An Anthology of Australian Verse/Home-woe
HOME-WOE
The wreckage of some name-forgotten barque,
Half-buried by the dolorous shore;
Whereto the living waters never more
Their urgent billows pour;
But the salt spray can reach and cark—
Half-buried by the dolorous shore;
Whereto the living waters never more
Their urgent billows pour;
But the salt spray can reach and cark—
So lies my spirit, lonely and forlorn,
On Being’s strange and perilous strand.
And rusted sword and fleshless hand
Point from the smothering sand;
And anchor chainless and out-worn.
On Being’s strange and perilous strand.
And rusted sword and fleshless hand
Point from the smothering sand;
And anchor chainless and out-worn.
But o’er what Deep, unconquered and uncharted,
And steering by what vanished star;
And where my dim-imagined consorts are,
Or hidden harbour far,
From whence my sails, unblessed, departed.
And steering by what vanished star;
And where my dim-imagined consorts are,
Or hidden harbour far,
From whence my sails, unblessed, departed.
Remembrance nor still intuition teach.
And so I watch with alien eyes
This World’s remote and unremembered skies;
While round me weary rise
The babblings of a foreign speech.
And so I watch with alien eyes
This World’s remote and unremembered skies;
While round me weary rise
The babblings of a foreign speech.