LOCAL PICTURES IN VERSE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3064, 5 March 1892, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL PICTURES IN VERSE.

Soft falls the light—the moonbeams play Upon the river 'neath my feet; The sough of wind through willow boughs, The river's plash make music sweet. The darkling pools that, here and there, Show where some stilly depth doth lie, The softly scintillating light From myriad wavelets meet the eye. The mirrored moon, a glistening globe Resplendent in a liquid field, Gleams from the current's restless flow, Now brightly clear, now half rovualed. The bridge, on which I idly lean, Feels the soft tremor of the flowVibrations from the current's beat, That pulsates oa the pilos below. The air is hushed—a stillness reigns— The ghost of some faint echo comes, Proclaims man habitation hath, Near where the rippling river rune. The rustle of the passing breeze In modulated whisper low— Stray chord in nature's harmony— Makes music o'er the fiver's flow. Chaste Eve her midnight mantle wears; Now animation falls asleep And all is still—divinely still— O calm rapt hour in which we reap Reflection's joys. Oft have I stood At such an hour and watched the stream, Forgot the world's unceasing strife And lapsed into a waking dream. Or. idly leaning on the rail, Gazed on the shimmer down below, And mused on life that, river like, Into an endless sea doth flow. Glkankb.