 | Australian Lyrics &c |  |
25
MRS. WATSON, A QUEENSLAND HEROINE.
[_]
N.B.—The passages in inverted commas are verbatim extracts from the diary—for the story, see The Sketcher.
Bury this woman as heroes are buried—
A daughter and type of the conquering race—
With unfixed bayonets and ranks unserried,
For she fought with the savages face to face,
And conquered. There's many a page in story
With heroines' names writ in characters fair,
But never a one that outshines in glory
The girl-wife of the fisher of Bêche-de-Mer.
A daughter and type of the conquering race—
With unfixed bayonets and ranks unserried,
For she fought with the savages face to face,
And conquered. There's many a page in story
With heroines' names writ in characters fair,
But never a one that outshines in glory
The girl-wife of the fisher of Bêche-de-Mer.
Joan of Arc, had she not chivalrous Frenchmen
Impatient to follow wherever she led?
The Countess of Montfort, had she no henchmen?
And Hennebon Castle was battlemented.
Mary Ambree had a company merry
Of roystering English—one thousand and three—
And Grace Darling pulled in a good stout wherry
In her perilous feat on the wild North Sea.
Impatient to follow wherever she led?
The Countess of Montfort, had she no henchmen?
And Hennebon Castle was battlemented.
Mary Ambree had a company merry
Of roystering English—one thousand and three—
And Grace Darling pulled in a good stout wherry
In her perilous feat on the wild North Sea.
This young wife-mother had little to aid her,
No foss, or escarpment, or rampart of stone,
To shield her from the bloodthirsty invader—
With a babe and two Chinamen left alone
In a wooden hut on a far-off island
Off the desolate northerly Queensland coast;
And the wild blacks swarmed from Delta and highland
To swell and to aid the beleaguering host.
No foss, or escarpment, or rampart of stone,
To shield her from the bloodthirsty invader—
With a babe and two Chinamen left alone
In a wooden hut on a far-off island
Off the desolate northerly Queensland coast;
And the wild blacks swarmed from Delta and highland
To swell and to aid the beleaguering host.
She left her diary. Let it be printed,
Let the heroine tell in her own brave words
How one Chinese was speared and the other, sore-dinted,
Scarcely crawled to the sheltering weatherboards.
She fought, as her countrymen at Gibraltar
Fought the armies and navies of France and Spain,
And made the fierce savages reel and falter,
And, oft as they rallied, repulsed them again.
Let the heroine tell in her own brave words
How one Chinese was speared and the other, sore-dinted,
Scarcely crawled to the sheltering weatherboards.
She fought, as her countrymen at Gibraltar
Fought the armies and navies of France and Spain,
And made the fierce savages reel and falter,
And, oft as they rallied, repulsed them again.
26
They fled; she knew that the flight of the foe meant
A ruse, or a pause, reinforcements to hail,
And that their retreat was but for a moment,
And that powder and shot must at some time fail.
So she filled an old tank up with provision
And water enough, as she thought for the while,
And taking the firearms and ammunition
Launched out on the deep for a fostering isle.
A ruse, or a pause, reinforcements to hail,
And that their retreat was but for a moment,
And that powder and shot must at some time fail.
So she filled an old tank up with provision
And water enough, as she thought for the while,
And taking the firearms and ammunition
Launched out on the deep for a fostering isle.
This woman came of a nation of freemen,
Accustomed to dare and to die on the wave;
And yet Britain's most adventurous seamen
Might well be excused if they were not as brave.
What wonder if he who sank in the Squirrel,
Or Davis, or Baffin, or Frobisher shrank
From defying the superhuman peril
Of crossing the sea in an old water-tank?
Accustomed to dare and to die on the wave;
And yet Britain's most adventurous seamen
Might well be excused if they were not as brave.
What wonder if he who sank in the Squirrel,
Or Davis, or Baffin, or Frobisher shrank
From defying the superhuman peril
Of crossing the sea in an old water-tank?
The story is pitiful: this brave woman
Who had tempted the sea (here forty miles wide)
Thus shipped, after routing the savage foemen,
When she came to her haven of shelter, died.
Eight days 'mid the waves in a worn-out boiler
(She had better by half have been killed at first):
And the only enemy that could foil her
Is confessed in her diary—“Dead with thirst.”
Who had tempted the sea (here forty miles wide)
Thus shipped, after routing the savage foemen,
When she came to her haven of shelter, died.
Eight days 'mid the waves in a worn-out boiler
(She had better by half have been killed at first):
And the only enemy that could foil her
Is confessed in her diary—“Dead with thirst.”
Not a drain to drink, yet she was not fearful,
But in pained and feeble handwriting had writ
That her baby “was better and more cheerful,
And condensed milk appeared to agree with it.”
Not even the steamer passing close by her,
Unheeding the signals she hoisted in vain,
Could take the heart from her or terrify her,
She noted it down, but she did not complain.
But in pained and feeble handwriting had writ
That her baby “was better and more cheerful,
And condensed milk appeared to agree with it.”
Not even the steamer passing close by her,
Unheeding the signals she hoisted in vain,
Could take the heart from her or terrify her,
She noted it down, but she did not complain.
Oh, that a watch had been kept on that steamer!
Oh, how much has that captain to answer for!
Who was sent by God in time to redeem her;
He will surely be haunted for evermore.
Were she living who fought and wrought so well, sons
Might perchance have been born in our own far North
To match the Drakes, and the Cooks, and the Nelsons
Whom the Mother of Continents has brought forth.
Oh, how much has that captain to answer for!
Who was sent by God in time to redeem her;
He will surely be haunted for evermore.
27
Might perchance have been born in our own far North
To match the Drakes, and the Cooks, and the Nelsons
Whom the Mother of Continents has brought forth.
| Australian Lyrics &c | |