THE LOVE OF THE PAST.
As sailors watch from their prison For the long grey line of the coasts, I look to the past re-arisen, And joys come over in hosts Like the white sea-birds from their roosts, I love not the indelicate present, The future's unknown to our quest, To-day is the life of the peasant, But the past is a haven of rest— The joy of the past is the best. The rose of the past is better Than the rose we ravish to-day ; 'Tis holier, purer, and fitter, To place on the shrine where we pray — For the secret thoughts we obey. There, are no deceptions nor changes, There, all is placid and still ; No grief, nor fate, that estranges, Nor hope that no life can fulfil, But ethereal shelter from ill, The coarser delights of the nour Tempt, and debauch, a,nd deprave ; And we joy in a poisonous, flower, Knowing that nothhag can save Our flesh from the late of the graveBut surely we leave them, returning* In grief to the well-loved nest, Filled with an infinite yearning, Knowing the past to be rest — That the things of the past are the best. — Spectators.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT18830106.2.34
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1639, 6 January 1883, Page 6
Word count
Tapeke kupu
198THE LOVE OF THE PAST. Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1639, 6 January 1883, Page 6
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in