.
.
The Symbol
Thus
pass the glories of the world!
He
lies beneath the pall’s white folds:
His
sword is sheathed, his pennon furled,
Him
silence holds.
The
pilgrim staff, the cockle shell,
The
crown, the sceptre of his pride,
The
simple flower from forest dell,
Heap
at his side.
And
add thereto the wild-heart lute
The
voice of love and twilight song;
Those
passioned strings though he is mute
Remember
long.
And
move not thence his evening book,
The
sifted grains of calm and storm;
And
bow before that dust-strewn nook
And
silent form.
To-morrow
hath no hope for him,
No
clasp of friend, no grip of foe:
Remember,
love, with eyes tear-dim,
We
too must go.
Perdita
The
sea coast of Bohemia
Is
pleasant to the view
When
singing larks spring from the grass
To
fade into the blue,
And
all the hawthorn hedges break
In
wreaths of purest snow,
And
yellow daffodils are out,
And
roses half in blow.
The
sea-coast of Bohemia
Is
sad as sad can be,
The
prince has ta’en our flower of maids
Across
the violet sea;
Our
Perdita has gone with him,
No
more we dance the round
Upon
the green in joyous play,
Or
wake the tabor’s sound.
The
sea-coast of Bohemia
Has
many wonders seen,
The
shepherd lass wed with a king,
The
shepherd with a queen;
But
such a wonder as my love
Was
never seen before,
It
is my joy and sorrow now
To
love her evermore.
The
sea-coast of Bohemia
Is
haunted by a light
Of
memory fair of lady’s eyes,
And
fame of gallant knight;
The
princes seek its charmèd strand,
But
ah, it was our knell
When
o’er the sea our Perdita
Went
with young Florizel.
The
sea-coast of Bohemia
Is
not my resting-place,
For
with her waned from out the day
A
beauty and a grace:
O
had I kissed her on the lips
I
would no longer weep,
But
live by that until the day
I
fall to shade and sleep.
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Biographical Details for
James HEBBLETHWAITE (1857-1921).
22 September 1857; Born at Preston, Lancashire to William and Margaret Hebblethwaite.
1861: Listed on Census, aged 3. Living at 8 River Street, Preston, with parents, sisters Margaret (13), Ellen (11), and Phyllis (7), and grandfather William Hebblethwaite Snr (66).
1872: Pupil Teacher, Christchurch School, Preston.
1877: Scholarship to St John’s Training College, Battersea.
1879: Headmaster of a small private school, Padiham, Lancashire.(16 months).
1880: Successfully chosen from 80 applicants to be Headmaster of St Marks School, Preston. Held this post for 10 years.
1881: Listed on Census, aged 23, unmarried and living with unmarried sister, Margaret (33), at 9 Waterloo Terrace, Lea Ashton Ingol & Cottam, Lancashire.
????: Lectured in English Literature at the Harris Institute.
18 October 1895 : Moved to Hobart, Tasmania on board the S.S. Rimutaka, aged 33. Decision to move based on ill health and was intended to be temporary, however he took a liking to the place and decided to stay.
1891-1894: Teacher of English and Physical Education, Friends High School, North Hobart.
???? : Teacher at a school in the Barracks, Hobart run by W.H. Buckland.
1895: Castle Hill: or a tale of two hemispheres published in London by Allenson. This novel also contained some of his poems.
22 April 1895: Married Mary Browne. No Children resulted from this marriage.
1896: A collection of poems, Verse, printed by the Hobart Mercury.
1898: He entered the congregational ministery.
????: Head Master of Queens College, Latrobe. A small private school.
1900: Rose of Regret printed by the Bulletin Newspaper.
1902: Left the Congregational Church and took up with the Anglican Church.
1903 to 1905: Stationed at the Holy Trinity Church in Hobart.
1904: Rose of Regret reprinted in the Anthology, A Southern Garland
????: Appointed Rector of George Town
1909: His wife, Mary, dies. At this time he was appointed Vicar of the Channel Parish, which was based at Woodridge. He continued writing during this time, contributing to several national magazines
1911: Meadow and Bush: a book of verse published by the Sydney Bookfellow magazine.
20 April 1914: Marries Lucy Mabel Turner, daughter of Dr Charles Turner.
1916: Birth of their son, Charles Hugh. He also retired from the ministry due to ill health, but continued to live at the Woodbridge Rectory.
1920: The Poems of James Hebblethwaite published in Melbourne
1921: A supplementary to this was published titled New Poems of James Hebblethwaite. This included three poems which have been reprinted often, Merrymind, Perdita and Wanderers,for which he is best remembered.
13 September 1921: Died of cancer at Hobart.