A Lament.

How are they fallen, fallen, those mighty ones, those pine-trees!
Fallen are they, and grace the grounds no more;
They were tall, they rose high, they aspired towards the stars;
But the axe of the woodman was laid at their roots. And they fell.
How are they fallen!
They were old,—gnarled were their trunks;
But they grew lustily and put forth leaves;
Their branches stretched forth,
North and south they stretched, and east and west;
And the moon looked very romantic through them.

There were certain players of tennis; and they lost their balls in the branches, in the foliage thereof were they hidden from sight. And the players of tennis were wroth, and they said: Let the trees be accursed of the Lord, and let the axe be set to their roots and let them be hewed down, that they may fall, and be no more an occasion of tribulation, nor anathema, nor abomination in the sight of all men, that we may not lose our balls wherewith we play therein. But they fell not, for the words of the players of tennis were as the breath in their nostrils, for wherein were they to be accounted of?

Weep, maidens, and mourn that they are no more!
Raise high your voices in sorrow!
O youths! go with downcast looks, with heads bowed down, with grief-stricken faces!
Go! put ye on sackcloth and ashes,
And stand ye in the streets and in the squares, in the public places,
And cry that they are fallen!
That they which were tall and mighty
Are fallen and are no more!
For the axe was laid at their roots and they fell,
And the hand of the woodman was not stayed.
Yea, with axes and with wedge and with hammer of iron were they split:
They were split in twain and in four,
And in six and in eight were they split.

But the Government were suddenly aroused, and they rose up and said, we will arise and make us a new University, for the old page 43 one is not up to much; two new wings will we add to the old one—a wing upon the right hand, and a wing upon the left hand; and in the wing of the right hand shall there be a new place of refreshment, of flesh-pots and of making merry, that students may get them weak tea and burnt soup and underdone potatoes; for in such things is their delight. And the charge shall be one shekel of silver and Mrs. Brook shall have dominion over it. And there shall be a new library wherein for the Rev. Ward to disport himself; in the sanctuary thereof shall he sit, and candles shall burn before him and incense, and cherubim and seraphim shall bear him up; and there shall also be a place for P. Martin-Smith; and it shall be an holy place. And we will make therein new rooms for the professors; for they are old men and very learned, and weary, and in the evening of their days they would have peace. And in the wing of the left hand will we make provision for the students of science, for great is the need thereof; and therein shall be rooms for stinks, and rooms for strange machines, and for all manner of wonders. And thereunto we will make us noble drains and lay down pipes and make us a quagmire and a filthiness of the ground. And we will send workmen to do all these things, for they are skilful and know all about it. And the workmen came: great of muscle were they, broad of shoulder, skilful with all manner of tools; and they spat on their hands and dug up the ground and made a quagmire thereof and made drains. Now this was for the wing of the left hand. And they took bricks and laid them together and began on the wing of the right hand; and after a year or so they got it about half done, for they were very skilful workmen. And behold! they could not get on properly with the wing of the left hand, for it was many cubits long and many cubits wide, and many high; and there was not room for the new wing and the pine-trees both. And the workmen cut down the pine-trees, for they were in the way.

How are they fallen, fallen, fallen, those mighty ones!
They are fallen and are no more.
They were tall, they rose high, they reached to the stars:
But the axe of the woodman was laid at their roots,
And they fell. How are they fallen!
They are fallen, and their mightiness is no more.

J. C. B.