Page:A New Zealand verse (1906).pdf/237
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Licence.
201
And on their snowy twigs the sweet birds sing;
When beauty is new-born o’er all the earth,
And with the last chill wind the fear of dearth,
And other piercing fears, have taken wing;
This is the season I would think of one—
The dear Endymion, the star-eyed youth—
Who loved the quickened earth as doth the sun,
Whose heart was full of courage and of ruth,
Whose voice in sweetest melodies would run;
And, lo, how Beauty was with him the Truth!
When beauty is new-born o’er all the earth,
And with the last chill wind the fear of dearth,
And other piercing fears, have taken wing;
This is the season I would think of one—
The dear Endymion, the star-eyed youth—
Who loved the quickened earth as doth the sun,
Whose heart was full of courage and of ruth,
Whose voice in sweetest melodies would run;
And, lo, how Beauty was with him the Truth!
Ebenezer Storry Hay.
CXL.
Licence.
Much is forgiven to a soul in earnest,
Nor shall we carp at clicking heels on the rail,
When a bold leaper leaps his utmost height
With thundery rush, triumphing; nor complain
When bold Will Shakespeare or our Meredith,
All quivering with the heat and lust of the chase,
Strains out the thews of language to the bursting,
Sets the shy accent toppling on the verge
Of utmost music, poising perilously
Betwixt the gulfs; or slants the molten thought
Too generously, and flaws the golden mould;
For who achieves the impossible shall have grace.
Nor shall we carp at clicking heels on the rail,
When a bold leaper leaps his utmost height
With thundery rush, triumphing; nor complain
When bold Will Shakespeare or our Meredith,
All quivering with the heat and lust of the chase,
Strains out the thews of language to the bursting,
Sets the shy accent toppling on the verge
Of utmost music, poising perilously
Betwixt the gulfs; or slants the molten thought
Too generously, and flaws the golden mould;
For who achieves the impossible shall have grace.