 | The Poems of Mackenzie Bell |  |
IN MEMORIAM, W. E. FORSTER.
Obiit., April 5th, 1886.
O stalwart man and pure, whose earnest face
Mirrored thy fair-orbed soul, whose every deed
Made answer to thy word, who gav'st no heed
To selfish babble or the lust of place,
Who—grieving at thy country's perilous case
Grown dire by lack of knowledge—in her need
Cam'st with thy succour—thou whose civic creed,
Too wide for party, dealt with all the race.
Mirrored thy fair-orbed soul, whose every deed
Made answer to thy word, who gav'st no heed
To selfish babble or the lust of place,
Who—grieving at thy country's perilous case
Grown dire by lack of knowledge—in her need
Cam'st with thy succour—thou whose civic creed,
Too wide for party, dealt with all the race.
A year hath passed since thou wast laid to rest,
Yet fragrant is thy memory; thy bequest
A work whose scope and grandeur Time shall gauge.
Britain some day—her daughter-lands apart
No longer—will remember thee whose heart
Fired hers to win her world-wide heritage.
Yet fragrant is thy memory; thy bequest
A work whose scope and grandeur Time shall gauge.
Britain some day—her daughter-lands apart
No longer—will remember thee whose heart
Fired hers to win her world-wide heritage.
| The Poems of Mackenzie Bell | |