THE PADDOCK
With your blue-gums’ airy height,
Silver poplars’ laughing light,
Depth and richness of the pines.
And that peak of ruddy roof
Through the orchard-blossoms’ woof,
Livening the sombre hills,
Breaking up the level lines,
Pointing, painting, the wan plain,
Which, beyond and all about
Reuniting, runs again—
Yes! a real flat sea spread out
(Only with no ships to swim)
To yon round horizon-rim
Everyway,—save hard at hand,
Where, above us and the Bush,
Snow-bright, shadow-deep and grand,
Up! the mighty mountains stand;
And their blue-and-silver wall
Guards and crowns and closes all.
Ay, to come upon you thus,
Smiling, settled and serene
—Home amid the wilderness—
Even strangers must confess
Comfort in your lovely look,
Pleasure in your happiness.
Ah, but how much lies unseen!
Over, under, in between,
How much more is here for us—
Us, whose hearts your history know:
Who, like soil about your root,
Sap within your springing shoot,
Have endured, and striven and wrought,
Stay’d your struggles, help’d you grow,
140
