A Protest.
10
Our spirits answer clearly
When, liquid as a brook,
That bubbles over golden sands,
In some fern-fringed nook,
When, liquid as a brook,
That bubbles over golden sands,
In some fern-fringed nook,
The laughing- jack salutes the dawn
With clear and gurgling note,
That falls, as if in silver drops,
From his impetuous throat.
With clear and gurgling note,
That falls, as if in silver drops,
From his impetuous throat.
And parrots whistling cheerily,
From green and rustling heights,
And curlews wailing, wailing,
Through long, quiet, brooding nights.
From green and rustling heights,
And curlews wailing, wailing,
Through long, quiet, brooding nights.
All speak to us in patois,
That love alone imparts,
And aliens cannot master
The idiom of our hearts.
That love alone imparts,
And aliens cannot master
The idiom of our hearts.
To us, when in the gloaming
The drooping she-oaks sing
Their low and plaintive music,
What thrilling echoes ring!
The drooping she-oaks sing
Their low and plaintive music,
What thrilling echoes ring!
