V. DE S. PINTO (CHRIST CHURCH)

FATE from an unimaginable throne Scatters a million roses on the world; They fall like shooting stars across the sky Glittering: Under a dark clump of trees Man, a gaunt creature, squats upon the ground Ape-like, and grins to see those brilliant flowers Raining through the dark foliage: He tries Sometimes to clutch at them, but in his hands They melt like snow. Then in despair he turns Back to his wigwam, stirs the embers, pats His blear-eyed dog, and smokes a pipe, and soon, Wrapped in his blankets, drowses off to sleep. But all his dreams are full of flying flowers.