A Wintery Day

The sun hidden in dark gray clouds Winter wears her shroud of gloom But on the camellias and the magnolias the pink and white flowers bloom And though the wind with a damp cold chill is blowing from north to south Even in the depths of Winter Nature's beauty is about The soft chirpings of the crimson rosellas so pleasant for to hear Their notes do not seem to vary at any time of year And the flute like notes of the magpie in the wooded hillside ring In this their breeding Season at night his kind does sing The harsh calls of the white sulphur crested cockatoos one never could mistake One does often hear them in the wood at nightfall and daybreak And the bubbling song of the grey butcherbird melodious and clear Brings to the gloomy Winter's day the joy of Nature's cheer The rain it falls in drizzles and the breeze has a cool chill And the dampness of the Winter hangs around the wooded hill.