Whispering in Wattle -Boughs
by Adam Lindsay Gordon
OH, gaily sings the bird! and the wattle-boughs are stirred
And rustled by the scented breath of Spring;
Oh, the dreary wistful longing! Oh, the faces that are thronging!
Oh, the voices that are vaguely whispering!
Oh, tell me, father mine, ere the good ship crossed the brine,
On the gangway one mute handgrip we exchanged,
Do you, past the grave, employ, for your stubborn reckless boy,
Those petitions that in life were ne’er estranged?
Oh, tell me, sister dear—parting word and parting tear
Never passed between us: let me bear the blame—
Are you living, girl, or dead? bitter tears since then I’ve shed
For the lips that lisped with mine a mother’s name.
Oh, tell me, ancient friend, ever ready to defend
In our boyhood, at the base of life’s long hill,
Are you waking yet or sleeping? Have you left this vale of weeping,
Or do you, like your comrade, linger still?
Oh, whisper, buried love, is there rest and peace above?—
There is little hope or comfort here below;
On your sweet face lies the mould, and your bed is strait and cold—
Near the harbour where the sea-tides ebb and flow.
All silent—they are dumb—and the breezes go and come
With an apathy that mocks at man’s distress;
Laugh, scoffer, while you may! I could bow me down and pray
For an answer that might stay my bitterness.
Oh, harshly screams the bird, and the wattle-bloom is stirred;
There’s a sullen weird-like whisper in the bough:
‘Aye, kneel and pray and weep, but HIS BELOVED SLEEP
CAN NEVER BE DISTURBED BY SUCH AS THOU!’
A few random poems:
- The Cap And Bells; Or, The Jealousies: A Faery Tale — Unfinished poem – John Keats poems
- Омар Хайям – Что я дружу с вином, не отрицаю, нет
- Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking. by Walt Whitman
- Николай Гумилев – За стенами старого аббатства
- Юргис Балтрушайтис – Новогоднее видение
- A Color of the Sky by Tony Hoagland
- Юлия Друнина – Да, сердце часто ошибалось
- Robert Burns: How Lang And Dreary Is The Night:
- Robert Burns: Damon And Sylvia: Fragment
- Notice by Steve Kowit
- Fierce Mooning by Satish Verma
- Robert Burns: To A Louse: On Seeing One On A Lady’s Bonnet, At Church
- Ольга Берггольц – Вечерняя станция
- The Nearness That Is All by Samuel Hazo
- Владимир Маяковский – День в маевочку мою… (Главполитпросвет №151)
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- Notes for Canto CXX poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Nicotine poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Meditatio poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Medallion poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Masks poem – Ezra Pound poems
- L’Art poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Lament of the Frontier Guard poem – Ezra Pound poems
- La Regina Avrillouse poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Ione, Dead the Long Year poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Invern poem – Ezra Pound poems
- In the Old Age of the Soul poem – Ezra Pound poems
- In Tempore Senectutis poem – Ezra Pound poems
- In A Station Of The Metro poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Hugh Selwyn Mauberly (Part I) poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Historion poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Grace Before Song poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Further Instructions poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Francesca poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Fan-Piece, For Her Imperial Lord poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Ezra on the Strike poem – Ezra Pound poems
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works
Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833 – 1870) was an Australian or British-Australian poet, horseman, police officer and politician. He is considered to be one of the first national Australian poets.