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:
- In January by Ted Kooser
- Child In Red by Rainer Maria Rilke
- Владимир Лифшиц – Вступление
- Михаил Кузмин – Три раза я его видел лицом к лицу
- Владимир Маяковский – Ты знаешь это вот… (Главполитпросвет №267)
- Fergus And The Druid by William Butler Yeats
- The Soldier poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- There is but there is not poem – Amy Haritha Suseel poems | Poems and Poetry
- Who Would Not Die For England! poem – Alfred Austin
- Glacier poem – Yuyutsu Sharma poems | Poetry Monster
- They Did Not Expect This by Vernon Scannell
- Mafeking poem – Alfred Austin
- Владимир Луговской – Пила
- With A Copy Of Shakespeares Sonnets On Leaving College
- Weird-Bird by Shel Silverstein
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
- Zitten Out The Wold Year by William Barnes
- Zellen Woone’s Honey To Buy Zome’hat Sweet by William Barnes
- Woodcom’ Feast by William Barnes
- Wold Friends A-Met by William Barnes
- A Wold Friend by William Barnes
- A Witch by William Barnes
- Whitsuntide An’ Club Walken by William Barnes
- Vo’k A-Comèn Into Church by William Barnes
- Vellen O’ The Tree by William Barnes
- Uncle An’ Aunt by William Barnes
- Treat Well Your Wife by William Barnes
- To Me by William Barnes
- The Zilver-Weed by William Barnes
- The Woodlands by William Barnes
- The Wold Wall by William Barnes
- The Wold Waggon by William Barnes
- The Wold Vo’k Dead by William Barnes
- The Woddy Hollow by William Barnes
- The Winter’s Willow by William Barnes
- The Window Freäm’d Wi’ Stwone by William Barnes
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.