Gumleaves by W.M. Whitney

With low-hung clouds, the sun is draped,
   The bush, with wreckage thick is strewn,
The hour-glass falls, the course is shaped,
   The morn hastes on to afternoon;
The gumleaf falls, the she-oak sighs,
   Love to a shadow'd cavelet flies!

The foliage eaves are whisper-stirr'd,
   The lavish blooms mosaic the grass,
Upon the wind a cry is heard,
   Borne from the burgeon'd mountain pass;
The gumleaf falls, the she-oak sighs,
   Love-pours the sorrow from her eyes!

The world is stern, its features rude,
   Its lips are thin, its bosom cold,
Love's mouth is full and rosy-hued,
   Her breasts are firm with bliss untold!
The gumleaf falls, the she-oak sighs,
   The day is sped, love droops and dies!

The trees are hush'd, the night is dark,
   Impressive silence girds around,
And through the boughs one star to mark
   The vestal sphere my love has found!
The gumleaf falls, the she-oak sighs,
   Love sends a message from the skies!

First published in The Australian Town and Country Journal, 2 March 1901

Author: William Montague Whitney was born in 1866.  Other than this nothing is known about this author.

Author reference site: Austlit