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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 1, No. 4 March 30, 1938

Verse — Ode to a Schoolmaster

Verse

Ode to a Schoolmaster

O least adventurous all [gap — reason: illegible][unclear: ing] things,
Likes fungus standing rooted till you rot
And end a poisonous life in stinking death,
Diseased with illness and self-contempt.
That kills all power of passion in your heart
And [unclear: leaves] you dead to [unclear: every] touch of life.
You have no better [gap — reason: illegible][unclear: age] than justice spite.
[unclear: Nor] but [unclear: to] jeer at other pain,
No pride [unclear: but] flattery.
And no affection even for yourself.
Pitiful, puerile cowardly [unclear: inert].
Afraid to live, afraid to think or speak,
Lest those who deal your [unclear: wretched pittance out]
Should thrust you out into that world where men
Must toil and dare to earn their daily bread.
On little [unclear: quivering] hands that flush and swell
Beneath your [unclear: savage] blows and [unclear: take] revenge
For your [unclear: self-loathing] on [unclear: a weeping] child!

—P.—