ORIGINAL VERSE.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 April 1917, Page 6

ORIGINAL VERSE.

THE SOMME, 1916. In Slemoriam. Farewell, dear lad. Your spirit winded its flight Amid the thund'rous din of battle strife. Vainly the gathering tears bedim our sight In mute appeal to lure thee back to, life. And still your form and face are ever near, Your voice pomes in the silence of the night, Recalling from tho past those memories dear Which with the fleeting jears had taken flight. But in that "unknown bourne" beyond our ken What mysteries are concealed from mortal eye? Who knows what joys a'wait those gallant men Who for their homes and freedom chose to die? Why should we mourn the lad who but yestreen Went forth to meet tho foe with dauntless heart? We know not what is veiled within the screen That shields the future from our eyes apart. VYe only know that ne'or again on earth May Ave behold the loved ones who have gone, Far from the peaceful homes that saw their birth, Urged by the wizard spell that drew them on, Tho deathless spirit of those wanderers bold Who sailed their vessels o'er the trackless dpop In search of venture in the days of old, The hardy fathers of a race who keep Their memory green in thrilling tales of strife. Thank God, their blood still courses in the veins Of those bravo men who instant sprang to life, Cast to the winds all selfish thought of gains, And, careless of the odds against them thrown, In hot haste rallied to the Empire's aid,Until the straggling' ranks had quickly grown To warlike hosts which hold the foe dismayed. Who dares give voice to treason at an hour When from ten thousand homes the dirge is swelling? j Who dare bc.praise the bloodstained Kaiser's power While for our slaughtered eons' death beds are kneeling? What i craven-hearted cur would shirk i the fight; Betray the flag that shields his hearth from harm; Espouso the cause that knows no rule but might Or for his chosen home decline to fight? Who from his hoarded wealth will spare no part To help his country in the hour of need, Or who to selfish pleasure gives his heart And guairds his worthless life while patriots bleed. •. Sweep all such vermin from the burdened earth, And let us breathe ogam the pure clear ailWithin the frecborn realms that gave us birth, And ward our seagirt isles with ceaseless care. "Our Empire is at war," no boastful cry. Look to yourselves who would oppose her will. Down with the traitors who the cause decry, "Who is not for us is against us" still, Are we the kinsmen of the brave who died To savo our country from despotic power? Or are we weaklings, rudely thriUt aside When on the frontier clouds of buttle lower ? Oh, why should we endure the traitor band . Who make no secret of their chcrirhed hate, Or speak of German crimes while in our land Tho Jesuit plots disaster to the Stato! Drag forth, the hireling who, for sake of pelf, Dare preach sedition to the man of toil. Intent to livo in slothful ease "himself He his end by finding causo for broil. Sly murderers those and of the blackest dye, Who like the fabled snake with deadly thrust Piesccd the kind breast where they securely lie Till, strength restored, they can repay the trust. Shall vermin such as those or their foul brood Ser.k' to replace the gallant Bona wj'vr. lest? Profane the sacred ground on which they stood, Or plan to profit by our tragic cost! No! By the Gracious Father at whose throne We kneel, but not in fear, to guidance ask, , We swear to guard the trust those brave men gone Left to our care when they had done , their task. "Our Empire is at war!" Send forth the call To rally laggards to tho standard's n:d Lest iii the coming years their sons recall By eager questions, how their parts were played. Who would a traitor be to such a cause, Or sue for mercy at a murderer's feet? No longer grant hini safety from our , laws, But brand him linked with Cain—an emblem meet. We sleep in times of peace, nor note tho foe Take vantage of our sloth to push his way. We wake! And roused to war strike every blow Full deadly hard as men of valor may. —J.R.S. Manaia, 16/4/1917.