Walter Murdoch (1874–1970). The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse. 1918.

1. Epigram

OH, be not led away,

Lured by the colour of the sun-rich day.

The gay romance of song

Unto the spirit life doth not belong:

Though far-between the hours

In which the Master of Angelic powers

Lightens the dusk within

The holy of holies, be it thine to win

Rare vistas of white light,

Half-parted lips through which the Infinite

Murmurs its ancient story,

Hearkening to whom the wandering planets hoary

Waken primeval fires,

With deeper rapture in celestial choirs

Breathe, and with fleeter motion

Wheel in their orbits through the surgeless ocean.

So hearken thou like these,

Intent on it, mounting by slow degrees,

Until thy song’s elation

Echoes the multitudinous meditation.