The Lagoon

Roderic Quinn 1867 (Surry Hills, New South Wales) – 1949 (Darlinghurst, New South Wales)



WE crept through reed-beds wet with dew,
The sun went down in gold;
Hoisting her round triumphantly,
The moon showed red and bold.
The unseen sea upon our right
In splendid turmoil broke;
The spindrift, driving ceaselessly,
Was vague as drifting smoke.
The grass-tree lances spiked our flesh,
The brushed ferns wet our knees;
The she-oaks, crooning steadily,
Stirred in the late salt breeze.
Thus, pushing on with velvet tread
Beneath the lavish moon,
We saw, spread wide, spread gloriously,
All gold, the still lagoon.
And on its breast (a picture this
Recalling old-time Dons
And Spanish galleons at sea)
A squadron of black swans.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

32 sec read
116

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCBDECEFGCGHICIJKCK
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 622
Words 107
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 20

Roderic Quinn

Roderic Joseph Quinn was an Australian poet. more…

All Roderic Quinn poems | Roderic Quinn Books

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