10 OCTOBER 1885, Page 15

POETRY.

ANTHONY ASHLEY COOPER, EARL OF SHAFTESBURY.

DIED, OCTOBER 1ST, 1885.

HE, holding Sin and Misery as one,

Stern to the strong, yet shielding tenderly The weak, went forth ; and, stirred with solemn glee, Coped the grim Foe. A hundred victories won Dulled not the keen edge of his falchion, New-whetted from his Master's armoury ; Now, from all smoke and toil of battle free, He rests in God's Valhalla, and is gone !

Aye, and indeed—is gone ! Yet, ere he died, He sowed such grand example round, as calls To fight his fight a thousand champions; As some tall oak, the virgin forest's pride, Which very eld has shattered, fails and falls, And leaves the large air to its last-born sons.

HERBERT B. GARROD.