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 Bruce’s March to Bannockburn (Song) by Robert Burns
- Intrigued with Evening by Jelaluddin Rumi
- Upon The Hill And Grove At Bill-borow poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Sonnet poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Can You See The Pride In The Panther? by Tupac Shakur
- Robert Burns: Raving Winds Around Her Blowing: I composed these verses on Miss Isabella M’Leod of Raza, alluding to her feelings on the death of her sister, and the still more melancholy death of her sister’s husband, the late Earl of Loudoun, who shot himself out of sheer heart-break at some mortifications he suffered, owing to the deranged state of his finances.-R.B., 1971.
- Владимир Гиляровский – Чем дальше в море
- Far In a Western Brookland poem – Alfred Edward Housman
- Notes for Canto CXX poem – Ezra Pound poems
- In The Chapel Of Rest by Steve Sant
- Robert Burns: On Mrs. Riddell’s Birthday:
- To a Waterfowl by William Cullen Bryant
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Молитва
- Illusions by Mark R Slaughter
- Жан де Лафонтен – Карман
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
- Владимир Вишневский – В Мисхоре
- Владимир Вишневский – Тем, что в женщине разбудишь
- Владимир Вишневский – Стада уж боле не пасутся мирно
- Владимир Вишневский – Пассажирский поезд
- Владимир Вишневский – Она идёт – как Восток алеет
- Владимир Вишневский – Незаконная гордость
- Владимир Вишневский – Нервическая песнь
- Владимир Вишневский – На исходе двадцатого века
- Владимир Вишневский – Мой брат на много лет вперёд
- Владимир Вишневский – Кто-то тянется к водному поло
- Владимир Вишневский – Как некстати или срыв спецоперации
- Владимир Вишневский – Из дневника читателя
- Владимир Вишневский – Долго же мы друг друга откладывали
- Владимир Вишневский – Что хочешь ты – желанье изъяви
- Владимир Степанов – Зима
- Владимир Степанов – Жучка и тучка
- Владимир Степанов – Юрий Гагарин
- Владимир Степанов – Ёжик и дождик
- Владимир Степанов – Яхта (Буква Я)
- Владимир Степанов – Хрюшка
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.