In a Belgian Garden, and Other Poems

Many of the poems in this volume have appeared before in various publications and I wish to thank the editors of the Canadian Magazine, the University Magazine, the Westminster, the Canada West, and other periodicals for permission to reprint these verses.
F. O. C.
BISHOP'S COLLEGE, LENNOXVILLE, CANADA.

Most of the poems contained in this collection are of recent date, though their author—who is at present Professor of Modern Languages at Bishop's College, Quebec—has written verse from his childhood. He is the first Canadian writer to be included in this series, and is as affectionately loyal to the Motherland as to his native country, as may be gathered from his Song of the Homeland. His verse has already earned a considerable reputation in Canada, in whose Press much of it has appeared. Educated at Stanstead College, he took his degree at the University where he now lectures, and has also studied in Paris, Marburg and Switzerland. Several of his poems are concerned with the sorrow and the ravished beauty of Belgium: a circumstance not surprising, as he has travelled much in that country, as well as in France, Switzerland and Italy. A lover of country life and a disciple of the cult of the open road, he revels in the joys of camping and canoeing, as one of his poems, Hidden Treasure, bears witness. In this little book, and more especially in the Song of the Homeland, he shows us the maple leaf entwined, strongly as ever, with the English rose of the Mother country.
S. GERTRUDE FORD.

Once in a Belgian garden, (Ah, many months ago!) I saw like pale Madonnas The tall white lilies blow.
Great poplars swayed and trembled Afar against the sky, And green with flags and rushes The river wandered by.
Amid the waving wheatfields Glowed poppies blazing red, And showering strange wild music A lark rose overhead.

The lark has ceased his singing, The wheat is trodden low, And in the blood-stained garden No more the lilies blow.