Convict Once
I Hyacinth, of whom she wrote, now write:
Not from the hope of fame, or wish for praise;
But that, in waning of her latter days,
She willed her warning tale should see the light,
And whispered with her fading breath that I
Should soften nothing that she did reveal,
But charter her confession with a seal
Of manual pardon — as I do hereby.
And ere ye scorn her troubles, passion-fed,
Her wilful choosing of the crooked path,
And ere ye make a virtue of your wrath,
I pray you all, remember — she is dead.
Forgive the passions that she could not curb,
The heaving trouble of a fevered breast.
She's very quiet now. She hath her rest:
And there is none can wake her, none disturb.
I, who have most to pardon, pardon all,
As I myself beseech forgiving grace;
And live in hope that I shall her face,
Even as an angel's, at the Judgment call.
This work is in the public domain in Australia because it was created in Australia and the term of copyright has expired. According to Australian Copyright Council - Duration of Copyright, the following works are public domain:
- published non-government works whose author died before January 1, 1955,
- anonymous or pseudonymous works and photographs published before January 1, 1955, and
- government works published more than 50 years ago (before January 1, 1974).
This work is also in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in Australia on the URAA date (January 1, 1996). This is the combined effect of Australia having joined the Berne Convention in 1928, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.
Because the Australian copyright term in 1996 was 50 years, the critical date for copyright in the United States under the URAA is January 1, 1946.
This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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