The Hill of Death [poem by Louisa Lawson]

[Editor: This poem by Louisa Lawson was published in “The Lonely Crossing” and Other Poems (1905).]

The Hill of Death.

No downward path to death we go,
Through no dark shades or valleys low,
But up and on, o’er rises bright,
Toward the dawn of endless light.

For not in lowlands can we see
The path that was, and that to be;
But on the height, just where the soul
Takes deeper breath to reach the goal.

There we can see the winding way
That we have journeyed all our day;
Then turn and view, with spirits still,
Our future home beyond the hill.

Source:
Louisa Lawson, “The Lonely Crossing” and Other Poems, Sydney: Dawn Office, [1905], p. 14

Editor’s notes:
o’er = (archaic) over (pronounced the same as “oar”, “or”, and “ore”)