Where are they now? --- the poets of all time,
Who charmed the world with melody and rhyme,
And thoughts sublime and deep.
Think'st thou they have expired ? No. He who said
Their torch is quenched, and they are cold and dead,
Hath lied--they do but sleep.
And in another purer atmosphere,
Their songs shall peal more sweetly and more clear
Than e'en they did on earth,
And gath'ring strength from what we cannot see
Shall swell in one great burst of harmony,
With wider nobler girth.
First published in The Queenslander, 10 March 1883
