• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Institute of Australian Culture

Heritage, history, and heroes; literature, legends, and larrikins

  • Home
  • Articles
  • Biographies
  • Books
  • Ephemera
  • Poetry & songs
    • Recommended poetry
    • Poetry and songs, 1786-1900
    • Poetry and songs, 1901-1954
    • Rock music and pop music [videos]
    • Early music [videos]
  • Slang
  • Timeline
    • Timeline of Australian history and culture
    • Calendar of Australian history and culture
    • Significant events and commemorative dates
  • Topics

The Dream [poem by Menie Parkes, 19 June 1855]

1 September 2012 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: The first published poem by Menie Parkes (Clarinda Sarah Parkes); it was later expanded and published in her book Poems (1866) as “A Dream”.]

The Dream *

I slept, I dreamt,
Wouldst know my thought ? —
O, that such dreams
I had but sought!

Methought I stood by a river bright,
Which wandered far away,
And the sun beamed on with a golden light
Where a lovely island lay.

But suddenly behind a cloud
That sun’s bright orb was lost ;
And that fair island in a shroud
Of darkness dense was cast.

And then a small white speck appeared,
Relieved against that island dark,
Nearer and nearer still it came,
And seemed to be a little bark.

It drifted on, and touched the strand —
A small straight plank with awning o’er,
And in it lay a coffin old,
From which a fair girl sprang on shore.

Angelic beauty marked each line
Of that young lovely face ;
And small bright wings of a pearl-like hue
Showed her of heavenly race.

She took my hand, and sweetly smiled,
And looked into my face,
And said, “Thy rose has faded, come,
And share with me my Master’s grace.”

She led me then from place to place —
Explained my Maker’s love ;
She showed me every wond’rous thing,
The work of Him above.

I then awoke,
My dream took flight,
And on me shone
The moon’s fair light.

C. S. P.

*[These lines are the production of a young girl fifteen years of age, and are, we believe, a first effort. Though, as a composition, they are strongly marked by the faults of an immatured mind, they yet appear to us to evince originality and imaginative power not often found in first verses, and on this account we publish them, taking upon ourselves the responsibility, for it is due to the young authoress herself to say that she is wholly innocent of their meeting the public eye. — Ed. E]



Source:
The Empire (Sydney, NSW), Tuesday 19 June 1855, page 5

Editor’s notes:
1) “C. S. P.” refers to Clarinda Sarah Parkes, daughter of Henry Parkes (who was editor of The Empire).

2) The newspaper printing of this poem was slightly misprinted, as it was missing the letter “I” from the first line (“slept, I dreamt”); that this line should have begin with “I” was indicated by the blank space at the start of that line, as well as by the book Poems by Menie Parkes (Clarinda Sarah Parkes) in which the line is given as “I slept, I dreamt !”

3) This poem was expanded and revised by Menie Parkes for her book, Poems, compiled in 1866.

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: Menie Parkes (1839-1915) (author), poem, SourceTrove, year1855

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Australian flag, Kangaroo, Wattle, 100hThe Institute of Australian Culture
Heritage, history, and heroes. Literature, legends, and larrikins. Stories, songs, and sages.

Search this site

Featured books

The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses, by Banjo Paterson A Book for Kids, by C. J. Dennis  The Bulletin Reciter: A Collection of Verses for Recitation from The Bulletin The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke, by C. J. Dennis The Complete Inner History of the Kelly Gang and Their Pursuers, by J. J. Kenneally The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen The Australian Crisis, by C. H. Kirmess Such Is Life, by Joseph Furphy
More books (full text)

Featured lists

Timeline of Australian history and culture
A list of significant Australiana
Significant events and commemorative dates
Australian slang
Books (full text)
Australian literature
Rock music and pop music (videos)
Folk music and bush music (videos)
Early music (videos)
Recommended poetry
Poetry and songs, 1786-1900
Poetry and songs, 1901-1954
Australian explorers
Topics
Links

Featured posts

Advance Australia Fair: How the song became the Australian national anthem
Brian Cadd [music videos and biography]
Ned Kelly: Australian bushranger
Under the Southern Cross I Stand [the Australian cricket team’s victory song]

Some Australian authors

E. J. Brady
John Le Gay Brereton
C. J. Dennis
Mary Hannay Foott
Joseph Furphy
Mary Gilmore
Charles Harpur
Grant Hervey
Lucy Everett Homfray
Rex Ingamells
Henry Kendall
“Kookaburra”
Henry Lawson
Jack Moses
“Dryblower” Murphy
John Shaw Neilson
John O’Brien (Patrick Joseph Hartigan)
“Banjo” Paterson
Marie E. J. Pitt
A. G. Stephens
P. R. Stephensen
Agnes L. Storrie (Agnes L. Kettlewell)

Recent Posts

  • To Australia [poem by Ruby Jean Stephenson, 18 November 1943]
  • [General news items] [4 April 1912]
  • [Australia has had more than its share of shipping disasters of late] [4 April 1912]
  • [Probably Professor Marshall Hall was right] [4 April 1912]
  • Gold-seekers of the Fifties [1 July 1899]

Top Posts & Pages

  • Taking His Chance [poem by Henry Lawson]
  • The Man from Snowy River [poem by Banjo Paterson]
  • A Book for Kids [by C. J. Dennis, 1921]
  • Our pipes [short story by Henry Lawson]
  • Rommel’s comments on Australian soldiers [1941-1942]

Archives

Categories

Posts of note

The Bastard from the Bush [poem, circa 1900]
A Book for Kids [by C. J. Dennis, 1921]
Click Go the Shears [traditional Australian song, 1890s]
Core of My Heart [“My Country”, poem by Dorothea Mackellar, 24 October 1908]
Freedom on the Wallaby [poem by Henry Lawson, 16 May 1891]
The Man from Ironbark [poem by Banjo Paterson]
Nationality [poem by Mary Gilmore, 12 May 1942]
The Newcastle song [music video, sung by Bob Hudson]
No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest [poem by Mary Gilmore, 29 June 1940]
Our pipes [short story by Henry Lawson]
Rommel’s comments on Australian soldiers [1941-1942]
Shooting the moon [short story by Henry Lawson]

Recent Comments

  • IAC on How M’Ginnis Went Missing [poem by Banjo Paterson]
  • Stephen on How M’Ginnis Went Missing [poem by Banjo Paterson]
  • IAC on The late Louisa Lawson [by George Black, 2 October 1920]
  • Percy Delouche on Freedom on the Wallaby [poem by Henry Lawson, 16 May 1891]
  • Phil on The Man from Ironbark [poem by Banjo Paterson]

For Australia

Copyright © 2023 · Log in