DEATH OF QUEEN VICTORIA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXIII, Issue 47, 9 March 1901, Page 2

DEATH OF QUEEN VICTORIA.

THE POET LAUREATE'S ODE. That Mr. Alfred Austin has risen to the solemnity of the occasion will be gathered from the following lines:— Dead ! and the world feles widowed ! Oan it be! That She who scarce but yesterday upheld Tho domy of Empire, so the twain seamerf ons, Whose /joodnifis shono and radiated round The circle of her still expanding Rule, WhvSH Seeptte was self-sacrifice, whose T hi one Only a loftier height from which to scan The purpose of her People, their des;res, Thought*, wopes, fears, needs, joys, sorrows, sadnesses, Their strength in weal, the comforter in woe, — That th>s her mortal habitation should L : a co'd and tenantless ! Alas! A'as! Too oft*n Life has to be taught by Dea f h Themeauiug and tho pi icelessness of Love, Not understood till lasi. But She—i bu ( ; >She, | Wub loved as Monarch ne'er was loved before, From girlhcod unto womanhood, and grew, Fresh the leif. and fragrant as the flower, Tn graca and comeliness until the day Of happy maternity. More c ! o*oiy wedded to her People's

heart;, By each fresh tie that knitted Her to Him Whose one sole thought was how She still might be He'pmato to England ; England 1 then, scat ce more, Or bounded by the name of British &■ aim, But by some native virtue broadening on 1 ". li'ito an Euipiie wider thau nIT .names, I'ill, tiki .s me thou.sand-ye.lr3 outbranching oak, Its mildness overshadowed half the globe With p a eful arms and hospitable 1 -faves, After refening to the deith of the Pi ii ce Got sort he proceeds : Tl.e'i wh .n She cirne amongst theui yet one'- mare, Si.u iamt: in Autumn radiance, Summer

(.'one, 1 oaf still 011 branch, but fruit upon the b-ugh, Fruit, of 1 »,g yen's and ripe expo'iencc, A shade of gravo boieavewcnt 0:1 her tuo>»-, Withal in re wife, mere pi'ifu), tender mo <- To o'Lo s' anguish r.nd necessities, Moro 1 jvo J, more rev 0: ence even than htforo ; Til Dot alone tho dwellers in her Isle, But the adventurous manhood of its loinF, In far-off and virgin Continents They won at.d woddeJ to domestic laws And . h .m's well-oidered household

siuictv ies Hailed Her as Mother of the Mother Land, Queen, Empress, more than Empress or than Que^ri^ The Lady of tho World, on high ent hromd By light divine of duties well fulfilled, To bu t-.e pattern to alt Queoat, all Kings, !t All woir.ev, -.>: id the consciences of men Who look on duty as mmi's only light. Nor ye', ulono t-j those empowered to be The sul.ij cts if her Sc.-ptre, p'oud to pray, "God Sive our Empross-Qu.ieu Victoria !" .But those, our kiiismon oversea, that chng, With no !o-» prid •, to Kingkss government, j Honoured ami loved her, hailed Her j t>u-i ~ of S Pt'cila-s innon,' nil women in U e world, | And long And late this happy csnsoul w-iri, j

This mellow gracious Autumn of her, days, This sweet grave Indian Summer, ti>l we grew j To deem it limitless, and half forgot i Mortality's decree. And now there: falls A sudden sadness on our lives, and we, Can enly bow disconsolate beads acdj weep, ! And look out from our lonely hearths and sea The homeless drifting of the winter mist, And hear the requiem of the winter wind. Referring to the present King he says:— I have left you, of my race, Sons of wisdom, wives of grace, Ohiof among them all is One, ■ Well you know, my first-born Son, i Best and tenderost son to me, ) Heir of my Authority. I He through all my lonelier years * Tempered with his smile my tears, I And was, in my widowed want, > Comforter and confidant, s Therefore, trusted, steadfast, brave, l Give Him what to Me you gave, b Who am watching from Above, 1 Reverence, Loyalty, and Love! - And these gifts Ho b;<ck will give t Long as He shall reign awl live."