant, ven’son. fowl and chine, On garnished fish and highly seasoned hare. 2l The pious Arthur, bowed with weight of years, When past his busy manhood summer prime, Retraced these scenes of youth with child-like And classed them with the vanities of time. He sad’y sighed “Thisjs a grand estate, A goo lv mansion, wide and spacious lands Linked with a niemoried name of ancient date. But now a’as, possessed by other hands. Mere accident will make an Enelis lord— Mere pluck the chief lain o f a Scottish clan— A simple millionaire can ru ea board, But 1 ature on'y makes the noble man. Ah. what is this ancestral park to me? Its gnarled o'd oaks, its game, and mansion fine? A meagre strip of land, six feet by three. In Merro" chur hyardsbortly will he mine.”<3) The old man turned across the mi- nowy brook, The rustic footway bridge and clover lens And gave his last, his lingering farewell lo k. At Onslovvs’ mansion towering ’tween the trees. Zealandia boasts a ’ord from Clandon Park. Of noh'er views than some old lords have seen. A risii g statesman, artist man of mark. True to his country, faithful to his Queen. John Blackman. 1. Clandon Park, the seat of the Onslows, is si'uated at the foot of Merrow D.»wns. three miles from Guildford, Surrey. 2. Denzil Onslow’s house was noted for its sumptuous dinners. John Eve yn in his ‘ oiary ” (June 23rd, 16’1) says : Dined at Denzil Onslow’s. “ where was much company, and, such an extraordinary feast as I had hardly seen at any country gentl man’stable venison, rabb'ts, flares, pheasants, partridges, pigeons, quails, poultry, all sorts of towl in season from his own decoy, and al sorts of fresh fish.” 3. “One d'V the Speaker of the House of Commons tA’thu- Ons'ow) came to Clandon Park and asked me many quest'onAt last he said, ‘ This is a fine house and a fine estate of land about it But what will it signify? For a piece of land six feet long and three feet broad will fit me short'y! He then fetched a deep sigh and walkedaway among the trees.’ ”—John Nelson’s “ Memoirs.” See also Thomson’s “Autumn.” *“VIA CRUCIS, VIA LUCI 3.” Forth from Jerusalem in the fading gloom Faintly suffused with glow that told of day. A man condemned stepped onward to his doom Up the steep, rugged way That led *o Calvary—hut few were there. A« passed the grim proc ssionial of death, Soldiers, friends, foes, some curious, some in fear Asking what happeneth. What need to linger o’er the scene of woe? T'» painted on the can' a i of the world In pigments that may never lose their glow rill Time’s scroll all be furled. He died as all must die whose lives are given To the stern quest for Truth—who, pure and high. S?ek on this earth to find some path to heaven Such in the effort die. Poets, prophets, painter, ye whose raptured soul Absorbs the Godlike till it seems your own, Before wnose t ate ethereal visions roll, Discerned by you alone; Who hear majestic symphonies within. Sweet as the fabled music of the spheres, Potent to quell th > rude discordant din. That smites our duller ears ; A Calvarv is yotrs, the bleeding feet V"ust tread undaunted on their upward way Till thro’ the gloom of martyrdom ye greet The light of dawning day. E. FT. Gulliver. *“Via crucis, via lueis”—“the way of the cross is the way of light.”