[Editor: This poem by S. Tatlow-Palmer was published in The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 December 1933.]
Land of Mine.
Australia, once fair, once joyous land,
That glistened like some beauteous pearl amidst
The colour, glamour of the East. Arise!
Where is thy charm, thy youth, thy noble mien?
Thy commerce rich and wealthy industry?
Australia, art dropped so low, so weak,
That from thy tortured breast thou can’st not tear
Those tawdry ropes which shackle thy great shape,
Those bonds that bind thy young, once mighty arms,
Those forged chains that stay thy forward step?
O land of mine. Rise up!
Erase those furrows from thy brow. Imbue
Fresh crimson to those cheeks so deathly pale.
Set richer blood a coursing through thy veins.
Arise! Awake! Fair southern land. Then breathe
Aye, breathe; and deeply so. And from thy form
Will fall those bonds like vanquished reptiles vile.
Rise! No Aphrodite e’er more fair,
And far off gleams Aurora bright. For thee
Fair land she gleams. She beckons thee to stir
And surging with new life, old faith, new hope,
Great land of ours. March on!
S. TATLOW-PALMER.
Source:
The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, NSW), 16 December 1933, p. 11
Editor’s notes:
Aphrodite = in Greek mythology, the goddess of beauty, fertility, and love; Aphrodite was also regarded as a goddess of the sea and of seafaring, and also as a goddess of war
Aurora = the dawn (from Aurora, goddess of the dawn in Roman mythology)
e’er = ever
mien = the air, bearing, demeanor, or manner of a person, especially as showing an attitude or personality
Old spelling/words in the original text:
art (are)
can’st (can)
thee (you)
thou (you)
thy (your)
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