Poems List

Explore poems from our collection

Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Every Man Should have a Rifle

Every Man Should have a Rifle

So I sit and write and ponder, while the house is deaf and dumb,
Seeing visions "over yonder" of the war I know must come. …

248
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Eureka

Eureka


Roll up, Eureka's heroes, on that grand Old Rush afar,
For Lalor's gone to join you in the big camp where you are;
Roll up and giv…

226
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Do You Think That I Do Not Know?

Do You Think That I Do Not Know?

They say that I never have written of love,
As a writer of songs should do;
They say that I never could touch th…

228
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Dawgs of War

Dawgs of War

Comes the British bulldog first—solid as a log—
He’s so ugly in repose that he’s a handsome dog;
Full of mild benevolence as his yea…

274
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Dan Wasn’t Thrown from His Horse

Dan Wasn’t Thrown from His Horse

THEY SAY he was thrown and run over,
But that is sheer nonsense, of course:
I taught him to ride when a kiddy, <…

194
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Cromwell

Cromwell


They took dead Cromwell from his grave,
And stuck his head on high;
The Merry Monarch and his men,
They laughed as they …

260
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Clinging Back

Clinging Back

When you see a man come walking down through George Street loose and free,
Suit of saddle tweed and soft shirt, and a belt and cabbagetree,…

287
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Coomera

Coomera


THERE’S a pretty little story with a touch of moonlit glory
Comes from Beenleigh on the Logan, but we don’t know if it’s true;
Fo…

240
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Caricatures

Caricatures


There are writers great and writers small
And writers on the spree;
And writers short and writers tall,
And bards of …

197
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Cherry- Tree Inn

Cherry- Tree Inn

The rafters are open to sun, moon, and star,
Thistles and nettles grow high in the bar --
The chimneys are crumbling, the log fir…

364
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Cameron's Heart

Cameron's Heart

The diggings were just in their glory when Alister Cameron came,
With recommendations, he told me, from friends and a parson `at hame'; <…

270
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

By Hut, Homestead And Shearing Shed,

By Hut, Homestead And Shearing Shed,

By hut, homestead and shearing shed,
By railroad, coach and track-
By lonely graves where rest the dead,

179
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Bush Hay

Bush Hay

The stamp of Scotland is on his face,
But he sailed to the South a lad,
And he does not think of the black bleak hills
And the b…

198
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Broken Axletree

Broken Axletree

On the Track of Grand Endeavour, on the long track out to Bourke,
Past the Turn-Back, and past Howlong, and the pub at Sudden Jerk,

261
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Break o’ Day

Break o’ Day

You love me, you say, and I think you do,
But I know so many who don’t,
And how can I say I’ll be true to you
When I know ve…

187
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Bound for the Lord-Knows-Where

Bound for the Lord-Knows-Where

'Where are you going with your horse and bike,
And the townsfolk still at rest?
Where are you going, with your swa…

216
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Black Bonnet

Black Bonnet

A day of seeming innocence,
A glorious sun and sky,
And, just above my picket fence,
Black Bonnet passing by.
In kni…

253
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Booth's Drum [1]

Booth's Drum [1]

They were “ratty” they were hooted by the meanest and the least,
When they woke the Drum of Glory long ago in London East.
They …

271
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Billy of Queensland

Billy of Queensland

“Queensland,” he heads his letters—that’s all:
The date, and the month, and the year in brief;
He often sends me a cheerful s…

247
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Ben Duggan

Ben Duggan

Jack Denver died on Talbragar when Christmas Eve began,
And there was sorrow round the place, for Denver was a man;
Jack Denver's wife…

282
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Beaten Back

Beaten Back

BEATEN back in sad dejection,
After years of weary toil
On that burning hot selection
Where the drought has gorged his spoil.…

291
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Before We Were Married

Before We Were Married

BLACKSOIL PLAINS were grey soil, grey soil in the drought.
Fifteen years away, and five hundred miles out;
Swag and bag an…

271
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Ballad Of The Drover

Ballad Of The Drover

Across the stony ridges,
Across the rolling plain,
Young Harry Dale, the drover,
Comes riding home again.
An…

287
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

Australia's Forgotten Flag

Australia's Forgotten Flag

Oh! the Cross of deepest blue,
With the bright stars shining through,
That was raised, my sons, for you,
On a …

278