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:
- Bare Tongue by Satish Verma
- Аля Кудряшева – Я этой ночью уйду, не спи
- Владимир Британишский – Екатеринбургский модерн
- In Defense of Santa Claus
- Владимир Маяковский – Сказка о Пете, толстом ребенке, и о Симе, который тонкий
- Владимир Маяковский – Декрет о натуральном налоге на хлеб, картофель и масличные семена
- If Old Men Fought by Mac McGovern
- Priorities of Life and Death
- The Truth About Propolis Benefits
- Sonnet. Written On A Blank Page In Shakespeare’s Poems, Facing ‘A Lover’s Complaint’ poem – John Keats poems
- Алексей Жемчужников – Всем хлеба
- A Song : On The Green Margin by William Cowper
- The Water-Spring In The Leäne by William Barnes
- Blue-Butterfly Day by Robert Frost
- Age by Robert Creeley
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
- For Sale by Shel Silverstein
- Folk Singer’s Blues by Shel Silverstein
- Father Of A Boy Named Sue by Shel Silverstein
- Everybody’s Makin’ It Big But Me by Shel Silverstein
- Enter This Deserted House by Shel Silverstein
- Dreadful by Shel Silverstein
- Don’t Give A Dose To The One You Love Most by Shel Silverstein
- Dirty Ol’ Me by Shel Silverstein
- Dance To It by Shel Silverstein
- Crouchin’ On The Outside by Shel Silverstein
- Crocodile’s Toothache by Shel Silverstein
- Come Skating by Shel Silverstein
- Come After Jinny by Shel Silverstein
- Colors by Shel Silverstein
- Cloudy Sky by Shel Silverstein
- Clarence by Shel Silverstein
- Channels by Shel Silverstein
- Changing Of The Seasons by Shel Silverstein
- Captain Hook by Shel Silverstein
- Bury Me In My Shades by Shel Silverstein
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.