Walter Murdoch (1874–1970). The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse. 1918.

14. Winter

A DIAMOND glow of winter o’er the world:

Amid the chilly halo nigh the west

Flickers a phantom violet bloom unfurled

Dim on the twilight’s breast.

Only phantasmal blooms but for an hour,

A transient beauty; then the white stars shine

Chilling the heart: I long for thee to flower,

O bud of light divine.

But never visible to sense or thought

The flower of Beauty blooms afar withdrawn;

If in our being then we know it not,

Or, knowing, it is gone.