Poem by Henry Kendall

Poems and Songs (1862). Ulmarra

      Alone—alone!
   With a heart like a stone,
   She maketh her moan
   At the feet of the trees,
   With her face on her knees,
   And her hair streaming over;
   Wildly, and wildly, and wildly;
   For she misses the tracks of her lover!
   Do you hear her, Ulmarra?
   Oh, where are the tracks of her lover?

      Go by—go by!
   They have told her a lie,
   Who said he was nigh,
   In the white-cedar glen—
   In the camps of his men:
   And she sitteth there weeping—
   Weeping, and weeping, and weeping,
   For the face of a warrior sleeping!
   Do you hear her, Ulmarra?
   Oh! where is her warrior sleeping?

      A dream! a dream!
   That they saw a bright gleam
   Through the dusk boughs stream,
   Where wild bees dwell,
   And a tomahawk fell,
   In moons which have faded;
   Faded, and faded, and faded,
   From woods where a chieftain lies shaded!
   Do you hear her, Ulmarra?
   Oh! where doth her chieftain lie shaded?

      Bewail! bewail!
   Who whispered a tale,
   That they heard on the gale,
   Through the dark and the cold,
   The voice of the bold;
   And a boomerang flying;
   Flying, and flying, and flying?
   Ah! her heart it is wasted with crying—
   Do you hear her, Ulmarra?
   Oh! her heart it is wasted with crying!

1. Early Poems (1859-70). In Memoriam—Nicol Drysdale Stenhouse
2. Other Poems (1871-82). How the Melbourne Cup was Won
3. Early Poems (1859-70). Cui Bono?
4. Other Poems (1871-82). Aboriginal Death-Song
5. Other Poems (1871-82). Sydney Exhibition Cantata

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