POETRY.
SAMUEL HENRY BUTCHER.
VITAL and valiant spirit, friend beloved, Knight of all noble orders of the soul, Son of the morning, must thou then be gone
And leave us darkling in the deepened gloom 14
In light and truth and joy in all things fair Thy being moved, whether with winged feet, Inspired, inspiring, thou wouldst lead the way To Heliconian heights and founts afar (Dead to the dead but to the living life) Wherefrom Earth's Western children drank the draught That filled their veins with onward-striving zeal : Or whether in the Assembly's grosser air Thou didst stand forth a champion of the wronged, Unmasker stern of dastard tyrannies, Welder of honest wills through both our Isles.
Light-bringer wert thou ever ; light and love Kept thy heart warm and true, thy insight clear.
Our eyes henceforth the gathering shades may grieve, Not thine. On the dim River's farther shore There are who wait thee, stretching arms of love Unsatisfied : they call thee: unto them Bear thou the lamp we lose, left labouring here, Feeding a wistful hope with dreams of dawn.
ERNEST MYERS.
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