Fair maiden to the treach'rous sea,

from centuries of old, renowned!

When Saul encountered your safe ground,

it was to him no tragedy.

Phoenicia, Carthage, Rome and Greece

journeyed forth, hoping to find,

your golden treasures here enshrined,

through time that knew both war and peace.

It was not for Turk or Knight,

nor for Englishman to claim.

No one ever could lay waste

to this Isle of God's delight.

From ever knowing worldly fame!

In time of peace! In time of haste.

I don't quite remember when these few lines were put to paper. But I do know they are amongst my earliest attempts at versifying my youthful memories of a place I once called home. My age would have been around seventeen; a mere twelve months or so after my arrival in the great land Down Under; Terra Australis.

Labelling these childhood and early youth recollections of Malta as nostalgia, is a far too simplistic and frivolous an appreciation. It ignores one's intricate involvement in the essence of what Malta represented in my youthful mind.

Over  half a century later here I am, once again, expressing the same sentiments of the deepest respect and devotion for this tiny spec of land; a country that in its own way has contributed      - and continues to contribute unabated - to the general good of humanity far in excess of its relative size.

Hence,  now well into my seventh decade of life's journey, it gives me untold gratification to publicly reiterate my respect and devotion towards this minuscule land  that moulded me  into the individual I am today.

May ancient and modern Malta continue to ride the waves of time ad infinitum whilst I and those hundreds of thousands who parted these shores forever, look back at her with pride and pleasant memories.

Roderick Bovingdon

Merrylands

Australia