MPADA

(The Torch of Life)

There's a breathless hush in the Close to-night--
Ten to make and the match to win--
A bumping pitch and a blinding light,
An hour to play and the last man in.
And it's not for the sake of a ribboned coat,
Or the selfish hope of a season's fame,
But his Captain's hand on his shoulder smote
"Play up! play up! and play the game!"

The sand of the desert is sodden red,--
Red with the wreck of a square that broke;--
The Gatling's jammed and the Colonel dead,
And the regiment blind with dust and smoke.
The river of death has brimmed his banks,
And England's far, and Honour a name,
But the voice of a school-boy rallies the ranks:
"Play up! play up! and play the game!"

This is the word that year by year,
While in her place the school is set,
Every one of her sons must hear,
And none that hears it dare forget.
This they all with a joyful mind
Bear through life like a torch in flame,
And falling, fling to the host behind--
"Play up! play up! and play the game!"

Henry Newbolt

THE IRREPARABLE PAST

("And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and
take your rest; it is enough, the hour is come; behold the Son of man is
betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise up, let us go; lo, he that
betrayeth me is at hand." Mark, XIV. 41, 42)

The words of Christ are not like the words of other men. His sentences
do not end with the occasion which called them forth: every sentence of
Christ's is a deep principle of human life, and it is so with these
sentences. The principle contained in "Sleep on now" is this, that the
past is irreparable, and after a certain moment waking will do no good.
You may improve the future, the past is gone beyond recovery. As to all
that is gone by, so far as the hope of altering it goes, you may sleep
on and take your rest: there is no power in earth or heaven that can
undo what has once been done.

Let us proceed to give an illustration of this. This principle applies
to a misspent youth. The young are by God's Providence, exempted in a
great measure from anxiety; they are as the apostles were in relation to
their Master: their friends stand between them and the struggles of
existence. They are not called upon to think for themselves: the burden
is borne by others. They get their bread without knowing or caring how