The Satin Bower Bird [poem by C. J. Dennis]

[Editor: This poem by C. J. Dennis was published in The Singing Garden (1935).]

The Satin Bower Bird

Spare a bloom of blue, lady,
To adorn a bower.
A violet will do, lady —
Any azure flower.
Since we hold a dance to-day,
We would make our ball-room gay,
Where the scented grasses sway,
And the tall trees tower.

Beautiful but shy, lady,
Yesterday we came
Dropping from the sky, lady,
Flecks of golden flame —
Golden flame and royal blue —
We have come to beg of you
Any scrap of heaven’s hue
For our dancing game.

Spare us but a leaf, lady,
If our suit be spurned
We shall play the thief, lady,
When your back is turned;
Ravishing your garden plot
Of the choicest you have got —
Pansy or forget-me-not —
Counting it well earned.

Then, if some rare chance, lady,
Later should befall.
And you gain a glance, lady,
At our dancing hall,
You will find your blossoms there
’Mid our decorations where,
With a proud, patrician air,
We hold the Bushland Ball.

Source:
C. J. Dennis, The Singing Garden, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1935, pages 167-168

Editor’s notes:
azure = the blue of a clear unclouded sky

bower = the bower of a bird; a male bowerbird, in order to attract females, will build a structure (a passageway, archway, or bower; or a chamber or a hut-like construction), built from grass and twigs, with arches, and commonly decorated with bright, shiny, and colourful items (can also refer to: a shaded, leafy resting place or shelter, usually located within a garden or park and often made of latticework, or intertwined tree boughs or vines, upon which plants are grown)

gay = happy, joyous, carefree (may also mean well-decorated, bright, attractive) (in modern times it may especially refer to a homosexual, especially a male homosexual; may also refer to something which is no good, pathetic, useless)

’mid = an abbreviation of “amid” or “amidst”: of or in the middle of an area, group, position, etc.