29 DECEMBER 1906, Page 17

POETRY.

1906-1907.

Ho! heave her darkly, heave her free ; Let all the weed-bound cables go : The night is baying out at sea White-fanged beyond the heaving flow. Then let her ground the bar and veer, And ride the tidal waters low : Ho! heave her darkly, heave her clear, The battered hulk, the worn-out year.

Ho! heave her darkly, heave her free, With bilge out-ripped and riddled beams, Old driftwood for the driving sea,

A thing of half-forgotten dreams. Rock-rent and torn by flood and weir,

She sips the ooze tbro' all her seams: Ho! heave her sadly, heave her clear, The battered bulk, the worn-out year.

Ho! heave her lightly, leave her play ; Give all her bounding timbers scope ; And let her cut the morning spray, High ruttnelled on the swells of hope.

Then heave her free with chant and cheer; Loose pile and cordage, stay and rope: Ho! heave her lightly, heave her clear, The scudding bark, the new-born year.

GERALD GOODRIDGE.