Pack up the old portmanteau, and label it Paroo,With a name aristocratic—Jimmy Sago, Jackaroo.When you get on to the station, of small things you’ll make a fuss,And in speaking of the station, mind, it’s we, and ours, and us.Boast of your grand connections and your rich relations, tooAnd your own great expectations, Jimmy Sago, Jackaroo.They…
And the gals that I danced with, light-hearted and airy,It’s scarcely they’d notice poor Paddy Malone.‘Tis twelve months or more since our ship she cast anchorIn happy Australia, the Emigrant’s home,And from that day to this there’s been nothing but canker,And grafe and vexation for Paddy Malone.Oh, Paddy Malone! Oh, Paddy, Ohone!Bad luck to the…
And I mean to get a wife, boys,When I go up to town.Everything that has two legsRepresents itself in view,From the little paddy-melonTo the bucking kangaroo.So it’s roll up your blankets,And let’s make a push,I’ll take you up the country,And show you the bush.I’ll be bound you won’t getSuch a chance another day,So come and…
His footsteps had a languor, his voice a husky tone;Both man and dog were spent with toil as they slowly wandered home.I saw him but a moment—yet methinks I see him nowWhile his sheep were gently feeding ‘neath the rugged mountain brow.When next we met, the old blue shirt and cabbage-tree were gone;A brand new…
And marching to and froHe met a seedy man,Who did a tale unfoldIn solemn tones and slowAnd this is what he toldPro Bono Publico.‘For many years I ledThe people’s onward march;I was the ‘Fountain Head’,The ‘Democratic Arch’.‘In more than regal stateI used to sit and smile,And bridges I’d donate,And railways by the mile.‘I pawned the…
They wept to see the Savings BankSuch funds accumulate.‘If these were only cleared away,’They said, ‘it would be great.’‘If three financial amateursControlled them for a year,Do you suppose,’ the Premier said,‘That they would get them clear?’‘I think so,’ said the Socialist;‘They would — or very near!’‘If we should try to raise some cashOn assets of…
What need have we to count the hours?The summer days are long.But soon we find to our dismayThat we are drifting downThe barren slopes that fall awayTowards the foothills grim and greyThat lead to Old Man’s Town.And marching with us on the trackFull many friends we find:We see them looking sadly backFor those who’ve dropped…
By silent stages and lonely waysThin, white battalions creep.But the man who now by the land would thriveMust his spurs to a plough-share beat.Is there ever a man in the world aliveTo sing the song of the Wheat!It’s west by south of the Great DivideThe grim grey plains run out,Where the old flock-masters lived and…
The wild birds are flyingin silence to rest;In leafage and frondageWhere shadows are deep,They pass to its bondage–The kingdom of sleepAnd watched in their sleepingBy stars in the height,They rest in your keeping,O wonderful night.When night doth her gloriesOf starshine unfold,‘Tis then that the storiesOf bush-land are told.Unnumbered I told themIn memories bright,But who could…
So I went and asked the chemistTo fix up a drink for me;And he brewed it from various bottlesWith soda and plenty of ice,With something that smelt like lemon,And something that seemed like spice.It fell on my parching palateLike the dew on a sunbaked plain,And my system began to flourishLike the grass in the soft…
