G Gray ocean hid thee in oblivion. L Lo! in the archaic rocks thy feet were laid, A And Saurian monsters once around thee played, S Sun, moon and stars alone thy forms had viewed, S Standing in weird mysterious solitude. H Heaving and shuddering with internal wrath O Out from thy vitals Jovian bolts came forth: U Unchained thy fury and malignant ire, S Spirits of Vulcan poured their liquid fire, E Epochs rolled on. The waves retreating fled. M Moribund thou, thy craters cold and dead, O O’er thy scarred summits lurid flames no more U Unsheathed their molten tongues--thy life was o’er. N Now, man upon thy rugged shoulders stands T Turning expectant eyes o’er dunes and strands; A Amethyst islands in enchanting beauty lie I In Moreton’s waters ’neath the sapphire sky. N Nature hath carved thy frames inscrutable:-- S Stupendous mounds of God immutable. Q Quelled is thy passion! In the glowing dawn U Under a misty veil thy mitred heads forlorn, E Ever in solemn beauty mid the silence stand, E Eternal sentinels of Time’s stern hand. N ’Neath thy vast shadows browse the goat and steer, S Sphinx-like thy gaze thou canst not see or hear, L Lovely in death, though slow be thy decay, A All things created change and pass away. N Nor, though man would thy secret learn in vain, D Doth thou confess: Ye watch towers of the plain. [Illustration: text decoration] AUSTRALIA’S DESTINY. I see Australia’s footprints marking out her destiny, No castles proud or battlements proclaim her ancestry: But the Empire Mother’s children are strong and lithe and free, And they bravely bear their starry flag; true knights of chivalry. Beneath the glittering Southern Cross where the red hibiscus’ flame, Where set in a sea of silver lie the thousand isles of fame, Is the Barrier Reef--the rampart--whence with hundred eyes of hate The shrapnel shell may sound the knell of the foe at the Eastern Gate. And the lineal sons of Norsemen with the lightning of their glance Will ready be for the enemy with rapier and with lance. Her ships may scour the ocean but the nation holds the key Of future power, who, with aerial fleet, can claim supremacy. The shadow of the hand is there which presages a power When, with alliance severed in some unguarded hour, Heedless of signs portentous we see no clouds of war, With pomp and pride through portals wide the alien hordes may pour. Then let us fill Australia with our kin, there’s room for all, For see the fingers writing still the message on the wall; And listen with our pride of race we children of the dawn, To the warning voice of nations while yet it is the morn. And like true soldier citizens, who armed, may keep the peace, ’Twill lead the way unto the day when the demon war shall cease.