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Henry Lawson - The Lily of St Leonards
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’TIS sunrise over Watson,
    Where I sailed out to sea,
On that wild run to London
    That wrecked and ruined me.
The beauty of the morning
    On bluff and point and bay,
But the Lily of St Leonards
    Was fairer than the day.

        O Lily of St Leonards!
            And I was mad to roam—
        She died with loving words for me
            Three days ere I came home.

As fair as lily whiteness,
    As pure as lily gold,
And bright with childlike brightness
    And wise as worlds of old.
Her heart for all was beating
    And all hearts were her own—
Like sunshine through the Lily
    Her purity was shown.

        O Lily of St Leonards!
             My night is on the track,
        ’Tis well you never lived to see
            The wreck that I came back.

A leaden sky shuts over
    A sobbing leaden sea,
For the Lily of St Leonards
    Is never more for me.
I seek the wharf of Outward
    Where the deck no longer thrills
Where she stood with great tears starting
    Like the lights on dark wet hills.

        The world was all before me
            The laurels on my brow—
        ’Twas the world-star of the rovers,
            ’Tis the Star of Exile now.
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