The Spike or Victoria University College Review June 1925
New Year's Eve, 1925
New Year's Eve, 1925
There was no wind or noise at all
That night: the ordered stars were still
And brooded on the moonless earth
Unchanging as Eternal Will.
No sound—save sometimes from the bank
Of the long river came a sigh
Of restless water as it turned,
Remembering it too must die.
And when upon the unstirred air
Words flickered, fell; and in the fire
Rose, sank, and sprang again the flame—
Thin wavering emblem of desire:
As we, grave creatures of the dark,
Stretched round that hesitating gleam,
Murmured half-thoughts as fugitive
And ageless as the rapid stream.
So came the irrevocable hour:
So, to earth's forward lunge, the night
Wheeled into morning, solemn, strange—
On high the soundless stars were bright.
J.C.B.