Five Years [poem by Grant Hervey]

[Editor: This poem by Grant Hervey was published in Australians Yet and Other Verses, 1913.]

Five Years

I never see a woman, save
To look upon and love her —
When I am hidden in my grave
I’ll wake when girls pass over.
When ladies tread
The earth o’erhead
I’ll stir once more my tomb in,
Ah ! pity me,
Ye people free —
I never see
A Woman !

I never see a girl go by,
With cheeks like stolen roses ;
No sun-rise lip or laughing eye
My prison-wall encloses.
These three years gone
I’ve lingered on,
This stony box of doom in ;
And earnestly,
For long years three,
I’ve prayed to see
A Woman !

No high-heeled shoes of black or tan
Trip ’neath our barren gateway ;
No scented hair or jewelled fan —
These things are off a great way.
These two years more
My body sore
Must dwell this arid gloom in.
Ah ! pity me,
Ye lovers free —
I never see
A Woman !

Source:
Grant Hervey. Australians Yet and Other Verses, Thomas C. Lothian, Melbourne, 1913, pages 18-19