Page:Songs from the Southern Seas and Other Poems (1873).djvu/69



HERE are lonesome places upon the earth That have never re-echoed a sound of mirth, Where the spirits abide that feast and quaff On the shuddering soul of a murdered laugh, And take grim delight in the fearful start, As their unseen fingers clutch the heart, And the blood flies out from the griping pain, To carry the chill through every vein; And the staring eyes and the whitened faces Are a joy to these ghosts of the lonesome places.

But of all the spots on this earthly sphere Where these dismal spirits are strong and near. There is one more dreary than all the rest,— 'Tis the barren island of Rottenest. On Australia's western coast, you may— On a seaman's chart of Fremantle Bay—,