A Protest.
13
And over fields of azure
Its rosy petals sheds,
And those untrodden pathways
With golden pollen spreads.
Its rosy petals sheds,
And those untrodden pathways
With golden pollen spreads.
Then fades in lovely pallors,
To grays, remote and far,
While from its withered calyx
Springs up a living star.
To grays, remote and far,
While from its withered calyx
Springs up a living star.
Oh! ye who blame Australia,
Who find her harsh and crude,
And meaningless and gloomy,
Oh! have ye never stood
Who find her harsh and crude,
And meaningless and gloomy,
Oh! have ye never stood
Upon a plain, moon-lighted
And limitless as thought,
Where winds fall dumb, and languish
As in enchantment caught,
And limitless as thought,
Where winds fall dumb, and languish
As in enchantment caught,
Oh! have ye stood—I ask it,
And in that silent place,
Your soul, alone and naked,
Regarded face to face.
And in that silent place,
Your soul, alone and naked,
Regarded face to face.
