[Editor: This poem by John Shaw Neilson was published in Collected Poems of John Shaw Neilson (1934).]
The Blue Wren in the Hop-Bush
His home is in the wild hop, in brown and lemon green,
And all the orange followers of gold that come between:
He often says, to mock me, “How slow of soul are you!”
And he puts into the broad sunshine his melody of blue.
The bushman’s joke is gentle in long November days:
He fears the blue light of his friend may set the world ablaze;
And the blue friend says, to mock me, “How slow of foot are you!”
And he puts into the broad sunshine his melody of blue.
All children who have seen him are gladder for all time:
He spells Romance and Comedy, his body is a chime;
And he often says to my heart, “How thin of blood are you!”
And he puts into the broad sunshine his melody of blue.
Source:
John Shaw Neilson (editor: R. H. Croll), Collected Poems of John Shaw Neilson, Melbourne: Lothian Publishing Company, 1934 [May 1949 reprint], pages 122
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