Ethel Castilla

Ethel Castilla Poems

Ethel Castilla Biography

Ethel Castilla was an Australian poet. She was the daughter of Frederic Ramos de Castilla, an Englishman of Spanish descent, and May Robertson, daughter of an Edinburgh writer. She lived mostly in Melbourne and contributed frequently to ` The Australasian', and the `Sydney Mail'. She spent most of her life in Melbourne.)

The Best Poem Of Ethel Castilla

An Australian Girl

"She's pretty to walk with,
   And witty to talk with,
   And pleasant, too, to think on."
   Sir John Suckling.

She has a beauty of her own,
A beauty of a paler tone
   Than English belles;
Yet southern sun and southern air
Have kissed her cheeks, until they wear
The dainty tints that oft appear
   On rosy shells.

Her frank, clear eyes bespeak a mind
Old-world traditions fail to bind.
   She is not shy
Or bold, but simply self-possessed;
Her independence adds a zest
Unto her speech, her piquant jest,
   Her quaint reply.

O'er classic volumes she will pore
With joy; and true scholastic lore
   Will often gain.
In sports she bears away the bell,
Nor, under music's siren spell,
To dance divinely, flirt as well,
   Does she disdain.

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