It was Peter the Barbarian put an apron in his bag And rolled up the honoured bundle that Australians call a swag; And he tramped from Darkest Russia, that it might be dark no more,...
Only one old post is standing, Solid yet, but only one, Where the milking, and the branding, And the slaughtering were done. Later years have brought dejection, Care, and sorrow; but we knew...
My Army, O, my army! The time I dreamed of comes! I want to see your colours; I want to hear your drums! I heard them in my boyhood when all men's hearts seemed cold;...
My father-in-law is a careworn man, And a silent man is he; But he summons a smile as well as he can Whenever he meets with me. The sign we make with a silent shake That speaks of the days gone by,...
They have eaten their fill at your tables spread, Like friends since the land was won; And they rise with a cry of "Australia's dead!" With the wheeze of "Australia's done!"...
Once I wrote a little poem which I thought was very fine, And I showed the printer's copy to a critic friend of mine, First he praised the thing a little, then he found a little fault;...
The world goes round, old fellow, And still I'm in the swim, While my wife's second husband Is growing old and grim. I meet him in the city, It all seems very tame, He glances at me sometimes...
'ONE-MAN-ONE-VOTE!' You hear the people shouting. The walls of Mammon tremble ere they fall. ONE-MAN-ONE-VOTE! Is this a time for doubting? The poets have been prophets after all. ...
So the time seems come at last, And the drums go rolling past, And above them in the sunlight Labour's banners float and flow; They are marching with the sun, But I look in vain for one...
On the summit of Mount Clarence rotting slowly in the air Stands a tall and naked flagstaff, relic of the Russian scare, Russian scare that scares no longer, for the cry is 'All is well',...
We set no right above hers, No earthly light nor star, She hath had many lovers, But not as lovers are: They all were gallant fellows And died all deaths for her, And never one was jealous...
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 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;...
Macquarie the shearer had met with an accident. To tell the truth, he had been in a drunken row at a wayside shanty, from which he had escaped with three fractured ribs, a cracked head, and various minor abrasions. His dog, Tal...
Sing the strong, proud song of Labour, Toss the ringing music high; Liberty's a nearer neighbour Than she was in days gone by. Workmen's weary wives and daughters Sing the songs of liberty;...
Ye children of the Land of Gold, I sing a song to you, And if the jokes are somewhat old, The main idea is new. So be it sung, by hut and tent, Where tall the native grows;...
The camp of high-class spielers, Who sneered in summer dress, And doo-dah dilettante, And scornful 'venuses', House agents, and storekeepers, All eager they to 'bleed', The bards who tackled Manly,...