15 JULY 1938, Page 21

ETHICAL

You who have not sown Will eat the bitter bread And beg the sweetness of a stone Flung at Saint Stephen's head.

You who have not sung Will hear the clang of brass When fairies beat on April's gong With stems of greening grass.

And you who have not prayed The blackbird's evening prayer Will kneel all night dismayed Upon a frozen stair.

PATRICK KAVANLGH.