A Corner in Poetry
p. 20 · Read in the full issue
Poets are flourishing this season. The following is a selection from contributions to hand in the last mail. According to some standards, it is not very wonderful verse; but it gives a cross-section of life in the Pacific.
Wild Lilac on Norfolk Island
HERE is a way to fairy land, Secret and dimly lit By the pale trees of lilac wild That stand at the mouth of it.
A shimmering-glass for the yellow sun, A pool of mauve in the shade, Enchanted trees that the fairies grow To guard the enchanted glade.
You may lie and dream by the magic trees, In the kindly light of noon, But, ah! beware, lest you tarry near Wild lilac beneath the moon!
For then the trees are hushed, and weave Their spells with pale sweet hands; And you are lost should you heed that call Of mortals to fairy' lands.
With a fairy man or a fairy maid Through the dim-lit way you go; The lilac trees with an ancient spell Hide your footsteps, bending low.
And the man or the maid will kiss you there, Hold you thrall in hot desire, Flinging your soul to the fairy mob, Sear your heart in witch’s fire.
No man has returned from that dim-lit way To tell how he woke to find The mauve trees gone, and a strange cruel land, The sea-mist creeping behind.
Sweet in the dawn is the wild lilac, Splendid to see at noon; But, oh! beware of the starry trees Enchanted beneath the moon.
M. D. Pinney,
Norfolk Is.