Page:A New Zealand verse (1906).pdf/215
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An Evening.
179
There, where passions ne’er intrude,
There where Nature has imbued
With her sweets the solitude,
Rests the form of Lilian.
There where Nature has imbued
With her sweets the solitude,
Rests the form of Lilian.
Dear old forest o’er the sea,
Home of Nature’s euphony,
Pour thy requiem psalmody
O’er the grave of Lilian.
Home of Nature’s euphony,
Pour thy requiem psalmody
O’er the grave of Lilian.
Guard that daisy-quilted sod:
Thou hast there no common clod;
Keep her ashes safe; for God
Makes but few like Lilian.
Thou hast there no common clod;
Keep her ashes safe; for God
Makes but few like Lilian.
Sceptics ask me: “Is that clay
In the forest far away
Part of her?”—I only say:
“Flow’rets breathe out Lilian;
In the forest far away
Part of her?”—I only say:
“Flow’rets breathe out Lilian;
“From her grave their sweets mount high—
Love and beauty never die—
Sun and stars, earth, sea and sky
All partake of Lilian.”
Love and beauty never die—
Sun and stars, earth, sea and sky
All partake of Lilian.”
CXVII.
An Evening.
To break the stillness of the hour
There is no sound, no voice, no stir;
Only the croak of frogs,—the whirr
Of crickets hidden in leaf and flower.
There is no sound, no voice, no stir;
Only the croak of frogs,—the whirr
Of crickets hidden in leaf and flower.