Original Poetry.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4496, 2 June 1883, Page 1

Original Poetry.

THE GOWAN'S MISSidIT.

'Twas not upon a Bcotti«h brae It smiled; the upturned face Could gaze upon no gweet bluebell, Nor listits constancy chime iwell S» full of airy grace.

No thistle reared its purple croat . Undauntedly, and free. " ; No sweetly smelling yellow broom, Or fragrant woodruffe'e rare perfume, To te"mpt the roving bee.

No mountain heather,, pink or white Whispering solitude, Nor Mavis liltin loud a»d clear, No silent studious herd boy near, Or kye, of peaceful mood.

Severed from those associates, Where few- would ever see Its look, so innocent'of guile, Trusting, confiding wee earile, A gowan on the lea. •

That iaiLawajt-iram. Albyn's sh<)£o._ Had its appointed lot; A lone Pacific-bounded isle Was gladdened by its presence, while Thoughts of Lang Syne it brought.

And thronging tender memories Of happy childish days; Filial regard, fraternal love, And many a dear one now above, Beyond the weird life maze.

The Church where pious fathers bowed In worship reverently With its enclosure, verdant, calm, That often heard the solemn psalm, Devotion's melody.

The grey and moss-grown monuments, That spoke departed worth, And many other hillocks, green, .. With blanks, in friendship t love*liflt seen, Change, in the land of bcth.

The peaceful, old time air of home, And youthful fancies free, A Scotchman's pride, Edina fair; The Clyde r~ whose waves did onw&d bear His vessel to the sea.

All passed before the mental view With strange rapidity, As Scotland's patriotic child . Found in a Southern climate mild, A gowau'_on the lea.

Where healthful saline breezes float, O'er a New Zealand hill: And hardyiiative titree grows, A creek a-down its-quartz bed flows, To speed the crashing mill.

While from the dense and sombre bush, Kesounds the tui's cry, Where graceful fern-trees seem to be Combining true humility, 1 With station proud and high.

The agile lightly bounding goats" Cropping xich herbage near. Blue, glancing, sunny, foam-flecked wave! Reverberate in the rocky caves, That on the coast appear.

O'erhead the clear and azure dome Cloudless infinity; " Mingling of simple and subliae, Creation's voice, and bloom of time, A gowan on the lea.

That little white and golden flower, Recalling Scotia's shore; Where memory round each, cherished ipot, Entwined a true forget-me-not, For happy days of yore.

Though ocean rolled for leaguee between, ■ Far distant all his kin, It stirred a fount of feeling deep, Freed from Reserve's grkn castle ke«p, A heart long pent therein.

Henceforth a kindled sympathy, Would in that bosom be; With, its God-given, Evangel smile, Thus blessed and cheered the poor exile, A gowan on the lea.

Dear flowers, go varied, loveable, Who would not learn from thee ? Fond clinging ivy, lily white : Sweet jasmine, rose ;• nor ever slight A gowan on the lea. .-

A.j Thames.