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To a Blue Flower [poem by John Shaw Neilson]

29 July 2014 · 1 Comment

[Editor: This poem by John Shaw Neilson was published in Heart of Spring (1919), Ballad and Lyrical Poems (1923), and Collected Poems of John Shaw Neilson (1934).]

To a Blue Flower

I would be dismal with all the fine pearls of the crown of a king;
But I can talk plainly to you, you little blue flower of the Spring!

Here in the heart of September the world that I walk in is full
Of the hot happy sound of the shearing, the rude heavy scent of the wool.

Soon would I tire of all riches or honours or power that they fling;
But you are my own, of my own folk, you little blue flower of the Spring!

I was around by the cherries to-day; all the cherries are pale:
The world is a woman in velvet: the air is the colour of ale.

I would be dismal with all the fine pearls of the crown of a king;
But I can give love-talk to you, you little blue flower of the Spring!



Source:
Shaw Neilson, Heart of Spring, Sydney: The Bookfellow, 1919, page 13

Also published in:
John Shaw Neilson, Ballad and Lyrical Poems, Sydney: Bookfellow in Australia, 1923, page 17
John Shaw Neilson (edited by R. H. Croll), Collected Poems of John Shaw Neilson, Melbourne: Lothian Publishing Company, 1934, page 13

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: 500x500, Ballad and Lyrical Poems (John Shaw Neilson 1923), Collected Poems of John Shaw Neilson (1934), Heart of Spring (John Shaw Neilson 1919), John Shaw Neilson (1872-1942) (author), poem, SourceIACLibrary, year1919

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Noel Castles says

    24 June 2023 at 22:01

    To me JSN is Australia’s greatest lyric poet. His word pictures, emotion and feeling is without equal

    Reply

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