VARIOUS VERSES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 827, 29 September 1906, Page 3

VARIOUS VERSES.

THE ADVANCED GUARD. «(JtJy the lateColonelJohn Hay, "United, States Secretaryot War.) A chosemc.Qtps;jtbey ar&marohiog on ..- In a wider "field than ours ; "Those bright battalions still fulfil The schemes ot the Heavenly powers. And high brave thoughts float down to US,' The ecbos of that far fight. , Like the flash of a distant picket's gun, Through the shades of the severing *' Tright. fear for them 1 In our lower field Letuskeep our arms unstained, 'That at last we be worthy to stand with , them r ." On tne snining heights they've gained.: "We shall meet and greet in closing ranks, In Time's declining sun, "When the bugles of God shall recall, And the battle of life be won 1 LAUGH IT OSFF. When you can't make any headway, And each day seems like a dead day, And the thorns begin to pester till your nerves are shattered, racked, Stop a bit, get busy quaffing From a bottle labelled " Laughing"— Get your fill and then start over—it's a ' tonic, for a fact. Are you grumpy? Are you faded? Do you feel all worn and jaded lEvery time some fresh work doth claim you? Have you lost the thing called tact? Try a cup of sunny quaffing, Sweetened up with merry laughing— It's the best thing on the market for a tonic, for a fact. \ lie hides within toe lily A strong andtentter care, 'That winß the earth'born atoms To glory of the air;; iHeweaveß the-shining garments, Unceasingly artd still, ■Along the'quiet waters, In niches df the hill. "We linger at the vigil With Him who bent the&nee 'To watch the old-time lilies In distant (Galilee.; And still the worship deepens And quidkens into new, Ab, brightening down the ages, God's secret thrilleth through, <0 Toiler of the lily, Thy touch is in the Man'! No leaf that dawns to petal But bints the angle-plan. The flower-horizons open, The blossom vaster shows. "We hear Thy wide world's echo, — See how the lily grows. Unfolding thought by thought, 'To holy lives are lifted, To visions fair are wrought 'The races rise andioluster, And evils fade and fall, 'Till chaos blooms to beauty, Thy purpose crowning all. 'THE SUNG'OF SPRING. It was a mistress and her maid, 'With a rush, and a crush, and a dustpan and brush, That, unto one another said; '"lt's the spring-time, the only curtain-ring-time, {For the woods aregreen and we must sprtog-olean." .(I Iknewwhat that would mean.) Between the 'hall and the dining room, With a rub, and scrub, and a rub-a-dub-dub, I thrice tripped over a housemaids 'broom Jn the spring-time, the only curtain-ring-time, When the stools and the chairs all cover the stairs And catch one unawares. A whitewash pail I did not see, With a slip, and a slop, and a tenpenny mop, • I kicked the bucket and grazed my knee In the spring-time the only curtain-ring time, When the painters come, and the plumbers plumb, And charge a good round sum. And so I've made up my mind, next year 'With a brush, and a comb, I sha'n't bo at home, I'll pack up my bag and I'll disappear In the spring-time, the only curtain-ring-time, 'When the woods are green, if they must spring-clean, . il won't be on the scene ! : : —Punch. s THE FARTHER HILLS. . 'The clouds upon the mountain rest; A gloom is on the autumn day ; But down in the valley, in the west, The sudden sunlight breaks its way— A light lies on the farther hills. Forget thy sorrow, heart of mine Though shadows fall and fades the leaf, Somewhere is joy, though 'tis not thine; The power that sent can heal thy grief; And light lies on the farther hills. Thou wouldst not with tho world be one If ne'er thou Knewest hurt and wrong; 'Take comfort, though tho darkened sun Never again bring gleam or song— The lightlies on the farther hills. —Richard Watson Gilder.