Wayside Weeds Part 7

Alas! Fate holds for me in store No chances of a bogey score.

I must send in till I am sick Cards that defy arithmetic; Nay, Haply, the Etobic.o.ke May add to every hole a stroke, Yet, Colonel, if your grace awards Some place among the minor bards, Who sing the Game to me-Ah, then, I am the happiest of men!

If me from this no fate debars Then my swelled head shall strike the stars.

[12]Read at the Farewell Dinner at the Old Toronto Golf Club House, October 19th, 1912, Col. G. A. Sweny, the President of the Club, in the Chair.

When You and I were Young[13]

When you and I were babes, Adam, In good Prince Albert's time, The word went forth that war should cease, Commerce should link all lands, and Peace Should dwell in every clime.

When you and I were boys, Adam, In Queen Victoria's days, Those guns that now so silent stand, Where meet the rulers of our land, With olive decked and bays.

Roared from the Russian ramparts grim, Their muzzles all ablaze, While old Todleben, with his back Against the wall, foiled each attack In Queen Victoria's days.

When you and I were young, Adam, In good Victoria's time, We stood together side by side, When Mewburn and Mackenzie died, And Tempest, "ere their prime."

But say not "they have left no peer-"

That were unwelcome praise To those three friends of ours long dead, Whose blood for Fatherland was shed In good Victoria's days.

In royal Edward's time, Adam, Fresh prophecies were rife.

They told us nickel-pointed shot And flat trajectories and what not Would rid the world of strife.

But now that we are old, Adam, We see with startled eyes Quick-firing guns won't stop the j.a.p, Nor Serb nor Bulgar cares a rap Who wins the n.o.bel prize.

When you and I were young, Adam, There were no telephones; There was no ultramicroscope; And no X-rays for those who grope And pry among the bones.

But, though with diagnostic aids They were but ill supplied, There were a few who shrewdly guessed (Old What's-his-name among the rest) At what went on inside.

When you and I were young, Adam, It was d.a.m.nation stark To doubt that all that breathe the air, Came, male and female, pair by pair, Straight out of Noah's ark.

"Mutantur," Adam, "tempora Mutamur atque nos,"

And now we're not a bit afraid To tell just how the world was made In detail and in gross.

In pre-Archaean periods Of elemental stress The C and H and O and N Collide, rebound, combine, and then React with H_{2}S.

Colloidal specks from this ensued Which grew, and grew, and grew, With lively motion all endued, Till they attained a magnitude Of 001.

Then somewhere over 01 And under 05 Amoeboid feelers out they sent And took some liquid nourishment And, lo, they were alive!

In pre-Archaean periods Let fancy have her fling, But, Adam, will your faith allow Such goings on can happen now When George the Fifth is King?

Well, times may change, and we may change, But find him when I can, I'll drink a health to one who's stood For all that's honest, kind and good; So here's to you, Old Man!

1912.

[13]Read at the Dinner given at the York Club, Toronto, November 29th, 1912, in honour of Dr. Adam H. Wright.

As a Watch in the Night[14]

The soldier called from rest or play To take his post as sentinel, To guard until the break of day Some sore-beleaguered citadel,

Springs to his arms with beating heart To take some war-worn veteran's place, Proud to perform a soldier's part, Dreading what yet he dares to face.

His comrades' footsteps on his ears Ring fainter and fainter. Silence falls About him. Moments seem like years, And loneliness his soul appals.

But when the signal rockets flare He strains his eyes the void to scan; When sounds of battle fill the air In face of death he plays the man.

He stays where duty bids him stay, The boldest when he fears the most; And Rounds, come whensoe'er they may, Find him alert and at his post.

Unnumbered now the moments fly By him whose thoughts are set upon Each moment's task. The eastern sky Brightens with dawn. The night is gone.

And hark, at last he grows aware Of footsteps his release that tell.

Clear rings his challenge, "Who goes there?"

"Relief!" "Advance, Relief, all's well!"

1913.

[14]Read at the Dinner given in May, 1913, in honour of Professor van der Smissen, Professor of German in University College, Toronto, on his retirement after forty-eight years' service in the University and University College.

To R. R. W.[15]

From Scotland's mists across the sea you bore The sacred fire, (kindled by him whose name Has made the century famous with his fame,) And bid our lamp burn brighter than before.

Upon our Tree, a branch from Scotland's sh.o.r.e You grafted, and behold our Tree became Wanton in leaf.a.ge; with blossoms all aflame; Deep rooted; and with boughs to heaven that soar.

We see the better issue from the strife, And hope the best. In loathsome crawling things We feel the fluttering of jewelled wings.

In Nature's score, with seeming discords rife, We seek to read, with you, the note that brings To harmony the jarring chords of life.

[15]Read at the Dinner given in honour of Professor R. Ramsay Wright, Professor of Biology and Dean of the Faculty of Arts in the University of Toronto, on his retirement, May, 1912.

Richard Clay and Sons, Limited, BRUNSWICK STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.