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:
- Afternoon Rain in State Street poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- On A March Day by Sara Teasdale
- I, or Someone Like Me by Marvin Bell
- Sonnet 19: Devouring Time blunt thou the lion’s paws by William Shakespeare
- Владимир Корнилов – Повторение
- Шекспир – Неужто я, приняв любви венец – Сонет 114
- Little Flute by Rabindranath Tagore
- Love Sonnet XLIX poem – Zora Bernice May Cross poems
- Eccentricity by Washington Allston
- Sonnet 23: As an unperfect actor on the stage by William Shakespeare
- Aliens poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Song by Robert Creeley
- Piera Chen – Piera Chen
- Олег Григорьев – Много нас по подобию божию
- I Can Feel The Same by Miraj Patel
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 English Flag by Rudyard Kipling
- The Egg-Shell by Rudyard Kipling
- The ‘eathen by Rudyard Kipling
- The Dove of Dacca by Rudyard Kipling
- The Destroyers by Rudyard Kipling
- The Derelict by Rudyard Kipling
- The Deep-Sea Cables by Rudyard Kipling
- The Declaration of London by Rudyard Kipling
- The Dead King by Rudyard Kipling
- The Day’s Work by Rudyard Kipling
- The Craftsman by Rudyard Kipling
- The Conundrum of the Workshops by Rudyard Kipling
- The Comforters by Rudyard Kipling
- The Coastwise Lights by Rudyard Kipling
- The Children’s Song by Rudyard Kipling
- The Captive by Rudyard Kipling
- The Burial by Rudyard Kipling
- The Broken Men by Rudyard Kipling
- The Betrothed by Rudyard Kipling
- The Benefactors by Rudyard Kipling
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.