Never again from the night, the night that has taken,Shall ever the tribes return to tell us their tale;They lie in a sleep, whence none shall ever awakenTo make a shadow at noon or follow the quail.
-Mary Gilmore
About the Author.-Dame Mary Gilmore was born in New South Wales in 1865. Her father was Mr. Donald Cameron. She became a teacher, and afterwards joined the New Australian colony in Paraguay, where she married William Gilmore. Returning to Australia, she became a contributor to various Australian magazines. Her published works, in prose and verse, include Marri"d and other Verses, A Cook Book, The Passionate Heart, Hound of the Road, and The Tilted Cart. The four lines given in this book are part of a longer poem.
About the Poem.-What tribes are meant in the poem? Why are they called the "lost" tribes?