The Call of the North
A creaking crane and a swinging weight; the moist, hot dark about us,
And the laugh of a girl from the prow with mirth that seems to flout us;
And over there, where the crouching rock, lion-like leans o'er the town,
The reds and greens of the signal light from the slender spar look down.
And here and there on the sloping deck lies a gleaming shaft of white;
Here and there the long, soft shadow creeps on the pathway of the light,
Where the mighty engines wake and stir, hid under the polished wood,
The shadows cover your drooping head just as though they understood.
A whistle cuts thro' the wide, black night as the train slides o'er the rail;
The last train out from the drowsy town with its midnight load of mail,
And overhead in one swift red spark a meteor spurns the sky,
And a voice that seems a spirit thing trails faint in a last "Good-bye!"
A slack chain swings and a rope drags past, and the pulsing engines beat;
The shore-bell jangles above the thud, and the rush of naked feet;
And fair and far in the oily wash of the tide that draws us forth,
One white crest lifts in the sheeted gloom of that deep, curved bay up North.
I have left behind the jetty, wharf, and the hulls of the waiting ships;
My hand still warm from another's hand, my lips from another's lips,
And Magnetic Island on the left seems a menace in the night,
While dwindle aft, o'er the churning waves, the gems of the Signal Light.
I have left behind the long brown beach, with its haunting tropic charm;
The chapel hidden among the trees, and the ragged groves of palm;
I have left behind the red streaked rock, and the still pandanus glade;
The mango trees o'er the paling fence, with their broad unbroken shades,
The tamarinds in the garden-plot, and the cannias on the rise,
The bougainvillaeas' regal-red, and the milk-white orchids' eyes;
To the citied South have set my face, as the rocking boat speeds forth,
And yet the cry in my soul to-day, is a cry for the green isled North!
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.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1935, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 88 years or less. 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.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse