The stillness of the Austral noon Is broken by no single sound -- No lizards even on the ground Rustle amongst dry leaves -- no tune The lyre-bird sings -- yet hush! I hear A soft bell tolling, silvery clear! Low soft aerial chimes, unknown Save 'mid these silences alone.
Twenty-Five Songs in Five Sets of Five Each: Set III , opus 69
by Fritz Bennicke Hart (1874 - 1949)
1. The Bell‑Bird  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
Authorship:
- by William Sharp (1855 - 1905), "The Bell-Bird", appears in Poems, first published 1912
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]2. Breaking billows at Sorrento  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
A sky of whirling flakes of foam, A rushing world of dazzling blue. One moment, the sky looms in view--- The next, a crash in its curved dome, A tumult indescribable, And eyes dazed with the miracle. Here breaks by circling day and night In thunder the sea's boundless might.
Authorship:
- by William Sharp (1855 - 1905), "Breaking billows at Sorrento", appears in Poems, first published 1912
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]3. In the fern  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
(Gippsland) The feathery fern-trees make a screen Where through the sunglare cannot pass -- Fern, gum, and lofty sassafras: The fronds sweep over, palely green, And underneath are orchids curl'd Adream through this cool shadow-world; A fragrant greenness -- like the noon Of lime-tree in an English June.
Authorship:
- by William Sharp (1855 - 1905), "In the fern", appears in Poems, first published 1912
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]4. Black swans on the Murray Lagoons  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
The long lagoons lie white and still Beneath the great round Austral moon: The sudden dawn will waken soon With many a delicious thrill: Between this death and life the cries, Of black swans ring through silent skie -- And the long wash of the slow stream Moves as in sleep some bodeful dream.
Authorship:
- by William Sharp (1855 - 1905), "Black swans on the Murray Lagoons", appears in Poems, first published 1912
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]5. Shea‑oak trees on a stormy day  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
O'er sandy tracts the shea-oak trees Droop their long wavy grey-green trails: And inland wandering moans and wails The long blast of the ocean-breeze: Like loose strings of a viol or harp These answering sound -- now low, now sharp And keen, a melancholy strain: A death song o'er the mournful plain.
Authorship:
- by William Sharp (1855 - 1905), "Shea-oak trees on a stormy day", appears in Poems, first published 1912
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]