Silver Falls, Hobart [postcard, 20 March 1905]

[Editor: This postcard, which incorporates a photograph of the Silver Falls (Hobart), is dated 20 March 1905.]

[Front of postcard]

Silver Falls, Hobart.

[Handwritten text, in italics]

A Vow.

Though a thousand kisses,
A thousand caresses, a thousand pains
Till the petals have fallen
From the roses of passion
And nought but the perfume remain.

Dear Daisy,
Don’t you think this would be a lovely spot for a vow like this.
20/3/05.

[Description: A photograph of two men standing at the lower side of a waterfall (at Silver Falls, Hobart).]

[Reverse of postcard]

Post Card

The address to be written on this side.

[Handwritten text, in italics]

[Addressed to:]

Miss D. Wherrett
“Losecombe”
Moonah.

[No identifying information about the manufacturer was included on the postcard.]

Source:
Original document

Editor’s notes:
Dimensions (approximate): 140 mm. (width), 89 mm. (height).

Although the postcard included no specific identifying information about the manufacturer, it did incorporate a picture of a ship’s anchor, which could be an identifying symbol if and when further information on the use of such symbol on postcards comes to light.

The postcard has two ink stamps, one from Kingston Beach (located about 13.5 km to the south of Hobart, Tasmania) with the year “05” (1905), and the other from Moonah (located about 5.3 km to the north of Hobart, Tasmania) with the date “Mar 21 05” (21 March 1905).

The handwritten poem on the card appears to be a rendering of the poem “A Vow”, by R. De Peyster Tytus (translated from Arabic). This poem was published in Harper’s Monthly Magazine, February 1904:

A Vow
By R. De Peyster Tytus
(From the Arabic)

Unto the end:
Through a thousand kisses
A thousand caresses a thousand pains —
Till the roses of passion
Have dropped their petals
And naught but the perfume remains.

See: Harper’s Monthly Magazine (New York, USA), February 1904, p. 357 [the February 1904 issue began on p. 335]

nought = (an alternative spelling of “naught”) nothing; zero; failure, without result; lost, ruined (older meanings are: ruined, useless, worthless; morally bad, wicked)