A Treasury of South African Poetry and Verse/Mu
THE FORGET-ME-NOT.
Drifting adown life's rapid stream,
And musing on man's lot,
Methought, upon the wave-worn bank,
Bloomed a Forget-me-not.
Quickly I drew me to the shore,
And culled the little flower.
Ah! ever in my mem'ry lives
The rapture of that hour.
But soon the sweet blue pass'd away,
Too swiftly fled my dream;
And now my bark drifts slowly on,
Down the dark, lonely stream.
Only above a soft light shines,
And whispers to my heart—
Place not thy love on aught below
From which thou soon must part.
Nor weep thou o'er thy faded flower;
It has but passed on high.
The tender blue thou deemest lost,
Beams on thee from the sky.
Then pray to Him, who reigns above,
That when this life is o'er,
Thou safe may'st find thy flow'ret sweet
Blooming on heaven's fair shore.
THE VOICE.
There is a wailing voice which cries
For ever from the ocean,
When the great angry waves arise,
In long low lines against the skies,
And, with a sullen motion,
Dash themselves against the rocks,
Raising a cloud of foam, which mocks
Their sullenness—then falling, dies.
Or when the moon, with radiant face,
Shines on the sea's broad breast,
And woos her with such tender grace,
That, yielding to the soft embrace,
She sinks entranced to rest;
And a soft sleep steals over all,
Unbroken, save by the sea-gull's call,
As he seeks his watery nest.
Out, out afar he wheels his flight,
Where the sky and waters meet,
Till, like a speck in the waning light,
Fading away he is lost to sight,
'Mid shadows dim and fleet;
While from the ocean, calm and deep,
A cool soft mist doth slowly creep,
And shrouds the mountain's feet.
And when the wind moans drearily,
Among the leafless trees,
In storm or calm, by land or sea,
Still that same voice comes unto me,
Borne on the wings of the breeze:
"Change and decay: change and decay:
All that is earthly fadeth away."