Walter Murdoch (1874–1970). The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse. 1918.
168. In Memoriam
P
Why did the hunter mark thee out?
Wert thou betrayed by thine own joy?
Singled through childhood’s merry shout?
Let slip the Hound that none may bar,
That shall o’ertake the swiftest wing
And tear the heavens down star by star?
What comfort in the vasty hall?
Can That which towers from depth to height
Melt in Its mood majestical,
Or shall the gay light in thine eyes
Drop stricken there before the piled
Immutable immensities?
Thy frailty to might in Him,
And make my laughing elf to burn
Comrade of crested cherubim?
No sight, the chase has hurried far:
The Quarry and the phantom Hound,
Where are they now? Beyond what star?