The flood was down in the Wilga swamps, three feet over the mud,
And the teamsters camped on the Wilga range and swore at the rising flood;
For one by one they had tried the trip, double and treble teams,
And one after one each desert-ship had dropped to her axle-beams;
So they thonged their leaders and pulled them round to the camp on the sandhill's crown,
And swore by the bond of a blood-red oath to wait till the floods went down.

The Ballad of Ben Hall's Gang

© Anonymous

Come all ye wild colonials And listen to my tale;
A story of bushrangers' deeds I will to you unveil.
'Tis of those gallant heroes, Game fighters one and all;
And we'll sit and sing, Long Live the King,
Dunn,Gilbert, and Ben Hall.

L'Envoi

© Mathilde Blind

Thou art the goal for which my spirit longs;
As dove on dove,
Bound for one home, I send thee all my songs
With all my love.

In Horologium

© Percy Bysshe Shelley

INTER marmoreas Leonorae pendula colles
Fortunata mmis Machina dicit horas.
Quas manibus premit ilia duas insensa papillas
Cur mihi sit digito tangere, amata, nefas?

Cities Vagabonds

© Arthur Rimbaud

These are cities!
And this is the people for whom these
Alleghenys and Lebanons of dream have been raised!
Castles of wood and crystal move on tracks and invisible winches.

To Demosthenes

© William Cowper

It flatters and deceives thy view,
This mirror of ill-polish'd ore;
For, were it just, and told thee true,
Thou wouldst consult it never more.

Peruvian Tales: Aciloe, Tale V

Character of ZAMOR , a bard-His passion for ACILOE , daughter of the Cazique who rules the valley-The Peruvian tribe prepare to defend themselves-A battle-The PERUVIANS are vanquished-ACILOE'S father is made a prisoner, and ZAMOR is supposed to have fallen in the engagement-ALPHONSO becomes enamoured of ACILOE -Offers to marry her-She rejects him-In revenge he puts her father to the torture-She appears to consent, in order to save him-Meets ZAMOR in a wood-LAS CASAS joins them-Leads the two lovers to ALPHONSO , and obtains their freedom-ZAMOR conducts ACILOE and her father to Chili-A reflection on the influence of Poetry over the human mind.

Idolatria

Idolatría
de la grácil rodilla que soporta,
a través de los siglos de los siglos,
nuestra cabeza en la jornada corta.

A Man's Praise Of His Wife

© Confucius

My path forth from the east gate lay,
Where cloud-like moved the girls at play.
Numerous are they, as clouds so bright,
But not on them my heart's thoughts light.
Dressed in a thin white silk, with coiffure gray
Is she, my wife, my joy in life's low way.