Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-11-15
H MEMPHIS APPEAL


ALAA ~
OF tue following poem, by the late Thomas
PringIe, a scotchman, who lived several years
on the border CT the British colony Of the Cape
or Good Hope, and wrote Il In reference 10 the
Desert In that part OF the world, the celebrated
Coieridgs says: Al do not hesitate TO deciareit
among the two or three most perfect lyric
poems in our I~anguage:"
Afar In the Desert I love to ride.
Win the silsn. Bush-boy alone by my side
When the sorrows OF life the scul o'ercast,
And sick OF the Present, / clng To the Pati
When the eve Is suffnsed with regretfut tears,
From the foud rpcpllectiOns Of former years,
And shadows OF thinss that have long since
Fit over the brain Ike ghosts Of the dead
Bright visions Of giory-that vanished too
Ds~y-dTesns-tha departed ere manhOod's
noon.
Attsohments-by fate or by falsehood ref;
g ompanions OF early days-lost or left
Aud my native land. whose magical name
Thrills 20 the heart like electric hame-
The home OF my childhood, the haunts Of my
All the psssions and scenes of that rapturous
When the feelings were young, and the world
Like lie Tsah bowers Of Eden, unfolding to
Au-ai now NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.;
And g.. a long exile. membered By none
Ny nigh aims abandoned-my good acts IN
A weary Of ali that Is under the sun
With that sadness OF heart which no stranger
I fly To the De- sert afar nom mani
Afr in the Desert I love to ride,
with the silent BNsh-boy alone by my side;
" hen NE wild turmoil OF this wearisone life,
With its scenes OF oppression, corruption aud
The proud mans frown, and the base mans
The scorner's laugh, ard the sufferers tear
And malice, and and falsehood and
pisroSe me 20 muslnp and da-k melancholy;
When my bosom is full, and my thoughts are,
And my soul is sick with the bondsman's
OH then there is freedom, and JOY, and pride
There is rapture 10 vault on the ehamPing
steed.
And to bouud away with the eagles speed,
With the dead-fraught nreiocE in my hand-
The only law Of the Desert Land!
/ Afar in the Desert I love to RI Re.
With the silent Bush-o' y alone BY my side;
Ger the brown karrOO, where the fieeting cry
OF III springbok's faWn 5 unds piaintively
And the umorous quagga's shrin whistling
Is heard ~ the fountains at twilight grey;
Where the zebra Waut0nly losses his mane,
wi n wild hoOt securing the desolste plain
And the he~t-foOted ostrich over ne waste
Sp-eds ike the hOrseman who travels Ia haste,
Hieing away 20 the home OF her rest,
Where she and her mate have scooped their
Far hid from thu pitiles plunderers view,
In the pathIess depths OF the parched karrOO.
Afar in the Desert I love to ride,
With the silent Bush-bOy 8lOne by my side;
~Away-away-in the wilderness vast,
where the white q ans foot hath never passed,
And the quivered COranna or Bschuan
Hath rartly crossed with his rowing clan;
A religion OF emptiness, bowling and drear,
Which man hath abandoned from famine and
fear;
Which the snake and the lizard inhabit alone,
With the twilight bat from the yawning stone
Where grass, nor herb, nor shrub takes root,
save poi ouOus thOTns that pierce the foot;
And the bitter melon, for food and drink,
Is The pilgrims fare by the salt lake BRINK
A region OF drought, where no river glides,
Norrirpling brook wi n osisred sides;
Where sedgy pool, nor bubcling fount,
Nor tree, nor cloud, nor misty mount,
Appears, to refresh h aching eye;
But the barren earth and the burning skv,
And the blank horizon, round and round,
Spread-void Of living sight or sOund.
And here, while the night winds round me
And the stars burn bright in the midnight
sky,
As I sit apart by the desert stone,
Like Elijah. at HOreb's cave Alone,
" A still small voice" comes through the wild,
ILiks a father consOliug his frefful childl
Which banishes bitterness, wrath and fear,
SayiDg-man is distant, but God is neari