 | Australian Lyrics &c |  |
36
THE DAY OF THE NILE.
1st August, 1798.
The shades of night have fallen round us
Here in Australia;
The hour-hand verges upon seven
Of a midwinter day;
Here in Australia;
The hour-hand verges upon seven
Of a midwinter day;
And I with wife and child am sitting
Beside a cosy fire—
A type of peacefulness and quiet,
And satisfied desire;
Beside a cosy fire—
A type of peacefulness and quiet,
And satisfied desire;
While, gorgeous in the sunset splendour
Of an Egyptian bay,
The might of England lies at anchor
Off Alexandria.
Of an Egyptian bay,
The might of England lies at anchor
Off Alexandria.
Eighty odd years ago this nightfall
Their wooden ancestry,
Off the same headland of Aboukir,
Fronted the enemy;
Their wooden ancestry,
Off the same headland of Aboukir,
Fronted the enemy;
And, just as I sit down to dinner,
Were sweeping proudly in
To the red banquet that awaited
Their coming to begin.
Were sweeping proudly in
To the red banquet that awaited
Their coming to begin.
Eighty odd years—and at this distance
I fancy I can hear
Their voices sink into grim silence
As they are drawing near.
I fancy I can hear
Their voices sink into grim silence
As they are drawing near.
And here, I feel, my wife is reading
My face with rueful eyes—
Trying to catch the thoughts that traverse
My dumb soliloquies;
My face with rueful eyes—
Trying to catch the thoughts that traverse
My dumb soliloquies;
While all my sight is filled with pictures
Of the black masts of ships,
And cannon poisoning the twilight
With their mephitic lips.
Of the black masts of ships,
And cannon poisoning the twilight
With their mephitic lips.
37
The shadows deepen; and the orgy
Waxes more loud and fierce,
As draughts of fire and ancient hatred
Inflame the revellers.
Waxes more loud and fierce,
As draughts of fire and ancient hatred
Inflame the revellers.
The night grows on; my eyes of vision
Regard a girlish face
And slender hand upon the pillow,
Drooped in unconscious grace,
Regard a girlish face
And slender hand upon the pillow,
Drooped in unconscious grace,
While my broad inward eyes are spell-bound
In awed astonishment,
As in a chariot of lightning
The giant Orient
In awed astonishment,
As in a chariot of lightning
The giant Orient
Shoots up to heaven, and the darkness
Drowns the unearthly glare,
While friend and foe desist to gape at
The pageant in the air.
Drowns the unearthly glare,
While friend and foe desist to gape at
The pageant in the air.
The sweet gray orbs shake off their slumbers
And look on me once more,
Inviting confidence and pleading
A truce to that old war;
And look on me once more,
Inviting confidence and pleading
A truce to that old war;
And I shake off my inward slumbers,
And, pressing the ripe lips,
Whisper to her that I've been dreaming
Of grand old-fashioned ships
And, pressing the ripe lips,
Whisper to her that I've been dreaming
Of grand old-fashioned ships
That, in the century long buried,
Upon this August night,
Off the old castle of Aboukir,
Fought in the famous fight;
Upon this August night,
Off the old castle of Aboukir,
Fought in the famous fight;
While yet the city which we live in
Was but a waste of sand,
And all the golden fields behind it
An undiscovered land;
Was but a waste of sand,
And all the golden fields behind it
An undiscovered land;
And breathe a prayer for our sailors
Upon the battle-day,
Standing on England's iron bulwarks
Off Alexandria.
Upon the battle-day,
Standing on England's iron bulwarks
Off Alexandria.
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