29 MAY 1909, Page 18

POETRY.

GEORGE MEREDITH.

(Died May 18th, 1909.)

ROSSII3TTI sleeps beside:the restless wave,

And Swinburne by the surges of the sea; Should not God's acre in green Surrey be For the third friend a fair and fitting grave P Ah ! better than the Abbey's gloomy nave The dear earth of his home, the grassy lea O'er which the skylark pours his melody, With the blue heaven for temple architrave P There will the pilgrims of his genius go To pay the debt of reverence at its shrine ; Bury the.brave man where Death laid him low!

Nature he loved, and men ; and by that sign

I think that be would wish to have it so—

A simple grave which might be yours—or mine.

3. F. T.