POETRY.
TO LIEUTENANT E. H. SHACKLETON AND HIS COMRADES.
[The latest South Polar expedition,, under the command of Lieutenant Shackleton, is due to leave Port Lyttelton, in New Zealand. on January 1st, 1908.] KIN to those voyagers of an earlier day
Who westward sailed across unventured seas, Seeking the golden-shored Hesperides, Steer these new farers of the unknown way. No Eldorado lures them now ; yet they Hear the same call, and in their spirit stirs The @re that kindled those old venturers, The voice that none who hear can disobey.
Where all have failed their trackless march may gain The lone and silent dreamlands of the Pole ; Yet whether these they win or find no goal, Honour be theirs ! who in the farthest main The old flag of their country first unfurled, And charted the last sea-way of the world.
S. R. LYSAGHT.