The moonlight of a milder clime
Is round me poured o'er scenes sublime:
But I would fly from all earth's light
And grandeur, to behold tonight
My native land!
Tomorrow's sun will beauteous rise
In Australasia's summer skies:
But more than beautiful to me
Would winter's wildest morning be,
In that dear land!
And green woods wave which ne'er are sere
In this December summer here:
But I would turn from Eden's bloom,
To hail, in winter's waste and gloom,
My native land!
It may be here that Britons find
Scenes brighter than they leave behind:
But oh! the countercharm for home
Is found not yet, where'er I roam,
O'er sea or land!
First published in The Australasian Chronicle, 7 December 1841;
and later in
The Geelong Advertiser, 10 January 1842;
Stolen Moments: A Short Series of Poems by Henry Parkes, 1842;
The South Australian Magazine, January and February 1842;
The Boomerang, 1 February 1890;
My Country: Australian Poetry and Short Stories, Two Hundred Years edited by Leonie Kramer, 1985; and
Two Centuries of Australian Poetry edited by Kathrine Bell, 2007.
Author reference sites: Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian Poetry Library
See also.
Is round me poured o'er scenes sublime:
But I would fly from all earth's light
And grandeur, to behold tonight
My native land!
Tomorrow's sun will beauteous rise
In Australasia's summer skies:
But more than beautiful to me
Would winter's wildest morning be,
In that dear land!
And green woods wave which ne'er are sere
In this December summer here:
But I would turn from Eden's bloom,
To hail, in winter's waste and gloom,
My native land!
It may be here that Britons find
Scenes brighter than they leave behind:
But oh! the countercharm for home
Is found not yet, where'er I roam,
O'er sea or land!
First published in The Australasian Chronicle, 7 December 1841;
and later in
The Geelong Advertiser, 10 January 1842;
Stolen Moments: A Short Series of Poems by Henry Parkes, 1842;
The South Australian Magazine, January and February 1842;
The Boomerang, 1 February 1890;
My Country: Australian Poetry and Short Stories, Two Hundred Years edited by Leonie Kramer, 1985; and
Two Centuries of Australian Poetry edited by Kathrine Bell, 2007.
Author reference sites: Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian Poetry Library
See also.
