ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

(I just realised....this has never won a first prize, so I coulda had another try somewhere. Funny story: I was in the USA when I heard it had featured in The Blackened Billy Awards...I was told the judge said it was the most beautiful poem he'd ever read....& then promptly gave it 2nd prize...(?).... )
Anyway....here 'tis...(ooowah! There's an abbreviation in there...oh well, I was just a newbie then.)


“THE BRIDE OF ST. CLAIRE” © 1996 Glenny Palmer


Will you ride with me to the rails tonight
to the yards at old St.Claire,
will you stride with me in the pale moonlight
and stroke my auburn hair;
lay aside the whips for my ruby lips
(I’ll give you a blossom fair),
one ride, my love, for a lifetime’s thought,
before you leave St.Claire?

Will you lie with me by the wattle tree
in the clover at St.Claire,
will you tie for me, with its humble blooms
a garland for my hair;
will you keep the tryst, if I ever whisper
naught of the sweet affair,
Transgression’s kiss upon Virtue’s lips
before you leave St.Claire?

Do you long for me, now the wanderlust
sings far from old St.Claire;
do your songs for me linger mournfully
on the wand’ring western air;
does a lover’s pain tempt the horse’s rein
to the call of the weeping prayer,
that I, with child, whispered every day
in the chapel, at St.Claire?

For the youthful spell I remember well
was woven at St.Claire,
on a moonswept night, in the clovered site
the virgin love laid bare;
and a heart was lost, while a heart was gained,
our son, with a faint despair,
asks why he has not a father here
to love, at old St.Claire?

So I taught him trust, and I taught him true,
how to watch from old St.Claire;
and he listens too, as I do for you
on the distant evening air;
though I’m weary now, for I’m wan with age,
confined to the rocking chair,
in my harrowed heart, I will ever be,
your fair bride of St.Claire.

An often heard sad tale.

Make you wonder sometime, did he just walk away or was there some strange or mournful reason for his not returning.

A nice read.

TTFN

I don't know Dave. The poem just made me write it. I was just wondering if it fitted into David Campbell's question re Australiam women, in his other thread. Does my 'bride' seem aligned with Aus women of the past?
Ta mate...

It won first prize at Dunedoo, Glenny.

Here's the link:
http://dunedoo.org.au/web/bush-poetry.html

It is a beautiful poem, Glenny, but I don't get the sense that there is anything about the woman that places her in the past particularly. It could just as easily be a contemporary story, surely, as long as you can imagine a setting that centres around horses - and I suppose there are still plenty of those. Perhaps I am missing something, and it will become clearer to me after another couple of readings. The language is a little 'olde worlde', of course, and the setting too, but not so much the woman herself - or her story.

Loved it Glenny

Marty

Yes, very good.

Hello Stephen....did it? I don't recall that....hang on a minute while I try to see....no it looks like that was 'Certificates to Mount'...? Anyway...thank you for your feedback. I've had the scene firmly placed in the past during writing it, & when performing it a thousand times since, so it is very interesting to hear how you received it. And now I realise that I do seem to use mildly archaic language at times. Thank you again Stephen.

Ta also Marty and Dennis. Chuffed that you liked it.

Hello Matt.
...lovely is, as lovely gets...bless you my friend.

And you know I always wanted to put that one to music..................................

Neilly-Pooh