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 Song of My Heart by Olawuyi Mutiu
- Николай Заболоцкий – Тбилисские ночи
- Breath by Ryssel Guzman
- Sonnet 145: Those lips that Love’s own hand did make by William Shakespeare
- Vision by Siegfried Sassoon
- Владимир Маяковский – Последний баронишко (Главполитпросвет №324)
- Николай Глазков – Давно хотел сложить стихи
- In Tempore Senectutis poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Николай Глазков – Покуда карты не раскрыты
- At Her Grave poem – Alfred Austin
- Olney Hymn 31: On The Death Of A Minister by William Cowper
- Accidents by Russell Edson
- Омар Хайям – Друзей поменьше
- Gangrene by Philip Levine
- Paradise Lost: Book 06 poem – John Milton poems
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
- To What Serves Mortal Beauty? poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- To Seem The Stranger Lies My Lot, My Life poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- To R. B. poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- To His Watch poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- To Him Who Ever Thought with Love of Me poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- To a Young Child poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord, If I Contend poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Thee, God, I Come from poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- The Wreck Of The Deutschland poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- The Woodlark poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- The Windhover: To Christ Our Lord poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- The Times Are Nightfall poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- The Starlight Night poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- The Soldier poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- The Silver Jubilee poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- The Shepherd’s Brow, Fronting Forked Lightning, Owns poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- The Sea Took Pity poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- The Sea And The Skylark poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- The May Magnificat poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- The Loss Of The Eurydice poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins 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.