20 FEBRUARY 1915, Page 17

'POETRY.

ANITA GARIBALDI.

[Anita, wife of the "Sword of Italy," wont with him, dressed as a man, when ho and the remains of his army were pursued by the Austrians in Ism. She died as the result of the hardships undergone, and was hastily buried in a shallow grave dug on the sandy shore of the Adriatic.]

IF your brave spirit could have asked a boon, Anita, of the life you were to leave,

It might have been just this : that they achieve The Quest, your children's children. The pale moon

Has shone so often on the salt lagoon Since she betrayed a hunted fugitive, A cripple, and a dying woman. Grieve No longer, for your cause will triumph soon.

You were the quarry in that bygone chase, You, lion-hearted, riding manfully, Undaunted mother of a famous race, Meeting the seeming failure with one cry That echoed down the years. God give you grace To hear your grandsons shouting "Liberty!"

MORAY DALTON.