[Editor: This poem by Barcroft Boake was published in Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems (1897).]
A Valentine
The Bree was up; the floods were out
Around the hut of Culgo Jim:
The hand of God had broke the drought
And filled the channels to the brim:
The outline of the hut loomed dim
Among the shades of murmurous pine,
That eve of good Saint Valentine.
He watched, and to his sleepy gaze
The dying embers of the fire,
Its yellow reds and pearly greys,
Made pictures of his younger days.
Outside the waters mounted higher
Beneath a half-moon’s sickly shine,
That eve of good Saint Valentine.
There, in the great slab fire-place
The oak log, burnt away to coal,
Showed him the semblance of a face
Framed in a golden aureole:
Eyes, the clear windows of a soul —
Soul of a maid, who used to sign
Herself, ‘Jim, dear, your Valentine.’
Lips, whose pink curves were made to bear
Love’s kisses, not to be the mock
Of grave-worms … Suddenly a whirr,
And twelve loud strokes upon the clock;
Then at the door a gentle knock.
The collie dog began to whine
That morn of good Saint Valentine.
He opened; by his heels the hound
Sniffed at the night. ‘Who comes, and why?
What? no one! Hush! was that a sound?
Methought I heard a human cry.
Bah! ’twas a curlew passing by
Out where the lignum bushes twine,
This morn of good Saint Valentine.
‘What ails the dog? Down, Stumpy, down!
No? Well, lead on, perchance a sheep
It is, poor brute, that fears to drown.
Heavens! how chill the waters creep!
Why, Stumpy, do you splash and leap?
’Tis but a foolish quest of thine,
This morn of good Saint Valentine.
‘Nay, not so foolish as I thought …
Hark! ’mid those reeds a feeble scream!
Mother of God! a cradle — brought
Down from some homestead up the stream!
A white-robed baby! Do I dream?
No, ’tis that dear dead love of mine
Who sends me thus a Valentine!’
Source:
Barcroft Boake, Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems, Sydney (NSW): Angus and Robertson, 1897, pp. 35-38
Also published in:
The Bulletin (Sydney, NSW), 13 February 1892, p. 14, column 4 [by Barcroft H. Boake]
Relevant notes from the “Notes to poems” section in this book:
8. A VALENTINE, p. 35. — Printed in The Bulletin, February 13, 1892. Signed ‘Barcroft H. Boake.’
Verse 5. ‘lignum.’ This is the swamp lignum, or native broom (viminaria denudata). It is a soft-wooded shrub growing up to 20ft. high. Found throughout Australia. In ‘Fogarty’s Gin,’ p. 53, it is again mentioned.
Editor’s notes:
aureole = an aura or border of heavenly light surrounding a person’s head or (less common) their entire body, a radiant light, corona, or halo (typically indicative of a blessed or sacred being; such as depicted in religious paintings of Jesus Christ, his disciples, and Christian saints); a bright, shining, or glowing ring of light or colour which encircles something
Bree = the Bree River (in New South Wales), part of the Culgoa River, located near Brewarrina and Goodooga, near the Queensland border (this river is mentioned in various historical newspapers, but is not named on modern maps; however, the Culgoa River can be seen on modern maps)
See: 1) Demetrius, “The Drainage Country of the Darling”, The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (Sydney, NSW), 28 April 1883, p. 781 [“the waters of the Bree and the Bokhira are reached, which form a portion of the Culgoa River”]
2) “Bree River”, IAC list (on Trove)
curlew = any of a group of nine species of shorebirds in the genus Numenius, of the family Scolopacidae, characterised by their long slender down-curved bills, long legs, and brown-streaked plumage; a stone curlew, any of a group of ten species of shorebirds, of the family Burhinidae (stone curlews are so-named as they are commonly found in stony habitats, and they resemble curlews)
See: 1) “Curlew”, Wikipedia
2) “Stone-curlew”, Wikipedia
lignum = Latin for wood, or woody; may also refer to the woody tissue of a plant, or to firewood in general; in Australia, it also refers to the Muehlenbeckia Florulenta shrub (known commonly as “Tangled Lignum”, or just “Lignum”), which is a perennial shrub native to inland Australia, which grows up to 2.5 metres in height; may also refer to Vitex lignum-vitae (also known as Lignum-vitae, or more commonly as Yellow Hollywood), which is a rainforest tree native to Queensland and northern New South Wales, which grows up to 30 metres in height (also, there are other types of Lignum which grow in various other countries)
methought = (archaic) “I thought” (past tense of “methinks”)
’mid = an abbreviation of “amid” or “amidst”: of or in the middle of an area, group, position, etc.
morn = morning
nay = an archaic form of “no”; however, it is still sometimes used regarding voting (e.g. to vote yea or nay), in formal circumstances, in some dialects (e.g. in the north of England), and as a substitute for “no” when some emphasis is desired
thine = (archaic) yours (“thine”, meaning “yours”, is the more common usage); your (“thine”, meaning “your”, is usually placed before a word which begins with a vowel or a vowel sound, e.g. “To thine own self be true”)
’tis = (archaic) a contraction of “it is”
’twas = (archaic) a contraction of “it was”
twine = to twist, weave, or wind together (to entwine); a coil, convolution, or twist
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