User:Perry Middlemiss/Sandbox
I dreamt my little Boys were dead,
And I was sitting wild and lone:
On my unmoving knees, my head
Lay rigid as a stone.
And there I sate without a tear,
And though I drew Life's conscious breath,
All life to me was cold and drear
And comfortless as death.
So time-destroying was my grief,
Time moved not, neither slow nor fast;
Nor reck'd I, whether periods brief
Or centuries had passed.
It was as if to marble cold
My loss had petrified the air,
And I was shut within its hold,
Made deathless by despair.
And more the gorgon horror crushed
With dry petrific pressure in,
Till forth my waking spirit rushed
With agonising din!
And oh! what joy it was to wake—
To cast that haggard dream away,
And from its stony influence break,
Into the living day.
I sought the objects of my care,
And felt, while I embraced the twain,
How much even from a dream's despair
A Father's love may gain.
Category:Poems
Category:Australian literature
This work is in the public domain in Australia because it was created in Australia and the term of copyright has expired. According to Australian Copyright Council - Duration of Copyright, the following works are public domain:
- published non-government works whose author died before January 1, 1955,
- anonymous or pseudonymous works and photographs published before January 1, 1955, and
- government works published more than 50 years ago (before January 1, 1974).
This work is also in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in Australia on the URAA date (January 1, 1996). This is the combined effect of Australia having joined the Berne Convention in 1928, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.
Because the Australian copyright term in 1996 was 50 years, the critical date for copyright in the United States under the URAA is January 1, 1946.
This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse