Here's a little timeline ... not complete ...
1795: First Fleet printing press used for first time.
1802: First book published in Australia - N.S.W. General Standing Orders.
1803: Sydney Gazette and NSW Advertiser established by Governor King.
1804: First poem published in Australia -
The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser
Sunday 4 March 1804 (see below)
1819: Vocabulary of Flash Language published.
1819: First book of verse published in Australia.
1824: First privately-owned newspaper in Australia founded (1824-1848).
1825: A library established in Sydney.
1830: First novel written in Australia to be published in book-form - Quintus Servinton - in Hobart.
1831: Sydney Herald established (1842 Sydney Morning Herald).
1838: First novel written by a woman to be published in Australia - The Guardian.
1840: First book of verse written by a woman to be published in Australia - author, Fidelia Hill.
1841: First children's book published in Australia - A Mother's Offering to her Children.
1846: Argus founded in Melbourne (1846-1957).
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THE VISION OF MELANCHOLY,
A FRAGMENT.
--------------------------------
(Apparently intended to awaken in the Mind
a transient Sentiment of that Passion from
whence it derives its Title.)
Bleak on the Tomb the midnight dew descends;
The Lamp of Night her silver reign suspends ;
No stately Tower rises to the fight,
Nor Planet's lustre chears the silent Night :
Then Fairies, sportive, on the distant mead,
In airy gestures o'er the fallows tread ;
And pallid Shapes, emerging from their clay,
Commune with Mortals till they're chac'd away.
Such was the tide when MELANCHOLY rose
To count her sorrows, and renew her woes ...
Celestial PIETY adorned her face
With RESIGNATION'S more than mortal grace ;
Her rising bosom gently seems to heave ;
Neglected tresses o'er her shoulders wave;
Transfixt her eyes that once resplendent shone
But dimm'd by SORROW now no radiance own :
With doleful Sympathy, and awe profound,
She half surveys the consecrated ground. \
Placid, serene, regardless of the wind,
The Vision fate, her pensive head reclin'd.
Thus, o'er the bier the widow'd fair one mourns.
When tumult's past, and keener grief returns ;
Late scenes of bliss insult her matchless woe,
And each new thought does some new pang bestow !
And so the Parent, too, with aching eye
Beholds a much-lov'd corse extended lie---
Grief's fountains cease---and then her plaints are heard
In broken accents --- ' Had my boy been spar'd !'
On ! extacy of grief! to bliss refin'd ;
Reserv'd alone for the superior mind,
Where Sensibility assumes the rein,
To bend Affliction, and to soften Pain .
parting clouds foretel Nocturna's flight,
The yawning tomb receives the ashy sprite.
C.S,
(Sorry, no idea who C. S. is ...
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif)
)
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article ... tag=poetry