The Spike: or, Victoria University College Review, June 1916
In the Forest
In the Forest.
So quiet here, shut among leaves—
But after a moment or so
Sounds do creep into the silence
And venture, so bold do they grow,
To whisper together and give
To the listening ear intent
An impression of busy life,
Of workers on business bent.
The leaves as they glance in the sun
So crisp with the vigour of life,
And the spider weaving his web
To engage in unequal strife
With the blue, fat, sun-loving fly
That bumbles and buzzes around;
And the little black ants that run
So hurriedly over the ground.
And the little brown twigs that creak
As the wind blows soft thro' the glade;
And the little earth falls that slip
From the marks that my boot-heel made
Are each and all doing their part
In persistently breaking down
The silence that's seeking to rise
In the midst of the forest brown.
—M. L. N.