Henry Masterman Mist Diaries and Prisoners Pie Magazine
Diaries of Heny Masterman Mist and a copy of Prisoners’ Pie, the Ruhleben Camp magazine. Learn more.
*All transcriptions are provided by volunteers, and the accuracy of the transcriptions is not guaranteed. Please be sure to verify the information by viewing the image record, or visiting the BC Archives in person.
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Aldania.
Shall I attempt the Italian skies
To paint a deeper blue?
And deck the fields of Arcady
In more resplendent hue?
Or teach the nightingale to sing
More rapturous a refrain?
And tune the angels' harps in heaven
To some more ravishing strain?
Shall I still prettier modesty
The dainty violet loan?
Enrich the balms of Araby
To charms beyond their own?
Or to the sun a candle hold,
To show its peerless light?
Encrust the stars with diamonds,
That they appear more bright?
Oh! vainest of all vanities,
Such idle thoughts to raise!
Yet vainer still it is for me
To sing my Lady's praise. C.
Autumn Leaves.
Like waiting bridges in their wedding robes,
The leaves are whispering to each other wonderingly.
When the next sun dawns
They are gone.
And with quick rustling steps
And ceaseless whisperings,
They hurry onwards after the flying wind.
They wander along the rainy roads
.........And the heavy wheels
pass over them. J.A.W.
O Touch us Not.
O touch us not, Eternal Magdalen!
The whole world fades away when your pale face
Yearns out to us, the Saviours of Men.
Yea, all our luminous dreams are faded then,
And we hold shadows strained in our embrace.
O touch us not, Eternal Magdalen!
No more we preach on Mountains, or have ken
Of aught to speak of. Yea, we are grown base,
We, who would fain be Saviours of Men.
Hold back your hands, and come not near us when
We agonise in this dim Garden Place.
O touch us not, Eternal Magdalen,
For we would be the Saviours of Men. I.H.
BC Archives, MS-2570 Box 1 File 6 / MIST, Henry Masterman, Ruhleben magazine, Prisoners' Pie, 1916)