Alice Guerin Crist (6 February, 1876 - 13 June, 1941 / Clare Castle)

A letter from “The East” it came today,
And all the house is lightened of its gloom:
A sun-browned desert wind through every room
Eddies, and bring strange scents of old bazaare;
Of orange-groves beneath the dreaming stars
O’er far Jerusalem. Through these ordered rooms
Where poppies glow and pale narcissi blooms
Nod in tall vases, sings the desert breeze
Telling of brown battalion overseas.

Khaki-clad soldiers, singing as they go
Along the road to Gaza, and we know
The very breath of freedom’s in the air
With their gay boast, “Australia will be there”
Mateship and courage, loyalty and truth
The very essence of Australian youth!
We have no fears! serene in faith we pray
For those dear gallant lads so far away.