Through the hush of my heart, in the spell of its dreaming, Comes the song of a bush boy glad-hearted and free;Oh, the gullies are green where the sunlight is streaming, And the voice of that youngster is calling to me.
It is calling to me with a haunting insistence,And my feet wander off on a hoof-beaten track, Till I hear the old magpies away in the distanceWith a song of the morning that"s calling me back.
It is calling me back, for the dew"s on the clover,And the colours are mellow on mountain and tree; Oh, the gold has gone grey in the heart of the rover,And the bush in the sunshine is calling to me.
It is calling to me, though the breezes are telling Gay troubadour tales to the stars as they roam;For the tapers are lit in the humble old dwelling, And the love that it sheltered is calling me home.
It is calling me home-but the white road lies gleaming, And afar from it all must I tarry and dree;Just an echo far off, in the hush of my dreaming, Is the voice of a youngster that"s calling to me.
"John O"Brien " (Father Hartigan), in Around the Boree LogDrawn by John Rowell
"Glad-hearted and free. "
"Tis not in mortals to command success,
But we"ll do more, Sempronius, we"ll deserve it.
Addison
Author.- " John O"Brien " is the pen-name of the Reverend Francis Hartigan, a Catholic priest at Narrandera, New South Wales. His book of poems Round the Boree Log and Other Verses (Angus and Robertson, Sydney) is widely popular.
General.- "I rememher, I remember, the house where I was born. "Most poets refer, in one poem at least, to the place of their birth. It is said that Shakespeare is an exception. What other poems express the same feelings? Can you mark the three-pulse beat along the lines? Do you notice the device of repetition at the opening of the stanzas? What does he mean by " the gold has gone grey, " "a haunting insistence, " " troubadour tales, " "dree "? Describe the place of your birth, and see if you can do as well. Then find out what makes the difference.