A Grecian line of beauty dwells
Within the slender olive tree;
Its grace a dryad's form excels,
So lithe and silvery and free.
The rhythmic murmur of the wind,
Stirs music from the argent leaves;
Whilst the wild birds, undisciplined,
Have built their nests beneath the eaves.
Neath such a tree Ulysses slept,
Artemis sped at break of day;
The timid Daphne hid and wept,
Within its sheltering branches gray.
Alone by day, when moonlight shines,
To light the dark of night's domain;
Comes, with his forehead crowned with vines,
The old god Pan, to pipes' refrain.
Then on the carpet of green moss,
They dance in joy from night till morn;
And nymphs and satyrs lightly toss
Ripe olives from the branches torn!
First published in The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 November 1935;
and later in
Australian Violets by Ivy Moore, 1937.
Author reference sites: Austlit
See also.
Within the slender olive tree;
Its grace a dryad's form excels,
So lithe and silvery and free.
The rhythmic murmur of the wind,
Stirs music from the argent leaves;
Whilst the wild birds, undisciplined,
Have built their nests beneath the eaves.
Neath such a tree Ulysses slept,
Artemis sped at break of day;
The timid Daphne hid and wept,
Within its sheltering branches gray.
Alone by day, when moonlight shines,
To light the dark of night's domain;
Comes, with his forehead crowned with vines,
The old god Pan, to pipes' refrain.
Then on the carpet of green moss,
They dance in joy from night till morn;
And nymphs and satyrs lightly toss
Ripe olives from the branches torn!
First published in The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 November 1935;
and later in
Australian Violets by Ivy Moore, 1937.
Author reference sites: Austlit
See also.
