[Editor: This poem, by Erasmus Darwin, was published in The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay (1789). It was also published in A Century of Australian Song (1888), under the title of “A Fulfilled Prophecy”.]
Visit of Hope to Sydney-Cove, Near Botany-Bay.
Courts her young navies, and the storm repels;
High on a rock amid the troubled air
HOPE stood sublime, and wav’d her golden hair;
Calm’d with her rosy smile the tossing deep,
And with sweet accents charm’d the winds to sleep;
To each wild plain she stretch’d her snowy hand,
High-waving wood, and sea-encircled strand.
“Hear me,” she cried, “ye rising Realms! record
“Time’s opening scenes, and Truth’s unerring word. —
“There shall broad streets their stately walls extend,
“The circus widen, and the crescent bend;
“There, ray’d from cities o’er the cultur’d land,
“Shall bright canals, and solid roads expand. —
“There the proud arch, Colossus-like, bestride
“Yon glittering streams, and bound the chasing tide;
“Embellish’d villas crown the landscape-scene,
“Farms wave with gold, and orchards blush between. —
“There shall tall spires, and dome-capt towers ascend,
“And piers and quays their massy structures blend;
“While with each breeze approaching vessels glide,
“And northern treasures dance on every tide!” —
Then ceas’d the nymph — tumultuous echoes roar,
And Joy’s loud voice was heard from shore to shore —
Her graceful steps descending press’d the plain,
And Peace, and Art, and Labour join’d her train.
Source:
The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay: With an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson & Norfolk Island, London: John Stockdale, 1789, p. v
Also published in:
1798: The Botanic Garden: A Poem, in Two Parts: Part I. Containing the Economy of Vegetation. Part II. The Loves of the Plants. With Philosophical Notes, New York: T. & J. Swords, 1798 (American edition), part 1, p. 246
1806: Thomas Smith, The Wonders of Nature and Art, or, a Concise Account of Whatever is Most Curious and Remarkable in the World, vol. ix (revised edition, by James Mease), Philadelphia: Birch & Small, 1806, pp. 175-176 (under the title of “The Visit of Hope to Sidney Cove”)
1835: The Colonist (Sydney, NSW), 9 April 1835, p. 118
1867: Samuel Bennett, The History of Australian Discovery and Colonisation, Sydney: Hanson & Bennett, 1867, p. 120 (under the title of “Sydney Cove”)
1888: Douglas B. W. Sladen (editor), A Century of Australian Song, London: Walter Scott, 1888, p. 124 (under the title of “A Fulfilled Prophecy”)
Editor’s notes:
capt = archaic spelling of “capped”
strand = land bordering a body of water, such as a beach or shore adjoining the sea; less commonly, may also refer to a beach or shore adjoining a lake or river (can also refer to a small brook or rivulet)
1) Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) was the grandfather of Charles Darwin (1809-1882).
2) In The Botanic Garden (1798), a notation was placed under the poem, as follows:
“Mr. Wedgwood, having been favoured by Sir Joseph Banks with a specimen of clay from Sydney Cove, has made a few medallions of it, representing Hope encouraging Art and Labour, under the influence of Peace, to pursue the employments necessary for rendering an infant colony secure and happy. The above verses were written by the author of the Botanic Garden, to accompany these medallions.”
3) Douglas Sladen, in A Century of Australian Song (1888), included a notation with the poem, which stated “From a Broadside, dated 1789”. It seems likely that this was a reference to a broadside sheet accompanying the medallion manufactured by Wedgwood.
4) The Wedgwood medallion can be viewed on the following internet pages:
a) “Wedgwood medallion made from dark grey clay from Sydney Cove, 1789”, National Museum of Australia, (accessed 18 September 2023) [obverse/front and reverse/back]
[previous URLs, accessed 25 February 2015, archived: a) “Wedgwood medallion made from dark grey clay from Sydney Cove, 1789”, National Museum of Australia; b) obverse/front; c) reverse/back]
b) The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay: With an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson & Norfolk Island, London: John Stockdale, 1789, title page [a sketch of the image which was used for the front of the Wedgwood medallion; the sketch appears to have been signed by “T. Midland sculpt.” (sculptor)]
c) “[The figures on the medallion made by Josiah Wedgwood]”, Documenting a Democracy (accessed 25 February 2015) [a stained-glass version of the medallion in colour, with the accompanying description: “This depiction of the Wedgwood medallion is from an 1892 painted glass door panel in the Chief Secretary’s Building in Sydney”]
I wish to have a copy of the medallion for publishing purposes (Sydney History book).
Is it attainable?
The sketch used for the Wedgwood medallion has now been added to this post.
See section 4 of the “Editor’s notes” section re the image used for the Wedgwood medallion.
The links have been updated re the photos of the original medallion, as published on the National Museum of Australia website. Unfortunately, the site structure of the Museum is quite poor, as they are using “search” URLs rather than proper static URLs. The Museum changed their previous URLs, which now do not work (another poor website practice, considering that researchers use URLs in citations).
Hope that helps.