Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

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

By Elliott Napier

203 . Mater Dolorosa

JUST as of yore the friendly rain

Patters its old and frank refrain;

Just as of yore the world swings by

The little window where I lie

Watching the shadows wax and wane.

I see, beyond the Aegean main,

His cross upon the grave-scarred plain—

Yet still the dawn-flush climbs the sky,

Just as of yore!

His cross—and mine! They try in vain

With careful phrase to stanch the pain;

They say, ‘A hero’s death!’ But I

Long only for his footstep nigh;

Long only for my boy again,

Just as of yore!