10 JANUARY 1920, Page 14

POETRY.

TO A KINGFISHER. A SPLASH, a dart, a gleam of blue, A spray of jewels rainbow hue, Between the rushes gray and bare, Sweet little sapphire of the air,

Thou &sheet 'gainst the western sky Where the once lovely colours die Their sun-set death and 'eerie mist Hangs o'er the waters thou hest kissed.

All summer through mine eyes were blest With sight of thee as from thy nest, O'er water-lily, sedge and weed, Thou skimmedst past with lightning speed.

And now the once gay leaves are sere. Gaunt branches flout the dying year; But thy bright presence gleaming by Lifts my sad spirit to the sky,