A = A^ = ^=^ cz ^ ^^ J3 m ID 3 = 8 = 6 ^ = CD 7 = 9 ^ 9 - ^^ ^ 1 ^^ mm THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES t^c I o 1 Australian ) (Songs and j oe/\a.s BY Frederick Sydney Wilson, js YDNEY ; C'.IBBS, SHALLARD, S: CO., PRINTERS & PUBLISHERS, io3 Pitt Street, next Union Bank. 1S70. TO THE PEOPLK OF AUSTRALIA, THIS COLLECTION OF FIRST EFFORTS IS DEDICATED. AN AUSTRALIAN. ,/. ^/ / C^;///vh.-' ''-'^■ Sydney, ^'•'^ '' March, 1870. 1 6S20i>0 Contents. C 1 1 K I S TM A S POEMS ;— FivK Thousand Leagues Away. The Old Year and the New . FivK \'kar.s Ago LAVS OF H.LAWARRA :— Ti.i.awarra ... Com 1 NO EvENT-s Ja.mheroo Thk UkaCH Ol'- WOLLONGONG Terrara Gerringong POEMS OF 11 1 1'. AUSTRALIAN BUSH :- Lost in the Bush The Mouniain Moss Spring II 17 21 26 32 36 41 47 50 65 69 CONTENTS. POEMS OF THE AUSTRALIAN BUS H — continued : — Waiting for the Mail 73 Arakoon 77 Sunset in the Forest 84 Such is the Way of the World... 88 SEA-SIDE LYRICS :— Floating Away 95 St. Valentine's Eve 98 Under the Cliffs 103 Voices from the Sea 109 Footprints in the Sand... , ... 114 BoNDi 117 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS :— Old Memories 125 Drowned 130 The Stranded Boat 134 Two AU.STR,VLIAN PICTURES ... 138 Shadows on the Wall 147 CONTENTS. 7 PAGE. MISCELLANEOUS rOEMS—co>i//>uu-d:— Advance Australia 151 God Bless Our Sailor Trince ... 156 Coming Down the River , 161 SONGS AND BALLADS :— The Australian Stockman's Song 167 There's No Such Word as Fail ... 170 The Cricket on the Hearth ... 173 Her Memory Lingers Yet .. 176 Think df Me ! 179 Only of Thee, Love! 181 Stars of Heaven 184 Beside THE Garden Gate 186 FRAGMENTS FROM "KIANDRA":— Ninety-five I)ay.s Out 191 Morning in the Australian Alps 198 Cljrbtmas ^0cm^, A CHRISTMAS LYRIC. Like the low sweet voice of a wandering tide that returns to its own loved shore, The waves of Memory flood my heart with a dream of the days of yore ; My brain is filled with a pleasant song— a ballad of bygone times — Again I hear the old church bells ringing their Christmas chimes ! Ringing the chimes, while the circling rooks are floating about the spires. And the outside snow is all aglow with the gleam of cottage fires — 12 FIVE THOUSAND LEAGUES AWAY. My lips are moved with a thankful prayer — " God's blessing on the day That links my heart to the absent ones Five thousand leagues away !" Yes ! — this is the happy Christmas-time ; and yet how strange it seems ! The crimson flush on the flowering brush — the flame on the splendid streams ! The sun's bold glance — the mirage-dance of the bright Australian noon As the warm-breath'd breeze just stirs the trees that girdle the broad lagoon. Still as I gaze on the blooms that fringe the wild creek's sunny flo^v, FIVE THOUSAND LEAGUES AWAY. 1 3 I think effaces far away wliere the fields are white with snow ! And wonder and weep — *' Will their memories keep, 'Mid the mirth of this gladsome day, A sacred place for an absent face Five thousand leagues away !" Again I see the old elm-tree, with its branches bleak and bare — And the rustic seat where lovers meet — yes ! lovers and seat are there ! And I fancy I know that arch bright smile — the turn of the glittering curl That hangs (like the spray of a fruitful vine) on the neck of a lovely girl ! T4 FIVE THOUSAND LEAGUES AWAY. And the sterner face, above her bent, is Ht with a softer hght As her voice falls low like a wavelet's song when sunset fades to night, And they list to the merry Christmas chimes And laugh ! — ah ! well-a-day ! Does she ever think of a changeless face Five thousand leagues away ! The snow may rest in last year's nest that hangs on the hazel copse — But the birds will flit through the boughs, and sit again in the rocking tops, Tho' the cottage eaves are lone, and miss the flash of a welcome wing. FIVE THOUSAND LEAGUES AWAY. 1 5 We know the swallows will come again with the sunshine and the spring — And so, returned, an old old love in each true bosom swells, When the sad-sweet rhyme of an ancient time chimes in with the Christmas bells. Ah ! then their memories turn to me, And " God's blessing," still I pray, " On the eyes that dim when they think of him Five thousand leagues away." I know Life's time of golden ])rime — the beautiful time of yore — Has faded away, like a fallen star that will shine in heaven no more ! And I sometimes yearn to backward turn my steps, and a day redive. i6 FIVE THOUSAND LEAGUES AWAY. That my lips might sound the happy laugh that only a child can give ! But ah ! — 'tis vain, we can ne'er regain our Childhood's sand of gold — 'Tis well, as our bodies fade and fail, if our spirits grow not old ! That heart to heart in love may start With the bells of each Christmas day, " Lord, keep our memories green " for those Five thousand leagues away! ^()C ^Mt» year auL) the IJclij. Lonely and gloomily bells toll forth The dirge of the parting year ! Dying away with a wearisome moan — Like the low, sad wail of a sorrowful crone — They clang — clang — clang — with a deadened tone, Drearily on the ear ! Floating, and floating, away they roll, Now faint in the distance we hear them toll — Now in the clear Calm night draw near And multitudes follow a funeral bier 1 — The heart-sick and weary, the stricken and old— l8 THE OLD YEAR AND THE NEW. Youth, in its innocence, careless and bold ; The poor with his hunger — the rich with his gold- All gathered together — the young and the old— To bury the poor Old Year ! Bury him deep — Sound be his sleep ! Tears for the past on his coffin-lid weep ; And throw in the grave, with his care wrinkled crust. The grudges we bore 'gainst the honest and just — The festering hate, and the passionate lust — The deep love of gold — let them rotten and rust 1— Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust. Farewell ! thou poor Old Year. THE OLD YEAR AND THE NEW. IQ Cheerily — merrily — bells ring out A peal to the coming year ! Joyously — heartily ! — Hark how they chime! Telling of Peace in Australia's fair clime — And of happiness borne on the wings of Old Time, To banish each sorrowful tear ! Their silvery melody speaks of a life Gladden'd with goodness, unclouded by strife; While, bright and clear, Visions appear, Picturing all that Affection holds dear ! A loved one to love, when Adversity lours. Forming a rainl)o\v to brighten its showers, And strewing our paths with unwithering flowers — This be our glad New Year. May virtues unfold 20 THE OLD YEAR AND THE NEW. As our years grow old, And the dross and defilement be purged from our gold ! May our bosoms grow heavy with sympathy's sigh When we look on thegrief of a tear-moisten'd eye — And still, as the Night of our life hurries by, And the Morning that never shall end draws nigh- May this be our greeting — this be our cry : — Welcome ! thou Happy New Year. -r?#> v5- -> Here among the mountain-mosses, where the dazzling days of Youth Pass'd like splendid phantoms through the fairy halls of Love and Truth, I would rest me while my heart to dreams of bygone years returns, And my burning brow is buried in a leafy lap of ferns. ILLAWARRA. 29 On this lichen'd cedar log, beneath whose span the wild creek whirls, I have sat, and watch'd the landscape, latticed by the golden curls Showering, like mimosa-blooms, in scented streams about my breast. While a trustful cheek turned fondly upward from its pillow'd rest. Watch'd we then the purple vapours climbing Kembla's craggy cone — Like a robe of regal splendor round a rugged war-king thrown ! Here we linked the flying hours — heart in heart, and hand in hand — Listening to the far-off music of the meeting sea and land — Listening to the mellow tones that echoed from each pleasant word, 30 ILLAWARRA. Joining with the bell-hke chimings of the distant dingle-bird. Ah! I fain would feel that forehead nestling on my bosom now! Ah ! I would those curls were rippling like a cool wave on my brow! But the grey-green moss is growing where our names once interweaved, And the myrtle-bark is withered — like the face of one deceived! Lonely ! weary ! leaden-weighted, let the lag- ging hours go by — O the wealth of Love and beauty lost to earth when loved ones die! ILLAWARRA, 3 1 But though hearts have been divided, and the eyes with tears are wet, Illawarra is unaltered — here the freshness hngers yet ! Here the dayhght's broken briUiance blazons still the broad lagoon ; And the tassell'd maize and forest revel in the crimson noon : Here the grey and grand old mountains rear their kingly crowns of gold — Here the creeks in ancient channels wander as in times of old — Yet, to me, a solemn shadow travels o'er the sadden'd plain ; She, who trod the Vale of Darkness, never will return again. dTcmlng 6ticnts. The surges were kissing the crags of Kiama^ The mists of the morning hung heavy and still; And desolate sea-birds, with sorrowful clamor, Wheel'd over the crest of the wind-beaten hill. Solemnly murmured the voice of the billow Down in its darksome and weed-mantled cave. While a soft, sunny cheek made my bosom its pillow, And paled at the weariful wail of the wave ! COMING EVENTS. 33 Sadly the wind sang its deep-sounding chorus, Harshly the cavern re-echoed its roar ! \ And I said, as I thought of the clouds gloom- ing o'er us, "Coming events cast their shadows before !" Up from the depths of the ocean there trembled Ruby-like colors that flashed on the foam — So pure and so bright that their beauty re- sembled The love-smile that welcomes a wanderer home ! The glittering ringlets lay wreathed on my shoulder, Like gold-tinted buds of the wild wattle- tree; And my darling's dear voice, as I turned to behold her. 34 COMING EVENTS. Chimed softly and sweet with the song of the sea ! " Behold, love !" she whisper'd, " the blushes of morning Are gilding the heaven that arches us o'er; We see not the sun, but he heralds his dawning : 'Coming events cast their brightness be- fore!'" And thus, as we turned from the headland and wandered Down by the myrtle-trees fringing the beach, I thought of our sunbeams and shadows, and ponder'd How wisely the life-cup was mingled to each — COMING EVENTS. 35 How the storm that we fancy will shatter the flower, Only tinges its leaves with a livelier glow — How the rain-cloud that carries the pitiless shower Also bears in its bosom the beautiful bow ! And so, if we search for life's blessings, we'll find them, No matter how clouds of Adversity lour — The sunshine must surely be lurking behind them, If "coming events cast their shadows be- fore !" -/- lambcroo. '^ Underneath the waving forests, underneath the woodland shade, Watching where the wayward sunbeams thro' the wildwoods flash and fade; I am sitting, lonely-hearted, Avhere the ruddy noon-day burns, Where the wild and weird-like shadows wander o'er the wither'd ferns! Stern and rugged rise the ridges, where the scanty grasses creep. And the rude and rifted ranges guard the valley in its sleep ! JAMBEROO. 37 Where the clouds hang o'er the tree-tops, chnging round the mountain caves, Like the whiten'd foam of ocean resting on the shuddering waves. O the starry mosses cluster on the log where oft we sat Listening to the Minna Murra murm'ring doAvn the marshy flat ! Silence sleepeth in the valley, and the day- light's golden stain Glimmers on the rude-built cottage, shimmers on the window pane; And the vagrant winds steal softly thro' the peach-tree by the door, J^i Rustling like xke far-oft' music rippling on a sandy shore. 38 JAMBEROO. And they tell of pleasant faces, loving faces that we knew, When, in days gone by, we rambled on the hills of Jamberoo! And I see the misty Past, tho' darkened by a shrouding hand, As a wave-tossed vessel catches glimpses of the distant land! Do you still remember when we sat beneath the myrtle tree. And the future looked as glowing as a sun- illumined sea? When we sat upon this gnarly log, as I am sitting now. And the quiet stars peep'd down and quiver'd fondly on your brow? JAMBEROO. 39 Ah ! metliinks I still can faintly hear the song you used to sing, And my heart is yearning homewards, like a bird with wearied wing ! True, the wild-bird chaunts as sweetly, and the dews as gently fall, True, the rosebush bends with blossoms trail- ing o'er the broken wall ; And the bush-flowers fringe the margin of the reedy forest creek. As when last you stood beside them, with the health-glow on your cheek ! But, tho' trees are bending over, and the moss clings to the stone, Tho' the landscape smiles in beauty — now I feel I am alone ! Lonely — lonely — weary hearted ! sitting, as in years before, 40 JAMBEROO. List'ning to the Minna Murra moaning past the cottage door, List'ning to tlie muffled murmurs of the moun- tain music, strange, Sobbing like a frighten'd echo flying down the dusky range ! O, the spring-time gone for ever! O, the days too bright to last! O, the bitter, bitter Present ! O, the happy, happy Past! CIjc Deacb of Modoiuioug. -^^\ "Come! let me take your honest hand ! — I love its sturdy grasp, For many a year hath not unnerved or chilled its friendly clasp ! Its hearty pressure cheers my soul, and brings me, one by one, A host of bygone dreams, which flash like ripples in the sun. I see the good old happy time— I hear the dear old song That chimed in pleasant measure On the beach of Wollongong." 42 THE BEACH OF WOLLONGONG. "Ah! brother, since I grasped your hand my Hfe has been of change ; — Now bright, noAv black with shadowing clouds, like yonder mountain range; And darker than the heavy wave that rolls along the shore Is still the bitter gloom that hangs my cheer- less future o'er: For Love has proved a shallow name, Disguising foullest wrong. Since last we wandered side by side The beach of Wollongong. The sea-sand, drifting far and wide, has o'er the graveyard spread,* * Allusion is here made to the burial-ground, situated imme- diately behind Wollongong Beach, now almost hidden from ob- servation by drifting sands. THE BEACH OK WOLLONGONG. 43 And buries in its snowy folds the long-deserted dead; The salt spray tlies in foaming wreaths that on the mounds are thrown, Where lie the loved of former years, forgotten and alone : But I, upon whose ruddy cheek The healthful colors throng — "Why do I pace, as one forgot, The beach of Wollongong?" **0 banish these regrets, and let your thoughts be forward cast ; Believe — the Future holds a balm for all the stormy Past : The sun just bursting from a cloud outspreads a lovelier sheen, 44 THE BEACH OF WOLLONGONG. And never a rainbow shone on earth but rain- drops fell between ! The tones of love will sound again, And gently float along As when in bygone days we roamed The beach of WoUongong." "Ah! I have felt the heavy wheels of Fate above me roll, — The shaft of envy in my heart ^ — its iron in my soul; — Have learned how false the smile, the lips, the hearts of seeming friends — How little worth the glittering dream where hope and fancy blends : 'Twill form and flash in changeful shapes Not born to linger long; THE BEACH UK WOLLONGONG. 45 Then fade, as yon black cloud that fronts The beach of WoUongong." "As yon black cloud? — then turn your gaze across the ocean — look ! The sun is lighting all the page of Nature's glorious book ! Thus years will prove how deathless love Avhen heart to heart is joined, And Time will try the blackest lie that ever Slander coined : The face will wear its olden charm — The heart will breathe the song It sang in happier days, upon The beach of WoUongong. The brows which frowned will smile again to know your honest worth, 46 THE BEACH OF WOLLONGONG. And lips that curled may be the first to tell your praise to earth : For, like yon clouds, our darkest hour with ruddiest gold is lined, And time will bring the metal forth, and leave the dross behind. Then pierce with Faith's undoubting eye The veil where shadows throng; And life will beam like sunshine On the beach of WoUongong." (Ly or vara. A MOONLIGHT REVERIE. Like fluttering birds from their leaf-hidden nests, The pale stars beginneth to scatter; Shedding silvery charms on the shadowy mists That float around dark Coolangatta.* The river flows bright from its cliff-guarded source, Like Mercy illuming the brow of Remorse! — And ever it sings, as it speeds on its course, A love-song to sleeping Terrara! * Coolangatta is the native name of a lofty conical hill near the banks of the Shoalhaven. 48 TERRARA. And O ! with what guilty, yet rapturous bliss, It hurries away with its booty ! Betraying the flowers with a Judas-like kiss Whilst admiring their magical beauty ! The breath of tlie night-wind hath lingered and died Among the tall reeds by the dark water-side, But merrily onward the river doth glide Where mountains look down on Terrara ! The light of the cottage fires rises and sinks With a ruddy, yet glimmering quiver, On wattles that cling to the tide-fretted brink Bowing their heads to the river! The landscape sleeps on in a beautiful guise, Like a maiden who dreaming of Paradise lies ! And Love is down-glancing, with joy-beaming eyes, From his star-jewell'd halls, to Terrara! TERRARA. 49 O tliat Life's waters were always as calm As the moonbeam that plays on the river! O that Affection's encircling arms Were press'd to our bosoms for ever! O that its soul-thrilling, silvery touch Could imprint on each feature a joy-kindled flush, Bright as the rose-streaks that heavenward rush When morning approaches Terrara! "Lo! the daylight's glowing splendor branches o'er the reddening skies — Like the first fond dream of love awakening in a dear one's eyes ! And the morning winds are lowly singing in their lonely caves, Where the welcome light is weaving rare embroidery on the waves, — Lighting up the pointed crag-tops — twinkling on the starry spray — Resting on the tinted ripples creeping up the quiet bay. GERRINGONG. 5 I Let us walk the beach together— let me clasp this gentle hand While we watch the whisp'ring wavelets surg- ing up the golden sand, — While we listen to the breezes wandering o'er the laughing sea, Telling to the waves their love-tales— such a tale I'd tell to thee ! "Look upon the scene around us — hear the water's pleasant chime. And from emblems let us gather something of the future time — Something which, when cold and chilling snows of Age are round us cast, Will waken into glad remembrance sunny moments of the past! 52 GERRINGONG. Men have met with disappointments, and have watch'd their hopes depart, Till the blighted tendrils only clung around the ruin'd heart; And when thus they look on Nature with mistrustful, doubting eyes, They can find the rose's thorns, but know not where the fragrance lies. They may gather sordid treasures, but the precious, priceless gem Beauty sets on Nature's forehead, shines, but shines in vain for them ! But while life is bright before us shall we idly sit and mourn? Shall we spurn the flower because its charms are guarded by a thorn? No ! there's beauty — passing beauty — every- where on earth and sea, GERRINGONG. 53 ^\'hile that bosom beats so fondly — while those eyes but smile on me. "True, the flashing waves are brightest where the shallows lurk beneath — True, the hidden reef is ever crowned with a beauteous wreath ; — But tho' Ocean's smiles are fairest when they hide the treacherous sand, Surely I can never doubt the loving pressure of this hand? See yon wooded cliff where branches in a wild embrace enlock — Where the sunshine's gold and crimson mingle strangely on the rock, Till its presence seems to shed a blessing on the straggling moss : — 54 GERRINGONG. Surely tints like these can never hide beneath them worthless dross ! "I have walked in barren places, toiling on Life's thorny path — I have battled with the tempest in its wildest maddest wrath ! When the night bent o'er the sea and hush'd the sobbing waves to sleep, And from out the vessel's wake the pale light darted on the deep; When the moonlight glitter'd faintly, I have stood upon the deck Building hopes that time engulph'd, as billows hide a sunken wreck! Weaving in the loom of Fancy, pictures — changeful as the clouds — GERRINGONG. 55 Soft and dream-like, as the moonshine flick- ering on the trembling shrouds: Till a dull, delicious slumber hover'd o'er the wearied brain, And, thro' tears, glad visions sparkled — like stray sunbeams thro' the rain! "See! beneath us lies the hollow where the glassy waters sleep — Where the silver-tinted shell-fish thro' the purple sea-weeds creep ; Sea-flowers spread their pearly petals, waving in the lucent tide, And the crimson coral branches cling around the rocky side, Where the spray drops slow and sadly from the cliff's so stern and wild A 56 GERRINGONG. Gently as a mother's tears that flill upon a dying child ! O how sweetly peaceful seems the bosom of that mimic sea ! And as pure — believe me, dear one — is the love I bear for thee !" Thus I spake as on we wander'd, and the ripples kissed the strand, Where a flood of golden sunshine shimmer'd on the yellow sand ; Till I deem'd the sounding waters never sang so sweet a song Since the morn when first they trembled 'neath the cliffs of Gerringong ! GERRINGONG. 57 Years have pass'd, and Time hath planted deeper furrows on my brow — O the weary day ! how tardy creep the slug- gish moments now ! — Lo ! a dusky vapour travels from the moun- tain's darken'd caves, And the frenzied foam-spots si)attcr thickly on the surging waves ; For the timid light is lurking, lingering, in the lurid west, And the storm is wildly trampling on the ocean's tortured breast, Where the shrieking sea-birds to their cavern'd nests in terror flee And the ghastly cliffs are glaring fiercely out upon the sea ! 5^ GERRINGONG. O the weary waves so wildly wailing with their weird-like tones ! As their fretful tears are thrown, like scat- ter'd pearls upon the stones. O the purple billows bursting on the black and broken reef ! O the dreams as rudely shatter'd ! O the dreams as bright — as brief ! Hark ! the coming thunder mutters with a strangely boding sound, Echoing down the distant gully, like the baying of a hound ; And the misty clouds are drifting, where the glimmering lightnings shine — Ghastly shadows, wildly mingled — even such a life is mine ! GERRINGONG. 59 Would the tempest's hissing breath could dull the wounded spirit's smart ! — Would the rain's remorseful tears could wash remembrance from the heart ! Tell me not of warning voices whisp'ring of the coming storm — Sorrow — snake-like — loves to linger where the sunshine's wild and warm ! When I rear'd my cloud-wrought castles out on Fancy's flowery plain, Dreamt I of the shatter'd, crumbled, ruin'd hopes which now remain 'i Dreamt I, when I sat with her, and marked the love-light on her cheek — That the bliss was but as transient as the sea- wave's foamy streak 1 6o GERRINGONG. Fool — ay, worse than fool to trust her ! how I yielded 'neath her wiles — How I hugged my captive chains because they glitter'd in her smiles ! She ! — yet, no — I cannot blame her ; — when the bitter memories press — When my spirit fain would curse her, then my tongue but moves to bless ! And methinks one gentle accent, one forgiv- ing word of old, Could re-waken ancient feelings — feelings now so dull and cold ! Could rekindle vanish'd joys, which now the changeless Past enlocks — Joys that flash'd with fire as fickle as the foam on yonder rocks! But she will not turn to bless me; for the low sweet dream is o'er, GERRINGONG. 6 1 And the fancy-fashioned fabric fallen — ah ! — for evermore : Never — never — never ! may we sing again love's pleasant song — "Never!" — hark! the cold waves chiming 'neath the cliffs of Gerringong! otms ^ustralmiT ^xislj. '^7 ITost in the I'msb. "^-^(-i It lay upon the sand — a shrivelled thing, On which the sun in freakish humor slanted ; A lonesome crow above it flapped its wing, And o'er the dreary dead arequiem chanted. All in the rosy rain of summer beams, That fell in splendid showers, and changed and shifted, As (like bright vessels seen in fancy's dreams) Across the sea of sky white cloudlets drifted. 66 LOST IN THE BUSH. Some shreds of rag about the ruin hung, To show the ghastly thing had once been human ; And where the skin together scarcely clung The bright skull gleamed — the brow once kissed of woman ! A pair of stockman's boots, half filled with sand, A saddle, soiled of time and changeful weather, A blanket hid with fern, a glistening hand That held in death the rotten garb together. The other clutched a faded portrait-case — (Some girlish face by memory fondly cherished). No token of his name or boyhood's place — No scrap to tell us when or how he perish'd. I.CJST IN IHK lai.SH. 67 ****** * What time the sun its mocking rjuhance shed, Perhaps he died, those stony ridges climbing. Now a bright creek is tumbling o'er its bed, In heedless ears its music idly chiming! Too late it came — as sweet things often come I — As tears that on dead faces fall and glisten — As when long-lagging tones of kindness Iniin Their words to those wlio never more may listen. How many, who ha\e loved and looked in vain 68 LOST IN THE BUSH. O'er wint'ry fields, and when the bees were humming, Will watch and wait, and look and long again To hear the old familiar footsteps coming. How many ghost-like omens, one by one, Will toll their death-knells for the absent brother? And tears for this — perhaps her only son, Will wet the lashes of his widowed mother. Hn faith can never fade — her hope decay : Despair juay dull the edge of Friendship's sorrow ; But she (as wreck'd men watch for break of day) Awaits his coming with the coming morrow. ^fjc moimfaiii ^loss ^pvinig:. A blacken'd block of crumbling crag where grey-green lichens spread, Where the wild creek flows in a dream be- neath, and mists curl overhead; And boulders lie at the broken base where a scatter'd brilliance burns. And the log — from whence the dingo peeps And the timid iguana creeps — Is hid in a flush of ferns. 70 THE MOUNTAIN MOSS SPRING. One end hid in their feathery fronds, falHng with age apart — The other laid on a bubbhng spring, Hke a hand on a beating heart; Bridging the water's quiet sleep, and glass'd in its gleaming face, The old log spans the mossy pool, While its semblance rests where sha- dows cool With the sun-flakes interlace. I sit in a nook of the wild-wood bridge, and ponder the golden noon That flashes and flits in a splendid maze on the moss-lined lone lagoon, Where the wattle whirls its glorious curls from out of its tangled wreath, J III-: MOrNlAlX MOSS SPRING. 7 I And the yellow buds of its fragrant flowers Are floating to fall in drifting showers, Like tears, on the pool beneath. O wondrous peace ! that lurks at rest in the mountain's mossy cup, Where the wet fern droops to meet the kiss of the bubbles sparkling up; Where sun-tints, caught in a crimson net, on the glistening pebbles glow, And purple plumes, to the rocks that cling, .Are nodding their heads, and seem to sing With the waters, sweet and low ! 72 THE MOUNTAIN MOSS SPRING. O gentle peace ! — O wondrous calm ! — would I might own your sway, And the depths of my feverish heart be still, as the pool in its rocks of grey! For the wattle-blooms will come once more to mix with the summer fern — But the love that falls, like a golden bud, To wander at will on a wayward flood, Will never again return ! m^ ^^laiting for tbc gjail. Breaks a sun-streak through the casement — streams its glory on the floor, And the crisp and matted leafage rustles round the cottage door; Where the truant buds are climbinsr, Tapping on the glass, and chiming With the sounding burst of billows breaking on the shingly shore ! Watching by the open window where the starry blossoms cling — Listening to the weary song the weeping waters ever sing- 74 WAITING FOR THE MAIL. Sad and thoughtful, sits a maiden, For her peaceless breast is laden With the wish for news of one whose memory makes the tear-drop spring. So she watches where the sun is fading on a distant sail — Where the scattered sea-spray drifts and tosses in the summer gale, And her girlish heart is throbbing Like the cold wave's ceaseless sobbing: O ! for weary Youth and Beauty — waiting, waiting for the Mail. Let us track the steps so long'd-for, o'er the parched Australian plain — Mark the spot that heard the raving death- calls of his thirsty pain : WAITING rOK THK MAIL. 75 See the ironbark, unalter'd Sheds its leaves where footsteps fal- ter'd— Footfalls that shall never greet the watchful glance of Love again ! When wild dreams of brattling creeks thrust in his ears their phantom tones, Here he fell, and clutched tbr water at the burning sand and stones, Till the tortured spirit wrestled Forth its flight — then 'possums nestled In the branches, shyly wondering at the heap of brightening bones ! There he sleeps — and mouldering rags are wasting in the heated gale — WAITING FOR THE MAIL. 76 Peering from the drifting sand, they flutter forth a fearful tale. Love may watch and wait for ever, But the wish'd-for voice will never Tremble in the ear of her who watches — waiting for the Mail! g^ruhoon.* BRUSH SCENERY ON THE MACLEAY. Frighted night hath left her jewels clinging to eacli shivering bough, And the ruddy morn's reflection gildeth Ara- koon's dark brow — Skimmering over matted ferns, and streaming with its restless fires, On the glist'ning granite ranges — flickering on their rocky spires — Peering down some dark-faced crevice, where the sluggish waters glide, * Arakoon is the aboriginal name of a lofty hill at the mouth of the Macloav River. 78 ARAKOON. And the purple vapours hover round the cavern's dripping side ; Where the timorous grass-tree, trembhng, hangs above the fretted steep, Shudd'ring as it hears below it waters moan- ing in their sleep. Here the moistful mosses cluster on a fallen forest trunk, Where the sunshine, thro' the branches, to the dreamy earth has sunk : And the starr^'-blossomed creeper — feeding on the trunk's decay, Waves aloft its flowery crest, and triumphs in the light of day. See ! the quivering gold is dancing on the solemn dark-leaved pines, ARAKOON. 79 And the interwoven wood-buds glitter in their chain of vines. Arakoon ! the tree ferns revel in the clefts that gash thy sides, Creeping upward till the fog-wreath all their wild-wood beauty hides. But thy peak, with seer-like warning, ever points to realms above, Teaching with a voiceless fervor lessons of confiding love : Sitting in thy mateless sorrow with a tearless look of grief, Thrusting forth thy suppliant arms, and spurn- ing all the world beneath. I have stood where rock-chained waters struggled from their prison den, So ARAKOOIf. List'ning to the spirit-voices chanting down tlie distant glen — Syren-voices — air-drawn phantoms — trooping from their mountain hall, Luring on the thoughtless ripples to the foam- enshrouded fall. O ! the tide look'd so enchanting when its waves went singmg by; Blossoms sprang to kiss its bosom — tempted thus to kiss and die : And the river rushed delighted with the lovely freight it bore— Murmuring forth a gentle prelude to the tor- rent's dashing roar. And again I traced the waters stealing on by ferny banks, ARAKOON. 8 1 Where the spiry reeds were nodding as the wind crept through their ranks; And the clear translucent pools, unruffled by a passing breath, Slept in rocky hollows, silent as the surfless tide of death. Now I watch the moss-fringed lakelets drink- ing in the summer-shine — O their eyes, so bright and tearful, glancing fondly into minel — Now I follow, till the waters, blushing in the light of Noon, Steal, with soft and gentle murmurs, past the hill of Arakoon — ^^'here the rank and wayward grasses over rugged fissures stray 82 ARAKOON. Till their green and waving blades are silver'd by the salt sea spray. O the river's gleesome singing when it meets its friend — the sea! Waken's deep responsive music — bringeth many a joy to me! One by one the sunny sparkles, bubbling in the cup of Hope, Flash upon its ruddy surface — like the light on yonder slope ! Darting with a fearless vigor into Life's vast treasure-mine — Where the dross of vice lies festering — where the gems of beauty shine ! For, since man first drank of sorrow, Pleasure shares the world with pain — ARAKOON. 83 Breezes mingle with the tempest — sunshine follows after rain : Even tears of weeping darkness form the gems that grace the leaf, And the very wings of sorrow, flapping, cool the brow of Grief. > ■ ; J > ^ititsct in tijc J^orcst. The swamp-nurtured vapors are heavenward creeping, Like a treacherous band on the trail of a foe Where verdureless ranges, their weary watch keeping. Look jealously down on the gullies below : The night-owl's sad notes through the forest are knelling, The curlew sails o'er with a shuddering shriek; And, borne like a sigh on the night-wind, comes swelling SUNSET IX THE FOREST. 85 The low, smothered sob of the rain-swollen creek ! (^n the night-wind comes swelling Tlie low smothered sob of the rain- swollen creek ! Darkly and drearily — dusk-shadows, flying, Clamber the ridges where fog-wreaths are curled — Dusky and dreamy — the daylight is dying — Wasting away from the desolate world ! The yellow light shimmers on rude mountain ledges — O! that a love-glance so tender and bright Should smile on the clouds and illumine their edges, Then leave them enclasped in the dark arms of Night'. 86 SUNSET IN THE FOREST. Illumine their edges, Then leave them enclasped in the dark arms of Night! Rifted and shattered, the rugged clouds scatter — Paler the flush on the western sky burns; Slowly and sadly the heavy drops patter. Falling like tears on the feathery ferns. But far in the east, over storm-splintered ridges, All heart-full of love comes the beautiful moon, To silver the sedge — where the fallen log bridges The deep solemn sleep of the quiet lagoon ! The fallen log bridges The deep solemn sleep of the quiet lagoon. SUNSET IN THE FOREST. 87 And thus — in the wearisome path of existence, When friends, one by one, fall away from the gaze — As vessels grow dreamy and dim in the dis- tance Till tlieir masts seem to mingle and melt in the haze ! O ! then thy dear voice, like the song of a fairy, Seems filling the world with sweet music for me ! — One pale little flower can enliven the prairie — My life is enlivened by smiles, love, from thee! O for the happiness ! — O for the happiness centred in thee ! Such is Ibc Mm) nf ll;e MorliJ. I LAY where the forest was flhiging Its frowns on the summer-dyed earth, And the mountain creek gaily was singing A song to the scene of its birth; — Where it paced among pinnacles hoary, With a soft and melodious tread — Tlien flash'd in its sun-dazzled glory — A tangled but silvery thread. And yet its pure waters seemed lonely, Attracting no worshipping throng; For the love-tale which greeted it only Was the dingle-bird's eloquent song. THK WAV OK TUF. WORr.D. 89 Each reed that waved restlessly over, And bent o'er the verge of the creek, Turned away like a renegade lover, To press its slim leaves to my cheek. The dark casi/rinas'* o'er-arcliing, Look'd scornfully silent and still: But onward the river kept marching From its home to the forest-clad hill. Unheeding the scowl of the wildwood — For virtue is proof against fears — It sped like a vision of childhood, Enshrouded in sunshine and tears. And thus — like that chaste mountain torrent, So rich, yet so seemingly poor — The Swamp Oak {Castirirta Palliidosa.) 90 THE WAY OF THE WORT^D. Humble worth seemeth ever abhorrent, No matter how virtuously pure. It may lovingly sue for affection, But backward it ever is hurlVl, Beneath the harsh scowl of rejection — For such is the way of the world. A storm-splintered trunk was upflinging Its form in the summer-flushed air; And dark vines around it were clinging Like the tear-nourished weeds of despair. Its limbs bore no vocalists merr}', But painfully downwards did turn, As tho' they were yearning to bury Their sliame in the shadowy fern. The leaf-thwarted sunbeams were streaming Thro' the foliage grappling above; THE WAV OF THE WORM). 91 And on the pale bush blossoms gleaming Seem'd pressing a fond kiss of love. And then they resplendently floated Where a sluggish pool weed-mantled lay, And turn'd up its features — slime-bloated, To the gaze of the glorious day. Its surface was lit with a lustre That seem'd in its transient pride, To spurn the rich golden-plum'd cluster The wattles had shower'd at its side. But it courted the insects which hover'd And flashed in its radiant glow, And worshipp'd the beauty that cover'd The worthlessness hidden below. Like tliat stagnant pool, brightly reclining, And the frail borrowed brilliance it bore — 92 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. Wherever wealth's candle is shining, There are myriad moths who adore ! On folly's void meaningless features Let the impress of wealth be impearl'd- There are plenty will worship the creature- For such is the way of the world. ^^mmH^mmm) «>3 Q . ' © © « B & o ■ c! IB O O *? O O O 8 e cj - c^ cj ©tSi Jflouting ^ibun. Where the tremulous wave is upheaving To catch the last glance of the west, The summer-shine softly is weaving A robe for its Ijcautiful breast. The shivering brilliance is lying On the sails of the ships in the bay; But, like smiles from the lips of the dying, Its glory is wasting away ! Stealing a kiss from the fisherman's skiff As it darts from the arms of the shel- tering cliff, 9^ FLOATING AWAY. Where ti.e rock-shattered billows are moaning, as if For the foam-bubbles floating away ! O ! the heart-pulses quicken their throbbing, At thoughts of the voices of yore ; Recalled by the sorrowful sobbing Of the sea, as it beats on the shore. O ! it bears, in the song it is singing, A dream of that beautiful day When the heart, to the fond Present clinging, Never dreamt of the Future's decay ! When the days that we knew were all dazzle and gleam. Like the sunshine and shade of some fanciful dream, Till, like withered leaves dropt in a fast-flowing stream. Our life-blossoms floated awav ; II,0AT1N(; AWAV. 97 Since we sat 'neath yon headland together, And heard the sea's musical song ; Thro' Life's ever-varying weather We have drifted, and drifted along. \Vhen we watchM till the moonlight was sleep ing In the arms of the rock-girdled hay, And reck'd not of night-shadows creeping To darken the light of our day. O ! it may be a folly, but never a crime, To think with regret of that happiest time When the heart and its yearnings were both in their prime, Ere our boyhood's dreams lloated away ! '~^%.'S^^S '^'■^f/' -— >-»><-»<^- St. Valentine's Eve ! how my heart -pulses quiver For happy days gone, Hke a wave from the beach, When the whisper of winds, and the rush of the river, Awaken sweet memory's dreams into speech ! They bring back a tale of affection requited. They linger, like sun-streaks, reluctant to leave, And tell of the time when with feelings united ^Ve rambled the shore on St. Valentine's Eve ! ST. VALENTINES EVK. 99 Honey-birds loiter'd to suck at the wattle, And parrots Hashed forth witli their fea- thers of fire ! Where the leaf-broken hght was beginning to mottle A magical net-work on brushwood and briar. Down in the cedar-glen creepers were cling- ing, Tossing their shining bells, tender and sweet; ^\'lliIc the rustic of reeds, and the hidden creek's singing. Mingled their sounds with the fall of our feet ! And I thought that the star-blossoms shaking above me lOO ST. VAT.ENTINtS EVE. With crimson and green might a garland enweave ; But, with light on my path, and a loved one to love me, A brighter I wove on St. Valentine's Eve ! We turned from the bush-track that ran with the river, And led thro' the tea-tree scrub belting the strand ; Where footsteps made music that chimed with the shiver Of white-curling billows that surged o'er the sand. Softly the swamp-oak, in wild whispers wail- ing, Mutter'd its sorrows to her and to me ; ST. VALENTINES EVE. lOI While the ruddier glare of the daylight was paling, And a shadow crawled fortli, like a frown on the sea ! I'jui the darkest of clouds could not sorrow or sadden The light of my soul, for I said, " Shall I grieve, When love-glancing eyes turn to solace and gladden, And heart beats to heart on St. Valentine's Eve r Ah ! many a season has come and evanished Smce rock-pool and cavern awoke with our tread ! The laughter that cheer'd thcni for ever is banished, I02 ST. VALENTINES EVE. The eyes that look'd on them are faded and dead. The clustering vine may entangle its branches, And scatter its beautiful buds as before ; And the gurgle and gush, where the shallow- wave glances, Fall flute-like and faint on the ripple-worn shore. But I turn with a sigh of regret from the Pre- sent, And still to the sweet-bitter Past I would cleave ; For Memory's rainbow gleams softly and pleasant Thro' the sunshine and shade of St. Valen- tine's Eve ! En^n the (Tliffs. — <*=-«*<»»- Let u^ wander near the headland where the sluggish surges crawl, And the wayward waves are wildly clutching at the cavern'd wall ; Let us, hand in hand with Memory, watch the fisher's flashing skiff. Where the white sails spot the purple waters wailing 'neath the cliff — ■ Sobbing o'er the shining shingle, where the scanty grasses grow. And our names were rudely carved — ay ! more than twenty years ago. I04 UNDER THE CLIFFS. Warring winds and restless rainings stole like shadows up the strand, And the heaps of batter'd sea-wrack grovelled in the drifting sand ; So we found that storms had stained the stone where once we loved to trace Each well-known name, till grain by grain they faded from its faithless face ! Sit beside me, gentle sister — (more you never were to me) — Sit beside me now, and listen to the sadness of the sea ; While the waves are surging landward, and the beach is fringed with foam. Let the tides of fond affection flood and flow from heart to home. UNDER IHK CUFFS. I05 While the vines are swinging o'er us, and the soft winds flush your check, Let us revel in the future, and of days evan- ished speak. Do you still remember when we strolled adown the Ifafy lane, When the broken brilliance flitted through the branches bowed with rain, When your eyes were bright with passion, when your lips with love were warm, And your face was like the weather, half of sunshine, half of storm ? Ah ! I mind me how I pleaded that, our lives might interweave. Like the twininc; buds above us on that changeful sumn)er's eve ; Io6 UNDER THE CLIFFS. But with girlish pride you pouted, fearing to be quickly won ; And my hopes were dulled and dead in con- cert with the sinking sun. How you hinted of another, spoke with tears of " parting vows," Till my lids with anguish trembled, like the rain-drops on the boughs. So we parted. You, to grace the fueside of a favored swain — I, to fight alone and friendless, o\\ the world's great battle-plain. Time, that stern, yet kind, magician, waved his wand o'er fading year? : Rolling out their silver linklets — yours of love, and mine of tears ! UNDER TUK CLIFFS. 107 Summer eves before mc tin in all ilic ghul- some garb of yore, Like the welcome wash of waters on an old familiar shore : Thought Hies back to thouL^^lit, as vessels on the ocean-highways meet ; Memories greet, like well-known faces flash- ing lluough a crouilcd street. Many clays since then have luhl their num- bers forth with passing breath, Many nights have laid them down and slei)t the wakeless sleep of death ; And the loved and trusted witli the haj)py days of Spring have tlown, Leaving us, like mountain-sunmiits m the weary night, alone ! Io8 UNDER THE CLIFFS. I have panted for a touch no stranger's fingers could possess, I have fou2:lit in dreams to chitch the hand I now so fondly press ; I have felt, in strange wild visions, arms of old around me cast, the light that breaks upon me ! Truth find Love unite at last ! P^ 0\r.J '.-F-'J L ■ ^ ^ -id Doicco from tlje ^c;\. See ! the bashful shades are hiding, And the morning mist dividing, Sliows the 'frighted stream that tumbles Down the rocks that gird llie bay ; Where the waves are wild and foamy— And tlie headland, moist and loamy, Like an ancient ruin — crumbles. Lone and dreary, to decay ! O, the sea-bells, faintly chiming I O, the truant blushes rlim])ing. Where the stars look pale and wcar\, As thc)- close their chcamy eyes ! no VOICES FROM THE SEA. And the goklen rays are creeping Where the sun, in splendour sweeping, Like an eagle from his eyrie, Soareth to the ruddy skies. O, I love the changeful ocean ! And a kindred, strange emotion Cometh, as I gaze to seaward, Like a song of life to me ! Like a blind girl's fingers straying Over harp-strings, softly playing Fitful music, wild and wayward — Comelli voices from the sea ! Let us sit where mournful mosses Cluster on the rock that crosses O'er the valley, green and grassy, Stretching down to meet the waves ; VOICES FROM lllE SEA. ill Where they quiver, llush'd and gleamy, And a murmur soft and dreamy, Underneath the surface glassy, Gurgles in the slimy caves 1 O ye mourner, weary-hearted I Sighing for the long-departed ; Voices from the sea-waves v/hisper Songs of bygone years to thee ! How on sunny shores ye rambled, Where the laughing wavelets gamboU'd, And ye heard the loved one lisp her Tales of gladness Ijy the sea ! Where are all the vows we utter'd, As the restless sea-birds flutter'd. And the idle winds were rushing Past the ragged cliffs above ? 112 VOICES FROM THE SEA. Where are now the curls that shiver'd In the breeze — the lips that quiver'd, And the cheek with transport blushing, As we told our boyhood's love 1 O 'tis sweet, 'tis sweet to nourish Flowers of Love ! and as they flourish, Twine the blooming buds together — Leaf and tendril — round the heart ! But 'tis sad to see them perish, Watch the hopes we fain would cherish, In their beauty pine and wither. Feel them one by one depart ! Earthly bliss is transient only — O the bitter world, and lonely ! We have quaffed llic draught of gladness "\^'e may never taste again ! VOICES FROM THE SEA. I I3 i'"or tlic rosy ilrops arc scatter'd, For the very cup is shatter'tl, And the dreary shade of sadness Cometh ever in our train ! Mm ^footprints hi tijc ^mii). The headlands force their rifted peaks Through scanty garbs of green, Where muttering waves are spread before, And the white beach Hes between : The billows trail their surfy fringe Over the shining strand — Ever crooning a sweet refrain, They drift from shore and return again, Washing away with their sparkhng rain Our footprints from the sand ! KOOTI'RINTS IN THE SAND. I15 The fig-tree casts a pleasant shade On llic stragghng ferns below, And the tea-scrub lines the shadowy creek Where the sea-waves ebb antl How : The shells are crushed by a thiy foot, And I clasp a trustful hand ; While forward the flashing foam-streaks leap, Or slyly over the sand-bar creep, And, as we wander, the waters sweep Our footprints from the sand. O never a footstep trod the sand That beaches Life's sea-shore, But the waves of Death have hid the strand, And tlie much-loved marks it bore : The trace of the child who fled from the sea That wasted the crumbling land ; Il6 FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND. The steps of lovers skirting the bay, The feeble marks of the old and grey, The waters of Time have washed away Their footprints from the sand ! The shore we tread is a changeful one. And, heedless of prayer or vow, The tide of years will efface the marks We treasure with fondness now ; But ever we'll travel Life's ocean-side Lovingly hand in hand ; Then whether the ripple shall gently glide, Or the billow dash in its angry pride, O may they at once and together hide Our footprints in the sand ! ^lOubi. Softly moancth Bondi's waters in their jagged storm-wrought caves, Cowering from the ardent sunbeams blazon'd on the tinctured waves ; Far below the toppling cliffs, around their foam-clad feet they creep, Whisp'ring to their giant hearers records of the writhing deep. Then from out the dull recesses Rush they, as with fear oppress'd ; Fleeing from the coast's caresses, Back to Ocean's throbbing bre?sl ! Il8 BONDI. Mutter'd sounds of wrath come trembling from the sea-wave's curhng hps, As they snatch the pensile spray that from the darkling cavern drips ; Then again from shore retreating with a wild and timorous look, Till the deep lies half-unravell'd — Nature's undecipher'd book ! And the sea's dark floor, weed garnish'd, Glittering in the sunlight lies Like a palace pavement — burnished With the smile of tropic skies ! 1 have stood where lucid rock-pools glim- mer'd under Bondi's crags, Slumbering, like to sleeping infants, guarded by witch-featured hags ! ^Vhele the ciimson lincluied sea-flowers, twin- ing in a graceful wreath, BONDI. 119 Quiver'd o'er the gilded fretwork rairror'd on the rock beneath. O ! so peacefully they slumber'd, Pure as angel smiles of love — Guiding one, whose hours are number'd, To the mystic world above ! Thoughts come crowding as I linger gazing on the blue-robed main, T.ikc ihc vaguely-imaged pliantoms trooping thro' a madman's brain ; But tlic breath oi' recollection fast dissolves the shrouding screen, And the lustrous lamp of memory gleameth o'er life's fitful scene. Like yon wand'ring bird emerging From the ocean de[)lhs obscure — So across my mind come surging Visions beautiful and pure. I20 BOND!. And I see again before me one who shared each smile and tear, And methinks the silvery cadence of her gen- tle voice I hear, Feel her clinging on my bosom, and her warm breath fan my cheeks Soft as summer winds that rustle down mi- mosa-shadow'd creeks. She has gone — but memory ever Bids the lovely phantom rise : Death's cold shaft each heart may sever, But remembrance never dies ! Still I view the scene, and yet her fairy form before me flits — Oh, how strong the links of love that round our henrts nffcction knits ! I'.ONDI. 12 1 Never may each bright iUusion he eftixced from memory's page, Tho' the body lose its vigor, and the eye be dimm'd with age ! Still the scenes with love invested Come in garbs they ever wore — Restless as the billows crested, Thrown on Bondi's rugged shore ! p. ^^ - - - - - - - -."-^-ff \±1^: - r ^- - - - '^:^ (lMl) itUmorics. (i,i' As one who treads some towering mountain- ridge, Watches the wild creek winding thro' the stubble, As he who, halting on a river bridge, Scans w'ith an idle look each eddying bub- ble- So stand I, watching, as before my gaze Float forms and faces linked with days of childhood ; 126 OLD MEMORIES. Breaking like sunshine through the shifting haze That sadly drapes the beauty of the wild- wood. It needs no wizard's skill, no sorcerer's spell, To brighten tints by time and distance faded ; They rest in some neglected drawer, and dwell In withered flowers — in curls with ribbons braided : They peep and peer from unexpected nooks, Between the dusk and when the lamps are lighted ; They lurk in memories of words and looks, And often come, tho' welcome, uninvited. OLD MEMORTRS. I 27 'I'hcy build like birds beneath our household eaves, Braving the wintry winds that rave and wrestle ; And one sweet song, where love with love enweaves, Will start them forth from corners where they nestle ! As I stand here tlie shadows gather round. The sun's bright rim dips in a sea of glory The sea-winds croon, and mingled with tlieir sourud I hear the music of an old, old story. "^rhc pages of the volume that I bear, J.ink'd with a name whose eclio fondiv lingers, 128 OLD MEMORIES. Flutter and ripple, and a wisp of hair Twines like a golden serpent round my fingers. The yellow threads with sudden tears are wet — (When I am gone will others thus regret me?) And, bound with silk, are words of pearl m- let— " Never," tlie simple sentence runs, " for- get me !" Forget you ! when each wave that on the shore F;ills witli ;i murmur as of distant thunder, OLD MEMORIES. I 29 Forgets to roll with long-resounding roar Through yon wild gap that keeps the clitifs asunder. Yea, tho' my recollection then should fade, And time essay the golden chain to sever, Still, like a sound by far-off waters made, A faint refrain will whisper, " Never — never Jlrol\)neb. A RUSH of the rain-swollen river, A twirl of the treacherous tide — - A girl, with a sigh and a shiver, Peers over the dark water-side : She flits from the lamp's crimson glory, And shudders and shrinks from its light- A girl with a sorrowful story- Is miss'd from the fireside to-night ! She stands in the shadows, so lonely- In the tangle of cordage and spar ; DROWNED. J3I She watches the cloud-rifts, where only Looks down, on the sinner, a star. Steal on, past the glare of the city — A terrible secret you own, Oh, river ! Gaze, star, in your pity — You shine on the ripples alone ! To-morrow, a crowd will assemble To wonder, and whisper, and weep : Their words will fall softly, and tremble, As fearful of breaking her sleep ! They '11 carefully smooth out the tresses Now twined in her delicate hands ; 132 DROWNED. And straighten the arm that impresses Its form in the slime and the sands. That hand with its cold rigid fingers, The pressure of Friendship hath felt — Those limbs (where the lapping tide lingers) At the feet of a mother have knelt. Ah ! she had much of the merit That mingles, like gold, with our clay ; But the love that she yearned for in spirit Ebb'd, like a cold river, away. A mother will mourn for a daughter, A father will rave for his loss — The treasure has fled, and the water Will leave but tlie beautiful dross. DROWNED. 133 Rush on, then, oh, river ! in sorrow, Drearil) ovvv ihe drowned — Some one has gone, and to-morrow, Somebody here will be found ! ^f;c Stnmbcb Ibat. A RIVER-SIDE REVERIE. I STAND and watch the dayhght cast Its death-glance o'er the western range ; The crimson hghts are fading fast, The yellow splendours swiftly change. And, as I watch, my heart is filled With dreams of days that long have fled ; With smiles that linger yet, to gild The faces of the memoried dead ! I see the dull reflected glare That seems to mock the coppery sky ; THE STRANDED BOAT. 1 35 Where, glassy as a drowned man's stare, The outward tide slides slowly by. The crimson clutches crag and tree, And, crumbling, falls from leaf to leaf, Or gUnts upon the mimic sea That eddies round the headland reef The faithless waves have left the strand And rocks where beaded sea-plants cling ; And sadly o'er the bare brown sand Their lines the gaunt grey shadows fling. I mark them all — the wafted weeds Which idly down the river float ; The shell-grown stake, the briny reeds, Where rests the stranded fisher-boat, 136 THE STRANDED BOAT. Left of the waves that kissed its prow, And press'd with passion'd Hps its planks, It rests alone ! — deserted now By waters fondling far-off banks. O saddening eve ! O stranded boat ! Ye limn a lesson all may learn : Down Life's dusk stream how many float, Who never, never shall return ! Like bubbles on a rainy tide. In Time's bleak shades they disappear ; While, stranded by the river-side, We lie in niateless sorrow here. O lonely boat ! when sunbeams burn In broken fires from bough to bough, THE STRANDED BOAT. 1 37 Tlie truant waves will then return And i^lead forgiveness round thy prow ; But we ! — the storms of life may drift Their sandy wrecks to heap us o'er j But O for one sweet face to lift The cloud that glooms for evermore ! For one fond lip to press our own, One breath to mingle with our breath — When in the ear shall sound alone The ripples on the beach of Death I But vain the prayer — ^'e only see Some footprints fading from the shore, To hint the cheerless years to be. To mock the days that are no more ' S^too Australian Hif^wrcs. (a tribute to THffi MEMORY OF CAPT. COOK.) Scene I. — The Lauding of Captain Cook, 1770. Fiercely sang tlie white-lipped surges ; and the echoes of their thunder Fled among the ragged caverns glaring on the restless main ; And the craggy headlands, by the jealous waves, were kept asunder, Like the gulf which parts for ever friends who may not meet again. TWO AUSTRALIAN PK. TURKS. I V; But the nuiet bay, those clirts defended, sparkled in its splendour, Antl the surf-drops spread their silvery net- work o'er the dazzling sand — Where, like loving speeches, formed of ac- cents O so sweetly tender ! Came the pleasant sound of waters meet- ing witii the willing land. Shone the sun in noonday glory, while the white clouds hung between it And the earth, where light and shade in fond embraces seem'd to cling ; And a pleasing darkness fell athwart the scene, as if to screen it \\"nh a chastened beauty — like the shadow of an angel's wing. 140 TWO AUSTRALIAN PICTURES. From the gunyahs 'neath the headland, curled the smoke, in circles drifting Round the branches, where the gum-trees ghastly shadows downward threw On the water's glassy bosom, where the idle sun-streaks shifting, Mirror'd forth the dark-skinned native fish- ing in his bark canoe. Scarce a sound disturbed the silence — only when the wild-dog, creepmg Through the tangled thicket, roused the parrot's harsh discordant scream ; For the bays and beaches, in each other's arms, were fondly sleeping. And the i)ure Australian sky bent o'er the landscape's lovely dream. TWO AUSTRALIAN PICTURES. 14I Came a batter'd vessel thro' tlie liarbor-portal, and the rattle Of her web-like cordage mingled with the murmurs of the breeze ; While her strained and creaking timbers told of many a hard fought battle With the wild and warring tempests, wan- dering over weary seas. And her crew gazed from the bulwarks — but no hand, in love extended, Sought to give the grasp of friendship to the toiling way-worn band : No dear voice, in pleasant whispers, spoke of pain and jicril endctl, As the rusty cable grated, and the anchor pierced the sand. 142 TWO AUSTRALIAN PICIURES. No fond mother's grateful blessing hailed this " Wanderer of the Ocean" — No responsive feeling heightened beauty on a f:iir one's cheek ; And the land contained no manly heart that throbbed with wild emotion At the sight of dear Old England's standard floating at her peak. *But the jealous natives fled, their bosoms filled with fear and wonder — Only two, with patriotic love, remained to guard the strand ; * This was the actual reception of the great navigator, who thus describes the circumstance : — " As soon as we approached the rocks, two of the men came down upon them to dispute our landing, and the rest ran away. « * * They brandished their weapons, and seemed resolved to defend their coast to the uttermost, though they were but two, and we were forty. I could not but admire their courage." TWO AUSTRALIAN PICTURES. 1 43 And their fierce dissonant yells came wafted with the wild wave's thunder, As the gallant leader placed his foot upon the unknown land. Scene II. — Botany Bay, 1870. A century has passed — and merry footsteps twinkle on the sod ; But that hardy band of voyagers down a stranger path hath trod — Down a patlii whose mystic windings cross the Future's viewless plain, On whose waste the foot once planted never may return again. 144 TWO AUSTRALIAN PICTURES. True, the spot is little altered — Nature wears the look of yore, But the savage yell no longer echoes round the quiet shore. Where the wild man loved to urge his bark canoe amid the spray, NoAv a cloud of white-winged skiffs are dart- ing o'er the placid bay — Now the sound of pleasant voices comes like bells upon the ear. And the eager heart beats swifter as some loved one draweth near. O the tinted wings of Fancy ! — how they bear us to the skies, As we read our happy fate in glances shot from beaming eyes ! Whilst the youthful laugh re-echoes, as we wander hand in hand — IWO AUSTRALIAN PICTURES. 1 45 Full of music as the dccp-toncd fall of waves upon the sand ! But while Pleasure flies before us, let our thoughts be backward cast, Let our grateful memories turn the glorious pages of the Past ; Where the annals of our country to admiring eyes unfold All the simple faith and courage of those gal- lant men of old ! Shall we rear the marble pile to him, who, with his Cain-like frown, Thro' the blood-red field of battle wades to grasp a victor's crown I Shall we call him " great" whose fame is built on wretched captives' fears, And whose very triumphs float upon some ruined nation's tears 1 146 TWO AUSTRALIAN PICTURES. While we pass, as if unseen, the leader and his fearless band, Who brought those smiling angels — Peace and Commerce — to our native land 1 We may sound a thousand praises — we may tune a thousand songs — ■ But to hero- efforts better, deeper praise than this belongs ! E'en while they tremble on our lips, our words but live to pass away, And the stone which bears a hero's name must crumble to decay. But, my country, let us prove — while willing Memory backward darts — 77/(7/ f/w record of brave actions lives for ever in our hearts ! -Ar^^l Sbabotos oir fk MM. While years press on to their misty bourne, my soul to their shadow cHngs, As a sea-bird grasps at the passing wave that rolls beneath its wings ! For tho' the links of Memory's chain are dim with a thousand tears, My throbbing brain would fliin retain a glimpse of vanished years ! The mingled web that the Past enweaves, I would remember all ; Each sunbeam resting on the leaves, Each shadow on the wall ! 148 SHADOWS ON THE WALL. A garden wall — and twinkling buds in starry clusters shake ; • Where shivering shafts of golden light through bending branches break ; And the tinkling gush of laugh and shout thro' the merry greenwood darts, As Pleasure's fingers touch the chords that dwell in childish hearts ! O a vain, vain prayer from my bosom slips, * That ever I might recall The clustering curls and meeting lips Now shadowed on the wall ! A sea-washed wall that fronts the bay where ships their canvas furl, Where feathery foam-flakes fringe the beach, and surfy billows curl ; SHADOWS ON THE WALL. 1 49 There youthful hearts and loving lips renew their child-love's bond, And Mercy hides the wreck-strewn shore that stretches far beyond ! O, warm the love that fires his breast ! O, fair her tresses fall ! And a nestling head to a bosom prest Is shadowed on the wall ! A broken wall — the mossy stones with ivy fetters bound, Where the ghostly rays of moonlight rest upon the leafy ground ! Some years have passed, and they who tread those ferny paths have tried, And tested fond Affection's links to find them still abide ! 150 SHADOWS ON THE WALL. The light that shudders from above On wrinkling brows may fall ; But, O, a world of deathless love Is shadowed on the wall ! A cottage wall — where fire-gleams dance, and ruddy glares are thrown, And yet, a mocking, barren place, where my shadow rests — alone ! O heart ! to think of the joy that 7oas — of the gloom that still must l>t' / Of the whiten'd wall, and the lonely shade that ever is turned to me ! O summer sun, you may smile as bright, But never may you recall The dear dead face your gladsome light Once shadowed on the wall I §.bbanfc l^ustralhr. Advance, advance Australia ! The Peaceful and the Free ! The wide world holds no truer hearts than ours which beat for thee ! Reared where thy crested ridges lift their bold brows to the sky, Or where the wild creek ploughs thy sod, or brattles idly by — Nurtured beneath the flashing beams that gild thy girdling foam, Our inmost hearts still link witli thine the magic name of " home !" 152 ADVANCE AUSTRALIA. Still, still we hold Australia the dearest spot on earth, And prize above all boasted lands the coun- try of our birth ! Thy infant annals may not blaze with tales of battle deeds, To bid the cheek of Pity pale, and dim the eye that reads ; No cloud of carnage sheds upon thy fields its crimson rain, No steel-carved lays of savage strife thy peace- ful records stain. Thy free flag lifts its staiTy cross, and, scorn- ing class or clan, It loves to float above the head of every honest man. Ab\AXCK AUSTRALIA. 153 Pure as thine o\\ii unsullied skies long nia) it fondly wave Its folds around each true-born son, and l1(jui each traitor-knave ! The rose is twined for the dear Old Land our fathers call their own, And flowers for hue and fragrance famed have emblem'd many a throne ; But thou — our own Australia!— Queen of the Southern Sea ! A\'hat blooms shall l)ind thy glittering locks? what shall we wreathe for thcc ? We '11 twine the golden-tassel'd maize, the niyrllc. and the \ine, \\\[\\ treasures of the ripened wheat, and call the chaplet thine ! 154 ADVANCE AUSTRALIA. With prayers for all thy future good we'll place it on thy brow, And shout " Advance Australia !" and sing " God speed her plough !" Advance, advance Australia ! a meed of no- bler praise Than trumpet-notes of ruthless strife our loving lips shall raise. Born to restore the nations to a brotherhood of peace, To bind the wounds by Faction made — bid curse of creeds to cease ; To cause the failing fires of faith to brightly burn again, And feed the famished tribes of earth with thine abundant grain ! ADVANCE AUSTRALIA. 155 Such ever be thy children's aims where'er thy sunbeams fall, So shall " Advance Australia I" be a watch- word for us all ! JC^^I^S^^^^^^P^^^^I ^i^,^ @5^^^^^^^'^i 6oiJ bless our Sailor |1rinxc. AN AUSTRALIAN TRIBUTE. Marc/i, 1868. A CLOUD hath come over the light of our land, A gloom liath o'ershadowed its splendour ; And, like the low wailing of waves on the sand. Fall whispered tones — mournful and ten- der ; For warm hearts are filled with affectionate fears. And eyes— bright with hopes of youth's hap- piest years — GOD BLESS OUR SAILOR I'RINCE. 1 57 Now bear on their lashes the traces of tears, Bespeaking the grief of Australia ! The prayers of the aged — the shouts of the young — Intermingled with loving devotion ; And our hearts furnished words that our lips gladly sung, To welcome thee. Prince of the Ocean ! And some, as they looked on thee, thought of their Queen, As Memory traversed the distance between. And spoke of the Past — of the years that had been, Ere their lives had been link'd to Australia ! 158 GOD BLESS OUR SAILOR PRINCE. Prince Alfred ! — whose love for the sons of her land Hath won a young nation's affection ! Whose undoubting trust, and whose generous hand, Should have been, in themselves, thy pro- tection ; We knew how with love, in the far distant sea, The heart of Britannia was beating for thee ; But we knew that no kindred were truer than we Of the bright sunny clime of Australia ! There is grief in our souls that a traitorous foe Should have slept in the arms of our city ; GOD bLESS OUR SAILOR PRINCE. 159 There is joy in our innermost liearls that we know Our God hath looked down in His pity ! We shudder to think of the treacherous hand Whose deed hath wrought shame on an inno- cent land — For the waves never beat on a guardian strand More loyal than that of Australia I But ring forth your music, ye merry-toned bells, And tell to tlie nations our gladness — That He, who the sands of our lives surely tells, Hath changed to thanksgiving our sadness ! How the Angel of Mercy hath stooped from above, l6o GOD BLESS OUR SAILOR PRINCE. And sheltered his form with her bright wings of love, That the heart of a trusting Prince surely might prove He ne'er trusted in vain in Australia ! Coming tiolnn tjjc Jlibcr. -o-o»<00- CoMiNG down the river — when the wild-faced niglit is creeping o'er — When the wayward ripples chime like distant bells along the shore ; AN'here the matted trees are fondly bending o'er the waterside, And the dripping oars are faintly Hashing in the gurgling tide ! O, the shadows glance, and the green leaves dance, 1 62 COMING DOWN THE RIVER. Where the dying day-beams quiver ! And the parting song is borne along — And the stars above seem bright with love, As we float adown the river ! Coming — coming down the river — and the heart with love is light — Hark ! the merry laughter ringing thro' the deep'ning frown of night ! How the gentle love-notes linger, till their music fades away — As the dreamy echoes wander wildly o'er the sleeping bay ! And the song keeps time with the wavelet's chime, Where the shining moon-streaks shiver, O the cheek is light, and the eyes are bright. COMING DOWN THE RIVER. 1 63 And the faint refrain of the closing strain Comes softly down the river ! Coming — coming down the river — when the love-tale has been sung, And the old folks whisper of the gladsome dnys when they were young ! When the spirit's present pleasure banishes each vain regret. And the eager heart is fraught witli scenes w^e never may forget ! O the dark eyes shine, whilst a hand is in mine, And I thrill with its magical quiver ; And fond words slip from loving lips — And the oar in the glassy water dips, As we float ad own the river ! 164 COMING DOWN THE RIVER. Coming — coming down the river — when our hves are growing old — When the silvery dross of Age is mingling with our curls of gold ! When the dark and sunless waters, with their wild and weird-like speech, Bear us forth to leave us on the Future's mist-enshrouded beach ! May a gentle voice bid my heart rejoice That the spirit seeks its Giver ! May the same sweet song be borne along, Till my life shall stray as softly away As a ripple that fades from the river ! The sun peers o'er the wooded ridge, And through the forest dense, Its golden edge from the mountain ledge Looks down on the stockyard fence — Looks down, Looks down on the stockyard fence ! And dark creeks rusli thro' the tangled brush, Where shuddering shadows throng. Until they chime witii the rude rough rliyme Of the wild " goburra's" * song — * Gobu-n-a is the aboriginal name of the bird commonly known n Australia as the " Laughing Jackass." 1 68 THE AUSTRALIAN STOCK.MAn's SONG. Till they chime— Ha, ha ! Till they chime — Ha, ha ! With the wild " goburra's" song. The night owl to her home hath fled, To shun the glorious pomp Of the golden day, she speeds away To her nest in the tea-tree swamp — Away To her nest in the tea-tree swamp ! The dingo looks with a timid stare, As he stealthily prowls along. And his pattering feet in concert beat With the wild " gol)urra's " song — Till they beat — Ha, ha ! Till they beat— Ha, ha ! A\"ilh tlic wild "goburra's" song. THE AUS'JKAHAN STOCKMAn's SONG, I 69 O let them boast their city's wealth, Who toil in the dusty town — Give me the beam on the forest stream, And the range's dark-faced frown — The stream, And the range's dark -faced frown ! Where our steeds shall pass o'er the (iuiver- ing grass, And the crack of the sounding thong Shall bid the startled echoes join The wild " goburra's" song. Till they join — Ha, ha ! Till they join — Ha, ha ! The wild '' goburra's" song. ^.V^"^ ym " Cljcn's no sutb ^Eorb as Jfail" The brightest day may have a cloud Its golden tints to shade — Fair as it seems, the loveliest flower That earth can yield will fade. And thus in Life — it matters not How fair the morning dawns, Tis clouded o'er — its sweetest flow'r Is garnished still with thorns ! But o'er Life's troubles and its storms, If still you would prevail, Be this your watchword — this your cry — There's no such word as fail !" THERE S NO SUCH WORD AS PAH,. 171 Think not our lot in Life's decreed By fate, or fliiry elves — The joys or sorrows that we bear Are fashioned by ourselves ! Should we the burden heavy deem, Despair but makes it worse ; 'Tis ours to make the future prove A l)lessing — or a curse ! Then strive ! — and surely as the sun Returns to light the vale, So surely will experience prove " There's no such word as fail !" The very stars that for a time Are hidden from the gaze — Vs ineffectual as they seem. Still pierce the midnight haze ! 172 THERE S NO SUCH WORD AS FAIL. And, one by one appearing, plant Their standards in the skies, Till the dark dome is studded o'er With gems — like angel eyes ! Thus struggle on, when downward bow'd In life's tempestuous gale — And soon returning joys will prove " There's no such word as fail !" ^bc Criclict on tbc IJcurtlj. " Mine has been a liappy home, John ; and I love the cricket for its sake." — Charles Dickens. The firelight that sparkles in gladness, Shines bright on the window and wall ; Peeping out where the trees in their sadness Seem wrapped in a funeral pall : Their spectre-like branches are waving Aloft on the storm-ridden air, And the tempest-winds madly are raving, Like the death shrieks of one in despair ; But tho' the storm whistles without, John, Exulting in pitiless wrath — 174 THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH. There's a merry voice chirping within, John, 'Tis the cricket that sings on the hearth ! Chirp — chirp — chirp ! 'Tis the cricket that sings on the hearth ! When day-gleams o'er mountains are steahng. When darkly the night-shadows fall ; Its fairy-like tones, richly pealing, Seem breathing a welcome to all : The old room has echoed above it As it carolled in innocent glee. And O ! for its sweet song I love it, For it made my home happy to me ! And when I in terror have quail'd, John, 'Neath the cares that encompassed my path. There's a voice which to cheer me ne'er fail'd, John, THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH. 1 75 'Tis the cricket that sings on the hearth Chirp — chirp — chirp 'Tis the cricket that sings on the hearth ! Dcr gtcmorn lingers mi. ■^^^«- A SWEET song falls upon my heart, Like gentle rain on withering leaves — A song that never may depart With every thought enweaves ! It speaks of one whom Time endears, Of one who still my memory cheers, And whispers, " Calm each vain regret, For though thine eyes with tears are wet. Through every chance and change of years Her smile will linger yet !" And thus I treasure, day by day. The gentle face I loved so well ; HER MEMORY LINGERS YET. 177 When glances 6weet, and music gay, Would Fancy's fondest dreams dispel. But ah ! thro' life, my boyhood's queen I never, never can forget — For, like a star at midnight seen, Her memory lingers yet ! We loved, as only they can love Whose souls like twining buds enwreathe. When storm or sunshine rests above, And flowers or thorns beneath ! No cloud bedimmed Aftection's ray. Though darkness mingled with our day — For when by anxious cares beset, Love dried the cheek with sorrow wet, And, like the bow on Ocean's spray, It gilded each regret ! 178 HER MEMORY LINGERS YET i- And so we loved till envious Death Dissolved the bright enchanting spell ; And, fading 'neath his fatal breath, Alas ! my beauteous blossom fell ! Ah me ! the long, long years may roll — But still, as when in youth we met. Unchanged — unfading — in my soul Her memory lingers yet ! ^binh oi mc ! Think of me when twilight shadows Gather in the purple west, When the sunshine has departed, And the song-birds seek their nest ; When the wayward winds are vvhisp'ring Over fern and forest tree, Think that so each eve returning, Brings sweet memories, love, of thee ! Think of me ! Think of me when warring waters Roll their restless waves between ; \ i8o THINK OF jNIE. Stand upon the shore, and ponder All the joys that might have been ; Watch the wheeling gull's reflection Winging landward from the sea ; Think, that o'er life's weary ocean. So my thoughts fly back to thee ! Think of me ! €nh of Cbcc, Ifobf. Tho' Beauty to lure me her charms may dis- cover, And voices foil soft as the song of the sea, No pleadings of friendship, no smile of a lover. Can make my thoughts wander, my dear one, from thee ! For when the bright beams of the morning are breaking. When gently tlie dew-laden branches are shaking, AVhen the glories of day the fair earth are forsaking, 1 82 ONLY OF THEE, LOVE I think then of thee, darling, only of thee ! Only of thee ! Tho' love-glancing eyes may conspire to estrange me, And fair cheeks with rosier blushes may shine; No eye is so bright that its beauty can change me, Or wither a love that's as faithful as mine ! For others, to please thee, a false smile may borrow, Whose sunshine will fade 'neath the storms of to-morrow, But, dearest, believe me, in gladness or sorrow, My thoughts with affection turn only to thee ! Only to thee ! INLY OF THEE, LOVE. 1 83 There is not a form in existence so smiling, But Sorrow will leave on its beauty a trace; There is not a planet, the darkness beguiling, That ne'er had a cloudlet to shadow its face ! But only of thee, love, when Fortune smiles fairest, Only of thee when her blessings are rarest, My heart shall regard thee as nearest and dearest. My thoughts shall be ever, and only, of thee ! "^nly of thee ! stars of |)cubcn. The stars had lit their peaceful fires, And quivered on the wild creek's flow , The forest breezes tuned their lyres And breathed in murmurs, soft and low; Their gentle music sweetly fell- Then swiftly to the stars uprose, As if some tale of love 'twould tell To lull the tremblers to repose ! The envious clouds across the sky Their misty curtains quickly drew, STARS OK HEAVEN. 185 As if their malice to defy, The silvery stars still brighter grew ! " And tluis it is in life," I cried, " Man views with fear the tempest lour ; But 'tis when clouds his fame would hide, He shines still brighter than before !" Wf^\^f:Sl^'''^^fK!^:-'^'^''^'^W(.'^4 ^mm pyMmmmmmm 03 sr. ficsibc tijc 6arbcii 6a,tc. I linger'd near the garden gate One balmy summer's eve — Tho' Night drew on with rapid strides I Hnger'd, loth to leave ; For there beneath the cottage-porch, Hung with the clustering vine, A fair cheek on my bosom leant, A hand was lock'd in mine ! I told her we must parted be, Perchance for many years ; BESIDE THE GARDEN GATE. 1 87 But still our faith should never fail — (She answered with her tears.) Tho' Ocean's waves might roll between, Our love need not abate — I whisper'd, we should meet again Beside the garden gate ! Long years rolled on, and I return'd — The place was changed, 'tis true ; Among the forms that gather'd round, Full many a face seem'd new ; But there was one — remembered well — To welcome me did wait, With looks, Willi smiles, with heart unchang'd, Beside the garden gate ! Jfnigntcnts from (f (\ llhTubrii/' (AN EARLIER POEM.) ^^ /^-~nN/Cj\ /^^-~^^/0^ /^^?\N/©^ /^^^^^ ^j::^j:=fe^5?v>^^%(fa^^^y3-v^|sCF^Y;i^p^<^tf^^ |l'metn-fibc Dans ^')ut. 0>»<00- AcRoss the Ocean's heaving ])reast A sno\v-i)hmied sea-bird winged its way, And seemed to brave each briny wave That upwards hurl'd the tinted spray, Where billows — gorgeously arrayed, Flung back the golden smile of day. For as ujjon the sluggish deep The hallowed light of morn did stream, The \vaters wakened from their sleep, As starts a maiden in her dream, 192 NINETY-FIVE DAYS OUT. And through whose half-transparent vest The throbbings of the heart are seen ! The sea-breeze, hke the breath of love, Came sweeping o'er the speckled main, Now soaring to the skies above, Now, creeping o'er the liquid plain, The wave-born accents lingered like The harpings of a solemn strain ! A vessel glided, where the spray Around her cast a jewelled screen ; She stole — a bright ethereal fay ! Adown some fair enchanted scene— Or towered upon her ocean throne. Exalted like a Naiad queen ! NINETY-FIVE DAYS OUT. I93 Upon her deck two beings stood Flushed with the morning's crimson Hght, Gazing upon the bkie-robed flood With pearly sea-gems all bedight ! Then from them turned to a lone sea-bird, Winging afiir its restless flight. The one — a man of iron nerve, With features proud and sternly cast, The vivid gleaming of whose eye — Tho' brief — spoke strangely of the past, Like dull fires re-enkindled by The breathings of a sudden blast. And by his side a girlish form — Supported by his arm — reclined, As some frail plant its tendril arm Around a rugged oak will bind, 194 NINETY-FIVE DAYS OUT. And fondly garb its ancient friend Till their green locks are entertwined. Bright as those forms of loveliness Which we in sleep-wrought visions seek, She — like those transient phantoms shone As lovely — yet withal so meek ! While — rippling waves — the golden curls Stole softly down her sunny cheek. Still she was sad — recurring thoughts, (That vast, and oft unwelcome crowd !) Struck on her heart-strings, sorrow fraught. And drew forth music, wild and loud ; And a tear upon her lashes hung Like light upon a summer cloud. NINETY-FIVE DAYS OUT. 1 95 Tho' for a season, mortal joy From care may separated be, Still— like an isle-divided stream United ere it joins the sea — So, love and hate, so, smiles and tears. In human life commingled be ! Wild songs came wafted o'er her soul. As memory tuned the sweet refrain ; She strove to check its harpings, but Alas ! her strivings were in vain : She sought to burst the fetters— ah ! 'Twas then she felt how strontr the chain ! Darkly loom'd Night's sombre visage, Darkly frown'd she on tlie world, T96 NINETY-FIVE DAYS OUT. And her star-emblazoned standard O'er the ocean was unfurled ! While the daylight's dying struggle- Like the mist dispersed — upcurled. Softly moaned the sobbing waters 'Neath Australia's rock-bound shore, Singing gently, like a love-song, Sleeping nature, sailing o'er ! Then amid the wave-worn caverns Sighing with a solemn roar. Like some knight of ancient story, With a footstep soft as sleep ! Stealing past the frowning portals Of a tyrant's donjon keep ! So ])etween the Heads the vessel (Hided on the sobbing deep ! NINETY-FIVE DAYS OUT. 1 97 Glided like a mystic vision — O'er the water's surfless breast ; Then she furled her moonlit pinions Like a weary bird at rest : And the harbour's rippling wavelets Sang a welcome to their guest ! lorntng tit tijc g^iTstnTliaiT §.l|js. O'er the distant eastern mountains, Day hath pour'd her golden fountains, And the landscape dim is dreaming Like a picture vaguely drawn ; Where the sunbeams, swift advancing. O'er the rugged range are glancing, And in mellow kisses streaming On the lilushing cheek of morn ! Slowly comes the sunlight creeping, Where the night — cold tear-drops weeping- Lingers like a touch of sorrow Over Nature's slumljcring form ! MORNING IN THE AUSTRALIAN ALPS. 1 99 Comes— like Hope — Faith's brightest off- spring ! Like the tempest-conquering day-spring, Ushering in a glorious morrow, All the brighter for tlie storm. Upward speeding — never heeding \Vhere the vanquished night, receding, Gathers all its scatter'd forces In the gullies far below ; Upward springs the morn-beam shining, Round the misty crag-tops twining. Leaving, as it onward courses, On their [leaks a crimson glow. T'right as dreiims which nought embitters, Even so the sunlight glitters. 200 MORNING IN THE AUSTRALIAN ALPS. On the pendant dewy tear-drop, Stealing down the white gum's side ; Quivering hke the thought of duty In the kindhng eye of beauty, Or the trembhng costly ear-drop On the pale cheek of a bride ! Then, like souls who 've nobly striven, Soaring to the verge of Heaven, Down it throvvs its loving glances To the vap'rous plains beneath ; Where the creek's redundant bosom, Slyly tempts each purple blossom, Laughing, as it forth advances. From the night-fog's fading wreath ! Now among the reeds it gushes, Now across its rock bed rushes. MORNING IN THE AUSTRALIAN ALPS. 201 Singing with a joyous pleasure In llie growing light of day ; Snatching uj) the blossoms shower'd From mimosas, golden-flower'd, Hurrying with the stolen treasure Down into the valleys grey ! All is silent save the mellow Tinkle of the bell-bird— Yellow Stream the flist increasing day-gleams On the verdant sward below ; Now in gorgeous colours sparkling — Now in sombre shadows darkling — Evanescent as the day-dreams Which in slumber come and go ! On the verdure-mantled mountain, Shimmering on the gushing fountain, 202 MORNING IN THE AUSTRALIAN ALPS. Forth the red refulgence wanders On the granite peaks uphiui'd ; Surely skies were never lighter — Surely earth was never brighter, When, in all its pristine grandeur, Day first beam'd upon the world ! i^^i:u} Gibbs, Shallard, and Co., Printers, Pitt Street, Syiliicy. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 5nm-7,'69(N296B4) — C-120 PR383A. V^68774A I DO NOT REMOVE ''-^^'I^S BOOK O.RO= ^^TlBRARVflj^ Ik <» Ir a> \0 a 1^* — .orch Library OnwersitV R^^^' z 1