Affectionately Inscribed to Annie Hutchinson, Salvation Army
The light within her casement woke ere yet
The shrouded East revived at breath of morn;
Her candle burned when midnight moons had set.
Yet never laurel hath this watcher worn;
'Twas never crabbed character of eld,
Sign of the Greek, or symbol of the Moor,
Her womanly eyes to bond of vigil held;
Nor Fame, nor Gain, from slumber did allure.
She threaded our dark places unafraid --
Alone, save for the Presences unseen
Who joyful leave the Bliss Beyond to aid
The Angels of the Earth --- and stood between
The living and the dead, with suppliant mien,
Like Israel's Leader when "the plague was stayed."
First published in The Queenslander, 4 October 1890
Author reference sites: Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Old Qld Poetry
See also.
The light within her casement woke ere yet
The shrouded East revived at breath of morn;
Her candle burned when midnight moons had set.
Yet never laurel hath this watcher worn;
'Twas never crabbed character of eld,
Sign of the Greek, or symbol of the Moor,
Her womanly eyes to bond of vigil held;
Nor Fame, nor Gain, from slumber did allure.
She threaded our dark places unafraid --
Alone, save for the Presences unseen
Who joyful leave the Bliss Beyond to aid
The Angels of the Earth --- and stood between
The living and the dead, with suppliant mien,
Like Israel's Leader when "the plague was stayed."
First published in The Queenslander, 4 October 1890
Author reference sites: Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Old Qld Poetry
See also.
