1 AUGUST 1914, Page 16

POETRY.

PARTY POLITICS. BROAD in the limelight the arena lies,

Wherein fanatical opponents meet,

A weltering motley crowd, 'mid dust and beat, Mouthing strange shibboleths and contagions cries; Snatching at empty Honour as it flies ;

While Truth, distracted, hourly knows defeat ;

And Justice shivers on her tottering seat, Fearing the doom that ignorance denies.

Floods, impotent in counteracting strife, United, are supreme in strength and force,— So might those energies, in aim combined, With ordered impulse of a mutual mind, Sweep the whole world in vitalizing course, Turning with fruitful power the wheels of Life.

WILLIAM J. MCCOMBE.