I would never waste the hours
Of the time that is mine own,
Writing verses about flowers
For their own sweet sakes alone;
Gushing as a schoolgirl gushes
Over babies at their best-
Or as poets trill of thrushes,
Larks, and starlings and the rest.
I am not a man who praises
Beauty that he cannot see,
But the buttercups and daisies
Bring my childhood back to me;
And before life’s bitter battle,
That breaks lion hearts and kills,
Oh the waratah and wattle
Saw my boyhood on the hills.
It was “Cissy” or Cecilia,
And I loved her very much,
When I wore the white camelia
That will wither at a touch.
Ah, the fairest chapter closes
With lilies white and blue,
When the wild days with the roses
Cast their glamour over you!
Vine leaves fall and laurels wither
(Madd’ning drink and pride insane),
And the fate that sends us hither
Ever takes us back again.
Fading flowers-slow pulsations-
Flowers pressed for memory
But the red and pink carnations
Speak most bitter things to me.
(Henry Lawson)
More Poetry from Henry Lawson:
Henry Lawson Poems based on Topics: Man, War & Peace, Time, Life, Fate & Destiny, Speaking, Beauty, Flowers, Writing- Ruth (Henry Lawson Poems)
- Mostly Slavonic (Henry Lawson Poems)
- With Dickens (Henry Lawson Poems)
- One Hundred and Three (Henry Lawson Poems)
- The Ballad of the Elder Son (Henry Lawson Poems)
- Brighten's Sister-In-Law [or The Carrier's Story] (Henry Lawson Poems)
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Based on Topics: Man Poems, Life Poems, Time Poems, War & Peace Poems, Flowers Poems, Beauty Poems, Fate & Destiny Poems, Speaking Poems, Writing PoemsBased on Keywords: cecilia, pulsations, schoolgirl, waratah, cissy