Poems

Poems List

Explore poems from our collection

Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Two Samaritans and the Tramp

The Two Samaritans and the Tramp

A TRAMP was trampin’ on the road—
The afternoon was warm an’ muggy—
And by-and-by he chanced to meet
A parsin ridi…

271
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Unknown God

The Unknown God

The President to Kingdoms,
As in the Days of Old;
The King to the Republic,
As it had been foretold.
They could not read the …

228
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Tracks That Lie By India

The Tracks That Lie By India

Now this is not a dismal song, like some I’ve sung of late,
When I’ve been brooding all day long about my muddled fate;
For …

280
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Triumph of the People

The Triumph of the People

LO, the gods of Vice and Mammon from their pinnacles are hurled
By the workers’ new religion, which is oldest in the world;
And…

301
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Three Kings [1]

The Three Kings [1]

The East is dead and the West is done, and again our course lies thus
South-east by Fate and the Rising Sun where the Three Kings wait for …

289
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Teams

The Teams

A cloud of dust on the long white road,

And the teams go creeping on
Inch by inch with the weary load;
And by the power of the gree…

307
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Stranded Ship: (The “Vincennes”)

The Stranded Ship: (The “Vincennes”)

’Twas the glowing log of a picnic fire where a red light should not be,
Or the curtained glow of a sick room light in a wi…

174
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Stringy-Bark Tree

The Stringy-Bark Tree

There's the whitebox and pine on the ridges afar,
Where the iron-bark, blue-gum, and peppermint are;
There is many another, but dea…

282
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Squatter, Three Cornstalks, and the Well

The Squatter, Three Cornstalks, and the Well

There was a Squatter in the land—
So runs the truthful tale I tell—
There also were three cornstalks, and

214
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Star of Australasia

The Star of Australasia

We boast no more of our bloodless flag, that rose from a nation's slime;
Better a shred of a deep-dyed rag from the storms of the olden…

224
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Soul of a Poet

The Soul of a Poet

I HAVE written, long years I have written
For the sake of my people and right,
I was true when the iron had bitten
Deep into my …

250
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Spirits for Good

The Spirits for Good

We come with peace and reason,
We come with love and light,
To banish black self-treason
And everlasting night.

242
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Song Of Old Joe Swallow

The Song Of Old Joe Swallow

When I was up the country in the rough and early days,
I used to work along ov Jimmy Nowlett's bullick-drays;
Then the reelro…

287
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Song of the Waste-Paper Basket

The Song of the Waste-Paper Basket

O BARD of fortune, you deem me nought
But a mark for your careless scorn.
For I am the echo-less grave of thought

250
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Soldier Birds

The Soldier Birds

I mind the river from Mount Frome
To Ballanshantie’s Bridge,
The Mudgee Hills, and Buckaroo,
Lowe’s Peak, and Granite Ridge.

269
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Song of a Prison

The Song of a Prison

Now this is the song of a prison—a song of a gaol or jug—
A ballad of quod or of chokey, the ultimate home of the mug.
The yard wher…

258
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Sleeping Beauty

The Sleeping Beauty

“Call that a yarn!” said old Tom Pugh,
“What rot! I’ll lay my hat
I’ll sling you a yarn worth more nor two
Such pumped-up yarns…

261
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Ships that Won't Go Down

The Ships that Won't Go Down

We hear a great commotion
'Bout the ship that comes to grief,
That founders in mid-ocean,
Or is driven on a reef;

288
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Shearers

The Shearers

No church-bell rings them from the Track,
No pulpit lights theirblindness-'
Tis hardship, drought, and homelessness
That teach those Bu…

265
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Shame of Going Back

The Shame of Going Back

When you've come to make a fortune and you haven't made your salt,
And the reason of your failure isn't anybody's fault -
When you…

266
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Separation

The Separation

We knew too little of the world,
And you and I were good—
’Twas paltry things that wrecked our lives
As well I knew they would.

265
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Secret Whisky Cure

The Secret Whisky Cure

’Tis no tale of heroism, ’tis no tale of storm and strife,
But of ordinary boozing, and of dull domestic life—
Of the everlasting …

319
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Scamps

The Scamps

Of home, name and wealth and ambition bereft—
We are children of fortune and luck:
They deny there’s a shred of our characters left,
But…

273
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson

The Seabolt's Volunteers

The Seabolt's Volunteers

They towed the Seabolt down the stream,
And through the harbour’s mouth;
She spread her wings and sailed away
To seek the …

278