Her piquant fancy painted Queensland scenes
With gentle brush in Nature's golden hue.
She loved the reds and browns and verdent greens
Of fern, and shrub, and flower crowned with dew.
She sensed the loss of trees, ring-barked and white,
When winy sap had drained from every stem,
And felt the thrill when through the moonless night
Forgotten leaves came rustling back to them!
Sleep on, thou singing pen, thou singing heart,
At one with kindly earth and dawn and dew,
And may the soul of Nature now impart
The secret of her majesty to you!
Through moonless nights, mayhap, soft shades will creep
From leafy nest; from grassy mound and cave
To breathe a tender requiem of sleep --
Forgotten dreams a-mourning at your grave!
First published in The Courier-Mail, 20 March 1935
With gentle brush in Nature's golden hue.
She loved the reds and browns and verdent greens
Of fern, and shrub, and flower crowned with dew.
She sensed the loss of trees, ring-barked and white,
When winy sap had drained from every stem,
And felt the thrill when through the moonless night
Forgotten leaves came rustling back to them!
Sleep on, thou singing pen, thou singing heart,
At one with kindly earth and dawn and dew,
And may the soul of Nature now impart
The secret of her majesty to you!
Through moonless nights, mayhap, soft shades will creep
From leafy nest; from grassy mound and cave
To breathe a tender requiem of sleep --
Forgotten dreams a-mourning at your grave!
First published in The Courier-Mail, 20 March 1935
