To the Wattle Blossom [poem, 19 July 1894]

To the Wattle Blossom.

“Hope, like the gleaming taper’s light,
Adorns and cheers the way.”

Hail ! to thee, bright bless’d harbinger of spring ;
What happy dreams of sunny days thy golden glories bring ;
And songs of birds, and azure skies :
A wealth of sunlight in thee lies,
Dear harbinger of spring;

Old age is creeping o’er us, the world seems dark and drear,
But thy sweet bloom of brightness brings hope of beauty near;
And every little mimic sun
Upon thy stalk means joy to come,
Bright harbinger of spring.

Welcome, to thee, bright emblem of future bliss and joy !
Fit wreath to crown sweet dove-eyed hope, and all our fears destroy,
With songs of hope, and bliss in store,
On heav’n’s own bright and peaceful shore ;
And joy and peace for ever-more
In that eternal spring.

F. W. Scrivenor,

July, 1894.

Source:
The Mercury and Weekly Courier (Fitzroy, Vic.), Thursday 19 July 1894, page 2

Editor’s notes:
The first two lines “Hope, like the gleaming taper’s light, Adorns and cheers the way.” are a quote from the Irish poet Oliver Goldsmith
The Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith: With a Life, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1863, page 98