VARIOUS VERSES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8208, 11 August 1906, Page 3

VARIOUS VERSES.

ROUGH ON THE LAUREATE. Poet Laureate Austin has written »his annual spring poem, which appears in the New York Independent, under the title of "I'he Coming •of the Daffodis. We shall Rive our-•-.selves''the plenaure of quoting a ■stanza:— 'The randoap Jamba round their staid er dams Are skipping as, one time, they did; And, Droud of thn cheat, will ba the cuckoo repeat Soon the tale of the neat iavadod. v The swain and his sweet in the love-lanes meet, Adil fondle aud face each other, Till he folds her charms in his worldwide arms, ' With kisses that blind and smother. We sincerely trust the Laureate *libs no intention oi' appropriating to himself the field that has so long been exclusively occupied by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Also, as a guarantee of good faith, we offer as a -companion pieje to the stanza just • quoted the following lines:— The ma pig roots while lier offspring snoots In response to her cheerful grunt ing, ■While thu rooster stands holding out his hands For the worm that the hen is hunting; 1 "The sweet and her swain,caught out in the rain, Perceiving a distant shelter, Forget the love they've been babbling of • And go for it helter-skelter. —Chicago Record Herald.

-AHE SECRET OF CONTENT. -It isn't what a fellow has that clothes him with content, That puts him i„u that frame of mind whore joy aud peace are blent, And makes nim feel that recompensed are those who plan and strive; 'lhat he's, in truth, well satisfied, and glad that he's alive. It isn't motiey bored in banks, there placed to bis account, It isn't mortagages he holds, of fabulous amountNay, none of these sheathe worry's thorns as down life's path we jaant— : It isn't what a fellow has, but what he doesn't want! Though wandering feet may be a curse, far more are itching hands ''That grasp, but never satisfy, their cravings and demands, though rolling stones accumulate but very little moss, They don't, like avaricious palms, keep smarting at their loss. And so, the man of modest wants who keeps desire curbed Strolls side by side with happiness when others walk perturbed. , Possession ne'er makes man immune of cares that siege or haunt— It isn't; what a fellow has, but what he doesn't want!

If one's by wish and want imbued his days will all be spent Id futile sports upon life's road to overtake content. If one's desires modest be he'll find them all supplied, And be a constant 'Sunny Jim,'with life well satisfied. It isn't: bonds that make for oheer, □or stock that peace supplier, It isn't silver pleasure bringß nor gold oontentment buys, . It isn't bank of treasury notes, though flstfuls you may flaunt— Jt isn't what a fellow has, but what he doesn't want! —Roy Parrell Greene.

43UT IN THE COUNTRY. 'Oat In the ooanfcry, Close to the sky, It's easy to live And easy to die; No unions to join No wages to fall, No boaa to obey, No trouble at all. You live without rent; Your taxes are light; Your wood's at your door, Fine knots areyour light; You need no vacation; You wife never goes To plaoea that oall For a trunk full of clothes. The fingers of Time {spin now'aere so swift As out on the farm Where a fellow must drift ■Along with the tide, So far from the shore, That you hardly can hear The sound of an oar. "There's peace in the woods, There's shelter and light; Three meals for your work, And slumber at night; Content may not come— It will seldom alight >On this earth, bat, at least, It is often in sight.

A KISS FROM DOROTHY. Dorothy giveß me. a kiss for the asking, Sweeter than ever I've tasted before, Ever in Dorothy's love I am tasking, Taking her'kisses and asking for more. Dorothy luns down the pathway and meets me, ' Laughs when I tell her I've misaed her all day; Life teems the brighter when Dorothy greets me, In such a charming young-womanly way. Porofcby sits in my lap in the gloaming, Tells me she loves me a bushel or more; Long may it be ere her thoughts turn lo ro&miug— God keep my Dorothy—daughter of four 1