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Works in the Herald 1933
STAWELL
Atalanta's southern daughter
With wild-flowers in her hair,
The healthful years have brought her
Graces and gifts most rare.
And, guarded by her Grampians,
She dwells in glad content,
And beckons to the champions
Of all the continent.
Where glowing beauty dapples
Her fields each sunlit day,
She gleams, not golden apples,
But blooms beside the way.
And ere her blossoms wither,
While glory crowns the year
The wise men, too, come hither
To pay her homage here.
The botanists who woo her
About her gardens flock;
Geologists who sue her
Win secrets from the rock.
And so, to the aesthetic
One gracious hand she lifts,
And one to the athletic
Bearing most generous gifts.
But not the cult of beauty
And prizes for the fleet
Comprise the sum of duty
Of this rare maid, and sweet.
Where crooked streets go winding
With all their old-world charm,
The lame and halt are finding
Comfort in her strong arm.
For when the Grampians glower
Across her star-strewn lands,
Mercy comes to full flower
Where her kind hostel stands.
Thus has her full life taught her
To triumph and to spare -
Atalanta's pleasant daughter
With wild-flowers in her hair.
"Den"
Herald, 18 December 1933, p8
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