Poem

The Muse of Australia

by Henry Kendall · 1888

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 voiceSo 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!
Sources, publication & text notesReference details
Canonical recordPOEM-002301
Copy-textWikisource scan-backed collected edition; https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Poems_of_Henry_Kendall/The_Muse_of_Australia
Source recordT20SRC-017
Rights determinationRGT-001374
Text statusCANONICAL TEXT READY
TranscriptionDIPLOMATIC_D208

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