Night on Bulba
Shadows are falling, night is at hand
Peaceful the sundown o'er all the land
Birds are a'speeding their slumber to seek
Cattle are lowing, while gather the sheep.
The Jackass is laughing, while swallows a'wing
Are speeding through space, as night vespers ring.
Possums are stealing from tree hole and log
And from over the mainland comes the barking of dogs.
The pet rats are crunching outside at the corn
While 'Bess' 'Jean' and 'Judy' look on all forlorn.
Wild eyed the three emu's encircle the ground
Quite tempting the corn is, that's scattered around.
But off to their "eerie" I hunt them away
Because they have 'tuckered' around all the day.
Outside is old 'Sooty' parading the rail
In search of the 'piece' that has yet never failed.
Coal black her tunic, and bonny her brush
She's queen of the possum's in Bulba's green bush.
Tommy's a slinking, sly 'silver grey'
Who parades on the roof at the end of the day.
In a swamp, on an oak tree, sits a round faced old owl
A'blinking at me with a terrible scowl!
The 'mo-pokes' are calling a dreary old wail
While out on the lake steals homeward a sail.
Stars are a'peeping, the moon's half awake
And quiet and still is the f ace of the lake
The mullet are leaping about as of yore
While the fishermen’s camp fire burns on the shore.
Hearty the laughter at some hoary jest
That is told in the circle of Neptune's old guests.
But as quickens the night, and deepens the fall
A quiet is felt that descends over all.
The shadows have fallen, night's now at hand
May restful the slumber be o'er all the land.
Thompson Noble.
20.3.1933
This work by Lake Macquarie City Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License