Page:A Treasury of South African Poetry.djvu/100

74 "Yea, dreamer, down in life's great sombre plain

The Muses dwell, for song was truly made

To soothe life's sorrows and relieve its pain!

"Therefore be not cast down nor yet afraid,

For if in singing thou dost ever strive

To comfort fellow travellers thro' life's glade,

"To cheer them on, their failing hopes revive

With the glad tinkle of thy simple lays,

Thine efforts shall be blest; thy songs survive

"In some fond hearts. But ne'er let human praise

Be goal to which thine inmost hopes aspire;

Be as the brooklet that thro' lonely ways

"Unconscious pours its treasure: no desire

Of praise or glory prompts its generous will;

Let music of thy soul attune thy lyre,—

"For, only songs born of the authentic thrill

Of soul-pulsations truly reach the soul

Of man, and there strike answering chords."

F. C. Slater.