the
cause we earnestly believed in.--COMMANDER EVANS.

Out of the ice-bound realms a clear voice said,
"Give me the right to bury my great dead.
No green-girt lands can honour them as I,
Nor wrap them round in such pale purity.

"Leave them with me, alone in my white world,
Place England's flag above their cairns unfurled.
I need great souls! Great Hero souls to bless
And consecrate my snowy wilderness."

The Stranger in London

'Tis a big, big place!--
And the clouds that gather the grey skies in
Are frayed by chimneys black and old,
Serried stacks of grime and sin.
And every road and every street
Has a secret tale to guard and hold,
Mid the echoing tones of passing feet.
Oh weary place!
Brimmed up with life, confused in sound,
I have little part in your daily round,
For I wander lonely--stranger bound.

There are houses surely which open their door
To those they know,
For me they stand in a formal row
Story on story, floor upon floor,
Shielding themselves from the crimson sun,
From the on-rolling mutter
Of traffic and wagon, of footstep and cry,
With curtain and shutter.
Mute houses which shun
All light, sound and me
Inexorably.

Sometimes when I toss on my pillow at night,
When the spluttering rain
Spreads the smuts on the pane,
I dream that those mansions relax their grim pride
And opening wide
Their intimate hearts to me,
Chill taciturnity
Melts in the warmth of rich colour and fire.
Vast halls are alight
With radiant desire
To show hospitality.
Lavish regality
Squanders the staircase in flowers and green.
And I wander unseen
Through the great pillared corridors, kiss the soft red
Of the shimmering hangings; the sensuous glow
Ablaze in the hearth thrills me throughly, I know
There is place for me there, in those homes I thought dead.

But sleep's "Open, Sesame"
Fails with the light,
Forcing the hopes of me
Back into night.
Never to open, never to see
Stern cold houses
Closed to me!

Gathering storms which smirch the sky,
Burst your bonds, for up on high
May I come in?
I have no part in this world, no home,
No love to hold me. Bid me come,
I would warm myself at your great round sun,
I would open your windows one by one.