Australia
Australia
1894
Original Text
The Complete Poetical Works of William Gay , ed. J. Glen Oliphant (Melbourne: Thomas C. Lothian, 1911): 114. Internet Archive. Sydney Electronic Text and Image Service (SETIS), digital text sponsored by AustLit: http://setis.library.usyd.edu.au/oztexts
1She sits a queen whom none shall dare despoil,
2 Her crown the sun, her guard the vigilant sea,
3 And round her throne are gathered, stalwart, free,
4A people proud, yet stooping to the soil,
5Patient to swell her greatness with their toil,
6 And swift to leave, should dire occasion be,
7 The mine, the flock, the desk, the furrowed lea,
8And force the invader to a dark recoil.
9Yet as she gazes o'er the plains that lie
10 Fruitful about her throne, she sighs full sore
11To see the barriers Greed has builded high,
12 Dividing them who brothers were before,
13When still they dwelt beneath a sterner sky
14 And heard the thunders of a wilder shore.
Publication Start Year
1894
RPO poem Editors
Cameron La Follette
RPO Edition
2011
Rhyme
Form