Poetry.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 2361, 27 August 1887, Page 1 (Supplement)

Poetry.

IN THE SEA AT SUNI4ISE. BV A. C. SWINBCKNE. Till dawn Tho sea was silent aa tho muuutain lawn Whan tlifi wind speaks not, and the pines are dumb, And summer takes her fill ore autumn come Of life moro soft than slumber; but ero day Rose, and the first beam smoto the bounding bay, Up sprang the strength of tho dark Last, and took. With its wide wings tho waters as tlißy shook, And hurled them huddling on a heap, and cast Tho full tea shoreward with a (treat glad blast. Blown from the heart of morning ; and withjoy Full-souled and perfect passion, as a boy That light to'' wrostle With .the • seiv- - - For pure heart'* gladness andlarge esotacy, Up sprang the might of Tristram ; and his soul Yearned for delight within him, and waxed whole As a young child's with rapture of the hour That brought his spirit and all the world to . flower, And all the bright blood in his veins boat time To.the wind's clarion and the waters chimp That called him, and he followed it and stood ' Ort the sand's vorgo before tho great grey flood Where the white hurtling heads of waves that mot Rosa unsaluted of the sunrise yot. And toward tho foam ho bent and forward smote, Laughing, and launched his body like a boat Full to tho sea-beach, and against the tide Struck strongly forth with amorous arms made wide To take the bright breast of the'wave to his . , And on his lips tho sharp swoot minute s kiss t Given of ;the wave's lip for a breath s space curled And . pure as* at tho day-dawn of tho world. And round him all tho bright rough shuddering sea Kindled, as though the world were even as he, Heart-stung with exultation of desiro ; And all the life that niovod him seemed to aspire, As all the sea's life toward the sun; and still Delicht within him waxed with quickening will More smooth and strong and perfect as a flame That springs and spreads, till each glad limb became A note of rapture in tho tune of life, Live music wild and, keen as bleep and strife ; Till the sweet change that bids the sense grow sure Of deepjr depth and purity more pure Wrapped him and lapped him round with clearer cold, And all tho rippling green grew royal gold Between him mid the far sun's rising rim. And like thesnii his heart rejoiced.in him And brightened with a broadening flame of mirth; And hardly seemed its life a part of earth, But the life kindled of a tiery birth And passion of a new-begotten son Between the live sea and the living sun. And mightier grew the joy to meet full faced Each wave, and mount with upward plunge, and taste Tho rapture of this rolling strength, and cross Its flickering crown of snows that flash tho toss Liko plumes in battle's blithest charge, and thence To match the next with yet more strenuous souse.

ON HALF-A-CROWN.

Half-crown of George the Third’s long

reign. What scenes of pleasure and of pain Hast thou beheld! I scarcely trace The features of the Guelphic face ■So worn and torn by many hands Exchanged perchance in foreign lands. Thousands thy rounded form have pressed, And always as a welcome guest, Never too lato and gone too soon— Thy beaming presence deemed a boon, And (hough of royal birth, no pride Forbids thee humbly to reside Among the poor, who often pray. Thou would’st defer.the.parling day. The grandsire gave thee for his snuff, The beauty for her powder-puff. The seamstress who had starved and sown Received thee for her herring bone. A noble gave thee to a groom ; A workman for bis weekly room"; With thee the housemaid gaily went To buy a pinchbeck ornament. The cabman drove for thee an hour; The masher threw thee for a flower; The pauper saw in thee his dole, The pickpocket the coin ho stole ; And many a man has won renown Who started first with half-a-crown. King George is dead ! But now again A golden marriage, in the reign Of good Victoria comes to bless Our Sovereign in her loneliness. Ring loud the joyous bolls, and wave The standard of the loyal brave. May the great Union over shine! 11l fare the men of ill design ! Knaves who would tear our Empire down And leave our Queen but half-a crown. A. G. L’Estrango.