Works

He had offices in Sydney, not so many years ago,
And his shingle bore the legend `Peter Anderson and Co.'
But his real name was Careless, as the fellows understood,...

A dusty clearing in the scrubs
Of barren, western lands,
Where, out of sight, or sign of hope
The wretched school-house stands;
A roof that glares at glaring days,
A bare, unshaded wall,...

So yer trav'lin' for yer pleasure while yer writin' for the press?
An' yer huntin' arter 'copy'? well, I've heer'd o' that. I guess
You are gorn ter write a story that is gorn ter be yer best,...

I hate this grinding poverty,
To toil, and pinch, and borrow,
And be for ever haunted by
The spectre of to-morrow.
It breaks the strong heart of a man,
It crushes out his spirit,...

I

Queen Hilda rode along the lines,
And she was young and fair;
And forward on her shoulders fell
The heavy braids of hair:
No gold was ever dug from earth
Like that burnished there,...

The Valley's full of misty cloud,
Its tinted beauty drowning,
The Eucalypti roar aloud,
The mountain fronts are frowning.

The mist is hanging like a pall
From many granite ledges,...

Ten miles down Reedy River
A pool of water lies,
And all the year it mirrors
The changes in the skies.
Within that pool's broad bosom
Is room for all the stars:
It's bed of sand has drifted...

She says she's very sorry, as she sees you to the gate;
You calmly say 'Good-bye' to her while standing off a yard,
Then you lift your hat and leave her, walking mighty stiff and straight,...

We're marching along, we're gath'ring strong'
We place on our right reliance,
We fling in the air, for all who care,
Our first loud notes of defiance!
We fling in the air,
For all who care,...

Dust and smoke against the sunrise out where grim disaster lurks
And a broken sky-line looming like unfinished railway works,
And a trot, trot, trot and canter down inside the belt of mines:...

Rise Ye! rise ye! noble toilers! claim your rights with fire and steel!
Rise ye! for the cursed tyrants crush ye with the hiron 'eel!
They would treat ye worse than sl-a-a-ves! they would treat ye worse than brutes!...

Grown tired of mourning for my sins,
And brooding over merits,
The other night with bothered brow
I went amongst the spirits;
And I met one that I knew well:
'Oh, Scotty's Ghost, is that you?...

All is well, in a prison, to-night, and the warders are crying 'All's Well!'
I must speak, for the sake of my heart, if it's but to the walls of my cell.
For what does it matter to me if to-morrow I go where I will?...

Oh, the wild black swans fly westward still,
While the sun goes down in glory,
And away o'er lonely plain and hill
Still runs the same old story:
The sheoaks sigh it all day long,...

Said Grenfell to my spirit, "You've been writing very free
Of the charms of other places, and you don't remember me.
You have claimed another native place and think it's Nature's law,...

'Now tell me what can England do?'
Said the Kaiser to the Spy.
'She can do nought, your Majesty,
You rule the sea and sky.
Her day of destiny is done;
Her path of peace is plain;...

Now, I think there is a likeness 'twixt St Peter's life and mine
For he did a lot of trampin' long ago in Palestine
He was 'union' when the workers first began to organize...

Now this is a rhyme that might well be carried
Gummed in your hat till the end of things:
Say Good-bye when your chum is married;
Say Good-bye while the church-bell rings;...

The boy cleared out to the city from his home at harvest time,
They were Scots of the Riverina, and to run from home was a crime.
The old man burned his letters, the first and last he burned,...

Emblems of storm and danger,
Spindrift and mountain stern,
Plants that welcome the stranger,
Seaweed, tussock, and fern.
Known to the world-wide ranger,
Who sailed on the 'Never Return,'...