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:
- Words by William Butler Yeats
- Вера Звягинцева – Не пастушка и не Психея
- Not To Keep by Robert Frost
- Юргис Балтрушайтис – Средь бега дней моих порой
- Fire and Ice by Robert Frost
- The Rabbi’s Song by Rudyard Kipling
- Sonnet 98: From you have I been absent in the spring by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet 79: Whilst I alone did call upon thy aid by William Shakespeare
- Zion by Rudyard Kipling
- Epistle to Davie, A Brother Poet by Robert Burns
- God’s Grandeur by Ted Hughes
- Feelings of A French Royalist, On The Disinterment Of The Remains Of The Duke D’Enghien by William Wordsworth
- Couplets on Wit poem – Alexander Pope
- The Life Theoretic poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Hug O’War 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
- Стефан Малларме – Подавленное тучей
- Стефан Малларме – Отходит кружево опять
- Стефан Малларме – О, зеркало
- Стефан Малларме – Милостыня
- Стефан Малларме – Гробница Эдгара По
- Стефан Малларме – Ее ногтей ожив, что ожил из пароса
- Стефан Малларме – Дар поэмы
- Станислав Востоков – Стой, кто идёт
- Станислав Востоков – Не хочется отцу и маме
- Станислав Востоков – Не умею
- Спиридон Дрожжин – Я для песни задушевной
- Спиридон Дрожжин – В деревне
- Спиридон Дрожжин – Свети мне, солнышко
- Спиридон Дрожжин – Смерть коня-пахаря
- Спиридон Дрожжин – Рожь
- Спиридон Дрожжин – Песня пахаря
- Спиридон Дрожжин – Первая борозда
- Спиридон Дрожжин – Люблю я сельский мой приют
- Спиридон Дрожжин – Из поэмы “Дуняша”
- София Парнок – В земле бесплодной не взойти зерну
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.