{"product_id":"2940013741010","title":"Collected Poetry","description":"EL MAHDI TO THE AUSTRALIAN TROOPS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd wherefore have they come, this warlike band,\u003cbr\u003eThat o'er the ocean many a weary day\u003cbr\u003eThat o'er the ocean many a weary day\u003cbr\u003eHave tossed; and now beside Suakim's Bay,\u003cbr\u003eWith faces stern and resolute, do stand,\u003cbr\u003eWaking the desert's echoes with the drum--\u003cbr\u003eMen of Australia, wherefore have ye come?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo keep the Puppet Khedive on the throne,\u003cbr\u003eTo strike a blow for tyranny and wrong,\u003cbr\u003eTo crush the weak and aid the oppressing strong!\u003cbr\u003eRegardless of the hapless Fellah's moan,\u003cbr\u003eRegardless of the hapless Fellah's moan,\u003cbr\u003eTo force the payment of the Hebrew loan,\u003cbr\u003eSqueezing the tax like blood from out the stone?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd fair Australia, freest of the free,\u003cbr\u003eIs up in arms against the freeman's fight;\u003cbr\u003eAnd with her mother joined to crush the right--\u003cbr\u003eHas left her threatened treasures o'er the sea,\u003cbr\u003eHas left her land of liberty and law\u003cbr\u003eTo flesh her maiden sword in this unholy war.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEnough! God never blessed such enterprise--\u003cbr\u003eEngland's degenerate Generals yet shall rue\u003cbr\u003eBrave Gordon sacrificed, when soon they view\u003cbr\u003eThe children of a thousand deserts rise\u003cbr\u003eTo drive them forth like sand before the gale--\u003cbr\u003eGod and the Prophet! Freedom will prevail.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Bulletin, 28 February 1885\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE BUSHFIRE\u003cbr\u003eAn Allegory\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Twas on the famous Empire run,\u003cbr\u003e Whose sun does never set,\u003cbr\u003eWhose grass and water, so they say,\u003cbr\u003e Have never failed them yet--\u003cbr\u003eThey carry many million sheep,\u003cbr\u003e Through seasons dry and wet.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey call the homestead Albion House,\u003cbr\u003e And then, along with that,\u003cbr\u003eThere's Welshman's Gully, Scotchman's Hill,\u003cbr\u003e And Paddymelon Flat:\u003cbr\u003eAnd all these places are renowned\u003cbr\u003e For making jumbucks fat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd the out-paddocks--holy frost!\u003cbr\u003e There wouldn't be no sense\u003cbr\u003eFor me to try and tell you half\u003cbr\u003e They really are immense;\u003cbr\u003eA man might ride for days and weeks\u003cbr\u003e And never strike a fence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut still for years they never had\u003cbr\u003e Been known a sheep to lose;\u003cbr\u003eOld Billy Gladstone managed it,\u003cbr\u003e And you can bet your shoes\u003cbr\u003eHe'd scores of supers under him,\u003cbr\u003e And droves of jackaroos.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOld Billy had an eagle eye,\u003cbr\u003e And kept his wits about--\u003cbr\u003eIf any chaps got trespassing\u003cbr\u003e He quickly cleared 'em out;\u003cbr\u003eAnd coves that used to \"work a cross\",\u003cbr\u003e They hated him, no doubt.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut still he managed it in style,\u003cbr\u003e Until the times got dry,\u003cbr\u003eAnd Billy gave the supers word\u003cbr\u003e To see and mind their eye--\u003cbr\u003e\"If any paddocks gets a-fire\u003cbr\u003e I'll know the reason why.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow on this point old Bill was sure,\u003cbr\u003e Because, for many a year,\u003cbr\u003eWhenever times got dry at all,\u003cbr\u003e As sure as you are here,\u003cbr\u003eThe Paddymelon Flat got burnt,\u003cbr\u003e Which Bill thought rather queer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe sent his smartest supers there\u003cbr\u003e To try and keep things right.\u003cbr\u003eNo use! The grass was always dry--\u003cbr\u003e They'd go to sleep at night,\u003cbr\u003eAnd when they woke they'd go and find\u003cbr\u003e The whole concern alight.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne morning it was very hot--\u003cbr\u003e The sun rose in a haze;\u003cbr\u003eOld Bill was cutting down some trees\u003cbr\u003e (One of his little ways);\u003cbr\u003eA black boy came hot-foot to say\u003cbr\u003e The Flat was in a blaze.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOld Bill he swears a fearful oath\u003cbr\u003e And lets the tommy fall\u003cbr\u003eSays he: \"I'll take this business up,\u003cbr\u003e And fix it once for all;\u003cbr\u003eIf this goes on the cursed run\u003cbr\u003e Will send us to the wall.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo he withdrew his trespass suits,\u003cbr\u003e He'd one with Dutchy's boss--\u003cbr\u003eIn prosecutions criminal\u003cbr\u003e He entered nolle pros.,\u003cbr\u003eBut these were neither here nor there--\u003cbr\u003e They always meant a loss.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47070246142192,"sku":"2940013741010","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013741010_p0.jpg?v=1763589622","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013741010","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}