 | Australian Lyrics &c |  |
55
ON A NEW-BORN BABE.
What is the secret of this bud
Of pink and simple babyhood,
That thrusts its head above the soil
Into this world of joy and toil?
Of pink and simple babyhood,
That thrusts its head above the soil
Into this world of joy and toil?
We presage little of the shoot
Which rises from the hidden root,
But that leaf and stalk will follow
With the coming of the swallow.
Which rises from the hidden root,
But that leaf and stalk will follow
With the coming of the swallow.
And what its aftergrowth will be,
Whether flower or stately tree,
Only the Pow'r that made it knows;
We can but watch it as it grows,
Whether flower or stately tree,
Only the Pow'r that made it knows;
We can but watch it as it grows,
And, noting each unfolded leaf
The bud detaches from its sheaf,
Call back those of trees and flowers
Which we knew in other hours,
The bud detaches from its sheaf,
Call back those of trees and flowers
Which we knew in other hours,
Saying that sweet carnation
Had such a budding as this one,
And yon fair lily in its youth
Just such a soft-upspringing growth;
Had such a budding as this one,
And yon fair lily in its youth
Just such a soft-upspringing growth;
Or that the pine, so tall and strong,
Grew in this wise when it was young,
And the oak that rules the wild wood
Was as this one in its childhood.
Grew in this wise when it was young,
And the oak that rules the wild wood
Was as this one in its childhood.
What will this bud be, sweet or strong,
As the years hasten it along?
Will it be delicate and fair,
Or rear its boughs into the air?
As the years hasten it along?
Will it be delicate and fair,
Or rear its boughs into the air?
Will it be rifled of its bloom
To decorate a gilded room,
Or with broad trunk scorning danger
Flout the rising tempest's anger?
To decorate a gilded room,
Or with broad trunk scorning danger
Flout the rising tempest's anger?
I would that this small bud you see
Just as a moss-rose bud should be,
As sweet to scent, as full of dew,
As beautiful in shape and hue;
Just as a moss-rose bud should be,
As sweet to scent, as full of dew,
As beautiful in shape and hue;
56
And as the lily, free from stain,
And fresh as hedgerows after rain,
And as the daisy, ever-blooming
Radiant and unpresuming.
And fresh as hedgerows after rain,
And as the daisy, ever-blooming
Radiant and unpresuming.
I would that this small bud you see
Should grow into a linden tree,
Should put forth tender leaves in spring,
And after burst out blossoming;
Should grow into a linden tree,
Should put forth tender leaves in spring,
And after burst out blossoming;
Should give in summer heat a shade
Beneath its leafy colonnade,
And each year send out new branches
In green fragrant avalanches.
Beneath its leafy colonnade,
And each year send out new branches
In green fragrant avalanches.
And, if its fibre stouter be,
That it turn out a brave oak tree,
Late in the leaf, in increase slow,
But match for all the winds that blow,
That it turn out a brave oak tree,
Late in the leaf, in increase slow,
But match for all the winds that blow,
Standing in green old age alone
When all its mates are dead and gone,
Type of constancy and greatness
Grander for its very lateness.
When all its mates are dead and gone,
Type of constancy and greatness
Grander for its very lateness.
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