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A Lay of the Southern Cross, and Other Poems
A Lay of the Southern Cross and Other Poems Author:Henry Jacobs General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1893 Original Publisher: Skeffington Subjects: Fiction / Classics History / General Literary Collections / General Literary Criticism / General Literary Criticism / American / General Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Notes: This is a... more » black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: Canto A GREAT VENTURE. O Land of our adoption ! Wert thou still, As thou wert once, the sanguinary scene Of homicidal rage -- if Satan's will Still mastered thy wild tribes -- thou hadst not been The home of Englishmen, whose flocks are seen Fearlessly grazing on thy wolds ; thy coast Not for inhospitable rocks, I ween, Would have been shunned, but for thy savage host, Of all the dreaded foes of light once dreaded most. II. O ye who dwell at ease on hill or plain, Or by the salt sea-wave, to whom the lines Have fallen in pleasant places, or whom gain Tempts by the hoarded riches of our mines; Ye merchants, statesmen, scholars, and divines, Remember aye your debt to those who led, And those who fostered, the sublime designs Of Mission zeal, by self-devotion fed, Sustained by patience, and with calm discretion wed. III. Of patience and discretion was there need : Years intervened, for terror caused delay : O ! horrid name of " Boyd !" O frightful deed With that sad name allied ! Oh ! fearsome day ! A fair ship in the Bay of Islands lay : A native chief had shipped among her crew : Him had the skipper outraged, so they say, By cruel floggings; thirst for vengeance grew ; His tribesmen gathered, seized their time, arose and slew -- IV. Threescore and ten they slew; they slew and ate -- Seamen and passengers ...« less