[Editor: This poem by E. J. Brady was published in Bells and Hobbles (1911).]
For Your Birthday.
Buds of the Summer Roses,
Crimson, and gold, and white,
Bells of the splendid Lilies,
Freshened with dews of night;
Blooms of old-fashioned gardens,
Blooms of the Open Way
Woven in perfumed garlands —
These — for your natal day!
Gold of the Sunlit Beaches,
Green of the hills divine,
Bushland, and all her glories —
Glamor of these be thine!
Yea, and the silver starshine,
Flashing the skies along,
Yea, and the mornings golden —
Be in your birthday song!
Blush of the maiden Morning,
Blood of the wounded Sun
Staining the West with carmine,
Dying when day is done;
Blue of the Sky unfathomed,
Sapphire of shining Sea;
Each in its turn shall color
Words of my wish, for thee.
Flashing with rose-red rubies,
Sparkling with brilliants rare,
Glinting with changing opal,
Glowing with topaz fair;
Turquoise and em’rald burning.
Sard and chalcedony —
Thus, in a shower of jewels,
Falleth my song to thee.
Filled with the meadow’s kindness,
Filled with the orchard’s bloom,
Sweetened with hay and clover —
So, from a golden loom
Falleth my woof of Fancy
Fashioned in fabric true,
Woven in wishes tender —
Out of my love, for you.
All that is rich in Nature,
All that in Art is fine;
All that the wide world offers,
Be, Oh Beloved, thine!
Sunlight and silver water,
Moonlight and dancing spray;
These, from a Poet’s fancy,
Take, for your natal day!
Source:
E. J. Brady, Bells and Hobbles, Melbourne: George Robertson & Co., 1911, pp. 3-4
Editor’s notes:
The entire poem was in italics in the original text.
em’rald = (vernacular) emerald
falleth = (archaic) falls
natal day = birthday; the day on which a person was born; the day on which an organisation, institution, state, or nation was founded (or the anniversary thereof)
thine = (archaic) your; yours
yea = yes; indeed; truly; an affirmation (especially an affirmative vote), an indication of assent
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