Poems List
Explore poems from our collection
Sweethearts Wait on Every Shore
Sweethearts Wait on Every Shore
SHE SITS beside the tinted tide,
That’s reddened by the tortured sand;
And through the East, to ocean wide,
Success
Success
Did you see that man riding past,
With shoulders bowed with care?
There’s failure in his eyes to last,
And in his heart d…
Song of the Old Bullock-Driver
Song of the Old Bullock-Driver
Far back in the days when the blacks used to ramble
In long single file ’neath the evergreen tree,
The wool-teams …
Stand by the Engines
Stand by the Engines
On the moonlighted decks there are children at play,
While smoothly the steamer is holding her way;
And the old folks are ch…
Somewhere Up In Queensland
Somewhere Up In Queensland
He's somewhere up in Queensland,
The old folks used to say;
He’s somewhere up in Queensland,
The people say to…
Skaal
Skaal
While they struggle on exhausted,
While they plough through bog and flood,
While they drag their sick and wounded
Where the…
Shearers Dream
Shearers Dream
O I dreamt I shore in a shearing shed and it was a dream of joy
For every one of the rouseabouts was a girl dressed up as a boy
Dr…
Since the Cities are the Cities
Since the Cities are the Cities
FOOLS can parrot-cry the prophet when the proof is close at hand,
And the blind can see the danger when the foe is in the…
Shadows Before
Shadows Before
"Like clouds o'er the South are the nations who reign
On fair islands that we would command;
But clouds that are darker and denser…
Send Round the Hat
Send Round the Hat
Now this is the creed from the Book of the Bush –
Should be simple and plain to a dunce:
"If a man’s in a hole you must pass r…
Seaweed, Tussock and Fern
Seaweed, Tussock and Fern
Emblems of storm and danger,
Spindrift and mountain stern,
Plants that welcome the stranger—
Seaweed, tussock, …
Say Goodbye when your Chum is Married
Say Goodbye when your Chum is Married
Now this is a rhyme that might well be carried
Gummed in your hat till the end of things:
Say Good-bye when…
Said the Kaiser to the Spy
Said the Kaiser to the Spy
“Now tell me what can England do?”
Said the Kaiser to the Spy.
“She can do nought, your Majesty—
You rule the …
Sacred to the Memory of “Unknown”
Sacred to the Memory of “Unknown”
Oh, the wild black swans fly westward still,
While the sun goes down in glory—
And away o’er lonely plain and h…
Riding Round the Lines
Riding Round the Lines
Dust and smoke against the sunrise out where grim disaster lurks
And a broken sky-line looming like unfinished railway works,
Robbie's Statue
Robbie's Statue
Grown tired of mourning for my sins—
And brooding over merits—
The other night with bothered brow
I went amongst the spir…
Republican Pioneers
Republican Pioneers
We're marching along, we're gath'ring strong'
We place on our right reliance,
We fling in the air, for all who care,
…
Reedy River
Reedy River
Ten miles down Reedy River
A pool of water lies,
And all the year it mirrors
The changes in the skies,
And in that po…
Possum A Lay of New Chumland
Possum A Lay of New Chumland
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. …
Queen Hilda of Virland
Queen Hilda of Virland
PART I
Queen Hilda rode along the lines,
And she was young and fair;
And forward on her shoulders fell
The…
Peter Anderson And Co.
Peter Anderson And Co.
He had offices in Sydney, not so many years ago,
And his shingle bore the legend `Peter Anderson and Co.',
But his real na…
Past Carin'
Past Carin'
Now up and down the siding brown
The great black crows are flyin',
And down below the spur, I know,
Another `milker's…
Outback
Outback
The old year went, and the new returned, in the withering weeks of drought,
The cheque was spent that the shearer earned,
and the…
Outside
Outside
I want to be lighting my pipe on deck,
With my baggage safe below—
I want to be free of the crowded quay,
While the steam…