Sonnets on the Discovery of Botany Bay by Captain Cook
The First Attempt to Reach the Shore
Where is the painter who shall paint for you,
My Austral brothers, with a pencil steeped
In hues of Truth, the weather-smitten crew
Who gazed on unknown shores—a thoughtful few—
What time the heart of their great Leader leaped
Till he was faint with pain of longing? New
And wondrous sights on each and every hand,
Like strange supernal visions, grew and grew
Until the rocks and trees, and sea and sand,
Danced madly in the tear-bewildered view!
And from the surf a fierce, fantastic band
Of startled wild men to the hills withdrew
With yells of fear! Who’ll paint thy face, O Cook!
Turned seaward, “after many a wistful look!”
II
The Second Attempt, Opposed by Two of the Natives
“There were but two, and we were forty! Yet,”
The Captain wrote, “that dauntless couple throve,
And faced our wildering faces; and I said
‘Lie to awhile!’ I did not choose to let
A strife go on of little worth to us.
And so unequal! But the dying tread
Of flying kinsmen moved them not: for wet
With surf and wild with streaks of white and black
The pair remained.”— O stout Caractacus!
’Twas thus you stood when Caesar’s legions strove
To beat their few, fantastic foemen back—
Your patriots with their savage stripes of red!
To drench the stormy cliff and moaning cove
With faithful blood, as pure as any ever shed.
III
The Spot Where Cook Landed
Chaotic crags are huddled east and west—
Dark, heavy crags, against a straitened sea
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poem by Henry Kendall
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