Poems List
Explore poems from our collection
The Labour Agitator
The Labour Agitator
LET the liar call me liar,
And the robber call me thief.
They can only fan the fire
That is born of my belief.
…
The Last Review
The Last Review
Turn the light down, nurse, and leave me, while I hold my last review,
For
the Bush
is slipping from me, and the town is …
The King and Queen and I
The King and Queen and I
Oh, Scotty, have you visited the Picture Gallery,
And did you see the portraits of the King and Queen and me?
The portra…
The King (II)
The King (II)
And now a son has come again
To keep the peace or strike the blow,
And have a long, great, glorious reign,
Through calm or …
The Hymn of the Socialists
The Hymn of the Socialists
By the bodies and minds and souls that rot in a common stye
In the city’s offal-holes, where the dregs of its horrors lie —
The Iron Wedding Rings
The Iron Wedding Rings
In these days of peace and money, free to all the Commonweal,
There are ancient dames in Buckland wearing wedding rings of steel; …
The Grog-an'Grumble Steeplechase
The Grog-an'Grumble Steeplechase
'Twixt the coastline and the border lay the town of Grog-an'-Grumble
In the days before the bushman was a dull 'n' heart…
The Heart of the Swag
The Heart of the Swag
Oh, the track through the scrub groweth ever more dreary,
And lower and lower his grey head doth bow;
For the swagman is ol…
The Great Grey Plain
The Great Grey Plain
Out West, where the stars are brightest,
Where the scorching north wind blows,
And the bones of the dead gleam whitest,
The Good Old Concertina
The Good Old Concertina
’Twas merry when the hut was full
Of jolly girls and fellows.
We danced and sang until we burst
The concertina’s …
The Ghost
The Ghost
Down the street as I was drifting with the city's human tide,
Came a ghost, and for a moment walked in silence by my side --
Now my hear…
The Glass On The Bar
The Glass On The Bar
Three bushmen one morning rode up to an inn,
And one of them called for the drinks with a grin;
They'd only returned from a …
The Free-Selector's Daughter
The Free-Selector's Daughter
I met her on the Lachlan Side -A
darling girl I thought her,
And ere I left I swore I'd win
The free…
The Gathering of the Brown-Eyed
The Gathering of the Brown-Eyed
The brown eyes came from Asia, where all mystery is true,
Ere the masters of Soul Secrets dreamed of hazel, grey, and blu…
The Flour Bin
The Flour Bin
By Lawson's Hill, near Mudgee,
On old Eurunderee –
The place they called "New Pipeclay",
Where the diggers used to be –
The First Dingo
The First Dingo
The kangaroo was formed to run,
but not from man alone it
ran before the horse or gun
or native dog was known.
It…
The Fire At Ross's Farm
The Fire At Ross's Farm
The squatter saw his pastures wide
Decrease, as one by one
The farmers moving to the west
Selected on his…
The Federal City
The Federal City
OH! the folly, the waste, and the pity! Oh, the time that is flung behind!
They are seeking a site for a city, whose eyes shall be alway…
The Empty Glass
The Empty Glass
THERE ARE three lank bards in a borrowed room—
Ah! The number is one too few—
They have deemed their home and the bars unfit
The Drunkard's Vision
The Drunkard's Vision
A public parlour in the slums,
The haunt of vice and villainy,
Where things are said unfit to hear,
And things are …
The Drovers
The Drovers
Shrivelled leather, rusty buckles, and the rot is in our knuckles,
Scorched for months upon the pommel while the brittle rein hung free;
The Drums of Ages
The Drums of Ages
Drums of all that’s right and wrong—of love and hate and scorn,
And the new-born baby hears them and it wails when it is born.
…
The Distant Drum
The Distant Drum
Republicans! the time is coming!
Listen to the distant drumming!
Hearken to the whispers humming
In the troubled atmosph…
The Day Before I Die
The Day Before I Die
There's such a lot of work to do, for such a troubled head!
I’m scribbling this against a book, with foolscap round, in bed.
…