Poems and Songs

by Henry Kendall
CONTENTS

THE MUSE OF AUSTRALIA
..

3
MOUNTAINS

..
3

KIAMA
..

6
ETHELINE

..
7

AILENE
..

9
KOOROORA

..
11

FAINTING BY THE WAY
..

12
SONG OF THE CATTLE-HUNTERS

..
14

FOOTFALLS
..

15
GOD HELP OUR MEN AT SEA

..
16

SITTING BY THE FIRE
..

17
BELLAMBI'S MAID

..
20

THE CURLEW SONG
..

21
THE BALLAD OF TANNA

..
22

THE RAIN COMES SOBBING DO THE DOOR
..

23
URARA

..
25

EVENING HYMN
..

26
STANZAS

..
27

THE WAIL IN THE NATIVE OAK
..

27
HARPS WE LOVE

..
30

WAITING AND WISHING
..

30
THE WILD KANGAROO

..
31

CLARI
..

33
WOLLONGONG

..
33

ELLA WITH THE SHINING HAIR
..

35
THE BARCOO

..
37

BELLS BEYOND THE FOREST
..

37
ULMARRA

..
40

THE MAID OF GERRINGONG
..

41
WATCHING

..
45

THE OPOSSUM-HUNTERS
..

46
IN THE DEPTHS OF A FOREST

..
47

TO CHARLES HARPUR
..

48
THE RIVER AND THE HILL

..
49

THE FATE OF THE EXPLORERS
..

50
LURLINE

..
53

UNDER THE FIGTREE
..

54
DROWNED AT SEA

..
54

MORNING IN THE BUSH
..

56
THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME

..
58

AMONGST THE ROSES
..

59
SUNSET

..
60

DOUBTING
..

61
GERALDINE

..
62

ACHAN
..

63
POEMS AND SONGS

Page: 3
THE MUSE OF AUSTRALIA

WHERE the pines with the eagles are nestled in rifts,
And the torrent leaps down to the surges,

I have followed her, clambering over the clifts,
By the chasms and moon-haunted verges.

I know she is fair as the angels are fair,
For have I not caught a faint glimpse of her there;

A glimpse of her face and her glittering hair,
And a hand with the Harp of Australia?

I never can reach you, to hear the sweet voice
So full with the music of fountains!

Oh! when will you meet with that soul of your choice,
Who will lead you down here from the mountains?

A lyre-bird lit on a shimmering space;
It dazzled mine eyes and I turned from the place,

And wept in the dark for a glorious face,
And a hand with the Harp of Australia!

MOUNTAINS
RIFTED mountains, clad with forests, girded round by gleaming pines,

Where the morning, like an angel, robed in golden splendour shines;
Shimmering mountains, throwing downward on the slopes a mazy glare

Where the noonday glory sails through gulfs of calm and glittering air;
Stately mountains, high and hoary, piled with blocks of amber cloud,

Where the fading twilight lingers, when the winds are wailing loud;
Grand old mountains, overbeetling brawling brooks and deep ravines,

Where the moonshine, pale and mournful, flows on rocks and evergreens.
Page: 4

Underneath these regal ridges - underneath the gnarly trees,
I am sitting, lonely-hearted, listening to a lonely breeze!

Sitting by an ancient casement, casting many a longing look
Out across the hazy gloaming - out beyond the brawling brook!

Over pathways leading skyward - over crag and swelling cone,
Past long hillocks looking like to waves of ocean turned to stone;

Yearning for a bliss unworldly, yearning for a brighter change,
Yearning for the mystic Aidenn, built beyond this mountain range.

Happy years, amongst these valleys, happy years have come and gone,
And my youthful hopes and friendships withered with them one by one;

Days and moments bearingonward many a bright and beauteous dream,
All have passed me like to sunstreaks flying down a distant stream.

Oh, the love returned by loved ones! Oh, the faces that I knew!
Oh, the wrecks of fond affection! Oh, the hearts so warm and true!

But their voices I remember, and a something lingers still,
Like a dying echo roaming sadly round a far off hill.

I would sojourn here contented, tranquil as I was of yore,
And would never wish to clamber, seeking for an unknown shore;

I have dwelt within this cottage twenty summers, and mine eyes
Never wandered erewhile round in search of undiscovered skies;

But a spirit sits beside me, veiled in robes of dazzling white,
And a dear one's whisper wakens with the symphonies of night;

And a low sad music cometh, borne along on windy wings,
Like a strain familiar rising from a maze of slumbering springs.

And the Spirit, by my window, speaketh to my restless soul,
Telling of the clime she came from, where the silent moments roll;

Telling of the bourne mysterious, where the sunny summers flee
Cliffs and coasts, by man untrodden, ridging round a shipless sea.

Page: 5
There the years of yore are blooming - there departed life-dreams dwell,

There the faces beam with gladness that I loved in youth so well;
There the songs of childhood travel, over wave-worn steep and strand -

Over dale and upland stretching out behind this mountain land.
``Lovely Being, can a mortal, weary of this changeless scene,

• glimpse [glimps] n.&v.瞥见 (初中英语单词)
• glorious [´glɔ:riəs] a.光荣的；辉煌的 (初中英语单词)
• twilight [´twailait] n.黎明；黄昏 (初中英语单词)
• underneath [,ʌndə´ni:θ] ad.&prep.在底下 (初中英语单词)
• lonely [´ləunli] a.孤独的；无人烟的 (初中英语单词)
• youthful [´ju:θfəl] a.年轻的；青年的 (初中英语单词)
• cottage [´kɔtidʒ] n.村舍；小屋；小别墅 (初中英语单词)
• whisper [´wispə] v.耳语 n.低语；沙沙声 (初中英语单词)
• restless [´restləs] a.没有休息的 (初中英语单词)
• mysterious [mi´stiəriəs] a.神秘的；难以理解的 (初中英语单词)
• childhood [´tʃaildhud] n.幼年(时代)；早期 (初中英语单词)
• ballad [´bæləd] n.民歌，民谣 (高中英语单词)
• torrent [´tɔrənt] n.奔流，激流，洪流；迸发 (高中英语单词)
• downward [´daunwəd] a.下降的，向下的 (高中英语单词)
• longing [´lɔŋiŋ] n.&a.渴望(的) (高中英语单词)
• amongst [ə´mʌŋst] prep.其中之一 =among (高中英语单词)
• bearing [´beəriŋ] n.举止；忍耐；关系 (高中英语单词)
• onward [´ɔnwəd] ad.&a.向前(的) (高中英语单词)
• contented [kən´tentid] a.满足的；心满意足的 (高中英语单词)
• strain [strein] vt.拉紧 vi.拖 n.张力 (高中英语单词)
• mortal [´mɔ:tl] a.致命的 n.凡人 (高中英语单词)
• noonday [´nu:ndei] n.正午 (英语四级单词)
• mournful [´mɔ:nful] a.令人沮丧的 (英语四级单词)
• casement [,keismənt] n.窗扉 (英语四级单词)
• sojourn [´sɔdʒə:n] vi.&n.旅居；逗留 (英语四级单词)
• clamber [´klæmbə] v.&n.爬；攀登 (英语四级单词)
• blooming [´blu:miŋ] a.正开花的；妙龄的 (英语四级单词)
• gladness [´glædnis] n.愉快，高兴，喜悦 (英语四级单词)
• mystic [´mistik] a.神秘的；难以理解的 (英语六级单词)
• beauteous [´bju:tiəs] a.美的，美丽的 (英语六级单词)
• tranquil [´træŋkwil] a.平静的，稳定的 (英语六级单词)
• departed [di´pɑ:tid] a.已往的；已故的 (英语六级单词)
• upland [´ʌplənd] n.高地；山地 (英语六级单词)