Original Poetry.

Evening Star, Issue 3379, 18 December 1873, Page 3

Original Poetry.

OUR LITTLE DARLING. The above inscription on a tombstone in an Australian cemetery suggested the following lines : The wattle trees begin to bloom, And load the air with sweet perfume ; But spring’s green robe is edged with gloom : We’ve lost our little darling. No more beneath the spreading gum Our darling and the lambkins come ; The little prattling mouth is dumb— We’ve lost our little darling. No longer to the creeksidc she With little pail runs after me ; Shep frisks about no more with glee To play with little darling. The magpie’s notes at early dawn, Which used to wake our pretty fawn, Remind us that our love-light’s gone— At morn w r e miss our darling. At night we hear the gum-leaves stir, Whilst listening to the ’possum’s burr, ’Tia wearisome when wanting her- - Ah, then, we miss our darling. A big, brown snake, one sultry noon, Played with her near the broad lagoon, At our approach he vanished soon, But left unhurt our darling. She followed him with childish mirth, Which told us she was not of earth ; A charm hung round her from her birth : The angels watched our darling. She brought from homes where seraphs stay, To gild our hearts, a golden ray ; It shone a short, short summer’s day, Then faded with our darling. Her time with us, alas ! was short ; I'rom Paradis© came this report “ A cherub strayed from Heaven’s court, Give up your little darling. ” Her tiny feet have left no print, Her rosy checks have left no tint; God wanted treasure in His mint, And took our little darling. Thomas Bracken. December 10.