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 The End by Sara Teasdale
- Sketch in Verse, inscribed to the Right Hon. C. J. Fox by Robert Burns
- Robert Burns: The Rantin’ Dog, The Daddie O’t:
- Epistle to James Tennant of Glenconner by Robert Burns
- In The Month When Sings The Cuckoo poem – Alfred Austin
- The Passing of Stumpy Shore by Mervyn John Webster
- Disguises by Thomas Edward Brown
- The Lark by William Barnes
- Crossing The Water by Sylvia Plath
- The World is with Me by Thomas Hood
- Ольга Ермолаева – На каблуках-то и то к голове удалой
- Олег Сердобольский – Птенчик
- Sonnet CXLII by William Shakespeare
- South Africa by Ronald G. Auguste
- Forced by Mayank Sharma
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 Маяковский – Стихотворение это
- Владимир Маяковский – Стихи из предсмертной записки
- Стихи о советском паспорте – Маяковский: стих “Я достаю из широких штанин” Владимира Маяковского – Poetry Monster
- Владимир Маяковский – Стихи о Фоме
- Владимир Маяковский – Стих как бы шофера
- Владимир Маяковский – Старый мотив (РОСТА №137)
- Владимир Маяковский – Стабилизация быта
- Владимир Маяковский – Спросили раз меня: “Вы любите ли НЭП?”
- Владимир Маяковский – Сплетник
- Владимир Маяковский – Современный Козьма Прутков
- Владимир Маяковский – Советский Союз, намотай на ус – кто Юз
- Владимир Маяковский – Советская азбука (Железо куй, пока горячее…)
- Владимир Маяковский – Совет Труда и Обороны сделал ассигнование миллионное… ( Главполитпросвет №64)
- Владимир Маяковский – Солнечный флаг
- Владимир Маяковский – Солдаты самодержавной армии мясниками бывали… (РОСТА №146)
- Владимир Маяковский – Собственную революцию удушив… (РОСТА №443)
- Владимир Маяковский – Со страхом и трепетом открывали газету… (РОСТА №705)
- Владимир Маяковский – Смыкай ряды
- Владимир Маяковский – Смотри, шахтер! (РОСТА №894)
- Владимир Маяковский – Смотри, рабочий! Вот о чем сегодня речь (Главполитпросвет №166)
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.