Page:A New Zealand verse (1906).pdf/68

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32
Written in Australia.
But o’er my isles the forest drew A mantle thick—save where a peakShows his grim teeth a-snarl—and through The filtered coolness creek and creek Tangled in ferns, in whispers speak.
And there the placid great lakes are, And brimming rivers proudly forceTheir ice-cold tides. Here, like a scar, Dry-lipped, a withered watercourse Crawls from a long-forgotten source.
My glance, home-gazing, scarce discerns This listless girl, in whose dark hairA starry-red hibiscus burns; Her pallid cheeks are like a pair Of nuns—they are so fragile-fair;
And like a sin her warm lips flame In her wan face; swift passions brimIn her brown eyes, and ebb with shame; Her form is sinuous and slim— That lyric line of breast and limb!
But one there waits whose brown face glows, Whose cheeks with Winter’s kisses smart—The flushing petals of a rose! Of earth and sun she is a part; Her brow is Greek and Greek her heart.
At love she laughs a faint disdain; Her heart no weakly one to charm;Robust and fragrant as the rain, The dark bush soothed her with his balm, The mountains gave her of their calm.
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