Respectfully inscribed to Alice Claudine, Lady Norman.
Farewell, dear Lady! Bright the hour
That brought you; sad that bears away;
Yet --- English fields are all a-flower,
And English hedgerows sweet with May;
Love there as here shall be your dower ---
'Tis not for us to bid you stay.
Farewell ! Oh not alone the few
Familiar friends will miss you here
How excellent soe'er the New
Be slow to place another peer
To her whom now they bid adieu ---
Of all Vice-Queens the one most dear!
Your helpful care the couch has spread
For suffering babes; angelic toil!
On wounds of women shamed you shed
Samarian balm of wine and oil;
As Sister, with the scorned broke bread ---
You, with white raiment free from soil!
And women-hands that toil your hand
Has touched and strengthened. Mothers tell
Of the sweet Presence, come to stand
By the new-born, where poor folk dwell,
With generous gifts. Throughout the Land
Is none but grieves to say Farewell.
Farewell, dear Lady All good things
Be yours the All-Giver may bestow.
Its folds abroad the Ensign flings;
The sea-tide swells the river-flow;
The parting cheer around you rings;
Farewell! God bless you where you go!
First published in The Queenslander, 18 May 1895
Note: Alice Claudine was the wife of General Sir Henry Wylie Norman, Governor of Queensland 1889-1895.
Author reference sites: Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Old Qld Poetry
See also.
Farewell, dear Lady! Bright the hour
That brought you; sad that bears away;
Yet --- English fields are all a-flower,
And English hedgerows sweet with May;
Love there as here shall be your dower ---
'Tis not for us to bid you stay.
Farewell ! Oh not alone the few
Familiar friends will miss you here
How excellent soe'er the New
Be slow to place another peer
To her whom now they bid adieu ---
Of all Vice-Queens the one most dear!
Your helpful care the couch has spread
For suffering babes; angelic toil!
On wounds of women shamed you shed
Samarian balm of wine and oil;
As Sister, with the scorned broke bread ---
You, with white raiment free from soil!
And women-hands that toil your hand
Has touched and strengthened. Mothers tell
Of the sweet Presence, come to stand
By the new-born, where poor folk dwell,
With generous gifts. Throughout the Land
Is none but grieves to say Farewell.
Farewell, dear Lady All good things
Be yours the All-Giver may bestow.
Its folds abroad the Ensign flings;
The sea-tide swells the river-flow;
The parting cheer around you rings;
Farewell! God bless you where you go!
First published in The Queenslander, 18 May 1895
Note: Alice Claudine was the wife of General Sir Henry Wylie Norman, Governor of Queensland 1889-1895.
Author reference sites: Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Old Qld Poetry
See also.
