15 FEBRUARY 1896, Page 15

POETRY.

MORE HAWARDEN HORACE. AD JOHANNENI ARDENTEM —(0d. IIL 1.) ODI profanum vulgus et arceo ; Favete linguis : carmine non prius

Audits Musarum sacerdos Virginibus pueriaque canto.

Regum timendorum in proprios greges, Reges in ijsos imperium est Jovis Clari Giganteo triumpho, Cuncta supercilio moventis.

Eat ut vire vir latius ordinet Arbusta sulcis, hic generosior Dc scendat in Campum pet itor, Moribus hic meliorque fama Contendat, illi turba clientium Sit major : aequa lege Neces- sites Sortitur insignes at imas ; Game capax movet urna nomen.

Destrictus ensis cui super impia Cervice pendet, non Siculae dapes Dulcem elaborabunt saporem, Non avium citharaeque cantus Somnum reducent. Somnus a great rum Lenin virorum non humilea domos Fastidit umhrosamque ripaw, Non Zepbyris agitata Tempo.

AVAUN e awhile, ye masses, for

whom I've laboured long, Unto the upper classes I chant my latest song: The lore of Mrs. Beeton may satisfy the churl ;

I sing for boys at Eton, and for the Girton girl.

Groat Cavendish and Cecil rule o'er their lesser fry,

Yet fall, without a wrestle, be- fore Joe's glittering eye—

Joe, whom the great Colossus himself could not withstand ; Joe who intends to " boss " us and regulate the Rand.

Grant that in birth and acres A has the pull of B—

Whose ancestors were bakers— and so becomes M P. ;.

That C is in the peerage—at least appears in " Ded "-

While D has travelled steerage or borne the humble hod— Yet after all what matters a mortal's social sphere ?

Before the tramp in tatters, the detrimental peer,

Though long or short their tether, one goal in common lies;

And we shall all together stand at the Last Assize.

No cookery Parisian can any peace afford To Abdul from the vision of Retribution's sword Vain are the songs of Honris, vain is the Bulbul's note.

When Hell's avenging Furies have gripped him by the throat.

Sleep that removes our burdens and " knits up ravelled" cats

May not frequent The Durdans

or visit Berkeley Square : But' many a at Irving yokel, stretched on his cabin floor,

Will make the darkness vocal with nis melodious snore.

Desiderantem quod satis est neque Tumultuosnm sollicitat mare, Nec Saevus Arcturi cadentis Impetus ant orientis Haedi,

Non verberatae grandine vineae Fundusque "'endax, arbore nunc aqu.

Culpante, Dune torrentia agroa Sidera, nunc hiemes iniquas.

Contracts pisces aequora sen- tient Jactis in alt um molibus ; hue freq.iens Caementa demittit redemptor Cum famulis dominusque terrae Fastidiosus. Sed Timor et Minae Scandlint ender'', quo dominus, neque Decedit aerata triremi et Post equitem sedet atra Curs.

Quodsi dolentem nee Phrygius lapis Nec purpurarum sidere clarior Delenit usus nee Falerna Vitis Achaemeniumque costum, Cur invidendis postibus et novo Sublime ritu moliar atrium ? Cur valle pernoutem Sabina Divitias operosiores ? He who is never craving, like Oliver, for more, Heeds not the tempest raving

upon the rocky shore— Heeds not the fluctuations of

stocks or mining shares, Nor yet the operations of either " Bulls " or " Bears."

Though aerolites should ravage his orchids and his vines, He never waxes savage, be neither storms nor whines ; Though crops for rain be thirst- ing, though fruit unripened fall, Though waterpipes be bursting, like Job he bears it all.

Some take a pride in building enormous piers that scare, With bands and paint and gilding, the finny folk else- where; Turning, 0 vile vagary, each strip of sand and foam To London-super-Mare wherever we may roam !

No matter how notorious your lot in life may be,

From cavillers censorious you never shall go free:

They call the Kaiser crazy, deny D un raven's right, And blacken like a Swazi good Ashmead-Bartlett, Knight.

The gems of Monte Cristo, the longest purse on earth, The winnings of 'Sir Visto,' the richest robes of Worth, The soap of Pears' and Cleaver. the wines of all Champagne, Can't mitigate the fever of one distempered brain.

Why should I build like "Bar- ney "a palace in Park Lane, When the beauties of Killarney unvisited remain ?

Ill were my leisure bartered, did I, in life's decline, For a fortune in the Chartered my rural home resign.

C. L. GRAVES.