I have been musing what our Banks had said
And Cook, had they had second sight, that here
(Where fifty years ago the first they were
Of voyagers, whose feet did ever tread
These savage shores) — that here on this south head
Should stand an English farm-hut; and that there
On yon north shore, a barrack tow'r should peer;
Still more had they this simple Tablet read,
Erected by their own compatriots born,
Colonists here of a discordant state,
Yet big with virtues (though the flow'ry name
Which Science left it, has become a scorn
And hissing to the nations), if our Great
Be Wise and Good. So fairest Rome became!
More verses by Barron Field
- On Visiting The Spot Where Captain Cook And Sir Joseph Banks First Landed In Botany Bay
- Botany-Bay Flowers
- On Reading The Controversy Between Lord Byron And Mr Bowles
- The Kangaroo