 | Parting legacy of R. H. Horne to Australia |  |
JOHN FERNCLIFF:
AN AUSTRALIAN NARRATIVE POEM, IN THREE CANTOS
CANTO III.
The Chief—King Baw-Baw—wore a bird's thigh-bone
Thrust thro' his nose, in token of his rank;
And from his neck there hung a white flint stone.
His legs were hairy, sinewy, and lank;
His arms stain'd blood-red. Near a grey-moss'd bank
With eyes half closed he stands. Behind one ear
Hang pitchery-twigs, to chew—narcotic, rank;
Wound round his shaggy forehead he doth wear
A pelican-feather broad, which looks like bristling hair.
Thrust thro' his nose, in token of his rank;
And from his neck there hung a white flint stone.
His legs were hairy, sinewy, and lank;
His arms stain'd blood-red. Near a grey-moss'd bank
With eyes half closed he stands. Behind one ear
Hang pitchery-twigs, to chew—narcotic, rank;
Wound round his shaggy forehead he doth wear
A pelican-feather broad, which looks like bristling hair.
VIII
At day-break the Blacks' camp broke up—pursuingA steady course—north-and-by-east it seem'd—
Camping again at night; Koo'leenth renewing
Her tender services, with eyes that gleam'd
Of love, while Ferncliff's anxious fancy teem'd,
Now with the purpose of the Blacks?—the cause?
If by a ransom he could be redeem'd?
Then, with wild thoughts, like fire 'midst whirling straws,
He dreams of Anne—of torture—and of cannibal maws!
| Parting legacy of R. H. Horne to Australia | |