To the Mollusc, Thou Talker!

The Prime Minister says that the Liberal Party in Victoria is like a mollusc that one sees when the tide has gone down.

Pull many a time when I have strolled
Where rollers—very aptly—rolled,
And grey gulls, wheeling in the blue,
Made foolish noises as they flew,
I've given mind to many things
That lonely meditation brings.

I've marked the roaring of the sea—
Something that's always seemed to me
A quite unnecessary noise—
I've heard the boat-men's harsh
    "Ahoys!"
I've heard the breakers crash and
    hammer,
And hated all the senseless clamour.

Then, lo, mine eye has hit upon
A tide-drenched rock, and there has
shone
Emblem of peace, O silent one --
A limpet basking in the sun!
And suddenly my tortured soul
Has grown contented - on the whale

In later seasons have I sat,
With fingers itching for my hat,
In some immense assembly hall
Where candidates arose to bawl
The same weird nothings that I heard
Of yore from boatsmen, sea and bird.

Entranced a while, I've sat and stared;
Then back again my thoughts have
    fared
To that lone seashore where I knew
Torture that tears a soul in two;
Yet found at last release from
    shock
Peace throned upon a tide-drenched
    rock!

And through the mouthings of loud
    hate
The noise and rancour of debate,
My dreams have threaded in and out—
Most foolish dreams, I have no
    doubt—
But, oh, what joy for thee and me
If "certain men" could molluscs be!