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 Busy Indolent by William Somervile
- Crowned poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Ploughman’s Life by Robert Burns
- Юрий Коринец – О счастье
- In Abeyance by Satish Verma
- The Image Of Delight by William Ellery Leonard
- Locksley Hall poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- A November Night by Sara Teasdale
- Reverie Of Mahomed Akram At The Tamarind Tank
- Lesson In Grammar by Vernon Scannell
- Sonnet 3: Look in thy glass, and tell the face thou viewest by William Shakespeare
- Falling Asleep by Siegfried Sassoon
- The Night Dances by Sylvia Plath
- The Motherless Child by William Barnes
- Sonnet III: Look In Thy Glass, and Tell the Face Thou Viewest by William Shakespeare
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
- The Poetic Principle by Mark Olynyk
- She and Drugs by Mark R Slaughter
- The Other Side of Panic by Martina Reisz Newberry
- Sculpture of Debris on the Waterfront by Martina Reisz Newberry
- Question mark remarks by Mark Miller
- The joyful things in life by Martin Smith
- The Frantic by Mark Miller
- Postures by Martina Reisz Newberry
- The End of the Argument by Martina Reisz Newberry
- My Father’s Hats by Mark Irwin
- The Dreadful Has Already Happened by Mark Strand
- The Dragon and The Unicorn by Mary Etta Metcalf
- Please Don’t Judas Me by Mark Miller
- Never Sure Which You Are by Mary Etta Metcalf
- The Last Wolf by Mary TallMountain
- Nestling by Mark R Slaughter
- The Homeless Man by Mary TallMountain
- My Words Embrace by Mary Etta Metcalf
- Telescope by Mark R Slaughter
- My Mother On An Evening In Late Summer by Mark Strand
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.