O shepherds! take my crook from me,
For I no longer here can stay!
There comes a whisper from the sea,
Calling my soul from you away;
Friends of my heart! long tried and true,
O let me leave my crook with you.
An idle shepherd have I lain,
Dreaming while sheep-dogs bark in vain,
Or chasing rhymes to wreath the strain
Which from sweet musing grew.
Above the stars I drift in thought,
Melodious murmurings in my ears,
As though the upborne spirit caught
Soft echoes from the higher spheres.
But see! Far up the azure height,
Bright Sirius hails me with his light!
My soul, impatient of delay,
Rides on the wings of thought away,
My heart alone with you can stay—
My Shepherds dear—good-night!
Eleanor Elizabeth Montgomery (The Singing Shepherd) (late 19th - early 20th century) New Zealand
Source: Australian poets, 1788-1888 by Douglas Brooke Wheelton Sladen, Cassell publishing company, 1890
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