17 OCTOBER 1947, Page 14

NASTURTIUM

By what ghost-ridden ways'you come, Red Riding Hood ; how prim and mum Under your sea-silk parasol Bejewelled with quicksilver rain You look for vanished peach and plum. The shadow treading mists of wool And sodden leaves is not more hush Than your breathing and your blush ; And can you hear this ghostly glide Of the Wolf Winter by your side? Can you not see the blood-red stain On frosty fangs he tries to hide? "I hear and see, but what the good Of going back?" laughs Riding Hood. "I have to venture when I can, Late though I be—and so must Man."

GEOFFREY JOHNSON.