Araluen

Araluen

Original Text
The Poems of Henry Kendall, ed. Bertram Stephens (Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1920): 79-80. Sydney Electronic Text and Image Service (SETIS), digital text sponsored by AustLit: http://setis.library.usyd.edu.au/ozlit
3Daughter of grey hills of wet,
4    Born by mossed and yellow wells--
5Now that soft September lays
6    Tender hands on thee and thine,
7Let me think of blue-eyed days,
8    Star-like flowers and leaves of shine!
9Cities soil the life with rust;
10    Water banks are cool and sweet;
11River, tired of noise and dust,
12    Here I come to rest my feet.
13Now the month from shade to sun
14    Fleets and sings supremest songs,
15Now the wilful woodwinds run
16    Through the tangled cedar throngs.
17Here are cushioned tufts and turns
18    Where the sumptuous noontide lies:
19Here are seen by flags and ferns
20    Summer's large, luxurious eyes.
21On this spot wan Winter casts
23From his bitter sea-nursed blasts,
24    Spears of rain and hailstones keen.
25Rather here abideth Spring,
26    Lady of a lovely land,
27Dear to leaf and fluttering wing,
28    Deep in blooms--by breezes fanned.
29Faithful friend beyond the main--
30    Friend that time nor change makes cold--
31Now, like ghosts, return again
33Ah, the days!--the old, old theme,
34    Never stale, but never new,
35Floating, like a pleasant dream,
36    Back to me and back to you.
37Since we rested on these slopes,
38    Seasons fierce have beaten down
39Ardent loves and blossoming hopes--
40    Loves that lift, and hopes that crown.
41But, believe me, still mine eyes
42    Often fill with light that springs
43From divinity, which lies
44    Ever at the heart of things.
45Solace do I sometimes find
46    Where you used to hear with me
47Songs of stream and forest-wind,
48    Tones of wave and harp-like tree.
49Araluen--home of dreams,
50    Fairer for its flowerful glade
51Than the face of Persian streams
52    Or the slopes of Syrian shade;
53Why should I still love it so,
54    Friend and brother far away,
55Ask the winds that come and go,
56    What hath brought me here to-day.
57Evermore of you I think,
58    When the leaves begin to fall,
59Where our river breaks its brink,
60    And a rest is over all.
61Evermore in quiet lands,
62    Friend of mine beyond the sea,
63Memory comes with cunning hands,
64    Stays, and paints your face for me.

Notes

1] myrtle: an evergreen shrub or tree of which there are several different kinds native to the Mediterranean region and western Asia, including Australia. Back to Line
2] unfooted: not visited by anyone.
dell: a small valley, usually among trees. Back to Line
22] ruth: compassion or pity. Back to Line
32] pallid: pale or feeble. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1869
Publication Notes
Leaves from Australian Forests (1869)
RPO poem Editors
Cameron La Follette
RPO Edition
2011
Rhyme
Form