[Editor: This poem by Philip Durham Lorimer was published in Songs and Verses by Philip Durham Lorimer: An Australian Bush Poet, 1901.]
The Carte-de-Visite
When years have left their lasting trace
Of sorrow on my brow,
And ’neath accumulating cares
My spirit has to bow, —
Then take this carte, and oh ! forget
Me in my troubled hour,
And smile on it as once thou didst.
When smiles indeed had power.
We’ve parted — yet as friends we meet,
And love encircles still
Thy brow with wreaths of loveliness,
With charms that come at will.
The chain is broken — yet the spell
Of brightest visions flown
Rests on my bosom in my dreams,
And leaves thee there alone ;
While Midnight, in her silent hour,
With dreams enshrouding me.
Hastes on their wings to lighten grief
And gladden memory.
Sydney, December 15, 1870.
Source:
E. A. Petherick (editor). Songs and Verses by Philip Durham Lorimer: An Australian Bush Poet, William Clowes and Sons, London, 1901, page 80
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