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Excerpt ​

Excerpt from The Poems of Henry Kendall, by Henry Kendall

Ah! the saddest thought in leaving baby in this bush alone
Is that we have not been able on her grave to place a stone:
We have been too poor to do it; but, my darling, never mind--
God is in the gracious heavens, and His sun and rain are kind:
They will dress the spot with beauty, they will make the grasses grow:
Many winds will lull our birdie, many songs will come and go.
Here the blue-eyed Spring will linger, here the shining month will stay,
Like a friend, by Araluen, when we two are far away;
But beyond the wild, wide waters, we will tread another shore--
We will never watch this blossom, never see it any more.

Girl, whose hand at God's high altar in the dear, dead year I pressed,
Lean your stricken head upon me--this is still your lover's breast!
She who sleeps was first and sweetest--none we have to take her place;
Empty is the little cradle--absent is the little face.
Other children may be given; but this rose beyond recall,
But this garland of your girlhood, will be dearest of them all.
None will ever, Araluen, nestle where you used to be,
In my heart of hearts, you darling, when the world was new to me;
We were young when you were with us, life and love were happy things
To your father and your mother ere the angels gave you wings.

You that sit and sob beside me--you, upon whose golden head
Many rains of many sorrows have from day to day been shed;
Who because your love was noble, faced with me the lot austere
Ever pressing with its hardship on the man of letters here--
Let me feel that you are near me, lay your hand within mine own;
You are all I have to live for, now that we are left alone.
Three there were, but one has vanished. Sins of mine have made you weep;
But forgive your baby's father now that baby is asleep.
Let us go, for night is falling; leave the darling with her flowers;
Other hands will come and tend them--other friends in other hours.

Explanation ​

Henry Kendall’s poignant excerpt from The Poems of Henry Kendall (likely from his 1869 collection) is a lyrical elegy for a lost child, blending personal grief with the Australian bush’s natural beauty. The poem reflects Kendall’s own struggles—financial hardship, familial loss, and the harsh realities of colonial life—while elevating private sorrow into universal themes of love, memory, and nature’s consolation. Below is a detailed breakdown of the text, emphasizing its language, imagery, emotional arc, and literary craft.

Context & Themes ​

  1. Biographical & Historical Context:

    • Henry Kendall (1839–1882) was a Romantic-era Australian poet, often called the "laureate of the bush." His life was marked by poverty, alcoholism, and the deaths of two children (his daughter Araluen died in infancy in 1868).
    • This poem likely mourns Araluen, whose unmarked grave in the bush reflects the family’s destitution. The bush—both a place of beauty and hardship—becomes a symbol of colonial Australia’s duality: its untamed grandeur and the suffering of its settlers.

  2. Central Themes:

    • Grief & Loss: The poem grapples with the death of a child, the irrevocability of absence, and the survivors’ guilt.
    • Nature as Comforter: The bush, seasons, and celestial forces (God’s "sun and rain") are personified as gentle caretakers of the child’s grave, offering solace where humans cannot.
    • Poverty & Helplessness: The inability to afford a gravestone underscores the family’s material struggles, deepening the emotional weight.
    • Memory & Time: The past ("when the world was new to me") contrasts with the present emptiness, highlighting how grief distorts time.
    • Love & Survival: The bond between the grieving parents becomes their anchor, though it’s tinged with guilt ("Sins of mine have made you weep").

Line-by-Line Analysis & Literary Devices ​

Stanza 1: The Unmarked Grave & Nature’s Consolation ​

Ah! the saddest thought in leaving baby in this bush alone / Is that we have not been able on her grave to place a stone: / We have been too poor to do it; but, my darling, never mind--

  • Tone: The opening exclamation ("Ah!") and enjambment create a breathless, anguished rhythm. The dash after "never mind" suggests a forced attempt at comfort.
  • Imagery: The "bush alone" evokes isolation, while the absent gravestone symbolizes both poverty and the child’s erasure from the physical world.
  • Irony: The speaker asks the mother to "never mind" the lack of a marker, but the poem itself is an act of memorialization.

God is in the gracious heavens, and His sun and rain are kind: / They will dress the spot with beauty, they will make the grasses grow:

  • Personification/Pathetic Fallacy: Nature is anthropomorphized as a nurturing force, dressing the grave like a mourner. The "kind" sun and rain contrast with human inability to provide.
  • Religious Consolation: The reference to God suggests faith as a balm, though the poem’s focus remains on earthly absence.

Many winds will lull our birdie, many songs will come and go. / Here the blue-eyed Spring will linger, here the shining month will stay,

  • Metaphor: The child is a "birdie," fragile and free, now lulled by winds (a euphemism for death). "Songs" may refer to birdsong or poetic elegies.
  • Personification of Time: Spring and months are loyal friends ("linger," "stay"), while the parents must leave ("when we two are far away").
  • Contrast: The bush’s perpetual beauty ("blue-eyed Spring") opposes the parents’ transient presence.

But beyond the wild, wide waters, we will tread another shore-- / We will never watch this blossom, never see it any more.

  • Symbolism: "Wild, wide waters" may represent the afterlife or physical distance (Kendall later moved to Melbourne). The "blossom" is the child’s life, cut short.
  • Finality: The repetition of "never" underscores irreversible loss.

Stanza 2: The Mother’s Grief & Irreplaceable Love ​

Girl, whose hand at God's high altar in the dear, dead year I pressed, / Lean your stricken head upon me--this is still your lover's breast!

  • Apostrophe: The speaker addresses his wife directly, shifting from collective grief ("we") to intimate solace.
  • Alliteration: "Stricken," "still" emphasize stasis—grief has frozen them in time.
  • Memory: "Dear, dead year" juxtaposes tenderness with death; the altar suggests their marriage vows, now tested.

She who sleeps was first and sweetest--none we have to take her place; / Empty is the little cradle--absent is the little face.

  • Anaphora: "None... Empty... absent" creates a litany of loss.
  • Metonymy: The "cradle" and "face" stand for the child’s presence, now void.
  • Hierarchy of Love: "First and sweetest" implies the child was the purest love, irreplaceable.

Other children may be given; but this rose beyond recall, / But this garland of your girlhood, will be dearest of them all.

  • Metaphor: The child is a "rose" (beauty, transience) and a "garland" (a crown of youthful joy). "Beyond recall" stresses permanence.
  • Gendered Grief: The "garland of your girlhood" ties the child to the mother’s identity, suggesting her loss is also a loss of innocence.

None will ever, Araluen, nestle where you used to be, / In my heart of hearts, you darling, when the world was new to me;

  • Direct Address: Naming the child ("Araluen") personalizes the elegy. "Nestle" evokes warmth and physical closeness.
  • Nostalgia: "When the world was new" contrasts with the current desolation.

We were young when you were with us, life and love were happy things / To your father and your mother ere the angels gave you wings.

  • Euphemism: "Angels gave you wings" softens death, but the contrast with past happiness ("happy things") sharpens the pain.

Stanza 3: Shared Sorrow & Guilt ​

You that sit and sob beside me--you, upon whose golden head / Many rains of many sorrows have from day to day been shed;

  • Imagery: "Golden head" suggests the mother’s youth (gold as both beauty and value), now darkened by "rains of sorrows."
  • Metaphor: Sorrows are literal rains, eroding her over time.

Who because your love was noble, faced with me the lot austere / Ever pressing with its hardship on the man of letters here--

  • Allusion to Kendall’s Life: "Man of letters" refers to Kendall’s struggle as a poet in colonial Australia, where art was undervalued. The "lot austere" is poverty.
  • Praise: The mother’s "noble" love is her strength, but it’s also a burden ("hardship").

Let me feel that you are near me, lay your hand within mine own; / You are all I have to live for, now that we are left alone.

  • Physicality: The plea for touch ("hand within mine") counters the child’s absence.
  • Isolation: "Left alone" echoes the first stanza’s "bush alone," but now applies to the parents.

Three there were, but one has vanished. Sins of mine have made you weep; / But forgive your baby's father now that baby is asleep.

  • Guilt & Redemption: The speaker blames himself ("sins")—possibly for poverty, neglect, or personal failings. "Asleep" is another euphemism for death.
  • Apology: The request for forgiveness is tied to the child’s death, suggesting he sees it as punishment.

Let us go, for night is falling; leave the darling with her flowers; / Other hands will come and tend them--other friends in other hours.

  • Symbolism: "Night falling" mirrors their emotional darkness. "Flowers" may be literal (grave decorations) or symbolic (the child’s purity).
  • Resignation: The final lines accept that others (nature, strangers, time) will care for the grave, while the parents must move on.
  • Ambiguity: "Other friends" could be divine, natural, or future mourners, leaving the poem open-ended.

Significance & Literary Impact ​

  1. Australian Romanticism:

    • Kendall blends European Romantic tropes (nature as a mirror of emotion, the sublime) with distinctly Australian landscapes (the bush, Araluen—a real region in NSW). The bush is both a place of hardship and spiritual solace, a duality central to Australian identity.

  2. Elegy as Catharsis:

    • The poem transforms private grief into art, giving the unmarked grave a literary monument. The lack of a physical stone is compensated by the poem’s enduring words.

  3. Social Commentary:

    • The poverty and "lot austere" critique colonial Australia’s harsh conditions for artists and working-class families. Kendall’s personal struggles (he died in poverty) lend authenticity to the lament.

  4. Universal Themes:

    • While rooted in Kendall’s life, the poem speaks to universal experiences of loss, parental guilt, and the search for meaning in suffering. The bush becomes a metaphor for any place where love and grief intertwine.

Conclusion: The Poem’s Emotional Architecture ​

Kendall’s excerpt moves from public mourning (the unmarked grave in the bush) to private intimacy (the parents’ shared grief) and finally to resigned acceptance (leaving the child with nature’s care). The literary devices—personification of nature, metaphors of flowers and birds, repetitive structures of loss—create a rhythmic lament that mirrors the cyclical nature of grief. The poem’s power lies in its raw honesty: it does not offer easy consolation but instead validates sorrow while finding fleeting beauty in the bush’s eternal cycles.

In the end, the parents leave, but the poem remains—a verbal gravestone for Araluen, and a testament to the endurance of love amid "the lot austere."