Travel Song

Anne Glenny Wilson 1848 (Greenvale, Victoria) – 1930 (Lethenty)



‘COME, before the summer passes  
 Let us seek the mountain land:’  
So they called me, happy playmates,  
 And we left the dawn-lit strand:  
Riding on till later sunbeams slanted          
 On dark hills and downward-plunging streams,  
And the solemn forest softly chanted  
   Old, old dreams.  
 
From the pass, we saw in glory  
 Wave on purple wave unrolled          
To the cloud-encircled summit  
 Floating high, alone and cold:  
Like that altar-stone, by men of Athens  
 Dedicated to the unknown God;  
Waiting for some fire to touch his holy          
   White abode.  
 
Then the mellow sunset dying  
 Passed in rosy fire away,  
And the stars and planets journeyed  
 On their ancient unknown way.          
Riders of the illimitable heaven!  
 Moving on so far beyond our ken,  
Do ye scorn the toiling, heavy-hearted  
   Sons of men?  
 
Ere we slept we heard the torrents          
 Rushing from that mighty hill  
Join in deep melodious singing,  
 While the forest-land was still.  
Music of forgotten wildernesses!  
 Would that I could hear that song again!          
Song of primal Earth’s enchanted sweetness,  
   Joy and pain.

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

52 sec read
101

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABXBCDXD EBXXXXEX FGXGXHCH XIFIAHXX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,135
Words 175
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8

Anne Glenny Wilson

Anne Wilson, Lady Wilson (née Adams) was an Australian poet and novelist. Most of her work was published as Mrs James Glenny Wilson or the pseudonym Austral. Adams was born in 1848 at Greenvale, Victoria. Her mother, Jane Anderson, was Scottish, and her father, the farmer Robert Adams, was Irish. She was known as Annie, and she received her education at Geelong High School and at a private institution in St Kilda, Victoria. After her schooling, she travelled through Europe with her mother. On 21 January 1874, she married James Wilson at St Enochs station near Skipton, Victoria. Her husband had bought 6,210 acres (2,510 ha) of land in the Rangitikei District of New Zealand in 1873, and by the end of 1874, the Wilsons were living there. They lived in their homestead, which they called Lethenty, for the rest of their lives, but she always identified with Australia throughout her life. James Wilson, a well-known public man, was knighted in 1915. Annie Wilson's first book of poems, Themes and Variations, came out in London in 1889 and was followed by a novel, Alice Lauder, a Sketch, in 1893. Another novel, Two Summers published by Harper in 1900, was later included in Macmillan's colonial library. In 1901 A Book of Verses was published (new and slightly enlarged edition, 1917), a collection of her poems from English, American and Australian magazines. Her husband died in 1929 leaving her with two sons and two daughters. Lady Wilson died at Lethenty and is buried in the Clifton Cemetery at Bulls. Some of her poems are included in several Australian and New Zealand anthologies.  more…

All Anne Glenny Wilson poems | Anne Glenny Wilson Books

0 fans

Discuss the poem Travel Song with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Travel Song" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/3197/travel-song>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    More poems by

    Anne Glenny Wilson

    »

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    2
    days
    18
    hours
    5
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    What type of writing draws the reader in emotion?
    A Sylibis
    B Bold
    C Reflection
    D Lyric