Joseph Furphy Long Poems
- 1. The Bullfrog Bell
Now the truce of night brings respite to the sordid care of day,
And in listlessness I pace the river side,
Where the solitude is wounded by no lighted window's ray;
But illicit fancy will not be denied
... - 2. Birthday Lines For K.b.
Life is a Poem, short or long,
A dismal Dirge, or jovial Song,
A Psalm of faith, or Lay of Pride,
One stanza by each year supplied.
... - 3. The Fly In The Ointment
When the great Creator fashion'd us, and saw that we were good,
He commission'd us to dominate the planet as it stood.
But His ordinance meets denial still, and peace remains unknown,
For the Boer is always with us, calling certain lands his own.
... - 4. The Gumsucker's Dirge
Sing the evil days we see, and the worse that are to be,
In such doggerel as dejection will allow,
We are pilgrims, sorrow-led, with no Beulah on ahead,
No elysian Up the Country for us now.
... - 5. The Schoolhouse On The Plain
(From 'An Idyll of the Wimmera.')
On the geodetic line, where the parish boundaries join
At a level and interminable lane
... - 6. A Psalm Of Resignation
In spite of his imposing plea,
A freeman whom the truth makes free
Is often fairly up a tree,
And marvels why it should be thus.
... - 7. The Death Of President Lincoln
(A Romance.)
December 11th, 1867.
... - 8. A Psalm Of Patience
O kid! with face of healthy tan,
With lunch-bag, books and slate;
You needn't long to be a man,
Self-confident and great;
... - 9. Glory To God; To Men Good Will!
Opposed to Jewish Temple-rites,
Strange to the lore of Greece,
That message comes from starry heights,
A key to lasting Peace.
...
