s: As we heard on the heights the breezes sing;


s: We feared no more what the years might bring.


s: No -- No! --  Though neither sign nor sound


s: Thy clustering leaves are steeped in splendour;


s: What symbols rare of life's strange story,


s: Dost thou from earth's dark bosom bring!


s: Thou art the fair earth's fond expression


s: The virgin blush that yields confession --


s: But where art thou when autumn, blowing,


s: Transfused through hearts in future ages,


s: Give, then, to vagrant winds thy sweetness,


s: And, heedless of thy season's fleetness,


s: The wind in the tree-tops was scarcely heard,


s: The streamlet repeated its one silver word,


s: And far away, o'er the depths of wood-land,


s: Pale hoar-frost glittered in shady slips,


s: Where ferns were dipping their finger-tips,


s: Fretted the wave with terrace and steep.


s: And the whitening ribs of a wreck forlorn


s: Silent, as where the great North-Minster


s: Then we turned from the murmurous forest-land,


s: For so fair was the earth in the golden autumn,


s: That we sought no farther for Fairyland.


s: From the dark gorge, where burns the morning star,


s: And sweeping o'er his ice-ploughed shingle-bar,


s: And fluttering southern dancers glide and go;


s: And black swan's airy trumpets wildly, sweetly blow.


s: The cock crows in the windy winter morn,


s: Then must I rise and fling the curtain by.


s: Behind the ragged mountains, peaked and torn.


s: Poised like a hawk above the frozen peaks,


s: And now again the wild nor'-wester speaks,


s: And bends the cypress, shuddering, to his fold,


s: While every timber, every casement creaks.


s: But still the skylarks sing aloud and bold;


s: The wooded hills arise; the white cascade


s: Shakes with wild laughter all the silent shadowy glade.


s: Now from the shuttered east a silvery bar


s: Shines through the mist, and shows the mild daystar.


s: The storm-wrapped peaks start out and fade again,


s: And rosy vapours skirt the pastoral plain;


s: The garden paths with hoary rime are wet;


s: With clouds of gold-eyed daisies waking up.


s: Dance on the hearth, as he would never tire;


s: The home-baked loaf, the Indian bean's perfume,


s: Fill with their homely cheer the panelled room.


s: Rave o'er the roof and wave your icy veil;


s: Shout in our ears and take your madcap way!


s: I laugh at storms! for Roderick comes to-day.


s: When these dead leaves were green, love,


s: When love, love, love was all our theme,


s: Than those young lovers' -- yours and mine --


s: How many springs have passed since then?


s: So, dearest, sweethearts still we'll be,


s: Self-pois'd, each soul its course pursues


s: The stream that through it, flashing bright,


s: We dream our lives, our hopes are one --


s: Through midnight hours unblest with sleep,


s: The traveller tells how, in that ancient clime


s: Still struggle with the antiquary's lore,


s: Where moon-horn'd Isis once was worshipped.


s: But silence, like a pall, did all enfold,


s: And the inhabitants were turn'd to stone --


s: "Stone hearts!  A traveller's myth!" -- he turn'd aside,


s: As Hunger begg'd, pale-featured and wild-eyed.


s: And saw a future with all good things rife --


s: In worlds beyond, and in this world the hope


s: Of deathless fame.  But now my sun doth slope


s: To setting, and the toil of sordid strife,


s: The care of food and raiment, child and wife,


s: Have dimmed and narrowed all my spirit's scope.


s: Eternal life -- a river gulphed in sands!


s: Undying fame -- a rainbow lost in clouds!


s: But this:  "Some soul that loves and understands


s: Shall save thee from the darkness that enshrouds";


s: And this:  "Thy blood shall course in others' veins"?


s: To dust, my qualities of heart and brain,


s: Of soul and spirit, shall not cease to be.


s: I view them growing, day by day, in thee,


s: My first-begotten son; I trace them plain


s: In you, my daughters; and I count it gain


s: But sadness mingles with my selfish joy,


s: At thought of what you may be called to bear.


s: Oh, passionate maid!  Oh, glad, impulsive boy!


s: Your father's sad experience you must share --


s: Self-torture, the unfeeling world's annoy,


s: Gross pleasure, fierce exultance, grim despair!


s: Where the wattle-bloom perfumes the breeze,


s: And wild winds vex the shuddering trees;


s: Where the wattle-bloom bends in the breeze,


s: Boon shores, where the storm-clouds cease,


s: And the wind and the wave are at rest --


s: Where the wattle-bloom waves in the breeze,


s: Sweetheart, let them praise as they please


s: Other lands, but we know which is best --


s: When the stand is made in the sheoaks' shade


s: Shall the heart of a mighty people stir,


s: Gold of the tangled wilderness of wattle,


s: Break in the lone green hollows of the hills,


s: Flame on the iron headlands of the ocean,


s: Gleam on the margin of the hurrying rills.


s: Come with thy saffron diadem and scatter


s: Queen of our woodland, rival of the roses,


s: Spring in the yellow tresses of thy hair.


s: Surely the old gods, dwellers on Olympus,


s: Under thy shining loveliness have strayed,


s: Crowned with thy clusters, magical Apollo,


s: Pan with his reedy music may have played.


s: Aye, and Her sweet breath lingers on the wattle,


s: Aye, and Her myrtle dominates the glade,


s: And with a deep and perilous enchantment


s: Melts in the heart of lover and of maid.


s: The Morning Star paled slowly, the Cross hung low to the sea,


s: And down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free,


s: The lustrous purple blackness of the soft Australian night,


s: Waned in the gray awakening that heralded the light;


s: Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim


s: The pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb,


s: Till the sun came up from ocean, red with the cold sea mist,


s: The kingfisher came darting out of his crannied nest,


s: And the bulrushes and reed-beds put off their sallow gray


s: And burnt with cloudy crimson at dawning of the day.


s: What have they brought of growth and grace


s: Was brewed by sires, half man, half brute,


s: Come to her through the halls of dreams!


s: And shrine and temple lift their spears,


s: Of light and sound throughout the world --


s: With talk of Right strength's right of way!


s: When fire blasts dance with desert drifts


s: False priests of Truth who made their tryst


s: Our spotless flag with Murder's blight --


s: You set and showed the whole world's school


s: That each one ruled has right to rule --


s: Is glimpse of home, where wife and children wait


s: Than to the town-worn man the breezy stir


s: Of mountain winds on rugged pathless heights:


s: His long-pent soul drinks in the deep delights


s: That Nature hath in store.  The sun-kissed bay


s: Gleams thro' the grand old gnarled gum-tree boughs


s: Like burnished brass; the strong-winged bird of prey


s: Sweeps by, upon his lonely vengeful way --


s: While over all, like breath of holy vows,


s: The sweet airs blow, and the high-vaulted sky


s: On all poor earth-born creatures doomed to die.


s: Our passionate prayers, and sighs, and tears,


s: Ere time could sear, or care could fret,


s: But when the world went wild with Spring,


s: The things that are; the things that seem --


s: There lives -- though Time should cease to flow,


s: And stars their courses should forget --


s: How linked in Life and Death are they --


s: Have passed, with her poor little shame,


s: Thou needst not care for Pain or Fear --


s: I rode through the Bush in the burning noon,


s: The track was rough and the way was long,


s: There fell a spark on the upland grass --


s: And Bannerman smiled and caught his breath, --


s: Down the hill-side the fire-floods rushed,


s: He turned in the saddle -- "Let's change, I say!"


s: He sprang to the ground, -- "Look sharp!" he said


s: With a backward toss of his curly head --


s: The hot air scorched like a furnace blast


s: Like flaming pillars into the sky; . . .


s: "Ride, ride, lad, -- ride for her sake!" he cried; --


s: Were swept, in less than a breathing space


s: She bore me bravely, the good bay mare; --


s: 'Twas the Lachlan River that rushed before,


s: Thy warm tears called me to life again, --


s: But oft through the mist of my dreams along


s: While each headland threatens and frowns.


s: All lands give their flowers to thy gardens,


s: That glow to thy bright harbour's mouth;


s: Thy harbour's fair flower-crowned islands


s: Thou smilest from green, sunlit highlands


s: It is something in this darker dream demented


s: to have wrestled with its pleasure and its pain:


s: it is something to have sinned, and have repented:


s: it is something to have failed, and tried again!


s: It is something to have loved the brightest Beauty


s: with no hope of aught but silence for your vow:


s: it is something to have tried to do your duty:


s: it is something to be trying, trying now!


s: when your soul floats down the far faint flood of time --


s: to think of Earth's lovers who are ours,


s: of her saviours saving, suffering, sublime:


s: And that you with THESE may be her lover,


s: with THESE may save and suffer for her sake --


s: ~This was a poet that loved God's breath;


s: he looked down deep in the wells of death,


s: Death? is it death you give?  So be it!  O Death,


s: thou hast been long my friend, and now thy pale


s: cool cheek shall have my kiss, while the faint breath


s: expires on thy still lips, O lovely Death!


s: Come then, loose hands, fair Life, without a wail!


s: We've had good hours together, and you were sweet


s: what time love whispered with the nightingale,


s: tho' ever your music by the lark's would fail.


s: Come then, loose hands!  Our lover time is done.


s: Now is the marriage with the eternal sun.


s: The hours are few that rest, are few and fleet.


s: Good-bye!  The game is lost:  the game is won.


s: Now while so many turn with love and longing


s: To wan lands lying in the grey North Sea,


s: To thee we turn, hearts, mem'ries, all belonging,


s: West, ever west, with the strong sunshine marching


s: Beyond the mountains, far from this soft coast,


s: Until we almost see the great plains arching,


s: A land of camps where seldom is sojourning,


s: Where men like the dim fathers of our race,


s: Halt for a time, and next day, unreturning,


s: Last night how many a leaping blaze affrighted


s: The wailing birds of passage in their file;


s: And dawn sees ashes dead and embers whited


s: The sun may burn, the mirage shift and vanish


s: And fade and glare by turns along the sky;


s: The haze of heat may all the distance banish


s: By speech, or tongue of bird or brute, unbroken


s: Silence may brood upon the lifeless plain,


s: Though tender grace the landscape lacks, too spacious,


s: Their kindness swiftly comes more soft and gracious,


s: All that he has, in camp or homestead, proffers


s: To stranger guest at once a stranger host,


s: Proudest to see accepted what he offers,


s: Pass, if you can, the drover's cattle stringing


s: Along the miles of the wide travelled road,


s: Without a challenge through the hot dust ringing,


s: A cloud of dust where polish'd wheels are flashing


s: Comes from the box as on the coach goes dashing


s: Or in the track a station youngster mounted


s: Sits in his saddle smoking for a "spell",


s: Rides a while onward; then, his news recounted,


s: To-day these plains may seem a face defiant,


s: Turn'd to a mortal foe, yet scorning fear;


s: As when, with heaven at war, an Earth-born giant


s: Come yet again!  No child's fair face is sweeter


s: With young delight than this cool blooming land,


s: Silent no more, for songs than wings are fleeter,


s: Thus in her likeness that strange nature moulding


s: Yet in his heart, like her, a passion holding,


s: Therefore, while many turn with love and longing


s: To wan lands lying on the grey North Sea,


s: To-day possessed by other mem'ries thronging


s: The rank reeds clustering thick and high


s: I pluck one straight as a Paynim's lance


s: Lay my rifle here beside me, set my Bible on my breast,


s: For a moment let the warning bugles cease;


s: As the century is closing I am going to my rest,


s: Lord, lettest Thou Thy servant go in peace.


s: But loud through all the bugles rings a cadence in mine ear,


s: And on the winds my hopes of peace are strowed.


s: Those winds that waft the voices that already I can hear


s: Of the rooi-baatjes singing on the road.


s: Yes, the red-coats are returning, I can hear the steady tramp,


s: After twenty years of waiting, lulled to sleep,


s: They shelled us at Ingogo, but we galloped into range,


s: And we shot the British gunners where they showed.


s: But now from snow-swept Canada, from India's torrid plains,


s: From lone Australian outposts, hither led,


s: Obeying their commando, as they heard the bugle's strains,


s: The men in brown have joined the men in red.


s: They come to find the colours at Majuba left and lost,


s: They come to pay us back the debt they owed;


s: And I hear new voices lifted, and I see strange colours tossed,


s: 'Mid the rooi-baatjes singing on the road.


s: The old, old order changes, and 'tis vain for us to rail,


s: The great world does not want us -- we must go.


s: And veldt, and spruit, and kopje to the stranger will belong,


s: No more to trek before him we shall load;


s: Too well, too well, I know it, for I hear it in the song


s: Of the rooi-baatjes singing on the road.


s: With roses and the frenzied nightingales?


s: With peaceful floods, where the soft voice prevails


s: Of building doves in lordly trees set high,


s: Trees which enclose a home where love abides --


s: Your tone has caught its echo and derides


s: My joyless lot, as face down pressed I lie


s: Upon the shifting sand, and hear the reeds


s: Unto the cliff and wind-tormented weeds.


s: As with the faint half-lights of jade toward


s: The shore you come and show a violet hue,


s: Ah, no! if you had seen his face, still prest


s: Within your hold the picture dear would be,


s: Like that bright portrait which so moved the breast


s: Of fairest Gurd with soft unrest that she,


s: Born in ice halls, she who but raised her eyes


s: And scornful questioned, "What is love, indeed?


s: None ever viewed it 'neath these northern skies," --


s: Seeing the face soon learned love's gentle creed;


s: But you hold nothing to be counted dear --


s: The soft remembrance which still in it dwells:


s: For in the shell, though broken, ever lies


s: The murmur of the sea whence it was torn --


s: The memory of love, though love be lorn.


s: But undertones, weird, mournful, strong,


s: Sweep like swift currents thro' the song.


s: In deepest chords, with passion fraught,


s: The wind-swept plain, the dim blue peak,


s: These have their message; yet from these


s: Dappled with milk-white clouds that swim


s: These mangrove shores, these shimmering seas,


s: They left the vine-wreathed cottage and the mansion on the hill,


s: The houses in the busy streets where life is never still,


s: The pleasures of the city, and the friends they cherished best:


s: For love they faced the wilderness -- the Women of the West.


s: The roar, and rush, and fever of the city died away,


s: And the old-time joys and faces -- they were gone for many a day;


s: In the huts on new selections, in the camps of man's unrest,


s: On the frontiers of the Nation, live the Women of the West.


s: The red sun robs their beauty, and, in weariness and pain,


s: The slow years steal the nameless grace that never comes again;


s: The wide bush holds the secrets of their longing and desires,


s: When the white stars in reverence light their holy altar fires,


s: And silence, like the touch of God, sinks deep into the breast --


s: For them no trumpet sounds the call, no poet plies his arts --


s: They only hear the beating of their gallant, loving hearts.


s: But they have sung with silent lives the song all songs above --


s: The holiness of sacrifice, the dignity of love.


s: Well have we held our father's creed.  No call has passed us by.


s: We faced and fought the wilderness, we sent our sons to die.


s: And we have hearts to do and dare, and yet, o'er all the rest,


s: The hearts that made the Nation were the Women of the West.


s: These murmuring voices that rise and fall?


s: Souls, in the meeting of stranger's eyes,


s: ~And still, in the midst of the busy hum,


s: Rapt in their dream of delight they come.


s: But Ah! the long months ere we welcome then


s: Ah! might I dreaming lie at rest till then,


s: "Aqui esta encerrada el alma licenciado Pedro Garcias."


s: Whose power to strengthen, charm, control,


s: Surmounts all earth's green miles between.


s: Their mirth, their grief, their soul's desire,


s: Their love of good; their rage at wrong;


s: Their hours when struggling thought makes way;


s: "These fruits amid strange husking grew;"


s: Hours, like minutes, take their flight --


s: Though from thy stock our mateless rose was bred,


s: Staining the world's skies with its red,


s: Our garden gives no scent so fresh as thine,


s: Under mid-night's and mid-slumber's stream,


s: Up rises the mount against the sunrise shower,


s: Like birds frayed from their lurking-shaw,


s: Like ripples fleet 'neath a furious flaw,


s: The free wood yields to the driven wedges,


s: Broadly the ice-clear azure floods down,


s: Where the great tree-tops are overthrown;


s: As on through the endless day we labour;


s: Fill, fill with the rising tide of night;


s: Whose mighty muscles curve in its light.


s: In our weary climb, while night dyes deep,


s: One's thoughts lie heaped like brutes asleep.


s: Night drowns the land, -- no ember's burning, --


s: Where, past this mountained night of toiling,


s: Red life in its thousand veins is boiling,


s: Of chips scattered on the mountain's brow?


s: The wreckage of some name-forgotten barque,


s: But the salt spray can reach and cark --


s: But o'er what Deep, unconquered and uncharted,


s: From whence my sails, unblessed, departed,


s: This World's remote and unremembered skies;


s: The clouds through the deep day trailing,


s: But, under all, my heart believes the day


s: The West wind sweeter thro' the Cyclades


s: Than here and now; and from the altar of To-day


s: The eloquent, quick tongues of flame uprise


s: As fervid, if not unfaltering as of old,


s: And life atones with speed and plenitude


s: For coarser texture.  Our poor present will,


s: Full of the morning's music still, and starred


s: With great tears shining on the eyelids' eaves


s: Of our immortal faces yearning t'wards the sun.


s: I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better


s: Knowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago,


s: He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,


s: Just "on spec", addressed as follows, "Clancy, of The Overflow".


s: And an answer came directed in a writing unexpected,


s: In my wild erratic fancy visions come to me of Clancy


s: Gone a-droving "down the Cooper" where the Western drovers go;


s: And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,


s: And at night the wondrous glory of the everlasting stars.


s: I am sitting in my dingy little office, where a stingy


s: Ray of sunlight struggles feebly down between the houses tall,


s: And the foetid air and gritty of the dusty, dirty city,


s: Through the open window floating, spreads its foulness over all.


s: And in place of lowing cattle, I can hear the fiendish rattle


s: Of the tramways and the 'buses making hurry down the street,


s: And the language uninviting of the gutter children fighting,


s: Comes fitfully and faintly through the ceaseless tramp of feet.


s: And the hurrying people daunt me, and their pallid faces haunt me


s: And I somehow rather fancy that I'd like to change with Clancy,


s: Like to take a turn at droving where the seasons come and go,


s: In the Western Park when the day is done,


s: I watch as the wild black swans fly over


s: With their phalanx turned to the sinking sun;


s: And I hear the clang of their leader crying


s: To a lagging mate in the rearward flying,


s: And they fade away in the darkness dying,


s: Where the stars are mustering one by one.


s: Oh! ye wild black swans, 'twere a world of wonder


s: For a while to join in your westward flight,


s: With the stars above and the dim earth under,


s: Through the cooling air of the glorious night.


s: As we swept along on our pinions winging,


s: We should catch the chime of a church-bell ringing,


s: Or the distant note of a torrent singing,


s: Or the far-off flash of a station light.


s: From the northern lakes with the reeds and rushes,


s: Where the hills are clothed with a purple haze,


s: Where the bell-birds chime and the songs of thrushes


s: They will hold their course to the westward ever,


s: Till they reach the banks of the old grey river,


s: Where the waters wash, and the reed-beds quiver


s: Oh! ye strange wild birds, will ye bear a greeting


s: To the folk that live in that western land?


s: Then for every sweep of your pinions beating,


s: Ye shall bear a wish to the sunburnt band,


s: To the stalwart men who are stoutly fighting


s: With the heat and drought and the dust-storm smiting,


s: Yet whose life somehow has a strange inviting,


s: When once to the work they have put their hand.


s: Facing it yet!  Oh, my friend stout-hearted,


s: For the hopes deferred and the gain departed?


s: Nothing could conquer that heart of thine.


s: And thy health and strength are beyond confessing


s: As the only joys that are worth possessing.


s: May the days to come be as rich in blessing


s: As the days we spent in the auld lang syne.


s: I would fain go back to the old grey river,


s: To the old bush days when our hearts were light,


s: But, alas! those days they have fled for ever,


s: They are like the swans that have swept from sight.


s: And I know full well that the strangers' faces


s: Would meet us now in our dearest places;


s: For our day is dead and has left no traces


s: But the thoughts that live in my mind to-night.


s: There are folk long dead, and our hearts would sicken --


s: We would grieve for them with a bitter pain,


s: If the past could live and the dead could quicken,


s: But on lonely nights we would hear them calling,


s: We should hear their steps on the pathways falling,


s: We should loathe the life with a hate appalling


s: In our lonely rides by the ridge and plain.


s: In the silent park is a scent of clover,


s: And the distant roar of the town is dead,


s: And I hear once more as the swans fly over


s: They are flying west, by their instinct guided,


s: And for man likewise is his fate decided,


s: The roving breezes come and go, the reed beds sweep and sway,


s: The sleepy river murmurs low, and loiters on its way,


s: It is the land of lots o' time along the Castlereagh.


s: The old man's son had left the farm, he found it dull and slow,


s: He drifted to the great North-west where all the rovers go.


s: He's shearing here and fencing there, a kind of waif and stray,


s: He's droving now with Conroy's sheep along the Castlereagh.


s: The sheep are travelling for the grass, and travelling very slow;


s: Or tramping down the black soil flats across by Waddiwong,


s: But all those little country towns would send the letter wrong,


s: The mailman, if he's extra tired, would pass them in his sleep,


s: It's safest to address the note to `Care of Conroy's sheep',


s: For five and twenty thousand head can scarcely go astray,


s: You write to `Care of Conroy's sheep along the Castlereagh'."


s: By rock and ridge and riverside the western mail has gone,


s: Across the great Blue Mountain Range to take that letter on.


s: A moment on the topmost grade while open fire doors glare,


s: She pauses like a living thing to breathe the mountain air,


s: Then launches down the other side across the plains away


s: To bear that note to "Conroy's sheep along the Castlereagh".


s: And now by coach and mailman's bag it goes from town to town,


s: A speck upon the waste of plain the lonely mailman rides.


s: Where fierce hot winds have set the pine and myall boughs asweep


s: He hails the shearers passing by for news of Conroy's sheep.


s: By big lagoons where wildfowl play and crested pigeons flock,


s: By camp fires where the drovers ride around their restless stock,


s: My letter chases Conroy's sheep along the Castlereagh.


s: In Nature's homestead -- filled with awe:


s: A wonderful land that the winds blow over,


s: The charm it holds for the restless rover;


s: Where endless space is and no life stirreth;


s: And the soul of a man will recoil afraid


s: From the sphinx-like visage that Nature weareth.


s: But old Dame Nature, though scornful, craves


s: Her dole of death and her share of slaughter;


s: Where her victims sleep by the Grey Gulf-water.


s: Slowly and slowly those grey streams glide,


s: Wending their way to the Northern Ocean.


s: Silent and slow, with their staid demeanour;


s: Down in the world where men toil and spin


s: Dame Nature smiles as man's hand has taught her;


s: In the great lone land by the Grey Gulf-water.


s: For the strength of man is an insect's strength


s: In the face of that mighty plain and river,


s: And the life of a man is a moment's length


s: To the life of the stream that will run for ever.


s: In small-world worries; each hardy rover


s: With the plains around and the blue sky over.


s: And up in the heavens the brown lark sings


s: The songs that the strange wild land has taught her;


s: Full of thanksgiving her sweet song rings --


s: And I wish I were back by the Grey Gulf-water.


s: I said "She is with the Queen's maidens:


s: They are stringing her words like pearls


s: To come to the town where you were bred,


s: To come to your town, my love, my sweet,


s: I said, "She is with the pale white saints,


s: Like a black, enamoured King whispered low the thunder


s: To the lights of Roslyn, terraced far asunder:


s: Hovered low the sister cloud in wild, warm wonder.


s: "O my love, Dunedin town, the only, the abiding!


s: Who can look undazzled up where the Norn is riding, --


s: Watch the sword of destiny from the scabbard gliding!


s: "Dark and rich and ringing true -- word and look for ever;


s: Taking to her woman heart all forlorn endeavour;


s: Heaven's sea about her feet, not the bounded river!"


s: "Sister of the mountain mist, and never to be holden


s: With the weary sophistries that dimmer eyes embolden, --


s: O the dark Dunedin town, shot with green and golden!"


s: Then a silver pioneer netted in the rift,


s: Leaning over Maori Hill, dreaming in the lift,


s: Dropped her starry memories through the passioned drift: --


s: "Once -- I do remember them, the glory and the garden,


s: Ere the elder stars had learnt God's mystery of pardon,


s: Ere the youngest, I myself, had seen the flaming warden --


s: "Once even after even I stole ever shy and early


s: To mirror me within a glade of Eden cool and pearly,


s: Where shy and cold and holy ran a torrent sought but rarely.


s: "And fondly could I swear that this my glade had risen newly, --


s: Burst the burning desert tomb wherein she lieth truly,


s: To keep an Easter with the birds and me who loved her duly."


s: Wailing, laughing, loving, hoar, spake the lordly ocean:


s: "You are sheen and steadfastness:  I am sheen and motion,


s: Gulfing argosies for whim, navies for a notion.


s: "Sleep you well, Dunedin Town, though loud the lulling lyre is;


s: Lady of the stars terrene, where quick the human fire is,


s: Lady of the Maori pines, the turrets, and the eyries!"


s: They played him home to the House of Stones


s: To his grave in the sound of the winter sea:


s: They played him home with the chieftain's dirge,


s: Till the wail was wed to the rolling surge,


s: They played him home with a sorrowful will


s: To his grave at the foot of the Holy Hill


s: And the pipes went mourning all the way.


s: And his peers went mourning all the way.


s: Go out with the chief who never comes in!


s: 'Twas the nearest most who held him dear --


s: The man that lacked and the man unlearned,


s: To the resting-place of her Highland Chief;


s: The pearl of the world where the sea wind roams,


s: And New Zealand went mourning all the way.


s: ~For time means tucker, and tramp you must,


s: In stifling noons when his back was wrung


s: It chanced one day, when the north wind blew


s: A drover came, but the fringe of law was eastward many a mile;


s: ~For time means tucker, and tramp they must,


s: They'll know the glory of victory -- and the grandeur of defeat.


s: And this was the point where the guards held out,


s: And this you learn from the libelled past,


s: though its methods were somewhat rude --


s: White handkerchiefs wave from the short black pier


s: But the song of my heart is for none to hear


s: Who has travelled the whole world o'er --


s: A rolling stone! -- 'tis a saw for slaves --


s: Wear out or break 'neath the feet of knaves,


s: But I'D rather trust to the darkest skies


s: Or die, where the stars of Nations rise,


s: Cleave to your country, home, and friends,


s: You can count your friends on your finger ends


s: Slave till your big soft heart they break --


s: Controlled by custom, but, come what might,


s: I'd sail with money, or sail without! --


s: And you dare enough, and your heart be stout,


s: I've never a love that can sting my pride,


s: For I leave my love ere the turning tide,


s: The curse of the Powers on a peace like ours,


s: I had a friend, ere my first ship sailed,


s: For the selfish strain in my blood prevailed


s: And the memory haunts my heart with shame --


s: I had a chum.  When the times were tight


s: And I had a love -- 'twas a love to prize --


s: I have seen the light of her kind brown eyes


s: The sailors say 'twill be rough to-night,


s: The south is black, and the bar is white,


s: The gold has gone from the western haze,


s: The hill is hiding the short black pier,


s: So darkness swallows each far white speck


s: The night comes down on a restless deck, --


s: Her brown hands clung -- her face grew pale --


s: Ah! quivering chin and eyes that brim! --


s: Who rides from love, who rides from home;


s: Whose heart has learnt to love and roam.~


s: When I come back" -- he laughed for her --


s: Whose restless heart must rove for rest.~


s: The weary wind is slumbering on the wing:


s: Leaping from out meek twilight's purpling blue


s: Burns the proud star of eve as though it knew


s: Strike all their royal colours one by one,


s: Ere Greece soared, showering sovranties of light,


s: Ere Rome shook earth with her tremendous tread,


s: Ere yon blue-feasting sun-god burst blood-red,


s: Beneath thee slept thy prodigy, O Night!


s: Aeons have ta'en like dreams their strange, slow flight,


s: And vastest, tiniest, creatures paved her bed,


s: E'en cities sapped by the usurping spread


s: Of her imperious waves have sunk from sight


s: Since she first chanted her colossal psalms


s: That swell and sink beneath the listening stars;


s: Oft, as with myriad drums beating to arms,


s: She thunders out the grandeur of her wars;


s: Then shifts through moaning moods her wizard charms


s: Of slow flutes and caressing, gay guitars.


s: I carry no lamp in my bosom and dwindling in gloom is the track,


s: No token of man's recognition to prompt me to ever turn back.


s: Grim, scarred bluegums ranged austerely,


s: Rough, gnarled roots all twisting queerly,


s: Could I wait again for your swift footfall,


s: And your sunny face coming in at the door.


s: With the old frank look and the gay young smile,


s: And the ring of the words you used to say;


s: I could almost deem the pain worth while,


s: But you stand without in the dark and cold,


s: And I may not open the long closed door,


s: Nor call thro' the night, with the love of old, --


s: "Come into the warmth, as in nights of yore!"


s: And hear the wings of the wind sweep by;


s: And the sough of the wind is like a cry.


s: The flames round the red coals softly spin,


s: The firelight falls on your vacant chair,


s: And the soft brown rug where you used to stand;


s: Dear, never again shall I see you there,


s: Yet sometimes still, and in spite of all,


s: And the gay young voice as in hours of yore.


s: It still seems strange to be here alone,


s: With the rising sob of the wind without;


s: Where the trees are swinging their arms about.


s: And thrills my heart with a sense of pain;


s: I walk to the window, and pierce the gloom,


s: With a yearning look that is all in vain.


s: You are out in a night of depths that hold


s: O when shall the aching throb grow still,


s: The warm love-life turn cold at the core!


s: For your banished face in the opening door?


s: And the under-side of our being shows --


s: When all our knowledge has larger grown,


s: I may understand why you stray to-night,


s: Of your rich muscats and your sherries fine,


s: When the angels flutter their wings aloft


s: I have drawn the corks, and drained the lees


s: I have lived my life, and I'll not repine,


s: You did not know, -- how could you, dear, --


s: Through all the years that went and came.


s: And touched my thoughts with beauty, while


s: And spread themselves on bank and thorn,


s: No stars in Heaven could shine more fair,


s: That loftiest Bard could ne'er rehearse,


s: For one brief season these poor Rhymes shall live


s: I ask no more, nor think my fate too hard


s: If other eyes but wintry looks should give;


s: Nor will I grieve though what I here have writ


s: O'erburdened Time should drop among the ways,


s: Beyond the praise and blame of other days:


s: The song doth pass, but I who sing, remain,


s: I pluck from Death's own heart a life more deep,


s: And as the Spring, that dies not, in her train


s: Doth scatter blossoms for the winds to reap,


s: Will strew my path with mortal flowers of song.


s: O steep and rugged Life, whose harsh ascent


s: Slopes blindly upward through the bitter night!


s: They say that on thy summit, high in light,


s: Sweet rest awaits the climber, travel-spent;


s: With fainting heart and failing limbs and sight,


s: Can see no glimmer of the shining height,


s: And vainly list, with body forward bent,


s: To catch athwart the gloom one wandering note


s: Of those glad anthems which (they say) are sung


s: But though, O Life, thy summit be remote


s: And all thy stony path with darkness hung,


s: He's an old grey horse, with his head bowed sadly,


s: And with dim old eyes and a queer roll aft,


s: With the off-fore sprung and the hind screwed badly,


s: And he bears all over the brands of graft;


s: And he lifts his head from the grass to wonder


s: Why the silence is, and the stampers' thunder


s: Sounds forth no more from the shattered mill.


s: In that whim he worked when the night winds bellowed


s: And by day when prodigal Spring had yellowed


s: All the wide, long sweep of enchanted land;


s: And he knew his shift, and the whistle's warning,


s: And he knew the calls of the boys below;


s: Through the years, unbidden, at night or morning,


s: He had taken his stand by the old whim bow.


s: But the whim stands still, and the wheeling swallow


s: In the silent shaft hangs her home of clay,


s: And the lizards flirt and the swift snakes follow


s: O'er the grass-grown brace in the summer day;


s: And the corn springs high in the cracks and corners


s: Of the forge, and down where the timber lies;


s: And the crows are perched like a band of mourners


s: All the hands have gone, for the rich reef paid out,


s: And the company waits till the calls come in;


s: But the old grey horse, like the claim, is played out,


s: And no market's near for his bones and skin.


s: So they let him live, and they left him grazing


s: By the creek, and oft in the evening dim


s: I have seen him stand on the rises, gazing


s: At the ruined brace and the rotting whim.


s: The floods rush high in the gully under,


s: And the lightnings lash at the shrinking trees,


s: Or the cattle down from the ranges blunder


s: As the fires drive by on the summer breeze.


s: Still the feeble horse at the right hour wanders


s: And with hanging head by the bow he ponders


s: Where the whim boy's gone -- why the shifts don't come.


s: But there comes a night when he sees lights glowing


s: In the roofless huts and the ravaged mill,


s: When he hears again all the stampers going --


s: Though the huts are dark and the stampers still:


s: When he sees the steam to the black roof clinging


s: As its shadows roll on the silver sands,


s: And he knows the voice of his driver singing,


s: And the knocker's clang where the braceman stands.


s: See the old horse take, like a creature dreaming,


s: On the ring once more his accustomed place;


s: But the moonbeams full on the ruins streaming


s: Show the scattered timbers and grass-grown brace.


s: Yet HE hears the sled in the smithy falling,


s: And the boy who stands by the anvil, calling;


s: And he turns and backs, and he "takes up slack".


s: While the old drum creaks, and the shadows shiver


s: As the wind sweeps by, and the hut doors close,


s: And the bats dip down in the shaft or quiver


s: In the ghostly light, round the grey horse goes;


s: And he feels the strain on his untouched shoulder,


s: Hears again the voice that was dear to him,


s: Sees the form he knew -- and his heart grows bolder


s: As he works his shift by the broken whim.


s: He hears in the sluices the water rushing


s: As the buckets drain and the doors fall back;


s: When the early dawn in the east is blushing,


s: He is limping still round the old, old track.


s: Now he pricks his ears, with a neigh replying


s: And he sways and sinks in the circle, dying;


s: From the ring no more will the grey horse go.


s: In a gully green, where a dam lies gleaming,


s: And the bush creeps back on a worked-out claim,


s: And the sleepy crows in the sun sit dreaming


s: On the timbers grey and a charred hut frame,


s: Where the legs slant down, and the hare is squatting


s: In the high rank grass by the dried-up course,


s: Nigh a shattered drum and a king-post rotting


s: Are the bleaching bones of the old grey horse.


s: Through tumbling shells and shining things,


s: From a throbbing heart that loves to break


s: In the tempest of love for love's sweet sake.


s: O, the fragrance of earth, and the song of the sea,


s: And the light of the heavens, are only three


s: Of the thousand glories that Love can trace,


s: In her life, and her soul, and her beautiful face.


s: I went to Love's old treasure house last night,


s: Alone, when all the world was still -- asleep,


s: With years of jealous counting of his gems,


s: There seated.  Keen was his eye, his hand


s: Firm as when first his hoarding he began


s: Of precious things of Love, long years ago.


s: "And this," he said, "is gold from out her hair,


s: And this the moonlight that she wandered in,


s: With here a rose, enamelled by her breath,


s: That bloomed in glory 'tween her breasts, and here


s: The brimming sun-cup that she quaffed at noon,


s: And here the star that cheered her in the night;


s: In this great chest, see curiously wrought,


s: Are purest of Love's gems."  A ruby key,


s: With care, from out some secret hiding-place,


s: And delicately touched the lock, whereat


s: I staggered, blinded by the light of things


s: More luminous than stars, and questioned thus --


s: "What are these treasures, miser Memory?"


s: And slowly bending his gray head, he spoke:


s: "These are the multitudes of kisses sweet


s: Love gave so gladly, and I treasure here."


s: Of the mirk midnight and the dazzling day,


s: That trail their robes o'er the wet sea-way.


s: With the seaweed swinging its long arms free,


s: Is telling her tale to the wave-washed shell.


s: A dirge of the dead, of the sad, sad sea,


s: Their tale of death to the wave-washed shell.


s: The secrets that lie where the spirits be,


s: Is telling their woe to the wave-washed shell.


s: O mother o' mine, with the foam-flecked hair,


s: The heart that is sad and the soul that is bare


s: And I hold your whispers of Heaven and Hell


s: In the loving heart of a wave-washed shell.


s: I heard Old Ocean raise her voice and cry,


s: In that still hour between the night and day;


s: I saw the answering tides, green robed and gray,


s: Marching with silent feet they passed me by,


s: For the white moon had taught them to obey,


s: And scarce a wavelet broke in fretful spray,


s: As they went forth to kiss the stooping sky.


s: So, to my heart, when the last sunray sleeps,


s: And the wan night, impatient for the moon,


s: Throws her gray mantle over land and sea,


s: There comes a call from out Life's nether deeps,


s: And tides, like some old ocean in a swoon,


s: Flow out, in soundless majesty, to thee.


s: Each sail and rope and spar, as in desire,


s: Sweet sea-songs hymned the red sun's fun'ral pyre:


s: Yet One, with eyes that never seemed to tire,


s: Watched for the storm, nursed on the thunder's knees.


s: Thou watcher of the spirit's inner keep,


s: Scanning Death's lone, illimitable deep,


s: Spread outward to the far immortal shore!


s: While the vault sleeps, from the upheaving deck,


s: Thou see'st the adamantine reefs that wreck,


s: And Life's low shoals, where lusting billows roar.


s: When, with low moanings on the distant shore,


s: Like vain regrets, the ocean-tide is rolled:


s: When, thro' bare boughs, the tale of death is told


s: By breezes sighing, "Summer days are o'er";


s: When all the days we loved -- the days of yore --


s: Lie in their vaults, dead Kings who ruled of old --


s: Unrobed and sceptreless, uncrowned with gold,


s: Conquered, and to be crowned, ah! never more.


s: If o'er the bare fields, cold and whitening


s: With the first snow-flakes, I should see thy form,


s: And meet and kiss thee, that were enough of Spring;


s: Enough of sunshine, could I feel the warm


s: Glad beating of thy heart 'neath Winter's wing,


s: Tho' Earth were full of whirlwind and of storm.


s: Good-night! . . . my darling sleeps so sound


s: So well, that all things else seemed slight --


s: This love, that dares not warm before its flame


s: Our yearning hands, or from its tempting tree


s: Yield fruit we may consume, or let us claim


s: The twining glyphs of perfect you and me --


s: May kindle social fires whence curls no blame,


s: Find gardens where no fruits forbidden be,


s: And mottoes weave, unsullied by a shame.


s: For, love, unmothered Childhood wanly waits


s: Raw social soils untilled need Love's own verve


s: That Peace a-flower may oust their weedy hates:


s: And where Distress would faint from wolfish sleuth


s: The perfect lovers' symbol is "We serve!"


s: Yet what were Love if man remains unfree,


s: And woman's sunshine sordid merchandise:


s: If children's Hope is blasted ere they see


s: Its shoots of youth from out the branchlets rise:


s: If thought is chained, and gagged is Speech, and Lies


s: Insults the face of God where'er men be?


s: Ay, what were Love, my love, did we not love


s: For Its own sake, the foison of Its dower:


s: That, so, we two may help them mount above


s: These layers of charnel air in which they pine,


s: To seek with us the Presence and the Power?


s: Like star points in the ether to guide a homing soul


s: Towards God's Eternal Haven; above the wash and roll,


s: Across and o'er the oceans, on all the coasts they stand


s: Tall seneschals of commerce, High Wardens of the Strand --


s: When Night with breath of aloes, magnolia, spice, and balm


s: Creeps down the darkened jungles and mantles reef and palm,


s: By velvet waters making soft music as they surge


s: The shore lights of dark Asia will one by one emerge --


s: When Night, in rain-wet garments comes sobbing cold and grey


s: Across the German Ocean and South from Stornoway,


s: Thro' snarling darkness slowly, some fixed and some a-turn,


s: The bright shore-lights of Europe like welcome tapers burn, --


s: The dark Etruscan tending his watchfires by the shore,


s: On sacred altars burning, the world shall know no more;


s: His temple's column standing against the ancient stars


s: Is gone; Now bright catoptrics flash out electric bars, --


s: The lantern of Genoa guides home no Eastern fleets


s: As when the boy Columbus played in its narrow streets:


s: No more the Keltic `dolmens' their fitful warnings throw


s: Across the lone Atlantic, so long, so long ago --


s: No more the Vikings roaring their sagas wild and weird


s: Proclaim that Rome has fallen; no more a consul feared


s: Shall quench the Roman pharos lest Northern pirates free


s: Be pointed to their plunder on coasts of Italy --


s: The bale-fires and the watch-fires, the wrecker's foul false lure


s: Past Pharos in the starlight the tow'ring hulls of Trade


s: Race in and out from Suez in iron cavalcade, --


s: They loom along the foreshores; they gleam across the Straits;


s: They guide the feet of Commerce unto the harbor gates.


s: In nights of storm and thunder, thro' fog and sleet and rain,


s: Like stars on angels' foreheads, they give man heart again, --


s: He searches night's grim chances upon his bridge alone


s: And seeks the distant glimmer of hopeful Eddystone:


s: And thro' a thick fog creeping, with chart and book and lead,


s: The homeward skipper follows their green and white and red --


s: They fill that night with Knowledge.  A thousand ships go by,


s: A thousand captains bless them, so bright and proud and high:


s: The world's dark capes they glamour; or low on sand banks dread,


s: They, crouching, mark a pathway between the Quick and Dead --


s: Opal, little opal, with the red fire glancing,


s: Set my blood a-spinning, set my pulse a-stir,


s: Strike the harp of memory, set my dull heart dancing


s: Southward to the Sunny Land and the love of Her!


s: To gather to your milky breast and fill your veins with fire!


s: Green of fluttering gum-leaves above dim water-courses,


s: Red of rolling dust-clouds, blue of summer skies,


s: Flash of flints afire beneath the hoofs of racing horses,


s: Sunlight and moonlight and light of lovers' eyes


s: Pink clasping hands amid a Southern summer gloaming,


s: Green of August grasses, white of dew-sprung pearls,


s: Grey of winging wild geese into the Sunset homing,


s: Twined with all the kisses of a Queen of Queensland girls!


s: I love you, wind o' the Autumn, that came from I know not where,


s: To lead me out of the toiling world to a ballroom fresh and fair,


s: Are setting to woodland partners and dancing the stars to bed!


s: Oh! say, wild wind o' the Autumn, may I dance this dance with you


s: And I know no dancing partner whose step is so made for mine!


s: Ho!  You there, selling daffodils along the windy street,


s: Poor drooping, dusty daffodils -- but oh! so Summer sweet!


s: Green stems that stab with loveliness, rich petal-cups to hold


s: The wine of Spring to lips that cling like bees about their gold!


s: And if I bought all Sydney Town I could not hope to buy


s: The wealth you bring of everything that goes with open sky!


s: My money for your daffodils:  why do you thank me so?


s: If I have paid a reckless price, take up my gift and go,


s: And from the golden garden beds where gold the sunbeams shine


s: Slowly she hobbles past the town, grown old at heart and gray;


s: With misty eyes she stumbles down along the well-known way;


s: She sees her maiden march unrolled by billabong and bend,


s: And every gum's a comrade old and every oak's a friend;


s: But gone the smiling faces that welcomed her of yore --


s: They crowd her tented places and hold her hand no more.


s: And through the dismal mullock-heaps she threads her mournful way


s: To wash the busy sluices and whisper through the gold.


s: Where green the grasses used to twine above them, shoulder-deep,


s: No swimming steeds that battle to block them when they ring.


s: She sees no barricaded roofs, no loop-holed station wall,


s: No foaming steed with flying hoofs to bring the word "Ben Hall!"


s: She sees no reckless robbers stoop behind their ambush stone,


s: No coach-and-four, no escort troop; -- but, very lorn and lone,


s: Watches the sunsets redden along the mountain side


s: Where round the spurs of Weddin the wraiths of Weddin ride.


s: Rain-heavy from the Cowra hills she takes her vengeance sweet,


s: And leaps with roar of thunder, and buries bridge and ford,


s: That all the world may wonder when the Lachlan bares her sword!


s: Gray River! let me take your hand for all your memories old --


s: Your cattle-kings, your outlaw-band, your wealth of virgin gold;


s: For once you held, and hold it now, the sceptre of a queen,


s: And still upon your furrowed brow the royal wreaths are green;


s: Hold wide your arms, the waters!  Lay bare your silver breast


s: To nurse the sons and daughters that spread your empire west!


s: My road is fenced with the bleached, white bones


s: On the rim of the world the lightnings play,


s: And the breath of the wind is a sword to slay


s: I have withered the grass where my hot hoofs tread,


s: I have driven the faint-heart rains ahead


s: I have bound the plains with an iron band,


s: To the charge of my vanguards who shall stand?


s: The dust-storms follow and wrap me round;


s: Before me the fret of the swamps is bound


s: I drop the whips on the loose-flanked steers;


s: And the green-hide rips and the iron sears


s: I have laid him down, I have taken his load,


s: And follow the curve of the creeks burnt dry


s: The worn men start from their sleepless rest


s: They have carried their outposts far, far out,


s: I am the Master, the dread King Drought,


s: Last night I walked among the lamps that gleamed,


s: Bent low, bent lower: --  Still I did not know.


s: And through the night came all old memories flocking,


s: White memories like the snowflakes round me whirled.


s: "All's well!" I said; "The mothers still sit rocking


s: We sent a word across the seas that said,


s: "The house is finished and the doors are wide,


s: A stately house it is, with tables spread,


s: "Behold, how high our hands have lifted it!


s: The soil it stands upon is pure and sweet


s: Not red accusing blood -- and 'neath our feet


s: And England, Mother England, leans her face


s: Upon her hand and feels her blood burn young


s: The image here of that fair strength and grace


s: That made her feared and loved and sought and sung


s: What chorus shall we lift, what song of joy,


s: What boom of seaward cannon, roll of drums?


s: A burst of royal sounds, as when a victor comes


s: The love that ivy-like an ancient land doth cherish,


s: It grows not in a day, nor in a year doth perish.


s: It creeps along the walls and wreathes the ramparts hoary.


s: The sun that gives it strength -- it is a nation's glory;


s: The love that ivy-like around a home-land lingers,


s: With soft embrace of breast and green, caressive fingers,


s: Not ours the glory-dome, the monuments and arches


s: At thought of which takes arms the blood, and proudly marches


s: Yet thought and wrought and sought to break


s: All the heights of the high shores gleam


s: A broad flower blazing with light at noon,


s: For all mute things it would seem, aspire


s: And straight the furrows are smoothed away;


s: And languor leadens their blood all day.


s: At night they look on the flower, and lo!


s: Of gold and silver and stocks and shares.


s: The Lotus dreams 'neath the dreaming skies,


s: The grey old town, till the old town lies


s: Star-loved, it breathes at the midnight hour


s: Though flowers be fair -- is there any flower


s: Like this blue flower of the radiant South?


s: Not death and darkness, but life and light,


s: They seek the Lotus and end life's thrall.


s: And thus, perchance, in a thousand moons


s: Its spell shall work in our waiting blood.


s: Then souls shall shine with an old-time grace,


s: And sense be wrapped in a golden trance,


s: Dustily over the highway pipes the loud nor'-wester at morn,


s: Wind and the rising sun, and waving tussock and corn;


s: It brings to me days gone by when first in my ears it rang,


s: The wide, wild pastures of old are fading and passing away,


s: Of the dead men low in the mould who came with me over the sea.


s: Some of them down in the city under the marble are laid,


s: Some on the bare hillside in the mound by the lone tree shade,


s: And some in the forest deeps of the west in their silence lie,


s: And many have passed from my sight, whither I never shall know,


s: Swept away in the rushing river or caught in the mountain snow;


s: All the old hands are gone who came with me over the sea,


s: But the land that we made our own is the same bright land to me.


s: And the wind of the morning calling has ever a song for me


s: Of hope for the land of the dawning in the golden years to be.


s: that it sobb'd, that it swell'd, that it shrank?)


s: blurr'd soft on the skirt of the night-skies


s: close-lock'd in that passionate arm-clasp


s: and the Night with her spread wings rustling


s: Than that strong northern flood whence came


s: The rise and fall of music in thy name --


s: From where the eternal order'd billows range


s: To unknown regions of sleep-weary night,


s: Whispered by lips of some lone-murmuring shell,


s: Will fly the errand of our love to thee,


s: To say the time is come and bid thee rise


s: And lo! two long straight walls between,


s: The sun, the stars and . . . God!  For proof --


s: Whose veins with life's impatience thrill;


s: Of darkened boudoirs . . . and of sewers --


s: "There is my little trembling star," she said.


s: And nowhere yet in all that young night sky


s: But one that hung above the sea.  Not high,


s: "I watch it every night," she said, and crept


s: "Soft little star, I wish the angels kept


s: "I know it is afraid," she said; her eyes


s: "They push it out before the sweet, kind moon


s: They laugh because it fears the dark.  `Soon, soon,


s: "One night I climbed far up that high white tree


s: And tried to stretch my hand across the sea


s: "For something made me feel my heart would break


s: I in my hand my trembling star could take


s: "There only blew a strange wind chillily,


s: The angels would not let my own star see


s: "To Christ, who hears my little prayers each night,


s: Through all His skies for that sweet, frightened light,


s: "`My angels must not send so frail a thing


s: Lift up the little trembling star to cling


s: Soft, low and sweet, the blackbird wakes the day,


s: And clearer pipes, as rosier grows the gray


s: Of the wide sky, far, far into whose deep


s: The rath lark soars, and scatters down the steep


s: Earth with a sigh awakes; and tremors play,


s: Coy in her leafy trees, and falt'ring creep


s: Across the daisy lawn and whisper, "Well-a-day,"


s: From violet-banks the scent-clouds float away


s: And spread around their fragrance, as of sleep:


s: From ev'ry mossy nook the blossoms peep;


s: That makes the world-wealth one with Spring, alway


s: Might shape the Cnidian Venus.  Long ungrown


s: The ivory was which, chiselled, robbed of ease


s: Pygmalion, sculptor-lover.  Now are these,


s: Shall never, scattered, in blown dust be laid,


s: Till Time, the dragon-guard, has lived his last decade.


s: A wondering world beheld, as we behold, --


s: Here, in blest isles beyond the stormy Cape,


s: Where man the new land dowers with the old,


s: Are neither marble shapes nor fruits of gold,


s: Nor white-limbed maidens, queened enchantress-wise;


s: Here, Nature's beauties no vast ruins enfold,


s: No glamour fills her such as 'wildering lies


s: Where Mediterranean waters laugh to Grecian skies.


s: Parthenon, Temple, concepts born divine,


s: Where in these Isles are wonders great as these?


s: Unquarried lies the stone in teeming mine,


s: Bare is the land of sanctuary and shrine;


s: But though frail hands no god-like record set


s: Great Nature's powers are lavish, and combine


s: Deep fiord, fiery fountain and lake with tree-wove carcanet.


s: And though the dusky race that to and fro,


s: Like their own shades, pass by and leave no trace,


s: No age-contemning works from quick brain throw,


s: They still have left what Time shall not efface, --


s: He dared the old Mother of Death and her embrace:


s: That mankind might go free, he suffered pain --


s: And death he boldly dared, eternal life to gain.


s: Not death but dormancy the old womb has known,


s: New love shall quicken it, new life attain:


s: Shall live their recreated life again, --


s: Shall wake, like Galatea, to joy and pain.


s: Legends and myths and wonders; what are these


s: But glittering mines that long unworked have lain?


s: Treasure for some antipodean Praxiteles!


s: When I look out on London's teeming streets,


s: On grim grey houses, and on leaden skies,


s: My courage fails me, and my heart grows sick,


s: Barter'd by me for what your London gives.


s: And here I pine between these narrow walls,


s: And London's smoke hides all the stars from me,


s: Light from mine eyes, and Heaven from my heart.


s: That lie behind me, guarded by the Cross


s: That looks all night from out our splendid skies,


s: There, hour by hour, the lazy tide creeps in


s: Upon the sands I shall not pace again --


s: Save in a dream, -- and, hour by hour, the tide


s: Nor the young moon slow sinking to her rest


s: Behind the hills; nor yet the dead white trees


s: Glimmering in the starlight:  they are ghosts


s: Of what has been, and shall be never more.


s: The wind that rises at the dead of night


s: Suddenly, and sweeps inward from the sea,


s: Rustling the tussock, nor the wekas' wail


s: Echoing at evening from the tawny hills.


s: Spring wakes our lovely Lady of the Bush,


s: The Kowhai, and she hastes to wrap herself


s: Then come the birds, who are her worshippers,


s: And bell-birds flashing sudden in the sun,


s: Carolling:  Ah! what English nightingale,


s: Sings sweeter than our Bell-bird of the Bush?


s: Most fair and frail of all our forest flowers,


s: How far from this thy peacefulness am I!


s: Ah me, how far! and far this stream of Life


s: From thy clear creek fast falling to the sea!


s: Yet let me not lament that these things are


s: In that lov'd country I shall see no more;


s: And though I change, my valley knows no change.


s: And when I look on London's teeming streets,


s: On grim grey houses, and on leaden skies,


s: When speech seems but the babble of a crowd,


s: Burns low, and Art, my mistress, turns from me, --


s: Then do I pass beyond the Gate of Dreams


s: I find again lost ideals, dreams too fair


s: For lasting; there I meet once more mine own


s: Whom Death has stolen, or Life estranged from me, --


s: And thither, with the coming of the dark,


s: Thou comest, and the night is full of stars.


s: But always I would wish to be where the seasons gently fall


s: The combers swing from the China Sea to the California Coast,


s: The purple shadows upon the sea, low down from Sumner hill.


s: But Sydney Heads feel no such breeze as comes from nor'-west rain


s: And brings a breath of tussock grass into a Christchurch street.


s: Gleams out like some glad angel's crown,


s: Oh! fair-haired child of Leto, come again;


s: Come from the depth of thine Aetnean glen,


s: Of waters writhing far from mortals' ken;


s: The sweet-voiced and immortal violet-crowned Nine.


s: Than ever graced the glorious land of Greece;


s: The gray-green gracious harbinger of peace;


s: In purple clusters hangs the vine's increase,


s: That lifts the soul to liberty, and frees the heart from care.


s: Cold from the granite flow the mountain rills;


s: Where the rapt heart with contemplation fills,


s: And floods the tempest-shaken forest corridors.


s: With liquid glamour of the Lesbian line;


s: With thee they live for ever, thy nightingales of song.


s: To wage eternal warfare with the fire and flood.


s: And keeps the star of duty in our sight:


s: With laurels of thy song and lightnings of thy lyre.


s: Parkes, "The Buried Chief":  Sir James Martin, born 1820,


s: Premier and subsequently Chief Justice of New South Wales,


s: Gordon, "Thora's Song":  First printed in `The Australasian'


s: Kendall, "Prefatory Sonnets":  The phrase -- "tormented and awry


s: Kendall, "Araluen":  The author's daughter, named after a town


s: Kendall, "Hy-Brasil":  Hy-Brasil, or Tir-Nan-Oge, is the fabled


s: Island of the Blessed, the paradise of ancient Ireland.


s: an attempt to paraphrase a legend of Samoa, is remarkable


s: as evidence of direct intercourse between Samoa and Fiji,


s: Moloney, "Melbourne":  First printed in `The Australasian'


s: Domett, "A Maori Girl's Song":  "A very free paraphrase of a song


s: Stephens, "Day" & "Night":  Stanzas from "Convict Once"


s: as the home of the Pelican, a bird whose nesting-place,


s: F. Adams, "Gordon's Grave":  Adam Lindsay Gordon is buried


s: in Brighton (Victoria) Cemetery.  Above the grave is erected


s: a shattered column crowned with a laurel wreath.


s: `The Isle of Apple-trees' -- "Emhain Ablach", the Isle of Arran.


s: This was the land of faery to the Northern and Western Gaels.


s: Lawson, "The Star of Australasia":  `Jackeroo' -- a "new chum",


s: `Push' -- a gang of larrikins, or city roughs.


s: Lawson, "Middleton's Rouseabout":  `Rouseabout' -- a man who does


s: Lawson, "The Vagabond":  `Flax' -- a native New Zealand plant


s: yielding a strong fibre (Phormium tenax, N. O. Liliaceae).


s: Wright, "An Old Colonist's Reverie":  `Whare' -- Maori name


s: `Kowhai' -- the Locust tree (yellow Kowhai), and the Parrot-bill


s: (scarlet Kowhai) -- N.Z. flowering trees.


s: `Rata' -- a remarkable New Zealand tree with crimson flowers


s: (Metrosideros robusta), which often starts from a seed


s: dropped in the fork of a tree, grows downward to the earth,


s: Andersen, "Maui Victor":  `Maui' --  In Polynesian mythology,


s: This Maui attempted to do while she slept.  Awakened, however,


s: by the cry of a black fantail, she nipped Maui in two.


s: Wilcox, "In London":  `Weka' --  Maori name for the wood-hen,


s: so called from its note "Weeka" (Ocydromus Australis).


s: `Bell-bird' -- the korimako (Anthornis Melanura).


s: The bibliographies include books of verse only.


s: Born at Malta, 27th September, 1862; son of Prof. Leith Adams.


s: Died at Margate, England, by his own hand, 4th September, 1893.


s: Born at Jutland, Denmark, 14th March, 1873; came to New Zealand


s: Born at Peebles, Scotland, 1845.  Educated, local schools and


s: `The Legend of the Wandering Lake' [Dunedin, n.d. (1905)].


s: Arrived in Queensland, 1889, and since then has travelled over


s: `The Western Track, and other Verses' (Sydney, 1905).


s: `Behind the Tomb, and other Poems' (Melbourne, 1871).


s: `A Sheaf from the Sanctum' (Dunedin, 1887).


s: Born at Carcoar, N.S.W., 7th August, 1869, of Irish parents.


s: Educated, public schools (N.S.W.) and Washington (D.C.), America.


s: Born at Sydney, 1st November, 1870, of Irish parents.


s: `XXI Poems:  Towards the Source' (Sydney, 1897).


s: `The Song of Brotherhood, and other Verses' (London, 1896).


s: "Ups and Downs" (subsequently re-named "The Squatter's Dream",


s: `Old Melbourne Memories' (Melbourne, 1884, prose and verse).


s: Born at St. Germains, Norfolk, England, 21st November, 1844;


s: eldest daughter of Henry Cambridge and Thomasine,


s: `The Manor House and other Poems' (London, 1875).


s: Died, 9th February, 1904, at Leyton, near London.


s: Born at Kyneton, Victoria, 19th June, 1861; daughter of


s: Frederic Ramos de Castilla, an Englishman of Spanish descent,


s: and May Robertson, daughter of an Edinburgh Writer to the Signet.


s: `The Australian Girl, and other Verses' (Melbourne, 1900).


s: Married, 1869, Marian Dunn, daughter of John Dunn, Comedian.


s: Born at Christchurch, New Zealand, 1884, of British stock.


s: until his death from phthisis, 29th December, 1905.


s: Born at Sydney, 18th August, 1828, of Irish parentage.  Educated,


s: Some of his writings were collected and published in


s: `Rhymes from the Mines, and other Lines' (Sydney, 1896).


s: `Loraine, and other Verses' (Melbourne, 1898).


s: principally on the staff of `The Daily Telegraph', Sydney,


s: till his death in Sydney, 9th January, 1904.


s: `How He Died, and other Poems' (Sydney, 1887).


s: `My Sundowner, and other Poems' (Sydney, 1904).


s: `How He Died, and other Poems' (Sydney, 1905).


s: Born at Glasgow, 26th September, 1846; daughter of James Black,


s: `Where the Pelican Builds, and other Poems' (Brisbane, 1885).


s: Educated, W. T. Cape's School, Sydney.  Became a Squatter.


s: and afterwards held portfolios in various ministries.


s: Appointed Agent-General and went to London, 1876.


s: Returned to New South Wales and died there, 30th October, 1882.


s: Bedridden for the last two years of his life.  Died at Bendigo,


s: `Sonnets, and other Verses' (Melbourne, 1894).


s: `Christ on Olympus, and other Poems' (Bendigo, 1896).


s: Born near Goulburn, New South Wales, 16th August, 1865;


s: Joined the New Australia movement and went to Paraguay, 1895.


s: Went to England, 1840; entered Cheltenham College about 1844,


s: and became a mounted trooper, afterwards a horse-breaker.


s: Married Maggie Park, October, 1862, and lived at Mt. Gambier,


s: his claim to the Barony of Esslemont (Scotland) was defeated;


s: `Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes' (Melbourne, 23rd June 1870).


s: Born at Windsor, New South Wales, 1817; son of a schoolmaster.


s: Followed various occupations, principally farming.


s: `The Bushrangers, and other Poems' (Sydney, 1853).


s: Born at Sydney, November, 1862; eldest son of Thomas W. Heney,


s: `In Middle Harbour, and other Verse' (London, 1890).


s: Born at Balmain, near Sydney, 12th January, 1849; father English,


s: `Station Hunting on the Warrego, and other Poems' (Sydney, 1885).


s: Born at Portland (Victoria), 1863; daughter of T. F. Hyland


s: and grand-daughter of Dr. Penfold, Magill (S.A.).


s: Born at Colac-Colac (Victoria), 30th November, 1864,


s: parents having lately immigrated from Warwickshire (England).


s: Grew up in the bush and educated himself.  Engaged in farming


s: At the age of thirteen went with his uncle as a cabin boy,


s: and spent two years cruising in the Pacific.  Returned to Sydney


s: Superintendent of State Forests, 1881, and went to live


s: `At Long Bay:  Euroclydon' (Sydney, n.d.).


s: `The Glen of the White Man's Grave' (Sydney, n.d.).


s: `Songs from the Mountains' (Sydney, 1880).


s: `Children of the Bush' (London, 1902, prose and verse).


s: `When I was King, and other Verses' (Sydney, 1905).


s: Born at Glasgow, 13th December, 1850, of Irish parents.


s: Born at foot of the Southern Alps, Canterbury, New Zealand,


s: Brought up on her father's station, South Canterbury.


s: Found drowned in Clarence River with a wound in his skull, 1865.


s: Born at Beaufort, Victoria, 11th April, 1866, of Irish parents.


s: Educated in Victorian State schools.  Graduated B.A., LL.B.,


s: `Dawnward?' (Sydney, 1903), reprinted in `A Southern Garland'


s: `The Silent Land, and other Verses' (Melbourne, 1906).


s: Born near Kelso, Scotland, 21st August, 1869.  Educated,


s: Born at Bendigo (Victoria), 29th October, 1864, of Irish parents.


s: `Songs of the South', Second series (London, 1895).


s: Educated, Sydney Grammar School; went to Sydney University


s: but left before completing the course.  Represented Parramatta


s: Born at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, England, 27th May, 1815.


s: `The Beauteous Terrorist, and other Poems' (Sydney, 1885).


s: Born at Narrambla, near Molong (N.S.W.), 17th February, 1864;


s: father Scottish, mother Australian.  Admitted as a solicitor


s: and practised in Sydney for some years.  Went to South Africa


s: as War Correspondent, and to China as special correspondent.


s: Born at Sydney, N.S.W., 17th March, 1862, of Irish parents.


s: Educated at various Sydney schools.  Journalist.


s: Member of N.S.W. Legislative Assembly for six years.


s: Born at Sydney, 26th November, 1869 (brother of P. E. Quinn).


s: Both reprinted in `A Southern Garland' (Sydney, 1904).


s: Born at Moeraki, on Otago coast, New Zealand, 1865.


s: Parents Scottish Highlanders; who, shortly after his birth,


s: `Peter 'Possums' Portfolio' (Sydney, 1858, prose and verse).


s: Trinity College, Stratford-on-Avon, and Magdalen College, Oxford;


s: in charge of Kindergarten section, Public School, Tamworth,


s: and Lecturer on educational matters in the same district.


s: Born at Auckland, N.Z., of Scottish parents.  Educated at home


s: on Thames Goldfield.  Now resides in Auckland.


s: `The Huia's Homeland, and other Verses' (London, 1897).


s: Cheltenham and Trinity College, Oxford; graduated B.A.


s: Born at Borrowstowness, near Edinburgh, 17th June, 1835.


s: Educated, Edinburgh University.  Travelling tutor, 1857-1860;


s: Married Rosalie, daughter of T. W. Donaldson.  Entered Colonial


s: Secretary's Department, Brisbane, 1883, as correspondence clerk;


s: subsequently appointed Under Secretary.  Died 29th June, 1902.


s: `The Black Gin, and other Poems' (Melbourne, 1873).


s: Born near Adelaide, South Australia; now resident in Sydney.


s: Educated, Sydney High School, where she conducted a school paper.


s: with poems by H. L. Twisleton (Settle, 1876).


s: Born at Trieste, Austria, 1859; mother English, father German.


s: Returned to London, 1896.  Now writing stories and verse.


s: Born at Christchurch, New Zealand, 1873; father an Englishman,


s: mother New Zealander.  Matriculated, Canterbury College.


s: Teaching in New South Wales and New Zealand for some years.


s: Born (Ann Adams), at Greenvale, Victoria, 11th June, 1848;


s: and has been living at Rangitikei ever since.


s: `Station Ballads, and other Verses' (Dunedin, 1897).


s: Arranged with introduction by Francis Turner Palgrave


s: the Editor) that excuse is needed for an attempt of an obviously


s: These hindrances and clogs, of very diverse nature, cannot be


s: any rate, his Elizabethan predecessors: yet (beyond those general


s: the courtly elegance, the learned polish, which too rarely redeem


s: When beauty, youth, and all sweets leave her,


s: Love in her sunny eyes does basking play,


s: Love walks the pleasant mazes of her hair:


s: the moulds of form provided. He does this with a lively facility,


s: Scatters his loose notes in the waste of air


s: Une immense esperance a traverse la terre;


s: Malgre nous vers le ciel il faut lever les yeux.


s: Herrick) to-day, it is his own native land only which he sees and


s: My once-dear Love!--hapless, that I no more


s: Must call thee so. . . . The rich affection's store


s: That fed our hopes, lies now exhaust and spent,


s: Like sums of treasure unto bankrupts lent:--


s: To love each other, with which thoughts the day


s: Rose with delight to us, and with them set,


s: Must learn the hateful art, how to forget!


s: --Fold back our arms, take home our fruitless loves,


s: That must new fortunes try, like turtle doves


s: Dislodged from their haunts. We must in tears


s: Back to thyself:  so thou again art free:--


s: take eight lines by some old unknown Northern singer:


s: I sing of brooks, of blossoms, birds, and bowers,


s: Of April, May, of June, and July-flowers;


s: I sing of May-poles, hock-carts, wassails, wakes,


s: Of bride-grooms, brides, and of their bridal-cakes.


s: I write of Youth, of Love;--and have access


s: By these, to sing of cleanly wantonness;


s: I sing of dews, of rains, and, piece by piece,


s: Of balm, of oil, of spice, and ambergris.


s: I sing of times trans-shifting; and I write


s: How roses first came red, and lilies white.


s: I write of groves, of twilights, and I sing


s: The court of Mab, and of the Fairy King.


s: Of Heaven,--and hope to have it after all.


s: Where thou mayst sit, and piping, please


s: There, there, perhaps such lines as these


s: Where thou mayst hear thine own lines read


s: But when that men have both well drunk, and fed,


s: Let my enchantments then be sung or read.


s: When laurel spirts i' th' fire, and when the hearth


s: Smiles to itself, and gilds the roof with mirth;


s: When up the Thyrse is raised, and when the sound


s: Of sacred orgies, flies A round, A round;


s: When the rose reigns, and locks with ointments shine,


s: Let rigid Cato read these lines of mine.


s: Be bold, my Book, nor be abash'd, or fear


s: The cutting thumb-nail, or the brow severe;


s: But by the Muses swear, all here is good,


s: If but well read, or ill read, understood.


s: My Muse in meads has spent her many hours


s: Sitting, and sorting several sorts of flowers,


s: Till you, sweet mistress, came and interwove


s: You first of all crown'd her; she must, of due,


s: Render for that, a crown of life to you.


s: If hap it must, that I must see thee lie


s: With solemn tears, and with much grief of heart,


s: I'll recollect thee, weeping, part by part;


s: And having wash'd thee, close thee in a chest


s: With spice; that done, I'll leave thee to thy rest.


s: Thou shalt not all die; for while Love's fire shines


s: Upon his altar, men shall read thy lines;


s: And learn'd musicians shall, to honour Herrick's


s: Fame, and his name, both set and sing his lyrics.


s: To his book's end this last line he'd have placed:--


s: Jocund his Muse was, but his Life was chaste.


s: To bring from thence the scorched clove:


s: But walk'st about thine own dear bounds,


s: For well thou know'st, 'tis not th' extent


s: When now the cock (the ploughman's horn)


s: Which though well soil'd, yet thou dost know


s: There at the plough thou find'st thy team,


s: Thou go'st; and as thy foot there treads,


s: And smell'st the breath of great-eyed kine,


s: Here thou behold'st thy large sleek neat


s: These seen, thou go'st to view thy flocks


s: Of short sweet grass, as backs with wool:


s: And leav'st them, as they feed and fill,


s: Thy wakes, thy quintels, here thou hast,


s: And trace the hare i' th' treacherous snow:


s: Thy lime-twigs, snares, and pit-falls then


s: And younglings, with such sports as these:


s: Sweet Sleep, that makes more short the night.


s: Shall bless thy bed, and bless thy board.


s: Their milk thy drink; and thou shalt eat


s: Where thou shalt sit, and Red-breast by,


s: And shame-faced plum, all simp'ring there.


s: Where kissing that, I'll twice kiss thee.


s: Gloves, garters, stockings, shoes, and strings


s: --These, nay, and more, thine own shall be,


s: Their silv'ry spheres, there's none may doubt


s: Then may your plants be press'd with fruit,


s: Last, may your harrows, shares, and ploughs,


s: Your stacks, your stocks, your sweetest mows,


s: With noise the servants' eyes from sleep.


s: 'T'ave lost the good ye might have had.'


s: Wash your pails and cleanse your dairies,


s: Wherewith ye dress'd the Christmas hall;


s: Thus times do shift; each thing his turn does hold;


s: New things succeed, as former things grow old.


s: Fled are the frosts, and now the fields appear


s: Thaw'd are the snows; and now the lusty Spring


s: The palms put forth their gems, and every tree


s: The while the Daulian minstrel sweetly sings


s: With warbling notes her Terean sufferings.


s: --What gentle winds perspire!  as if here


s: To strip the trees and fields, to their distress,


s: And look how when a frantic storm doth tear


s: A stubborn oak or holm, long growing there,--


s: But lull'd to calmness, then succeeds a breeze


s: That scarcely stirs the nodding leaves of trees;


s: So when this war, which tempest-like doth spoil


s: Our salt, our corn, our honey, wine, and oil,


s: The gentle dove may, when these turmoils cease,


s: Bring in her bill, once more, the branch of Peace.


s: Or tell what strange tricks Love can do,


s: That dress, this sprig, that leaf, this vine,


s: This done, we'll draw lots who shall buy


s: Get up, get up for shame!  the blooming morn


s: Upon her wings presents the god unshorn.


s: Each flower has wept, and bow'd toward the east,


s: And sung their thankful hymns:  'tis sin,


s: Spring, sooner than the lark, to fetch in May.


s: Rise; and put on your foliage, and be seen


s: To come forth, like the Spring-time, fresh and green,


s: Besides, the childhood of the day has kept,


s: Against you come, some orient pearls unwept:


s: Till you come forth.  Wash, dress, be brief in praying:


s: Few beads are best, when once we go a Maying.


s: Come, my Corinna, come; and coming, mark


s: How each field turns a street; each street a park


s: Made green, and trimm'd with trees:  see how


s: Or branch:  each porch, each door, ere this,


s: Made up of white-thorn neatly interwove;


s: As if here were those cooler shades of love.


s: And sin no more, as we have done, by staying;


s: But, my Corinna, come, let's go a Maying.


s: There's not a budding boy, or girl, this day,


s: But is got up, and gone to bring in May.


s: Some have dispatch'd their cakes and cream,


s: And some have wept, and woo'd, and plighted troth,


s: And chose their priest, ere we can cast off sloth:


s: This night, and locks pick'd:--yet we're not a Maying.


s: --Come, let us go, while we are in our prime;


s: And take the harmless folly of the time!


s: --Then while time serves, and we are but decaying,


s: Come, my Corinna!  come, let's go a Maying.


s: By whose tough labours, and rough hands,


s: Crown'd with the ears of corn, now come,


s: The horses, mares, and frisking fillies,


s: Those with a shout, and these with laughter.


s: Some bless the cart; some kiss the sheaves;


s: Some cross the fill-horse; some with great


s: --Well, on, brave boys, to your lord's hearth,


s: Glitt'ring with fire; where, for your mirth,


s: There's that which drowns all care, stout beer:


s: Which freely drink to your lord's health


s: Next to your flails, your fanes, your vats;


s: To the rough sickle, and crookt scythe,--


s: Drink, frolic, boys, till all be blythe.


s: And harrow, though they're hang'd up now.


s: And, you must know, your lord's word's true,


s: And for the bride-cake there'll be spice.


s: Command the roof, great Genius, and from thence


s: Into this house pour down thy influence,


s: That through each room a golden pipe may run


s: Fulfil the larders, and with strength'ning bread


s: Next, like a bishop consecrate my ground,


s: That lucky fairies here may dance their round;


s: And, after that, lay down some silver pence,


s: The master's charge and care to recompence.


s: Charm then the chambers; make the beds for ease,


s: More than for peevish pining sicknesses;


s: Fix the foundation fast, and let the roof


s: Grow old with time, but yet keep weather-proof.


s: To tell how night draws hence, I've none,


s: None is, slight things do lightly please.


s: AMIN. Good day, Mirtillo.  MIRT. And to you no less;


s: And all fair signs lead on our shepherdess.


s: AMAR. With all white luck to you.  MIRT. But say,


s: Stirs in our sheep-walk?  AMIN. None, save that my


s: My wethers, lambs, and wanton kids are well,


s: Smooth, fair, and fat; none better I can tell:


s: Or that this day Menalchas keeps a feast


s: For his sheep-shearers.  MIRT. True, these are the least.


s: Rest but a while here by this bank of lilies;


s: The country has.  AMIN. From whence?  AMAR. From


s: Three days before the shutting-in of May,


s: (With whitest wool be ever crown'd that day!)


s: To all our joy, a sweet-faced child was born,


s: More tender than the childhood of the morn.


s: CHORUS:--Pan pipe to him, and bleats of lambs and


s: MIRT. And that his birth should be more singular,


s: Bright as the wise men's torch, which guided them


s: To God's sweet babe, when born at Bethlehem;


s: While golden angels, some have told to me,


s: Sung out his birth with heav'nly minstrelsy.


s: AMIN. O rare!  But is't a trespass, if we three


s: MIRT. Not so, not so.  CHOR. But if it chance to prove


s: At most a fault, 'tis but a fault of love.


s: AMAR.  But, dear Mirtillo, I have heard it told,


s: Those learned men brought incense, myrrh, and gold,


s: From countries far, with store of spices sweet,


s: And laid them down for offerings at his feet.


s: MIRT. 'Tis true, indeed; and each of us will bring


s: A neat, though not so great an offering.


s: Of flowers ne'er suck'd by th' thieving bee;


s: And all most sweet, yet all less sweet than he.


s: CHOR. Come, let's away, and quickly let's be drest,


s: And quickly give:--the swiftest grace is best.


s: And when before him we have laid our treasures,


s: We'll bless the babe:--then back to country pleasures.


s: AMARIL.  In country meadows, pearl'd with dew,


s: There, filling maunds with cowslips, you


s: HER.  What have the meads to do with thee,


s: HER.  Believe it, dearest, there's not one


s: LACON.  Tell, and I'll lay down my pipe.


s: MON.  Bad are the times.  SIL.  And worse than they are we.


s: MON.  Troth, bad are both; worse fruit, and ill the tree:


s: The feast of shepherds fail.  SIL.  None crowns the cup


s: And he, who used to lead the country-round,


s: Youthful Mirtillo, here he comes, grief-drown'd.


s: AMBO.  Let's cheer him up.  SIL. Behold him weeping-ripe.


s: MIRT. Ah, Amarillis!  farewell mirth and pipe;


s: Since thou art gone, no more I mean to play


s: To these smooth lawns, my mirthful roundelay.


s: Dear Amarillis!  MON.  Hark!  SIL.  Mark!  MIRT.  This


s: Where, Amarillis, thou didst set thy feet.


s: AMBO  Poor pitied youth!  MIRT.  And here the breath


s: And sheep grew more sweet by that breath of thine.


s: This dock of wool, and this rich lock of hair,


s: This ball of cowslips, these she gave me here.


s: SIL.  Words sweet as love itself.  MON.  Hark!--


s: MIRT.  This way she came, and this way too she went;


s: How each thing smells divinely redolent!


s: Like to a field of beans, when newly blown,


s: MIRT.  In dewy mornings, when she came this way,


s: Sweet bents would bow, to give my Love the day;


s: And when at night she folded had her sheep,


s: Daisies would shut, and closing, sigh and weep.


s: Besides (Ai me!) since she went hence to dwell,


s: The Voice's Daughter ne'er spake syllable.


s: But she is gone.  SIL.  Mirtillo, tell us whither?


s: MIRT.  Where she and I shall never meet together.


s: MON.  Fore-fend it, Pan!  and Pales, do thou please


s: To give an end...  MIRT.  To what?  SIL.  Such griefs


s: MIRT.  Never, O never!  Still I may endure


s: MON.  Love, for thy sake, will bring her to these hills


s: And dales again.  MIRT.  No, I will languish still;


s: And all the while my part shall be to weep;


s: And with my sighs call home my bleating sheep;


s: I'll carve thy name, and in that name kiss thee.


s: MON.  Set with the sun, thy woes!  SIL.  The day


s: And time it is our full-fed flocks to fold.


s: CHOR.  The shades grow great; but greater grows


s: The love-spent youth, and love-sick maid,


s: Girt with small bones, instead of walls.


s: I could not speak the saints here painted.


s: Who 'gainst Mab's state placed here right is.


s: Saint Will o' th' Wisp, of no great bigness,


s: 'Pure hands bring hither, without stain.'


s: A second pules, 'Hence, hence, profane!'


s: Graced with the trout-flies' curious wings,


s: Hatch'd with the silver-light of snails,


s: They have their ash-pans and their brooms,


s: And since the last is dead, there's hope


s: Their beads of nits, bells, books, and wax-


s: Dry chips, old shoes, rags, grease, and bones,


s: And for what use, scarce man would think it.


s: Whose foot-pace he doth stroke and kiss,


s: And by the glow-worm's light well guided,


s: The elves present, to quench his thirst,


s: But beards of mice, a newt's stew'd thigh,


s: With wither'd cherries, mandrakes' ears,


s: Moles' eyes:  to these the slain stag's tears;


s: Ne'er ravish'd from the flattering vine,


s: His blood to height; this done, commended


s: Grace by his priest; The feast is ended.


s: So Good-Luck came, and on my roof did light,


s: Like noiseless snow, or as the dew of night;


s: Not all at once, but gently,--as the trees


s: Are by the sun-beams, tickled by degrees.


s: From the dull confines of the drooping west,


s: To see the day spring from the pregnant east,


s: Ravish'd in spirit, I come, nay more, I fly


s: Thus, thus with hallow'd foot I touch the ground,


s: With thousand blessings by thy fortune crown'd.


s: O place!  O people!  manners!  framed to please


s: All nations, customs, kindreds, languages!


s: London my home is; though by hard fate sent


s: Yet since call'd back, henceforward let me be,


s: For, rather than I'll to the west return,


s: I'll beg of thee first here to have mine urn.


s: Weak I am grown, and must in short time fall;


s: Out-did the meat, out-did the frolic wine.


s: Of such a wit the world should have no more.


s: Come then, and like two doves with silvery wings,


s: Let our souls fly to th' shades, wherever springs


s: Sit smiling in the meads; where balm and oil,


s: Roses and cassia, crown the untill'd soil;


s: Where no disease reigns, or infection comes


s: To blast the air, but amber-gris and gums.


s: This, that, and ev'ry thicket doth transpire


s: More sweet than storax from the hallow'd fire;


s: Of fragrant apples, blushing plums, or pears;


s: And all the shrubs, with sparkling spangles, shew


s: Like morning sun-shine, tinselling the dew.


s: Purfling the margents, while perpetual day


s: So double-gilds the air, as that no night


s: Here naked younglings, handsome striplings, run


s: Their goals for virgins' kisses; which when done,


s: Then unto dancing forth the learned round


s: Commix'd they meet, with endless roses crown'd.


s: And here we'll sit on primrose-banks, and see


s: Love's chorus led by Cupid; and we'll he


s: Two loving followers too unto the grove,


s: Where poets sing the stories of our love.


s: There thou shalt hear divine Musaeus sing


s: Thee to the stand, where honour'd Homer reads


s: About whose throne the crowd of poets throng


s: To Linus, then to Pindar; and that done,


s: Quaffing his full-crown'd bowls of burning wine,


s: And in his raptures speaking lines of thine,


s: Besmear'd with grapes,--welcome he shall thee thither,


s: Where both may rage, both drink and dance together.


s: With ivory wrists his laureat head, and steeps


s: His eye in dew of kisses while he sleeps.


s: Then soft Catullus, sharp-fang'd Martial,


s: And snaky Persius; these, and those whom rage,


s: Dropt for the jars of heaven, fill'd, t' engage


s: All times unto their frenzies; thou shalt there


s: Among which glories, crown'd with sacred bays


s: And flatt'ring ivy, two recite their plays,


s: Beaumont and Fletcher, swans, to whom all ears


s: Listen, while they, like sirens in their spheres,


s: Sing their Evadne; and still more for thee


s: There yet remains to know than thou canst see


s: And there I'll shew thee that capacious room


s: In which thy father, Jonson, now is placed


s: As in a globe of radiant fire, and graced


s: To be in that orb crown'd, that doth include


s: And he one chief.  But hark!  I hear the cock,


s: The bell-man of the night, proclaim the clock


s: Of late struck One; and now I see the prime


s: Of day break from the pregnant east:--'tis time


s: To sup with thee thou didst me home invite,


s: Should meet and tire, on such lautitious meat,


s: And richer wine would'st give to me, thy guest,


s: Than Roman Sylla pour'd out at his feast.


s: I came, 'tis true, and look'd for fowl of price,


s: Of maidens-blush, commix'd with jessamine.


s: Clean was the hearth, the mantle larded jet,


s: Which, wanting Lar and smoke, hung weeping wet;


s: At last i' th' noon of winter, did appear


s: A ragg'd soused neats-foot, with sick vinegar;


s: At which amazed, and pond'ring on the food,


s: How cold it was, and how it chill'd my blood,


s: I curst the master, and I damn'd the souce,


s: And swore I'd got the ague of the house.


s: --Well, when to eat thou dost me next desire,


s: I'll bring a fever, since thou keep'st no fire.


s: Thrice, and above, blest, my soul's half, art thou,


s: Could'st leave the city, for exchange, to see


s: And it to know and practise, with intent


s: The last is but the least; the first doth tell


s: And both are known to thee, who now canst live


s: Justice to soon-pleased nature, and to show


s: And keep one centre; This with that conspires


s: And know that riches have their proper stint


s: And canst instruct that those who have the itch


s: These things thou knows't to th' height, and dost prevent


s: With that Heaven gave thee with a wary hand,


s: Keeping the barking stomach wisely quiet,


s: But that which most makes sweet thy country life,


s: Whom, stars consenting with thy fate, thou hast


s: By whose warm side thou dost securely sleep,


s: With those deeds done by day, which ne'er affright


s: The damask'd meadows and the pebbly streams


s: The purling springs, groves, birds, and well weaved bowers,


s: Present their shapes, while fantasy discloses


s: Then dream, ye hear the lamb by many a bleat


s: While Faunus in the vision comes, to keep


s: With thousand such enchanting dreams, that meet


s: Nor call these figures so thy rest endear,


s: Warns the last watch;--but with the dawn dost rise


s: Making thy peace with Heaven for some late fault,


s: Which done, thy painful thumb this sentence tells us,


s: 'Jove for our labour all things sells us.'


s: Th' industrious merchant has, who for to find


s: And back again, tortured with fears, doth fly,


s: But thou at home, blest with securest ease,


s: Sitt'st, and believ'st that there be seas,


s: And watery dangers; while thy whiter hap


s: And viewing them with a more safe survey,


s: 'A heart thrice walled with oak and brass, that man


s: But thou at home, without or tide or gale,


s: Seeing those painted countries, and so guess


s: And from thy compass taking small advice,


s: Nor are thine ears so deaf but thou canst hear,


s: Fame tell of states, of countries, courts, and kings,


s: When of these truths thy happier knowledge lies


s: And when thou hear'st by that too true report,


s: Thy pious wishes are, though thou not there,


s: But thou liv'st fearless; and thy face ne'er shows


s: But with thy equal thoughts, prepared dost stand


s: Nor car'st which comes the first, the foul or fair:--


s: And like a surly oak with storms perplex'd


s: Grows still the stronger, strongly vex'd.


s: Be so, bold Spirit; stand centre-like, unmoved;


s: Who keep'st no proud mouth for delicious cates;


s: Canst, and unurged, forsake that larded fare,


s: To taste boil'd nettles, coleworts, beets, and eat


s: These, and sour herbs, as dainty meat:--


s: While soft opinion makes thy Genius say,


s: Nor is it that thou keep'st this stricter size


s: To numb the sense of dearth, which, should sin haste it,


s: Thou might'st but only see't, not taste it;


s: Yet can thy humble roof maintain a quire


s: And the brisk mouse may feast herself with crumbs,


s: --And thus thy little well-kept stock doth prove,


s: Nor art thou so close-handed, but canst spend,


s: As well as spare; still conning o'er this theme,


s: Ordaining that thy small stock find no breach,


s: But to live round, and close, and wisely true


s: There to disport your selves with golden measure;


s: Live, and live blest; thrice happy pair; let breath,


s: And as there is one love, one faith, one troth,


s: Till when, in such assurance live, ye may


s: Of thrice-boil'd worts, or third-day's fish,


s: One that should drop his beads for thee.


s: Thy faithful fields to yield thee grain,


s: Then, while fates suffer, live thou free,


s: To strut thy barns with sheaves of wheat.


s: --Then live we mirthful while we should,


s: For brave comportment, wit without offence,


s: Who with thine own eyes read'st what we do write,


s: And giv'st our numbers euphony and weight;


s: Tell'st when a verse springs high; how understood


s: Lines have, or should have, thou the best can show:--


s: For which, my Charles, it is my pride to be,


s: Not so much known, as to be loved of thee:--


s: Long may I live so, and my wreath of bays


s: Be less another's laurel, than thy praise.


s: To read by th' stars the kingdom's sick;


s: Of twelf-tide cakes, of pease and beans,


s: And cry out, 'Hey for our town green!'--


s: Of these, and such like things, for shift,


s: Quite through the young maids and the men,


s: Sit crown'd with rose-buds, and carouse,


s: The year, your cares, that's fled and gone:


s: And thus throughout, with Christmas plays,


s: Of lyric wine, both swell'd and crown'd,


s: --Come then, brave Knight, and see the cell


s: Till I shall come again, let this suffice,


s: To thee, thy lady, younglings, and as far


s: To the worn threshold, porch, hall, parlour, kitchen,


s: The wholesome savour of thy mighty chines,


s: Where laden spits, warp'd with large ribs of beef,


s: To the lank stranger and the sour swain,


s: For no black-bearded Vigil from thy door


s: But from thy warm love-hatching gates, each may


s: To sun his thin-clad members, if he likes;


s: No comer to thy roof his guest-rite wants;


s: Or, staying there, is scourged with taunts


s: Of some rough groom, who, yirk'd with corns, says, 'Sir,


s: 'And with our broth and bread and bits, Sir friend,


s: 'Two days you've larded here; a third, ye know,


s: 'Makes guests and fish smell strong; pray go


s: 'You to some other chimney, and there take


s: 'Manners knows distance, and a man unrude


s: 'His stomach to a second meal.'--No, no,


s: Thy house, well fed and taught, can show


s: No such crabb'd vizard:  Thou hast learnt thy train


s: And by the arms-full, with a breast unhid,


s: When either's heart, and either's hand did strive


s: Thou dost redeem those times:  and what was lost


s: It keeps a growth in thee, and so will run


s: Thus, like a Roman Tribune, thou thy gate


s: Which fain would waste upon thy cates, but that


s: Best and more suppling piece he cuts, and by


s: A hand too desp'rate, or a knife that bites


s: No, no, thy bread, thy wine, thy jocund beer


s: Jove, joy'st when guests make their abode


s: To eat thy bullocks thighs, thy veals, thy fat


s: The pheasant, partridge, gotwit, reeve, ruff, rail,


s: These, and thy choicest viands, do extend


s: Of thy glad table; not a dish more known


s: And spring fresh rose-buds, while the salt, the wit,


s: While Reverence, waiting at the bashful board,


s: But temp'rate mirth dealt forth, and so discreet-


s: And adds perfumes unto the wine, which thou


s: By cruse and measure; thus devoting wine,


s: But with that wisdom and that method, as


s: Drinks of distemper, or has cause to cry


s: No, thou know'st orders, ethics, and hast read


s: A house-dance neatly, and canst truly show


s: Forward or backward, side-ward, and what pace


s: What gesture, courtship, comeliness agrees,


s: To give subsistence to thy house, and proof


s: Goodness and greatness, not the oaken piles;


s: For these, and marbles have their whiles


s: To last, but not their ever; virtue's hand


s: It is which builds 'gainst fate to stand.


s: Such is thy house, whose firm foundations trust


s: Or depth; these last may yield, and yearly shrink,


s: And well-laid bottom, on the iron and rock,


s: Which tries, and counter-stands the shock


s: And large she spreads by dust and sweat.


s: Safe stand thy walls, and thee, and so both will,


s: Since neither's height was raised by th'ill


s: Of others; since no stud, no stone, no piece


s: No orphan's pittance, left him, served to set


s: For which their cries might beat against thine ears,


s: No plank from hallow'd altar does appeal


s: A curse to thee, or thine; but all things even


s: This is that princely Pemberton, who can


s: And when wise poets shall search out to see


s: All things decay with time:  The forest sees


s: The growth and down-fall of her aged trees;


s: That timber tall, which three-score lustres stood


s: The proud dictator of the state-like wood,


s: I mean the sovereign of all plants, the oak,


s: Droops, dies, and falls without the cleaver's stroke.


s: Life of my life, take not so soon thy flight,


s: But stay the time till we have bade good-night.


s: Thou hast both wind and tide with thee; thy way


s: As soon dispatch'd is by the night as day.


s: Till we have wept, kiss'd, sigh'd, shook hands, or so.


s: There's pain in parting, and a kind of hell


s: When once true lovers take their last farewell.


s: What? shall we two our endless leaves take here


s: He knows not love that hath not this truth proved,


s: Love is most loth to leave the thing beloved.


s: Pay we our vows and go; yet when we part,


s: Then, even then, I will bequeath my heart


s: Into thy loving hands; for I'll keep none


s: To warm my breast, when thou, my pulse, art gone,


s: No, here I'll last, and walk, a harmless shade,


s: About this urn, wherein thy dust is laid,


s: To guard it so, as nothing here shall be


s: Heavy, to hurt those sacred seeds of thee.


s: The pleasing wife, the house, the ground


s: Looks forward, scorns what's left behind;


s: Let's live, my Wickes, then, while we may,


s: We've seen the past best times, and these


s: Wash'd o'er 's, to tell what change is near;


s: Which, sweetly spiced, we'll first carouse


s: Then the next health to friends of mine.


s: From th' embers than the kitling's eyne,


s: Dull to myself, and almost dead to these,


s: Lost to all music now, since every thing


s: Puts on the semblance here of sorrowing.


s: Sick is the land to th' heart; and doth endure


s: More dangerous faintings by her desperate cure.


s: But if that golden age would come again,


s: And Charles here rule, as he before did reign;


s: If smooth and unperplex'd the seasons were,