Time [poem by Joseph Furphy]

[Editor: This poem by Joseph Furphy was published in The Poems of Joseph Furphy (1916). This poem was the last in the book, as indicated by the word “Finis” at the top of the page.]

Finis.

Time.

O Time! Time! Time!
Thou wondrous mystery!
Within whose rune and rhyme
Lies all Man’s history
Before Creation’s birth
Or yet the Heavens were made
With darkness all was girth,
Till word Creative said
“Let there be Light;”
And lo! from out the deep
In grandeur and with might
Rolled back the ages of sleep,
And born was Night-and-Day,
And stars together sang
Their glad harmonic lay
And all Creation rang
With “Glory to God in the Highest.”
Now let the strain resound
And Man to God the nighest
With Light and Life be crowned,
Till in the time appointed,
Unfolding from Man’s breast
Be Life with Love anointed
And God made manifest.

K. B.

Source:
K. B. [Kate Baker] (editor), The Poems of Joseph Furphy, Melbourne: Lothian Book Publishing Co., 1916, page 56

Editor’s notes:
The initials “K. B.” were placed at the bottom of the page, as the poem was printed on the final page of the book, edited by Kate Baker.

finis = (Latin) “the end”; conclusion, finish

K. B. = Catherine (Kate) Baker (1861-1953), a friend of Joseph Furphy; she was a major advocate of Furphy’s literary works and successfully campaigned for the critical recognition of his novel Such Is Life

lay = song, tune; ballad

nigh = near, close, especially regarding time or place (e.g. “the time was nigh”); approaching, nearly; almost