FORSTER'S “MIDAS.”
Finished, in the rough only, on the day that the
Author the Hon. Wm. Forster, sometime Premier
of New South Wales, died.
Finished the task, but then the writer's term
Was finished with it. Feebly had his hand
Writ the last words when to the shadowy land
He passed across, not with old age infirm
But having long within him borne the germ
Of sudden death. For else he would have scanned
Each line and word most critically, banned
Each loose idea, awkward phrase, ill form.
But, Reader, hold it sacred what he writ,
For hardly dry the writing when he died,
And therefore not he only uttered it
But death within him. Words thus sanctified
'Twere sacrilege to alter or omit;
As death hath ordered, so it should abide.
