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:
- Robert Burns: Epistle To Hugh Parker:
- English Poetry. Madison Julius Cawein. Evasion. Мэдисон Джулиус Кавейн.
- Time And The Garden by Yvor Winters
- I Grieved For Buonaparte by William Wordsworth
- Limerick: Once a Great Leader with empty pockets by T. Wignesan
- Why England Is Conservative poem – Alfred Austin
- On Reading Omar Khayyam by Vachel Lindsay
- To the Lord Generall Cromwell May 1652 poem – John Milton poems
- How a Little Girl Danced by Vachel Lindsay
- Hyperion, A Vision: Attempted Reconstruction Of The Poem poem – John Keats poems
- Robert Burns: On Seeing Mrs. Kemble In Yarico:
- Genesis by Vachel Lindsay
- Аля Кудряшева – Рыбный вальсок
- Джон Китс – Два-три букета и две-три коробки
- A Boy by Sara Teasdale
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
- ASHA APARTMENTS, 416, S.V. ROAD by Santosh Kumar Panda
- As if by Sara Herlihy
- Amity’s Death by SAAJIDA GORA
- America, America by Saadi Youssef
- A Writer’s Pen by Sahiti Siddharth
- A Traveller’s Guide to the East Indies by S. K. Kelen
- A sense’s addiction to chocolate by SAAJIDA GORA
- A Father’s Hands by Scott Ransopher
- The Unborn by Sharon Olds
- The Space Heater by Sharon Olds
- The Sash by Sharon Olds
- The Pact by Sharon Olds
- The Mortal One by Sharon Olds
- The End by Sharon Olds
- The Daughter Goes To Camp by Sharon Olds
- The Clasp by Sharon Olds
- The Borders by Sharon Olds
- The Arrivals by Sharon Olds
- Sex Without Love by Sharon Olds
- Primitive by Sharon Olds
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.