s: And perishing hearts, imperishable Love. . . .


s: Dear, we know only that we sigh, kiss, smile;


s: Each kiss lasts but the kissing; and grief goes over;


s: Poor straws! on the dark flood we catch awhile,


s: Cling, and are borne into the night apart.


s: The laugh dies with the lips, 'Love' with the lover.


s: Now that we've done our best and worst, and parted,


s: I would fill my mind with thoughts that will not rend.


s: (O heart, I do not dare go empty-hearted)


s: I'll think of Love in books, Love without end;


s: Women with child, content; and old men sleeping;


s: And wet strong ploughlands, scarred for certain grain;


s: And babes that weep, and so forget their weeping;


s: And the young heavens, forgetful after rain;


s: And evening hush, broken by homing wings;


s: That live, we dead.  I would think of a thousand things,


s: Lovely and durable, and taste them slowly,


s: One after one, like tasting a sweet food.


s: I have need to busy my heart with quietude.


s: Love is a breach in the walls, a broken gate,


s: Where that comes in that shall not go again;


s: Love sells the proud heart's citadel to Fate.


s: They have known shame, who love unloved.  Even then,


s: When two mouths, thirsty each for each, find slaking,


s: And agony's forgot, and hushed the crying


s: Of credulous hearts, in heaven -- such are but taking


s: Their own poor dreams within their arms, and lying


s: Each in his lonely night, each with a ghost.


s: Some share that night.  But they know love grows colder,


s: Grows false and dull, that was sweet lies at most.


s: Astonishment is no more in hand or shoulder,


s: But darkens, and dies out from kiss to kiss.


s: All this is love; and all love is but this.


s: Heart, you are restless as a paper scrap


s: That's tossed down dusty pavements by the wind;


s: Saying, "She is most wise, patient and kind.


s: Between the small hands folded in her lap


s: Surely a shamed head may bow down at length,


s: And find forgiveness where the shadows stir


s: About her lips, and wisdom in her strength,


s: Peace in her peace.  Come to her, come to her!" . . .


s: She will not care.  She'll smile to see me come,


s: So that I think all Heaven in flower to fold me.


s: She'll give me all I ask, kiss me and hold me,


s: The gates of peace, and take my tiredness home,


s: Kinder than God.  But, heart, she will not care.


s: -- Oh, I've loved you faithfully and well,


s: Thank God, that's done! and I'll take the road,


s: And a better friend than love have they,


s: The dazed last minutes click; the clamour dies.


s: Beyond the great-swung arc o' the roof, divine,


s: Night, smoky-scarv'd, with thousand coloured eyes


s: Glares the imperious mystery of the way.


s: Thirsty for dark, you feel the long-limbed train


s: Throb, stretch, thrill motion, slide, pull out and sway,


s: Strain for the far, pause, draw to strength again. . . .


s: As a man, caught by some great hour, will rise,


s: Slow-limbed, to meet the light or find his love;


s: And, breathing long, with staring sightless eyes,


s: Hands out, head back, agape and silent, move


s: Sure as a flood, smooth as a vast wind blowing;


s: And, gathering power and purpose as he goes,


s: Unstumbling, unreluctant, strong, unknowing,


s: Borne by a will not his, that lifts, that grows,


s: Sweep out to darkness, triumphing in his goal,


s: Out of the fire, out of the little room. . . .


s: -- There is an end appointed, O my soul!


s: Crimson and green the signals burn; the gloom


s: Is hung with steam's far-blowing livid streamers.


s: Lost into God, as lights in light, we fly,


s: Grown one with will, end-drunken huddled dreamers.


s: The white lights roar.  The sounds of the world die.


s: And lips and laughter are forgotten things.


s: Speed sharpens; grows.  Into the night, and on,


s: The strength and splendour of our purpose swings.


s: The lamps fade; and the stars.  We are alone.


s: And the hawthorn quickens with buds of green,


s: That I never thought the Spring would come,


s: But Winter's broken and earth has woken,


s: And the hawthorn hedge puts forth its buds,


s: They bow, catch hands, with never a word,


s: Young Mary, loitering once her garden way,


s: Felt a warm splendour grow in the April day,


s: As wine that blushes water through.  And soon,


s: One knelt before her:  hair he had, or fire,


s: Bound back above his ears with golden wire,


s: Not man's nor woman's was the immortal grace


s: Rounding the limbs beneath that robe of white,


s: And lighting the proud eyes with changeless light,


s: Incurious.  Calm as his wings, and fair,


s: "Blessed art thou of women!"  Half she heard,


s: Hands folded and face bowed, half long had known,


s: The message of that clear and holy tone,


s: That fluttered hot sweet sobs about her heart;


s: Such serene tidings moved such human smart.


s: Her breath came quick as little flakes of snow.


s: Her hands crept up her breast.  She did but know


s: It was not hers.  She felt a trembling stir


s: Within her body, a will too strong for her


s: That held and filled and mastered all.  With eyes


s: Closed, and a thousand soft short broken sighs,


s: She gave submission; fearful, meek, and glad. . . .


s: She wished to speak.  Under her breasts she had


s: Such multitudinous burnings, to and fro,


s: And throbs not understood; she did not know


s: If they were hurt or joy for her; but only


s: That she was grown strange to herself, half lonely,


s: All wonderful, filled full of pains to come


s: Human, and quaint, her own, yet very far,


s: Her heart was faint for telling; to relate


s: Her limbs' sweet treachery, her strange high estate,


s: Over and over, whispering, half revealing,


s: Weeping; and so find kindness to her healing.


s: 'Twixt tears and laughter, panic hurrying her,


s: She raised her eyes to that fair messenger.


s: He knelt unmoved, immortal; with his eyes


s: Gazing beyond her, calm to the calm skies;


s: Radiant, untroubled in his wisdom, kind.


s: His sheaf of lilies stirred not in the wind.


s: With ripples of her perplexed shaken heart,


s: And hints of human ecstasy, human smart,


s: And whispers of the lonely weight she bore,


s: And how her womb within was hers no more


s: Showering glory on the fields, and fire.


s: The whole air, singing, bore him up, and higher,


s: A gold speck in the gold skies; then was gone.


s: The air was colder, and grey.  She stood alone.


s: In decent mourning, from the country's ends,


s: Who had lived the boon companions of his prime,


s: And laughed with him and sung with him and wasted,


s: In feast and wine and many-crown'd carouse,


s: The days and nights and dawnings of the time


s: Aught of his high emprise and ventures dear,


s: All these, with loitering feet and sad head bar'd,


s: With muffled bells and coxcomb still revers'd;


s: And after trod the bearers, hat in hand --


s: LAUGHTER, most hoarse, and Captain PRIDE with tanned


s: And martial face all grim, and fussy JOY,


s: Who had to catch a train, and LUST, poor, snivelling boy;


s: Came GRIEF, so noisy a widow, that all said,


s: And by her, trying to soothe her all the time,


s: The fatherless children, COLOUR, TUNE, and RHYME


s: (The sweet lad RHYME), ran all-uncomprehending.


s: Round the raw grave they stay'd.  Old WISDOM read,


s: In mumbling tone, the Service for the Dead.


s: The furrowing tears had mark'd her rouged cheek;


s: Poor old CONCEIT, his wonder unassuaged;


s: PASSION, grown portly, something middle-aged;


s: And FRIENDSHIP -- not a minute older, she;


s: FAITH, who was deaf, and had to lean, to catch


s: Pale in her black; dry-eyed; she stood alone.


s: ARDOUR, the sunlight on his greying hair;


s: CONTENTMENT, who had known YOUTH as a child


s: And never seen him since.  And SPRING came too,


s: Dancing over the tombs, and brought him flowers --


s: And TRUTH, and GRACE, and all the merry crew,


s: The laughing WINDS and RIVERS, and lithe HOURS;


s: And HOPE, the dewy-eyed; and sorrowing SONG; --


s: Yes, with much woe and mourning general,


s: Even these were met once more together, all,


s: Who erst the fair and living YOUTH did know;


s: All, except only LOVE.  LOVE had died long ago.


s: Oh! there the chestnuts, summer through,


s: Drink beer around; -- and THERE the dews


s: And tries the strokes, essays the tricks,


s: Creep whispers through the grass all night;


s: Grey heavens, the first bird's drowsy calls,


s: Being urban, squat, and packed with guile;


s: Are black and fierce and strange of mouth;


s: And there's none in Harston under thirty,


s: Strong men have run for miles and miles,


s: Strong men have blanched, and shot their wives,


s: Strong men have cried like babes, bydam,


s: They up and shoot themselves, I'm told) . . .


s: The lies, and truths, and pain? . . . oh! yet


s: Stands the Church clock at ten to three?


s: I strayed about the deck, an hour, to-night


s: In at the windows, watched my friends at table,


s: In the windows, watched my friends at table,


s: Or playing cards, or standing in the doorway,


s: --Heedless, within a week of battle--in pity,


s: Pride in their strength and in the weight and firmness


s: And link'd beauty of bodies, and pity that


s: This gay machine of splendour 'ld soon be broken,


s: Thought little of, pashed, scattered, . . .


s: I could but see them--against the lamplight--pass


s: Like coloured shadows, thinner than filmy glass,


s: Slight bubbles, fainter than the wave's faint light,


s: That broke to phosphorus out in the night,


s: Perishing things and strange ghosts--soon to die


s: To other ghosts--this one, or that or I.


s: No BOY! I being twenty-one. Uncle, you make


s: In chiding me for letting slip a "Damn!"


s: What's more, you called me "Mother's one ewe


s: Bade me "refrain from swearing--for her sake--


s: Till I'm grown up" . . . --By God! I think you


s: My heart's resolved. Something must be done.


s: Blind with much light, passed to the light more glorious


s: Or deeper blindness, no man's hand, as thine,


s: Has, on the world's most noblest chord of song,


s: Struck certain magic strains. Ears satiate


s: With the clamorous, timorous whisperings of to-day,


s: Thrilled to perceive once more the spacious voice


s: --With rapturous breath half-held, as a dreamer dreams


s: Who dares not know it dreaming, lest he wake--


s: --Or the sharp of rhyme as a bird's cry--


s: And the innumerable truant polysyllables


s: Fulfilled our hearts were with that music then,


s: And all the evenings sighed it to the dawn,


s: And all the lovers heard it from all the trees.


s: --And ah! the stress on the penultimate!


s: We never knew blank verse could have such feet.


s: Where is it now? Oh, more than ever, now


s: Save where some sepultured Caesura bled,


s: And the young trochee, having done enough?


s: Ah! turn again! Sing so to us, who are sick


s: Of seeming-simple rhymes, bizarre emotions,


s: And symbols that mean nothing in the dawn.


s: The slow lines swell. The new styles sighs. The Celt


s: Gaunt anapaests stand up out of the verse,


s: Combative accents, stress where no stress should be,


s: The thrill of the all the tribrachs in the world,


s: To hear the blessed mutter of those verbs,


s: Conjunctions passionate toward each other's arms,


s: All prouder pronouns than the dawn, and all


s: The thunder of the trumpets of the noun!


s: There is an evil which that Race attaints


s: Who represent God's World with oily paints,


s: Who mock the Universe, so rare and sweet,


s: They'd snare the moon, and catch the immortal sun


s: Entrap an English evening's magic hush . . .


s: They say when the Great Prompter's hand shall ring


s: Down the last curtain upon earth and sea,


s: To praise their Author, worship love and sing;


s: Look down on those damned for a fretful d----,


s: On this reward for virtue), laugh, and fling


s: New sulphur on the sin-incarnadined . . .


s: Ah, Love! still temporal, and still atmospheric,


s: An earthly garden hidden from any cleric,


s: Hand trembling towards hand; the amazing lights


s: Of heart and eye. They stood on supreme heights.


s: Soon they returned, and after strange adventures,


s: Their money was in Can. Pacs. B. Debentures,


s: At home. And both were really quite content


s: With work and social pleasures. Then they died.


s: They left three children (beside George, who drank);


s: William, the head-clerk in the County Bank,


s: I have known the most dear that is granted us here,


s: Like a star I was hurled through the sweet of the world,


s: And the height and the light of it, Love.


s: I have risen to the uttermost Heaven of Joy,


s: But--it's not going to happen again, my boy,


s: It's the very first word that poor Juliet heard


s: And the Roman will tell Cleopatra in hell


s: When she starts her immortal old tricks;


s: What Paris was tellin' for good-bye to Helen


s: Oh, it's not going to happen again, old girl,


s: When the sun came up with a shout and a leap.


s: All his life he'd been good, as far as he could,


s: And the poor little beast had done all that he should.


s: But this morning he swore, by Odin and Thor


s: And the Canine Valhalla--he'd stand it no more!


s: So his prayer he got granted--to do just what he wanted,


s: Prevented by none, for the space of one day.


s: In dog-Latin he quoth, "Euge! sophos! hurray!"


s: He fought with the he-dogs, and winked at the she-dogs,


s: A thing that had never been heard of before.


s: "For the stigma of gluttony, I care not a button!" he


s: Cried, and ate all he could swallow--and more.


s: He took sinewy lumps from the shins of old frumps,


s: And mangled the errand-boys--when he could get 'em.


s: He shammed furious rabies, and bit all the babies ,


s: And followed the cats up the trees, and then ate' em!


s: They thought 'twas the devil was holding a revel,


s: And sent for the parson to drive him away;


s: For the town never knew such a hullabaloo


s: As that little dog raised--till the end of that day.


s: When the blood-red sun had gone burning down,


s: And the lights were lit in the little town,


s: Outside, in the gloom of the twilight grey,


s: The little dog died when he'd had his day.


s: Gentlest of critics, does your memory hold


s: When I, a schoolboy, earned your generous praise


s: For halting verse and stories crudely told?


s: Over these childish scrawls the years have rolled,


s: They might not know the world's unfriendly gaze;


s: But still your smile shines down familiar ways,


s: Touches my words and turns their dross to gold.


s: More dear to-day than in that vanished time


s: Comes your nigh praise to make me proud and strong.


s: In my poor notes you hear Love's splendid chime,


s: Take, then, a little gift of fragile rhyme:


s: Your heart will change it to authentic song.


s: Its brief defiance, flames and shouts --


s: That daily tramp through Prospect Street.


s: The engine's shriek, the headlight's glare,


s: That this, the midnight train, may bring.


s: God bless the train that brought me here.


s: He drops his treasured pennies on the ground,


s: He runs to find his errant wealth again!


s: But that they may, new found, be newly sweet.


s: Sit, waiting us, to their concealment bid,


s: All they, our lovers, whom His Love hath hid.


s: Lo, comfort blooms on pain, and peace on strife,


s: Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;


s: Bright stars, yellow stars, flashing through the air,


s: Are you errant strands of Lady Mary's hair?


s: As she slits the cloudy veil and bends down through,


s: Do you fall across her cheeks and over heaven too?


s: Gay stars, little stars, you are little eyes,


s: Eyes of baby angels playing in the skies.


s: Now and then a winged child turns his merry face


s: Down toward the spinning world -- what a funny place!


s: Jesus Christ came from the Cross (Christ receive my soul!)


s: In each perfect hand and foot there was a bloody hole.


s: Four great iron spikes there were, red and never dry,


s: Michael plucked them from the Cross and set them in the sky.


s: Christ's Troop, Mary's Guard, God's own men,


s: Draw your swords and strike at Hell and strike again.


s: Every steel-born spark that flies where God's battles are,


s: Flashes past the face of God, and is a star.


s: But the old man listens, and smokes his pipe,


s: They should sit in a great hall drinking


s: For they worry about the wars to be fought


s: But the old man knows that he's in his chair


s: And that God's on His throne in the sky.


s: From what old ballad, or from what rich frame


s: Was it from Chaucer's singing book you came?


s: Or did Watteau's small brushes give you birth?


s: Nothing so exquisite as that slight hand


s: I would possess a host of lovely things,


s: So God who lifts the poor and humbles kings


s: Sent loveliness itself to dwell with me.


s: Should have gold halls to wander through


s: The great stone box is cruelly displayed.


s: The street becomes more dreary from its shade,


s: And vagrant breezes touch its walls and die.


s: Here sullen convicts in their chains might lie,


s: How worse than folly is their labor made


s: Who cleft the rocks that this might rise on high!


s: Gleam from a window far above the street.


s: This is a house of homes, a sacred place,


s: How all the building thrills with sudden grace


s: Beneath the magic of Love's golden feet!


s: And feet that shod in light should dance


s: The troops of Hell have burst the gates,


s: Above their wreath-strewn graves we kneel,


s: They kept the faith and fought the fight.


s: Their strength, who lie beneath this sod,


s: The Prince of Peace . . . Who brought a sword.


s: Not on the lute, nor harp of many strings


s: Shall all men praise the Master of all song.


s: Our life is brief, one saith, and art is long;


s: And skilled must be the laureates of kings.


s: Silent, O lips that utter foolish things!


s: Rest, awkward fingers striking all notes wrong!


s: How from your toil shall issue, white and strong,


s: Music like that God's chosen poet sings?


s: There is one harp that any hand can play,


s: And from its strings what harmonies arise!


s: There is one song that any mouth can say, --


s: A song that lingers when all singing dies.


s: When on their beads our Mother's children pray


s: Immortal music charms the grateful skies.


s: I have no vision of gods, not of Eros with love-arrows laden,


s: Jupiter thundering death or of Juno his white-breasted queen,


s: All of the joy of the world in the innocent heart of a maiden.


s: The merchant's sneer, the clerk's disdain,


s: Let us kneel and pray on the broad highway


s: As a beggar he strayed and he preached and prayed


s: Bowed with years and pain he came back again


s: There was none to see who this tramp might be,


s: But his father said, "Give him drink and bread


s: For when night came down on the seven-hilled town,


s: Saying, "Lo, I hear that a saint is near


s: Then they looked in vain where the saint had lain,


s: From his fleshly home he had gone to roam


s: That the wind sways above a ruined shrine.


s: Vainer his voice in whom no longer dwells


s: Hunger that craves immortal Bread and Wine.


s: Light songs we breathe that perish with our breath


s: Out of our lips that have not kissed the rod.


s: They shall not live who have not tasted death.


s: That throbbed with loud and rhythmic glee


s: But no swift wings flash through the tree.


s: And charm Death's cruel heart with singing


s: Till with strange tears his eyes are wet.


s: Shall see your soft black plumage gleaming


s: On nights like this the huddled sheep --


s: Burn through my heart with sweetest pain.


s: Serene he stands, with mist serenely crowned,


s: And draws a cloak of trees about his breast.


s: The thunder roars but cannot break his rest


s: And from his rugged face the tempests bound.


s: He does not heed the angry lightning's wound,


s: The raging blizzard is his harmless guest,


s: To him who sees Time spin the years around.


s: But fragile souls, in skyey reaches find


s: High vantage-points and view him from afar.


s: How brief he seems where all things endless are;


s: This young companion of an ancient star.


s: Whenever I walk to Suffern along the Erie track


s: I go by a poor old farmhouse with its shingles broken and black.


s: I know this house isn't haunted, and I wish it were, I do;


s: For it wouldn't be so lonely if it had a ghost or two.


s: This house on the road to Suffern needs a dozen panes of glass,


s: If I had a lot of money and all my debts were paid


s: I'd buy that place and fix it up the way it used to be


s: Now, a new house standing empty, with staring window and door,


s: For the lack of something within it that it has never known.


s: But a house that has done what a house should do,


s: That has put its loving wooden arms around a man and his wife,


s: So whenever I go to Suffern along the Erie track


s: I never go by the empty house without stopping and looking back,


s: And I never quit without getting a mess of a dozen or so.


s: There was a man, Dave Lilly, who lived on the North Adams road,


s: And when he didn't go fishing he'd sit in the tavern and drink.


s: Well, Dave is dead and buried and nobody cares very much;


s: They have no use in Greylock for drunkards and loafers and such.


s: But I always liked Dave Lilly, he was pleasant as you could wish;


s: The other night I was walking up the hill from Williamstown


s: and I stopped on the bridge and sat down.


s: I looked at the blackened water with its little flecks of white


s: And after I'd been there a minute it seemed to me I could feel


s: The presence of someone near me, and I heard the hum of a reel.


s: I scrambled down to the brookside and hunted all about;


s: And I got a whiff of tobacco like Lilly used to smoke.


s: It's fifteen years, they tell me, since anyone fished that brook;


s: I know that it's full of ghostly trout for Lilly's ghost to get.


s: I guess I'll go to the tavern and get a bottle of rye


s: And leave it down by the hollow oak, where Lilly's ghost went by.


s: And put some flowers on it -- but this will be better for Dave.


s: When Dawn strides out to wake a dewy farm


s: Across green fields and yellow hills of hay


s: The little twittering birds laugh in his way


s: And poise triumphant on his shining arm.


s: He bears a sword of flame but not to harm


s: The wakened life that feels his quickening sway


s: And barnyard voices shrilling "It is day!"


s: Take by his grace a new and alien charm.


s: That limps to cover from the angry chase,


s: He steals down streets where sickly arc-lights sing,


s: And wanly mock his young and shameful face;


s: In many a high and dreary sleeping place.


s: And read of ways that harlots wander in,


s: And of sick souls that writhe in helpless rage;


s: Taps on her desk and bids the class begin


s: To con the problems that have always been


s: The laureled wizard of the North appears!


s: Who raised Prince Charlie's cohorts from the dead,


s: Made Rose's mirth and Flora's noble tears,


s: And formed that shining legion at whose head


s: Rides Waverley, triumphant o'er the years!


s: where he remained from 1909 to 1912, when he assumed the position


s: Kilmer died in France in 1918, and also published another volume,


s: I like to look at the blossomy track of the moon upon the sea,


s: But it isn't half so fine a sight as Main Street used to be


s: When it all was covered over with a couple of feet of snow,


s: And over the crisp and radiant road the ringing sleighs would go.


s: I like to think of it white with frost or dusty in the heat,


s: Because I think it is humaner than any other street.


s: There were only about a hundred teams on Main Street in a day,


s: That Main Street didn't remember, and somehow seem to enjoy.


s: The truck and the motor and trolley car and the elevated train


s: They make the weary city street reverberate with pain:


s: But there is yet an echo left deep down within my heart


s: God be thanked for the Milky Way that runs across the sky,


s: That's the path that my feet would tread whenever I have to die.


s: Some folks call it a Silver Sword, and some a Pearly Crown,


s: But the only thing I think it is, is Main Street, Heaventown.


s: And this is the time when wanderlust should seize upon my feet.


s: I never have seen a vagabond who really liked to roam


s: All up and down the streets of the world and not to have a home:


s: Or else he'll go into his tent when it is time for bed.


s: For he never goes a-travelling but he takes his home along.


s: And the only reason a road is good, as every wanderer knows,


s: They say that life is a highway and its milestones are the years,


s: Now I have only a little house, and only a little lot,


s: And only a few square yards of lawn, with dandelions starred;


s: But when Winter comes, I have something there


s: And it's better worth having than all their wealth --


s: The Judge's money brings architects to make his mansion fair;


s: The Hales have seven gardeners to make their roses grow;


s: The Judge can get his trees from Spain and France and everywhere,


s: But I have something no architect or gardener ever made,


s: They say that after Adam and Eve were driven away in tears


s: To toil and suffer their life-time through,


s: The Lord made Winter to punish them for half their exiled years,


s: To chill their blood with the snow, and pierce


s: But we who inherit the primal curse, and labour for our bread,


s: For him who lives in a house that has a snowman in the yard.


s: Sometime of Interamna, which is called Ferni,


s: Nor that of your shining and joyous martyrdom,


s: But since this is your august festival, Monsignore,


s: According to a venerable and agreeable custom,


s: Are so blue that they put lovely little blue reflections


s: It is like the light coming through blue stained glass,


s: I think that her eyes have made it more blue,


s: As the pressure of her body has graciously given it form.


s: I have never before troubled you with a request.


s: The saints whose ears I chiefly worry with my pleas


s: are the most exquisite and maternal Brigid,


s: Gallant Saint Stephen, who puts fire in my blood,


s: The generous and jovial Saint Nicholas of Bari.


s: To the Ivory Throne that bursts into bloom with roses


s: When you come to pay your devoir to Our Lady,


s: "Madame, a poor poet, one of your singing servants yet on earth,


s: When a house is made you will throw it down,


s: For Christopher Wren and these other men


s: "This porch," you'll say, "should go this way!"


s: And they'll come to your palace every morning,


s: And when night comes down on Heaven-town


s: You will choose the house you like the best


s: And its walls will glow as you drowsily go


s: And I hope you'll be gentle enough to keep


s: You lay and read your learned books, and bore


s: A weight of unshed tears and silent sighs.


s: The song within your heart could never rise


s: Until love bade it spread its wings and soar.


s: Nor could you look on Beauty's face before


s: A poet's burning mouth had touched your eyes.


s: It is a burst of Heaven-shaking thunder;


s: Love's voice is through your song; above and under


s: Because Mankind is glad and brave and young,


s: Full of gay flames that white and scarlet glow,


s: All joys and passions that Mankind may know


s: Because Mankind's heart every day is wrung


s: By Fate's wild hands that twist and tear it so,


s: So did the ghosts of toiling children hover


s: Your eyes, that looked on glory, could discover


s: The angry scar to which the world was blind:


s: And it was grief that made Mankind your lover,


s: And it was grief that made you love Mankind.


s: Before Christ left the Citadel of Light,


s: To tread the dreadful way of human birth,


s: His shadow sometimes fell upon the earth


s: And those who saw it wept with joy and fright.


s: "Thou art Apollo, than the sun more bright!"


s: They cried.  "Our music is of little worth,


s: But thrill our blood with thy creative mirth


s: Thou god of song, thou lord of lyric might!"


s: O singing pilgrim! who could love and follow


s: Your lover Christ, through even love's despair,


s: You knew within the cypress-darkened hollow


s: The feet that on the mountain are so fair.


s: For it was Christ that was your own Apollo,


s: And thorns were in the laurel on your hair.


s: Be it phantom or fact, it's a noble cause


s: One winter night a Devil came and sat upon my bed,


s: His eyes were full of laughter for his heart was full of crime.


s: "Why don't you take up fancy work, or embroidery?" he said,


s: "For a needle is as manly a tool as a pen that makes a rhyme!"


s: "You little ugly Devil," said I, "go back to Hell


s: For the idea you express I will not listen to:


s: I have trouble enough with poetry and poverty as well,


s: Without having to pay attention to orators like you.


s: Because he carried in his soul the courage of his song.


s: "And there is no consolation so quickening to the heart


s: It puts the flame in a lonely breast where only ashes be.


s: It is strong joy to read it, and to make it is a thing


s: That exalts a man with a sacreder pride than any pride on earth.


s: "There was the poet Homer had the sorrow to be blind,


s: He had no wealth, he had no friends, he had no joy at all,


s: Except to pour his sorrow into little cups of song,


s: There was a murkier tinge in London's air


s: As if the honest fog blushed black for shame.


s: Fools sang of sin, for other fools' acclaim,


s: And Milton's wreath was tossed to Baudelaire.


s: The flowers of evil blossomed everywhere,


s: Candescent, pure, a cup of living flame,


s: Bloomed for a day, and left the earth more fair.


s: And was it Charles, thy "fair and fatal King",


s: Who bade thee welcome to the lovely land?


s: Or did Lord David cease to harp and sing


s: Or did Our Lady's smile shine forth, to bring


s: Her lyric Knight within her choir to stand?


s: Why didst thou carve thy speech laboriously,


s: And match and blend thy words with curious art?


s: For Song, one saith, is but a human heart


s: Nay, God be praised, Who fixed thy task for thee!


s: On thy phrased paten shall the Splendour be!


s: Now, carelessly we throw a rhyme to God,


s: Singing His praise when other songs are done.


s: But thou, who knewest paths Teresa trod,


s: Losing thyself, what is it thou hast won?


s: O bleeding feet, with peace and glory shod!


s: I know him and make the Sign of the Cross


s: There are great bleeding wounds in his feet,


s: Those bleeding hands outstretched to me!


s: "Hail Mary, full of grace," the Angel saith.


s: She has a Bridegroom Who may not be named,


s: Her mortal flesh bears Him Who conquers death.


s: Too bright a Sun before her eyes has flamed,


s: Too fair a herald joy too high proclaimed,


s: And human lips have trembled in God's breath.


s: O Mother-Maid, thou art ashamed to cover


s: With thy white self, whereon no stain can be,


s: Thy God, Who came from Heaven to be thy Lover,


s: Thy God, Who came from Heaven to dwell in thee.


s: I went to gather roses and twine them in a ring,


s: For I would make a posy, a posy for the King.


s: I got an hundred roses, the loveliest there be,


s: But when I took my posy and laid it at His feet


s: I found He had His roses a million times more sweet.


s: There was a scarlet blossom upon each foot and hand,


s: Now of this fair and awful King there is this marvel told,


s: That He wears a crown of linked thorns instead of one of gold.


s: Where there are thorns are roses, and I saw a line of red,


s: A little wreath of roses around His radiant head.


s: A red rose is His Sacred Heart, a white rose is His face,


s: And I shall drink His fragrance in Heaven when I die.


s: There is a wall of flesh before the eyes


s: Of John, who yet perceives and hails his King.


s: Her cousin feels her womb's sweet burden rise


s: And leap with joy, and she comes forth to sing,


s: With trembling mouth, her words of welcoming.


s: She knows her hidden God, and prophesies.


s: Saint John, pray for us, weary souls that tarry


s: Where life is withered by sin's deadly breath.


s: Pray for us, whom the dogs of Satan harry,


s: And, Mother Mary, give us Christ to carry


s: Within our hearts, that we may conquer death.


s: I take my leave, with sorrow, of Him I love so well;


s: I look my last upon His small and radiant prison-cell;


s: O happy lamp! to serve Him with never ceasing light!


s: O happy flame! to tremble forever in His sight!


s: I leave the holy quiet for the loudly human train,


s: In all the reddest depths of Hell than banishment from Thee?


s: But from my window as I speed across the sleeping land


s: I see the towns and villages wherein His houses stand.


s: Above the roofs I see a cross outlined against the night,


s: And I know that there my Lover dwells in His sacramental might.


s: Dominions kneel before Him, and Powers kiss His feet,


s: Yet for me He keeps His weary watch in the turmoil of the street:


s: O who am I that He should deign to love and serve me so?


s: Thank God for the bitter and ceaseless strife,


s: Thank God for the stress and the pain of life,


s: Our Lady like a lily bends above the cloudy sod,


s: But Saint Michael is the thorn on the rosebush of God.


s: And Our Lady is the goblet that He sips:


s: And Gabriel's the breath of His command,


s: But Saint Michael is the sword in God's right hand.


s: But when the Devil comes with the thunder of his might,


s: The boom and blare of the big brass band is cheering to my heart


s: And I like the smell of the trampled grass and elephants and hay.


s: It must be fine to walk a line of silver in the air


s: And to cleave a hundred feet of space with a gesture like a song.


s: Sir Henry Irving never knew a keener, sweeter thrill


s: As a tribute to the clown who won the great wheel-barrow race.


s: Now, one shall work in the living rock with a mallet and a knife,


s: For the sculptor and the acrobat and the painter are the same.


s: You put your sorrow into rhyme and want the world to look;


s: You sing the news of your ruined hope and want the world to hear;


s: O, poet of the broken heart, salute your brothers here!


s: My hands were stained with blood, my heart was proud and cold,


s: My soul is black with shame . . . but I gave Shakespeare gold.


s: So after aeons of flame, I may, by grace of God,


s: Rise up to kiss the dust that Shakespeare's feet have trod.


s: The moon's serene and silver-veiled face,


s: Now, for a time, shall careless laughter be


s: Blended with song, to lend song sweeter grace,


s: And the old stars, in their unending race,


s: And yet to-night, a hundred leagues away,


s: These waters blush a strange and awful red.


s: Rises from decks that crash with flying lead.


s: And these stars smile their immemorial way


s: On waves that shroud a thousand newly dead!


s: His body lies that was so fair and young.


s: His mouth is stopped, with half his songs unsung;


s: His arm is still, that struck to make men free.


s: Where, on a warrior's grave, a lyre is hung.


s: We keep the echoes of his golden tongue,


s: So Israel's joy, the loveliest of kings,


s: Smote now his harp, and now the hostile horde.


s: With psalms a soldier made to praise his Lord;


s: Song on his lips, and in his hand a sword.


s: For many a youthful shoulder now is gay with an epaulet,


s: They have taken their youth and mirth away


s: To a new school in an alien land beneath an alien sky;


s: And after the golden day has come and the war is at an end,


s: A slab of bronze on the chapel wall will tell of the noble dead.


s: And every name on that radiant list will be the name of a friend,


s: And there will be ghosts in the old school,


s: And songs and spears throughout the years


s: And Sarsfield's face is glad and fierce.


s: He who walks through the meadows of Champagne


s: At noon in Fall, when leaves like gold appear,


s: Like some great mountain set upon the plain,


s: From radiant dawn until the close of day,


s: Across the country.  When tall towers lay


s: Ancient French temple! thou whose hundred kings


s: Watch over thee, emblazoned on thy walls,


s: Tell me, within thy memory-hallowed halls


s: What chant of triumph, or what war-song rings?


s: Thou hast known Clovis and his Frankish train,


s: Whose mighty hand Saint Remy's hand did keep


s: And in thy spacious vault perhaps may sleep


s: For God thou has known fear, when from His side


s: Men wandered, seeking alien shrines and new,


s: But still the sky was bountiful and blue


s: And thou wast crowned with France's love and pride.


s: And in thy panes of gold and scarlet glass


s: The setting sun sees thousandfold his face;


s: Across thy walls, the shadow and the light;


s: The brows of saints with venerable names,


s: And know that down below, beside the Rhine --


s: Cannon, horses, soldiers, flags in line --


s: With blare of trumpets, mighty armies come.


s: Swift rumours pass, that every one must hear,


s: The hostile banners blaze against the sky


s: Now war has come, and peace is at an end.


s: On Paris town the German troops descend.


s: They are turned back, and driven to Champagne.


s: The glorious temple gives them welcome, when


s: It meets them at the bottom of the plain.


s: At once, they set their cannon in its way.


s: As shot and shell in crushing torrents fall.


s: The stricken tocsin quivers through the tower;


s: The triple nave, the apse, the lonely choir


s: And Death is scattered broadcast among men.


s: That which was splendid with baptismal grace;


s: The transepts, columns, windows gray and gold,


s: The organ, in whose tones the ocean rolled,


s: The crypts, of mighty shades the dwelling places,


s: The Virgin's gentle hands, the Saints' pure faces,


s: All, even the pardoning hands of Christ the Lord


s: Were struck and broken by the wanton sword


s: Strong walls of faith, most basely overthrown!


s: The crawling flames, like adders glistening


s: Ate the white fabric of this lovely thing.


s: The soul that always loved the just and fair.


s: Granite and marble loud their woe confessed,


s: The silver monstrances that Popes had blessed,


s: The chalices and lamps and crosiers rare


s: Were seared and twisted by a flaming breath;


s: The horror everywhere did range and swell,


s: The guardian Saints into this furnace fell,


s: Their bitter tears and screams were stilled in death.


s: Around the flames armed hosts are skirmishing,


s: The burning sun reflects the lurid scene;


s: Rallies its torn and terrified left wing;


s: Showing, with wounded arms, their own disgrace.


s: The Kings of the earth are men of might,


s: And cities are burned for their delight,


s: And the skies rain death in the silent night,


s: But the King of Heaven, Who made them all,


s: He lies in the straw, by the oxen's stall --


s: The following electronic text is based on that edition published


s: in THE WORKS OF JOHN GOWER, ed. Prof. G.C. Macauley.


s: Torpor, ebes sensus, scola parua labor minimusque


s: Qua tamen Engisti lingua canit Insula Bruti


s: Ossibus ergo carens que conterit ossa loquelis


s: Absit, et interpres stet procul oro malus.


s: And sobre and chaste and large and wyse.


s: For worldes good, which may noght laste.


s: Let in the Strem, which with gret peine,


s: Hou that this world schal torne and wende,


s: Is thing which makth the world to falle,


s: Or straght to hevene or straght to helle.


s: Subdit, et vnanimes concitat esse feras:


s: Huius enim mundi Princeps amor esse videtur,


s: Sunt in agone pares amor et fortuna, que cecas


s: Plebis ad insidias vertit vterque rotas.


s: Est amor egra salus, vexata quies, pius error,


s: What is thi Sor of which thou pleignest?


s: "Sey forth," quod sche, "and tell me how;


s: Com forth and hier this mannes schrifte,"


s: For trowthe hise wordes wol noght peinte:


s: The pointz of schrifte how that thei stonde."


s: These Monstres soghte, and there he fond


s: Tell forth, my Sone, and schrif the clene.


s: And evere his chiere is sobre and softe,


s: This lord, which wolde his thonk pourchace,


s: Of thing which thou hast evere eschuied.


s: That sche is wroth and seith, "Be stille."


s: "What thing," quod he, "that thou wolt axe."


s: "Nay," seith Florent, "that may noght be."


s: Which, as thou seist, thou schalt me teche,


s: Have hier myn hond, I schal thee wedde."


s: Hire Necke is schort, hir schuldres courbe,


s: "For now," sche seith, "we ben bothe on."


s: Which thurgh the blastes that he bloweth


s: And goth to chambre and hath compleigned


s: Sche seith, that sche schal noght be glad,


s: Wente in hire stede, and there hath founde


s: His god, which made him nothing strange,


s: Thei scholden noght have founde hir like.


s: Quod sche, "the pointz of whiche I herde,


s: Which men most helpe and hath lest nede.


s: Schal sterve, and Erthe it schal become;


s: Thou schalt the spieces, as thei stonde.


s: Quo gaudent alii, dolet ille, nec vnus amicus


s: Proximitatis honor sua corda veretur, et omnis


s: Hoc etenim vicium quam sepe repugnat amanti,


s: Non sibi, set reliquis, dum fauet ipsa Venus.


s: Est amor ex proprio motu fantasticus, et que


s: Sche lieveth noght al that sche hiereth,


s: And what thei wolde and what thei mente,


s: That Crist, which cam this world to save,


s: Stod thanne, as who seith, ded for feere,


s: Hire Schip to stiere hath take in honde,


s: He bar, with which hire throte he cutte,


s: Seith that Constance hath don this dede;


s: And thanne he cride and thanne he seide,


s: Feignende as thogh sche cowthe him thonk.


s: Hire child schal noght among hem duelle,


s: Thurgh strengthe of wynd which god hath yive,


s: Forth with hir child he hath forthdrawe.


s: Quenche in this world, bot evere brenneth,


s: And whanne I hiere how thei have wroght,


s: Thurgh strengthe of love al that I hiere


s: And thanne he thoghte it schal be wroke.


s: The scherte, he seith, hath such a grace,


s: Hath take, and in this forme he wroghte.


s: With sleyhte of love and hire enchaunted:


s: He scheweth, thurgh which that he schal,


s: That miht with miht schal be withstonde.


s: That drink which makth the herte brenne,


s: And for thou schalt thee noght despeire,


s: Ira suis paribus est par furiis Acherontis,


s: Ira malencolicos animos perturbat, vt equo


s: Omnibus in causis grauat Ira, set inter amantes,


s: Est vbi vir discors leuiterque repugnat amori,


s: That thei were, as who seith, enchaunted.


s: And siththe an herte is so constreigned,


s: Bot hield him stille and let hire chyde;


s: And he for wraththe his swerd outbreide,


s: Now lest, my Sone, and thou schalt here.


s: As thogh the world scholde al to sondre;


s: The Schip, which wende his helpe acroche,


s: For thei acompte here wraththe at noght,


s: The kniht him seith, and was riht wroth,


s: "Alheil," he seith, "what man art thou?"


s: If that thou wolt." "Yis," seith the king.


s: What worldes thing that thou wolt crave."


s: Which lith noght in thi miht to schifte:


s: How that thi will schal noght be lieved,


s: Thurgh which thin hertes thoght withinne


s: For he youre heste hath kept and served,


s: Fro Wraththe, and let thin herte assuage:


s: Here ende, and sette here ferste entente,


s: Thurgh will, which is noght wel assised,


s: Thurgh chance which mai noght be weived,


s: And was forth broght hise hondes bounde,


s: With moerdre, he schal with worldes schame


s: The cherche is brent, the priest is slain,


s: Whan that thei sihe here king thus take,


s: The pointz of Slowthe thou schalt knowe.


s: Que fieri possent hodie transfert piger in cras,


s: Bot he, which hadde hise thoghtes feinte


s: Thurgh him which scholde have be mi lif."


s: He wolde hire serve and preide hire ete,


s: And nothing spoke, he scholde have failed:


s: That what as evere I thoghte have spoken,


s: And stonde, as who seith, doumb and def,


s: Bot lete him falle and take his chaunce.


s: That now sche swouneth, now sche pleigneth,


s: A Ceinte of Selk, which sche ther hadde,


s: Sche knette, and so hireself sche ladde,


s: Art mad, now tell me plein thi schrifte.


s: With that hire chere awei sche swerveth,


s: Hir love, and longe er that sche changeth


s: He goth him forth, wher that he scholde,


s: Wher that thei wroghten with here hondes


s: Hem whom thei scholde, as the bok seith,


s: Which is contraire, as thou schalt wite.


s: Thing which that thei ferst founden oute,


s: Fond ferst the forge and wroghte it wel:


s: Bot thing which yifth ous mete and drinke


s: In thing which stant noght as thei weene.


s: With such gladnesse I daunce and skippe,


s: Sche goth, and ther with Slep sche spak,


s: Thanne hath this thing most of his wille.


s: That he thurgh strengthe of love lasseth


s: Sche wepth, sche crith, sche swouneth ofte,


s: Largus amor poscit, striccius illa vetat.


s: Omne quod est nimium viciosum dicitur aurum,


s: Non decet vt soli seruabitur es, set amori


s: For thing that scholde him noght availe:


s: This Prest was drunke and goth astraied,


s: Whil that him liketh, there he duelleth:


s: The more him thursteth, for him thinketh


s: His disch, his coppe, his drinke, his mete;


s: And seith that mete and cloth sufficeth.


s: Thanne hath the Schip tobroke his cable,


s: Wher that sche singe or that sche dance,


s: Or that sche lawghe, or that sche loure,


s: That whanne he wolde himself transforme,


s: And sche, which thoghte hire lustes fonde,


s: For thurgh the fendes sleihte him thoghte,


s: That man and beste hath drunke his fille:


s: And boghte it with his fleissh and blod.


s: With pich, with soulphre and with rosine,


s: That who best doth, lest thonk schal have;


s: Which was fulfild with straw and stones:


s: Of gold, he seith, he schal noght spede.


s: The king seith, "Nay, sche schal noght go."


s: Thei winne hem mete and drinke and clothes.


s: And ther they siete and spieke of thinges,


s: That thou the flees of gold schalt have."


s: The Serpent with such strengthe assaile,


s: Sprong up a kniht with spere and schield,


s: Sche preide, and seide, "O, god him spede,


s: And of that thing riht merie hem thoghte,


s: The Sail goth up, and forth thei strauhte.


s: And preide hem alle, as sche wel couthe,


s: What thing sche wroghte in this matiere,


s: And sek and trouble and fieble and cold.


s: That fro the Schep, which hath hire bore,


s: And, as who seith, ben simple and povere;


s: And wol noght yive, he schal noght take:


s: Thou pleignest, for sche wol thee noght,


s: With him sche wente, and that was routhe.


s: That sche schal londe and take hire reste.


s: As sche which longe hath ben forwacched;


s: Nou list, mi Sone, and thou schalt hiere,


s: With whiche he bond ther bothe hire armes,


s: Sche seith, "wepinge is noght the bote:"


s: And preith sche moste hire chambres kepe,


s: Thogh that the goddes wolde hire change,


s: Sche makth hir pleignte and seith, "O why,


s: Than fleth sche forth and ginth to chide,


s: Which seth noght what schal after falle,


s: With schame, and fro the Nimphes fledde,


s: Thurgh which that thou hast be mistorned,


s: He hath, and threste out bothe hise yhen,


s: That what as evere of schep he strangle,


s: To thing which that youre conseil demeth,


s: What him best thoghte, and thus he seide:


s: Til what be sleihte and what be strengthe


s: Thei hadde it wonne in brede and lengthe,


s: Thurgh streit holdinge and thurgh skarsnesse


s: Est gula, que nostrum maculavit prima parentem


s: Hec agit, ut corpus anime contraria spirat,


s: Quo caro fit crassa, spiritus atque macer.


s: Intus et exterius si que virtutis habentur,


s: Mersa sopore labis, que Bachus inebriat hospes,


s: He knowth the See, he knowth the stronde,


s: Nou lest, mi Sone, and thou schalt hiere.


s: To staunche, and grante ous forto winne,


s: A wether, which the ground hath sporned;


s: Thi thurst to quenche, and thenk algate,


s: Thoght, which hath evere hise pottes hote


s: For evere in which thou schalt ben inne,


s: For that lust scholde him noght asterte.


s: Whan that the thurst of love him cawhte,


s: The fissch, the foul, the man, the beste


s: This king, of which thou hast herd sein,


s: And while he slepte, he mette a swevene:


s: And sche seith, "That mai I noght lieve,


s: Which with his swerd schal winne and gete


s: "This nyht, thou seist, it schal be sene.


s: And such thing there of love he wroghte,


s: If ye dede oght that scholde him grieve."


s: The nyht com, and the chambre is weyved,


s: Thus fell the thing which falle scholde,


s: Thurgh which he hath a See foul daunted,


s: Sche thoghte hou that sche was deceived,


s: That thing thurgh which he wende have stonde,


s: Omnibus in causis sapiens doctrina salutem


s: Consequitur, nec habet quis nisi doctus opem.


s: Naturam superat doctrina, viro quod et ortus


s: Non ita discretus hominum per climata regnat,


s: Quin magis ut sapiat, indiget ipse schole.


s: Thurgh which the Philosophre hath founde


s: Therthe of his cours makth ful of veines,


s: Of livere, of lunge, of galle, of splen,


s: The freisshe floures sprede and springe,


s: The Sonne his carte hath faire and wiel,


s: The wombe hath tuo, the heved hath thre,


s: Hath take his place in nombre of eighte,


s: The Ston which that this sterre alloweth,


s: Ferst thei ben harde, and thilke assisse


s: And seide hou that the strengthe of kinges


s: And doth with him what evere hir liketh;


s: Whan that sche loureth, thanne he siketh,


s: Lo, thus sche cride and thus sche preide,


s: Ferst scholde he loke, hou that it stod,


s: His povere astat: and thanne he lasseth,


s: Thou art noght wys."  And thei that herde


s: That evere, whyl the world schal duelle,


s: Thurgh which he thoghte, if that he myhte,


s: Thurgh fyr, which that men putten under.


s: And seide him, "Lo, thus myht thou wynne


s: With thing which schal him litel grieve.


s: And with these othre his wit compasseth,


s: Thurgh lust, which al his wit devoureth,


s: And seith that which of hem ferst kisseth


s: With such a wounde him hath thurghsmite,


s: And hou sche spak, and hou sche wroghte,


s: And thus he broghte hire herte in doute,


s: Sche tok, and thurgh hire herte it throng,


s: "Lo, take hire ther, thou wrongfull king,


s: Hou trewe, hou large, hou joust, hou chaste


s: Que favet ad vicium vetus hec modo regula confert,


s: Nec novus e contra qui docet ordo placet.


s: Cecus amor dudum nondum sua lumina cepit,


s: Bot takth what thing comth next to honde.


s: Tell forth therof and schrif thee hiere.


s: That deth, which no king mai withstonde,


s: To schipe he goth, the wynd him dryveth,


s: That other thoghte and hield him stille,


s: And preith he scholde his thoghtes leve.


s: To make him chiere, and evere he siketh,


s: Tho preith the king, tho preith the queene,


s: Withinne hir chambre, and goth noght oute:


s: With thondre and lyhthnynge is forsmite;


s: And whan the presse of poeple is weived,


s: Forth with thi wif, whiche I most triste.


s: And thanne he takth his leve and torneth


s: Of Thaise his doghter, wher sche duelleth,


s: "Thou schalt be ded." "Helas!" quod sche,


s: As thieves scholde, and forth thei wente.


s: Sche wepth, sche sorweth, sche compleigneth,


s: This king, this lord, this maiden diere.


s: Withinne his herte he made his schrifte;


s: Hath noght himself, he hath noght elles,


s: That wher so that I reste or I travaile,


s: Mi resoun, which that can him noght defende:


s: Thus seche I help, wherof I mihte amende.


s: Ferst to Nature if that I me compleigne,


s: Hath yit of kinde a love under his cure;


s: To love, and yit no certein sche compasseth


s: Hou I schal spede, and thus betwen the tweie


s: I stonde, and not if I schal live or deie.


s: Hou whilom Pan, which is the god of kinde,


s: For evere I wrastle and evere I am behinde,


s: That I no strengthe in al min herte finde,


s: Whom nedeth help, he mot his helpe crave,


s: Pleinly thurghsoght my wittes alle I have,


s: Bot non of hem can helpe after mi wille;


s: Thus wot I noght wherof miself to helpe.


s: Lith couched, that fortune is overrunne,


s: I not hou ofte, and thus finde I no game;


s: For evere I axe and evere it is the same.


s: I se the world stonde evere upon eschange,


s: And thing which nou is lowe is eft alofte;


s: Thei torne; and evere is Danger in o place,


s: Which wol noght change his will to do me grace.


s: The which hath love under his governance,


s: He woundeth ofte, ther he wol noght hele;


s: And that somdiel is cause of mi querele.


s: Stant in the hond of Venus the goddesse,


s: Bot whan sche takth hir conseil with Satorne,


s: Ther is no grace, and in that time, I gesse,


s: Nou stynt, and do thilke infortune aweie,


s: That with thi Dart brennende hast set afyre


s: To me, which evere yit have kept thin heste,


s: Withoute gult thou dost on me thi wreche;


s: Thou wost my peine is evere aliche grene


s: For love, and yit I mai it noght areche:


s: And whan sche sih him dreynt, sche lepte


s: Men sein that trouthe hath broke his bond


s: Explicit iste liber, qui transeat, obsecro liber,


s: Qui sedet in scannis celi det vt ista lohannis


s: Perpetuis annis stet pagina grata Britannis,


s: Derbeie Comiti, recolunt quem laude periti,


s: Vade liber purus, sub eo requiesce futurus.


s: Some kill their love when they are young,


s: Nor drop feet foremost through the floor


s: While some coarse-mouthed Doctor gloats, and notes


s: And binds one with three leathern thongs,


s: Six weeks our guardsman walked the yard,


s: And at every wandering cloud that trailed


s: The loftiest place is that seat of grace


s: Like two doomed ships that pass in storm


s: We rubbed the doors, and scrubbed the floors,


s: We sewed the sacks, we broke the stones,


s: We banged the tins, and bawled the hymns,


s: And through the bars that hide the stars


s: But there is no sleep when men must weep


s: And as molten lead were the tears we shed


s: All through the night we knelt and prayed,


s: And each evil sprite that walks by night


s: And with formal pace and loathsome grace


s: And the damned grotesques made arabesques,


s: But with flutes of Fear they filled the ear,


s: Ah! wounds of Christ! they were living things,


s: And with subtle sneer, and fawning leer,


s: But the sough and swing of a mighty wing


s: For the stroke of eight is the stroke of Fate


s: So, like things of stone in a valley lone,


s: But each man's heart beat thick and quick


s: Like the sound that frightened marshes hear


s: And heard the prayer the hangman's snare


s: And the wild regrets, and the bloody sweats,


s: So they kept us close till nigh on noon,


s: And the Warders with their jingling keys


s: For this man's face was white with fear,


s: They think a murderer's heart would taint


s: And the red rose would but blow more red,


s: On that stretch of mud and sand that lies


s: They stripped him of his canvas clothes,


s: And with laughter loud they heaped the shroud


s: Since first Man took his brother's life,


s: But straws the wheat and saves the chaff


s: And bound with bars lest Christ should see


s: For they starve the little frightened child


s: And they scourge the weak, and flog the fool,


s: And the bitter bread they weigh in scales


s: And the eye that watches through the door


s: Ah! happy day they whose hearts can break


s: And with tears of blood he cleansed the hand,


s: And there, till Christ call forth the dead,


s: Some kill their love when they are young,


s: Nor drop feet foremost through the floor


s: While some coarse-mouthed Doctor gloats, and notes


s: And binds one with three leathern thongs,


s: Six weeks the guardsman walked the yard,


s: And at every wandering cloud that trailed


s: Like two doomed ships that pass in storm


s: We rubbed the doors, and scrubbed the floors,


s: We sewed the sacks, we broke the stones,


s: We banged the tins, and bawled the hymns,


s: And through the bars that hide the stars


s: But there is no sleep when men must weep


s: And as molten lead were the tears we shed


s: All through the night we knelt and prayed,


s: And each evil sprite that walks by night


s: And with formal pace and loathsome grace


s: And the damned grotesques made arabesques,


s: But with flutes of Fear they filled the ear,


s: Ah! wounds of Christ! they were living things,


s: And with subtle sneer, and fawning leer,


s: But the sough and swing of a mighty wing


s: For the stroke of eight is the stroke of Fate


s: So, like things of stone in a valley lone,


s: But each man's heart beat thick and quick,


s: Like the sound the frightened marshes hear


s: And heard the prayer the hangman's snare


s: And the wild regrets, and the bloody sweats,


s: So they kept us close till nigh on noon,


s: And the warders with their jingling keys


s: For this man's face was white with fear,


s: And makes it bleed great gouts of blood,


s: They think a murderer's heart would taint


s: And the red rose would but glow more red,


s: On that stretch of mud and sand that lies


s: The warders stripped him of his clothes,


s: And with laughter loud they heaped the shroud


s: Since first Man took His brother's life,


s: But straws the wheat and saves the chaff


s: And bound with bars lest Christ should see


s: For they starve the little frightened child


s: And they scourge the weak, and flog the fool,


s: And the bitter bread they weigh in scales


s: And the eye that watches through the door


s: And with tears of blood he cleansed the hand,


s: And there, till Christ call forth the dead,


s: 'The opening of the railway line! -- the Governor and all!


s: 'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze;


s: The stranger came from Narromine and made his little joke --


s: The sun strikes down with a blinding glare,


s: 'Twas the horse thief, Andy Regan, that was hunted like a dog


s: You see, the thing was this way -- there was me,


s: As the nations sat together, grimly waiting --


s: Do they know?  At the turn to the straight


s: They held a polo meeting at a little country town,


s: The fields of youth are filled with flowers,


s: The sheep were shorn and the wool went down


s: The long day passes with its load of sorrow:


s: 'Twas Driver Smith of Battery A was anxious to see a fight;


s: Oh, the weary, weary journey on the trek, day after day,


s: The Boers were down on Kimberley with siege and Maxim gun;


s: Men fight all shapes and sizes as the racing horses run,


s: I ain't a timid man at all, I'm just as brave as most,


s: There's a soldier that's been doing of his share


s: Halt!  Who goes there?  The sentry's call


s: They moved around with noiseless tread --


s: '"But when you reach the big stone wall,


s: But right in front they seemed to ride --


s: 'Twere worse than death, the foul disgrace


s: But when they reached the big stone wall,


s: 'Make room, or half the field will fall!


s: 'He's down! he's down!'  And horse and man


s: A wonderful land that the winds blow over,


s: The charm it holds for the restless rover;


s: Where endless space is and no life stirreth;


s: And the soul of a man will recoil afraid


s: From the sphinx-like visage that Nature weareth.


s: But old Dame Nature, though scornful, craves


s: Her dole of death and her share of slaughter;


s: Where her victims sleep by the Grey Gulf-water.


s: Slowly and slowly those grey streams glide,


s: Wending their way to the Northern Ocean.


s: Silent and slow, with their staid demeanour;


s: Down in the world where men toil and spin


s: Dame Nature smiles as man's hand has taught her;


s: In the great lone land by the Grey Gulf-water.


s: For the strength of man is an insect's strength


s: In the face of that mighty plain and river,


s: And the life of a man is a moment's length


s: To the life of the stream that will run for ever.


s: In small-world worries; each hardy rover


s: With the plains around and the blue sky over.


s: And up in the heavens the brown lark sings


s: The songs that the strange wild land has taught her;


s: Full of thanksgiving her sweet song rings --


s: And I wish I were back by the Grey Gulf-water.


s: For it's weary work is droving when they're dying every day;


s: With half a chance to save their lives we take the stock away.


s: With blows and cries and stockwhip crack


s: Grim sextons of the Overland that fasten on their prey;


s: In heat and drought and hopeless pain we take the stock away.


s: And calling to each other down the dusty long array;


s: The creatures smell the mountain grass that's twenty miles away.'


s: Their feet may bleed from rocks and stones,


s: Though their feet are worn and bleeding,


s: Are breaking to a kind of run -- pull up, and let them go!


s: They settle down by running streams ice-cold with melted snow.


s: And the horses bound beneath us as we start them down the track;


s: Through the sweet green grasses springing,


s: Towards the far-off mountain-land, to bring the cattle back.


s: With cheery call and jest and song we fetch the cattle home.


s: The eyes of those who watch and wait to greet the cattle home.


s: As the cattle splash across the ford and churn it into foam;


s: Their heroes from the Overland who brought the cattle home.


s: 'The opening of the railway line! -- the Governor and all!


s: With flags and banners down the street, a banquet and a ball.


s: Hark to 'em at the station now!  They're raising cheer on cheer!


s: 'They cheer HIS pluck and enterprise and engineering skill!


s: 'Twas my old husband found the pass behind that big Red Hill.


s: Before the engineer was grown we settled with our stock


s: Behind that great big mountain chain, a line of range and rock --


s: With ne'er a track across the range to let the cattle out.


s: He vanished in the wilderness, God knows where he was gone,


s: He hunted till his food gave out, but still he battled on.


s: 'He followed up and blazed the trees, to show the safest track,


s: Then drew his belt another hole and turned and started back.


s: 'Then others came across the range and built the township here,


s: And then there came the railway line and this young engineer.


s: He drove about with tents and traps, a cook to cook his meals,


s: A bath to wash himself at night, a chain-man at his heels.


s: 'My poor old husband, dead and gone with never feast nor cheer;


s: He's buried by the railway line! -- I wonder can he hear


s: When down the very track he marked, and close to where he's laid,


s: I wonder does he hear them pass and can he see the sight,


s: When through the dark the fast express goes flaming by at night.


s: The hard old fare we've often shared together, him and me,


s: Some damper and a bite of beef, a pannikin of tea:


s: We'll do without the bands and flags, the speeches and the fuss,


s: We know who OUGHT to get the cheers and that's enough for us.


s: Well, just you tell his Excellence and put the thing polite,


s: I'm sorry, but I can't come down -- I'm dining out to-night!'


s: 'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze;


s: He turned away the good old horse that served him many days;


s: He dressed himself in cycling clothes, resplendent to be seen;


s: He hurried off to town and bought a shining new machine;


s: And as he wheeled it through the door, with air of lordly pride,


s: The grinning shop assistant said, 'Excuse me, can you ride?'


s: I'm good all round at everything, as everybody knows,


s: Although I'm not the one to talk -- I HATE a man that blows.


s: But riding is my special gift, my chiefest, sole delight;


s: Just ask a wild duck can it swim, a wild cat can it fight.


s: 'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that sought his own abode,


s: But ere he'd gone a dozen yards it bolted clean away.


s: It shaved a stump by half an inch, it dodged a big white-box:


s: The very wallaroos in fright went scrambling up the rocks,


s: The wombats hiding in their caves dug deeper underground,


s: As Mulga Bill, as white as chalk, sat tight to every bound.


s: It struck a stone and gave a spring that cleared a fallen tree,


s: It raced beside a precipice as close as close could be;


s: And then as Mulga Bill let out one last despairing shriek


s: It made a leap of twenty feet into the Dead Man's Creek.


s: 'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that slowly swam ashore:


s: He said, 'I've had some narrer shaves and lively rides before;


s: I've rode a wild bull round a yard to win a five pound bet,


s: But this was the most awful ride that I've encountered yet.


s: I'll give that two-wheeled outlaw best; it's shaken all my nerve


s: Kanzo was king of his lugger, master and diver in one,


s: Diving wherever it pleased him, taking instructions from none;


s: Hither and thither he wandered, steering by stars and by sun.


s: Fearless he was beyond credence, looking at death eye to eye:


s: This was his formula always, 'All man go dead by-and-bye --


s: Dived in the depths of the Darnleys, down twenty fathom and five;


s: Down in a pressure so awful that only the strongest survive:


s: Sweated four men at the air pumps, fast as the handles could go,


s: Came up on deck like a dead man, paralysed body and brain;


s: Suffered, while blood was returning, infinite tortures of pain:


s: Sailed once again to the Darnleys -- laughed and descended again!


s: Always they thought of the Islands held by the lumbering Dutch,


s: Islands where shell was in plenty lying in passage and bay,


s: Islands where divers could gather hundreds of shell in a day:


s: Joe Nagasaki, the 'tender', finding the profits grow small,


s: Said, 'Let us go to the Islands, try for a number one haul!


s: If we get caught, go to prison -- let them take lugger and all!'


s: Kanzo Makame, the diver -- knowing full well what it meant --


s: Fatalist, gambler, and stoic, smiled a broad smile of content,


s: Close to the headlands they drifted, picking up shell by the ton,


s: When, from the lee of the headland, boomed the report of a gun.


s: Once that the diver was sighted pearl-shell and lugger must go.


s: Joe Nagasaki decided -- quick was the word and the blow --


s: Cut both the pipe and the life-line, leaving the diver below!


s: Kanzo Makame, the diver, failing to quite understand,


s: Joe Nagasaki, the 'tender', smiling a sanctified smile,


s: 'Dress no have got and no helmet -- diver go shore on the spree;


s: Plenty wind come and break rudder -- lugger get blown out to sea:


s: Joe Nagasaki, his 'tender', is owner and diver instead.


s: Wearer of pearls in your necklace, comfort yourself if you can,


s: The stranger came from Narromine and made his little joke --


s: 'They say we folks in Narromine are narrow-minded folk.


s: But all the smartest men down here are puzzled to define


s: A kind of new phenomenon that came to Narromine.


s: 'Last summer up in Narromine 'twas gettin' rather warm --


s: Two hundred in the water-bag, and lookin' like a storm --


s: We all were in the private bar, the coolest place in town,


s: When out across the stretch of plain a cloud came rollin' down,


s: 'We don't respect the clouds up there, they fill us with disgust,


s: That cloud suggests it's up to us to have another drink!"


s: But -- if this ain't the Gospel truth I hope that I may burst --


s: That cloud that came to Narromine was just a cloud of thirst.


s: 'It wasn't like a common cloud, 'twas more a sort of haze;


s: It settled down about the streets, and stopped for days and days,


s: To pierce that dismal sort of mist that hung on Narromine.


s: 'Oh, Lord! we had a dreadful time beneath that cloud of thirst!


s: We all chucked-up our daily work and went upon the burst.


s: The very blacks about the town that used to cadge for grub,


s: They made an organised attack and tried to loot the pub.


s: 'We couldn't leave the private bar no matter how we tried;


s: Shearers and squatters, union-men and blacklegs side by side


s: Were drinkin' there and dursn't move, for each was sure, he said,


s: But all the squatter chaps and I, we staggered to the train.


s: 'And, once outside the cloud of thirst, we felt as right as pie,


s: But while we stopped about the town we had to drink or die.


s: But now I hear it's safe enough, I'm going back to work


s: Because they say the cloud of thirst has shifted on to Bourke.


s: It's time to go and have a drink, for if that cloud should burst


s: We stood the man from Narromine a pint of half-and-half;


s: He drank it off without a gasp in one tremendous quaff;


s: And now beyond the Western Range, where sunset skies are red,


s: And clouds of dust, and clouds of thirst, go drifting overhead,


s: The railway-train is taking back, along the Western Line,


s: That narrow-minded person on his road to Narromine.


s: It wasn't the fault of Saltbush Bill that Stingy's sheep got out.


s: Bearing a clipt and a shaven cock, the pride of his English Game.


s: McCrae (the boss of the Black Police) and Father Donahoo.


s: Full many a cockfight old McCrae had held in his empty Court,


s: With Father D. as a picker-up -- a regular all-round Sport!


s: 'Take off the beef from the fire,' said Bill,


s: There's something fresh for the bill-of-fare --


s: that he's tramped with the travelling stock.'


s: Of course, there's heat -- no one denies --


s: But shearers, when they get their cheque,


s: You couldn't cross the black-soil plain --


s: The sun strikes down with a blinding glare,


s: The skies are blue and the plains are wide,


s: The saltbush plains that are burnt and bare


s: There came a stranger -- a 'Cockatoo' --


s: Who dwell in the land where the kangaroo


s: Barks loud at dawn, and the white-eyed crow


s: Uplifts his song on the stock-yard fence


s: As he watches the lambkins passing hence.


s: The sunburnt stranger was gaunt and brown,


s: But it soon appeared that he meant to flout


s: Which is -- that the stranger has got to shout:


s: 'If he will not shout we must take him down,'


s: With a crafty bait, for they held discourse


s: Had bought such a thoroughly lazy horse;


s: They would wager that no one could ride him down


s: The stranger was born on a horse's hide;


s: So he took the wagers, and made them good


s: With his hard-earned cash -- but his hopes they died,


s: For the horse was a clothes-horse, made of wood! --


s: 'Twas a well-known horse that had taken down


s: The stranger smiled with a sickly smile --


s: 'Tis a sickly smile that the loser grins --


s: And he said he had travelled for quite a while


s: 'And I thought that perhaps, as you've took me down,


s: You would buy them from me, in Walgett Town!'


s: They were full-sized skins, with the ears and tail


s: Complete, and he sold them for money down


s: Then he smiled a smile as he pouched the pelf,


s: 'I'm glad that I'm quit of them, win or lose:


s: You can fetch them in when it suits yourself,


s: And you'll find the skins -- on the kangaroos!'


s: Then he left -- and the silence settled down


s: Like a tangible thing upon Walgett Town.


s: 'Twas the horse thief, Andy Regan, that was hunted like a dog


s: By the troopers of the Upper Murray side,


s: They had searched in every gully -- they had looked in every log,


s: Till the priest at Kiley's Crossing heard a knocking very late


s: And a whisper 'Father Riley -- come across!'


s: So his Rev'rence in pyjamas trotted softly to the gate


s: 'Now, it's listen, Father Riley, to the words I've got to say,


s: For its close upon my death I am to-night.


s: With the troopers hard behind me I've been hiding all the day


s: In the gullies keeping close and out of sight.


s: So I'm taking no more trouble, but I'm going home to die,


s: 'Tis the only way I see to save my life.


s: 'Yes, I'm making home to mother's, and I'll die o' Tuesday next


s: An' be buried on the Thursday -- and, of course,


s: I'm prepared to meet my penance, but with one thing I'm perplexed


s: He was never bought nor paid for, and there's not a man can swear


s: That his sire was by Pedantic from the Old Pretender mare


s: And his dam was close related to The Roe.


s: He's the king of all the leppers that was ever seen to lep,


s: A five-foot fence -- he'd clear it in a hop!


s: You can say he's got by Moonlight out of Paddy Murphy's plain


s: If you're ever asked the breeding of the horse!


s: 'But it's getting on to daylight and it's time to say good-bye,


s: For the stars above the East are growing pale.


s: And I'm making home to mother -- and it's hard for me to die!


s: But it's harder still, is keeping out of gaol!


s: You can ride the old horse over to my grave across the dip


s: Where the wattle bloom is waving overhead.


s: Sure he'll jump them fences easy -- you must never raise the whip


s: So they buried Andy Regan, and they buried him to rights,


s: In the graveyard at the back of Kiley's Hill;


s: There were fifty horses racing from the graveyard to the pub,


s: And their riders flogged each other all the while.


s: And the lashins of the liquor!  And the lavins of the grub!


s: Oh, poor Andy went to rest in proper style.


s: Then the races came to Kiley's -- with a steeplechase and all,


s: For the folk were mostly Irish round about,


s: And it takes an Irish rider to be fearless of a fall,


s: They were training morning in and morning out.


s: But they never started training till the sun was on the course


s: For a superstitious story kept 'em back,


s: That the ghost of Andy Regan on a slashing chestnut horse,


s: Had been training by the starlight on the track.


s: And they read the nominations for the races with surprise


s: And amusement at the Father's little joke,


s: For a novice had been entered for the steeplechasing prize,


s: And they found that it was Father Riley's moke!


s: He was neat enough to gallop, he was strong enough to stay!


s: But his owner's views of training were immense,


s: For the Reverend Father Riley used to ride him every day,


s: All the Dooleys and O'Donnells were on Father Riley's horse,


s: While the Orangemen were backing Mandarin!


s: It was Hogan, the dog poisoner -- aged man and very wise,


s: Who was camping in the racecourse with his swag,


s: And who ventured the opinion, to the township's great surprise,


s: That the race would go to Father Riley's nag.


s: And it's what's the need of schoolin' or of workin' on the track,


s: I've prayed him over every fence -- I've prayed him out and back!


s: But the whips were flying freely when the field came into view,


s: For the finish down the long green stretch of course,


s: And in front of all the flyers -- jumpin' like a kangaroo,


s: Came the rank outsider -- Father Riley's horse!


s: Oh, the shouting and the cheering as he rattled past the post!


s: For he left the others standing, in the straight;


s: And the rider -- well they reckoned it was Andy Regan's ghost,


s: And it beat 'em how a ghost would draw the weight!


s: And old Hogan muttered sagely, 'If it wasn't for the beard


s: They'd be thinking it was Andy Regan's self!'


s: There was never such a rider, not since Andy Regan died,


s: And they wondered who on earth he could have been.


s: But they settled it among 'em, for the story got about,


s: 'Mongst the bushmen and the people on the course,


s: That the Devil had been ordered to let Andy Regan out


s: For the steeplechase on Father Riley's horse!


s: And the veldt-fire flamed on the hills ahead,


s: And the armoured carriages rocked and swayed,


s: Three of our mates we have left for dead,


s: And far to the north through the still night air,


s: Maybe they're wanting the Scotch Brigade


s: But I could not bear that the folk should say,


s: With the Scotch Brigade till the foe were gone,


s: One more trip -- and perhaps the last --


s: With a well-raked fire and an open blast --


s: Till the glare of the furnace burning clear


s: And the fireman found, when he climbed ahead,


s: There on the floor of his engine -- dead,


s: O'er scentless flower and songless bird!'


s: Beside their nests the long day through;


s: Our tales are told where camp-fires blaze


s: Should win their way where none withstood;


s: The strange capricious land they trod --


s: Through which they found their lonely way,


s: Though it should ring with clash of steel,


s: The hard old world grown fierce and fond


s: But this man counted the world well lost


s: But a light-o'-love, if she sins with one,


s: The rule holds good since the world begun --


s: The rule holds true, and he found it true --


s: And God so willed it, and God knows why,


s: She turned and laughed as they passed him by --


s: Her laughter stung as a whip might sting;


s: He turned and sprang with a panther's spring


s: But out on the wastes of the West countrie,


s: We are waiting at the lever for the word to let her go.


s: As the drill is plugging downward at a thousand feet of level,


s: If the Lord won't send us water, oh, we'll get it from the devil;


s: Now, our engine's built in Glasgow by a very canny Scot,


s: She can equal thirty horses and a score or so of dogs.


s: If we fail to get the water then it's ruin to the squatter,


s: But the shaft has started caving and the sinking's very slow,


s: And the yellow rods are bending in the water down below,


s: And the tubes are always jamming and they can't be made to shift


s: Till we nearly burst the engine with a forty horse-power lift.


s: But it must be down beneath us, and it's down we've got to go,


s: Though she's bumping on the solid rock four thousand feet below.


s: Oh! we'll get artesian water deeper down.


s: But it's hark! the whistle's blowing with a wild, exultant blast,


s: Till it spouts above the casing in a million-gallon flow.


s: It is flowing, ever flowing, in a free, unstinted measure


s: And it's clear away the timber, and it's let the water run:


s: How it glimmers in the shadow, how it flashes in the sun!


s: By the silent belts of timber, by the miles of blazing plain


s: It is bringing hope and comfort to the thirsty land again.


s: To the tortured thirsty cattle, bringing gladness in its going;


s: You see, the thing was this way -- there was me,


s: And Smith, the half-caste rider, on Regret,


s: And that long bloke from Wagga -- him what rode


s: Well, none of them had chances -- not a chance


s: Among the lot, unless the rest fell dead


s: Or wasn't trying -- for a blind man's dog


s: Could see Enchantress was a certain cop,


s: And all the books was layin' six to four.


s: They brought her out to show our lot the road,


s: Or so they said; but, then, Gord's truth! you know,


s: You can't believe 'em, though they took an oath


s: On forty Bibles that they'd tell the truth.


s: We thought that we might frighten him a bit


s: 'Oh, not at all,' says he, 'oh, not at all!


s: To bumping I'm your Moses!  Strike me blue!'


s: Says he, 'I'll bump you over either rail,


s: The inside rail or outside -- which you choose


s: Is good enough for me' -- which settled Ike;


s: For he was shaky since he near got killed


s: When some chap bumped his horse and fetched him down


s: At Stony Bridge, so Ikey thought it best


s: To leave this bloke alone, and I agreed.


s: Was walking this Enchantress up and down,


s: And me and Smithy backed him; for we thought


s: We might as well get something for ourselves,


s: Because we knew our horses couldn't win.


s: Because he said he reckoned he was stiff,


s: And all the books was layin' six to four.


s: Well, anyhow, before the start, the news


s: Got round that this here amateur was stiff,


s: And our good stuff was blued, and all the books


s: Was in it, and the prices lengthened out,


s: And every book was bustin' of his throat,


s: So there was we that couldn't win ourselves,


s: And this here amateur that wouldn't try,


s: And all the books was layin' five to one.


s: Of that there moke of yours, and round the turn


s: Come up behind Enchantress with the whip


s: And let her have it; that long bloke and me


s: Will wait ahead, and when she comes to us


s: We'll pass her on and belt her down the straight,


s: And Ikey'll flog her home, because his boss


s: Is judge and steward and the Lord knows what,


s: And so he won't be touched -- and, as for us,


s: We'll swear we only hit her by mistake!'


s: Well, off we went, and comin' to the turn


s: To get her blocked, and so I pulled behind


s: And drew the whip and dropped it on the mare --


s: I let her have it twice, and then she shot


s: And kept her there a-beltin' her like smoke


s: Until she struggled past him pullin' hard


s: And hit her on the nose and sent her back


s: And won the race himself -- for, after all,


s: And never told us -- so our stuff was lost.


s: And then they had us up for ridin' foul,


s: And warned us off the tracks for twelve months each,


s: But Ikey wasn't touched, because his boss


s: Was judge and steward and the Lord knows what.


s: But Mister -- if you'll lend us half-a-crown,


s: I know three certain winners at the Park --


s: Three certain cops as no one knows but me;


s: And -- thank you, Mister, come an' have a beer


s: (I always like a beer about this time) . . .


s: Well, so long, Mister, till we meet again.


s: He would lose his way on a Main Stock Route,


s: You've a first-class chance, if you lose the fight,


s: Then Stingy Smith he wrote a note, and gave to the fighting man:


s: 'Twas a clean take-in, and you'll find it wise --


s: 'I picked three winners straight, I did,


s: As the nations sat together, grimly waiting --


s: The fierce old nations battle-scarred --


s: Grown grey in their lusting and their hating,


s: Ever armed and ever ready keeping guard,


s: Through the tumult of their warlike preparation


s: And the half-stilled clamour of the drums


s: Came a voice crying, 'Lo! a new-made nation,


s: To her place in the sisterhood she comes!'


s: And she came -- she was beautiful as morning,


s: With the bloom of the roses in her mouth,


s: Her charms with the splendours of the South.


s: And the fierce old nations, looking on her,


s: Said, 'Nay, surely she were quickly overthrown,


s: Hath she strength for the burden laid upon her,


s: Hath she power to protect and guard her own?


s: Then she spoke, and her voice was clear and ringing


s: In the ears of the nations old and gray,


s: Saying, 'Hark, and ye shall hear my children singing


s: They are strangers to the tumult of the battle,


s: They are few but their hearts are very strong,


s: 'Twas but yesterday they called unto the cattle,


s: But they now sing Australia's marching song.'


s: For the honour of Australia, our mother,


s: Side by side with our kin from over sea,


s: We have fought and we have tested one another,


s: And enrolled among the brotherhood are we.


s: There was never post of danger but we sought it


s: In the fighting, through the fire, and through the flood.


s: There was never prize so costly but we bought it,


s: Though we paid for its purchase with our blood.


s: Was there any road too rough for us to travel?


s: Was there any path too far for us to tread?


s: You can track us by the blood drops on the gravel


s: On the roads that we milestoned with our dead!


s: And for you, oh our young and anxious mother,


s: O'er your great gains keeping watch and ward,


s: Neither fearing nor despising any other,


s: We will hold your possessions with the sword.


s: Then they passed to the place of world-long sleeping,


s: To the sound of their women softly weeping


s: And the Dead March moaning at their head:


s: And the Nations, as the grim procession ended,


s: Whispered, 'Child!  But ye have seen the price we pay,


s: Kneel ye down, new-made Sister -- Let us Pray!'


s: In Nature's homestead -- filled with awe


s: All the wash of the Pacific on the coral-guarded bay,


s: The three great nations' warships at their anchors proudly lay.


s: Three Germans and three Yankee ships were mirrored in the blue;


s: For on the old 'Calliope' the flag of England flew.


s: Dropped down to utter stillness, and the glass began to fall,


s: And far away to seaward hung the cloud wrack like a pall.


s: Let us steam away to seaward' -- then this tale were not to tell!


s: And the hurricane came leaping down a thousand miles of main!


s: The vessels started dragging, drifting slowly to the lee;


s: All hands stood by uncertain would the anchors hold or no.


s: There was little chance of safety for the men who were below.


s: They were waiting by their engines, with the furnace fires aroar.


s: While the hurricane redoubled, lest its prey should steal away,


s: And the Germans and the Yankees they have drifted to the lee!


s: From the grim and grimy firemen at the furnaces below;


s: Came the throbbing of the engines as they laboured to and fro.


s: While the other ships all helplessly were drifting to the lee.


s: Their vessel hurled upon the reefs as weed ashore is hurled.


s: A cheer that English-speaking folk should echo round the world.


s: Do they know?  At the turn to the straight


s: When the jockeys are out with the whips,


s: And the backers grow white to the lips --


s: Do they know?  As they come back to weigh


s: Though the spurs have left marks of the fray,


s: Gathers cold, and they sob with distress


s: As they walk through a dense human lane,


s: 'He never strikes -- that ain't his game;


s: He cursed the sheep, he cursed the shed,


s: Arrived.  Said he, 'That's me -- all wool!


s: His store account -- we 'called it square'.


s: And if there should be something worse --


s: 'Well! that's a curious thing,' he said,


s: You should have heard the whipcord crack


s: 'Nay, harm him not,' said one more wise,


s: Then bought and christened him The Trap.


s: They asked the new-chum -- fifty -- cash!


s: Who'd beat him half-way round the track.


s: They spoke of 'spielers from The Bland',


s: 'Keep dark!  They'll muster thick as flies


s: With boots that shone like flames of fire,


s: They're off!  The colt whipped down his head,


s: Was filled with oaths and pints of beer!


s: His feet towards the heavens were spread,


s: And ploughed the ground up with his head!


s: Could tell by what false statements swayed


s: 'We've chased him poor, we've chased him fat,


s: So here's your health!  Hooray!  Hooray!'


s: 'For Sale, the well-known racehorse Trap,


s: I could have beaten him quite half-way --


s: Wish you'd ask me -- now, mind you do --


s: Not next day, I'll be out on the bike --


s: 'Something . . I ate . . disagreed . . with me!


s: Must be my . . liver . . has gone amiss . .


s: Why, I would . . laugh . . at a sea . . like this --


s: When it comes to the last we'll want to die --


s: The thirteenth trump you went and played


s: Soon dropped, and you'll say that he leathered him --


s: He took him and tarred him and feathered him.


s: The feathered what-is-it from Narrabri.'


s: And six shillin's costs to the clurk!' he says.


s: Has a 'down' on himself and on circuses.


s: They held a polo meeting at a little country town,


s: And all the local sportsmen came to win themselves renown.


s: There came two strangers with a horse, and I am much afraid


s: They both belonged to what is called 'the take-you-down brigade'.


s: They said their horse could jump like fun, and asked an amateur


s: To ride him in the steeplechase, and told him they were sure,


s: The last time round, he'd sail away with such a swallow's flight


s: The rest would never see him go -- he'd finish out of sight.


s: So out he went; and, when folk saw the amateur was up,


s: Some local genius called the race 'the dude-in-danger cup'.


s: And so he did; for 'Who's Afraid', without the least pretence,


s: Disposed of him by rushing through the very second fence;


s: And when they ran the last time round the prophecy was right --


s: For he was in the ambulance, and safely 'out of sight'.


s: The fields of youth are filled with flowers,


s: With faltering steps and whitening head,


s: The sheep were shorn and the wool went down


s: And I'd earned a spell -- I was burnt and brown --


s: 'Twas rough and ready -- an uncleared course


s: With barbed-wire fences, topped with gorse,


s: And a water-jump that would drown a horse,


s: There was never a fence the tracks to guard, --


s: And the day was hot, and the drinking hard,


s: Till none of the stewards could see a yard


s: But the bell was rung and the nags were out,


s: 'Is there not one man in the crowd,' he cried,


s: Is there not one man that will take a ride


s: On the old white horse from the Northern side


s: 'Twas an old white horse that they called The Cow,


s: And the trainer said, 'Well, he's dreadful slow,


s: But I'm stony broke, so it's time to show


s: 'The first time round at the further side,


s: 'At the third time round, for the final spin


s: With the pace, and the dust to blind 'em,


s: For the last half-mile -- you'll be sure to win,


s: 'At the water-jump you may have to swim --


s: 'But don't you worry -- just plunge across,


s: For he swims like a well-trained setter.


s: 'You must rush the jumps in the last half-round


s: He'll try to baulk with you, I'll be bound,


s: Take whip and spurs on the mean old hound,


s: 'At the final round, when the field are slow


s: With the whip and spurs, and he'll have to go --


s: The flag went down and we seemed to fly,


s: Of the first big fence, as the stand flashed by,


s: And I caught the ring of the trainer's cry:


s: I jammed him in with a well-packed crush,


s: Shut in amongst them, before you'd wink,


s: The thought of the horror he felt, beguiles


s: He gave a snort you could hear for miles,


s: And a spring would have cleared the Channel Isles


s: Then we neared the scrub, and I pulled him back


s: In the shade where the gum-leaves quiver:


s: While the rest of the horses, round the track,


s: At the second round, as the field swept by,


s: As they passed the stand I could hear the cry


s: Then the last time round!  And the hoofbeats rang!


s: And out on the heels of the throng I sprang,


s: And the spurs bit deep and the whipcord sang


s: 'Twas flog, and hustle, and jump you must!


s: And The Cow ran well -- but to my disgust


s: 'Twas a big black horse, that I had not seen


s: And his coat was cool and his rider clean,


s: And I thought that perhaps I had not been


s: Said he, 'I thought you'd have pulled us through,


s: But the man on the black horse planted too,


s: Yet if you offered a sovereign apiece for the hairs on his hide


s: Gilbert and Hall and O'Maley, back in the bushranging days,


s: Then turned her loose in the timber back of the seven-mile tank.


s: and screaming with fear through the trees,


s: One of us shot at O'Maley and wounded him under the arm:


s: Then we heard they were gone from the district;


s: And I rode by myself in the paddocks, taking a bit of a rest,


s: Riding this colt as a youngster -- awkward, half-broken and shy,


s: 'Twas a good three-mile run to the homestead --


s: Over a twenty-foot gully he swept with the spring of a deer


s: And they fired as we jumped, but they missed me --


s: And the jump gained us ground, for they shirked it:


s: That the rails at the homestead were fastened --


s: Fenced with barbed wire was the paddock --


s: barbed wire that would cut like a knife --


s: But you can talk about riding -- I've ridden a lot in the past --


s: The long day passes with its load of sorrow:


s: I lay me down to rest until to-morrow --


s: Thank God for all respite from weary toiling,


s: Across our lives like evil shadows, spoiling


s: We plough and sow, and, as the hours grow later,


s: And build our barns, and hope to build them greater


s: We toil and strain and strive with one another


s: Some greater share of profit than our brother


s: What will it profit that with tears or laughter


s: Beyond it all there lies the Great Hereafter!


s: For, at the last, beseeching Christ to save us,


s: Heart-felt thanksgiving unto God, who gave us


s: 'Twas Driver Smith of Battery A was anxious to see a fight;


s: 'Wherever the rifle bullets flash and the Maxims raise a din,


s: It's there you'll find the Medical men a-raking the wounded in --


s: So Driver Smith he went to the war a-cracking his driver's whip,


s: Then up the Battery Colonel came a-cursing 'em black in the face.


s: They opened fire on the mountain side, a-peppering by and large,


s: He saw the head of the Transvaal troop a-thundering to and fro,


s: He drove his team to the hospital and said to the P.M.O.,


s: 'Beg pardon, sir, but I missed a trip, mistaking the way to go;


s: And Kruger came to the ambulance and asked could we spare a bed,


s: And there's nothing to disturb you but the engines going round,


s: And you're dreaming of the girl you left behind;


s: In the middle of your joys you'll be wakened by a noise,


s: And a clatter on the deck above your crown,


s: And you'll hear the corporal shout as he turns the picket out,


s: 'There's another blessed horse fell down.'


s: And you reckon by the evening they'll be pretty sure to fall,


s: And you curse them as you tumble into bed.


s: Oh, you'll hear it pretty soon, 'Pass the word for Denny Moon,


s: There's a horse here throwing handsprings like a clown;


s: And it's 'Shove the others back or he'll cripple half the pack,


s: There's another blessed horse fell down.'


s: And when the war is over and the fighting all is done,


s: And you're all at home with medals on your chest,


s: And you've learnt to sleep so soundly that the firing of a gun


s: At your bedside wouldn't rob you of your rest;


s: As you lie in slumber deep, if your wife walks in her sleep,


s: And tumbles down the stairs and breaks her crown,


s: Oh, it won't awaken you, for you'll say, 'It's nothing new,


s: Oh, the weary, weary journey on the trek, day after day,


s: And our hearts keep turning homeward to the youngsters far away,


s: And the homestead where the climbing roses grow.


s: Ah! the weary months of marching ere we hear them call again,


s: In the drowsy days on escort, riding slowly half asleep,


s: With the endless line of waggons stretching back,


s: While the khaki soldiers travel like a mob of travelling sheep,


s: Plodding silent on the never-ending track,


s: While the constant snap and sniping of the foe you never see


s: Makes you wonder will your turn come -- when and how?


s: As the Mauser ball hums past you like a vicious kind of bee --


s: When the dash and the excitement and the novelty are dead,


s: And you've seen a load of wounded once or twice,


s: And down along Monaro now they're starting out to shear,


s: I can picture the excitement and the row;


s: 'As we turned for the stretching gallop,


s: The Boers were down on Kimberley with siege and Maxim gun;


s: The Boers were down on Kimberley, their numbers ten to one!


s: Faint were the hopes the British had to make the struggle good,


s: Defenceless in an open plain the Diamond City stood.


s: For French was off to Kimberley to drive the Boers away.


s: He made no march along the line; he made no front attack


s: Upon those Magersfontein heights that drove the Scotchmen back;


s: But eastward over pathless plains by open veldt and vley,


s: Across the front of Cronje's force his troopers held their way.


s: The springbuck, feeding on the flats where Modder River runs,


s: Were startled by his horses' hoofs, the rumble of his guns.


s: The Dutchman's spies that watched his march from every rocky wall


s: With easy stride across the plain their long, lean Walers went.


s: Unknown, untried, those squadrons were, but proudly out they drew


s: From every coast, from every clime, they met in proud array,


s: To go with French to Kimberley to drive the Boers away.


s: He crossed the Reit and fought his way towards the Modder bank.


s: The foemen closed behind his march, and hung upon the flank.


s: The boldest man might well turn pale before that pass he tried,


s: For if the first attack should fail then every hope was gone:


s: With rifle fire and lancer charge their squadrons back we threw;


s: And through the pass between the hills we swept in furious fray,


s: And French was through to Kimberley to drive the Boers away.


s: Ay, French was through to Kimberley!  And ere the day was done


s: We saw the Diamond City stand, lit by the evening sun:


s: Above the town the heliograph hung like an eye of flame:


s: Around the town the foemen camped -- they knew not that we came;


s: And French rode into Kimberley; the people cheered amain,


s: The women came with tear-stained eyes to touch his bridle rein,


s: The starving children lined the streets to raise a feeble cheer,


s: The bells rang out a joyous peal to say 'Relief is here!'


s: Ay! we that saw that stirring march are proud that we can say


s: We went with French to Kimberley to drive the Boers away.


s: Men fight all shapes and sizes as the racing horses run,


s: And no man knows his courage till he stands before a gun.


s: At mixed-up fighting, hand to hand, and clawing men about


s: They reckon Fuzzy-wuzzy is the hottest fighter out.


s: But Fuzzy gives himself away -- his style is out of date,


s: He charges like a driven grouse that rushes on its fate;


s: You've nothing in the world to do but pump him full of lead:


s: But when you're fighting Johnny Boer you have to use your head;


s: He don't believe in front attacks or charging at the run,


s: He fights you from a kopje with his little Maxim gun.


s: For when the Lord He made the earth, it seems uncommon clear,


s: He gave the job of Africa to some good engineer,


s: Who started building fortresses on fashions of his own --


s: Lunettes, redoubts, and counterscarps all made of rock and stone.


s: And we must charge across the plain to hunt the beggar out.


s: It ain't a game that grows on us, there's lots of better fun


s: Than charging at old Johnny with his little Maxim gun.


s: On rocks a goat could scarcely climb, steep as the walls of Troy,


s: At night you mark her right ahead, you see her clean and clear,


s: He's lying hidden in the rocks to let the leaders pass;


s: But when the main guard comes along he opens up the fun,