AUSTRALIANS
By
Ethel Campbell
[Dedicated to some of the
“elite” of Durban, after hearing their opinions of the Australians. “We are not
cotton spinners all, but some love England and her honour yet.”]
We stand on the shore of
Durban,
And watch the transports
go
To England from Australia
Hurrying to and fro,
Bearing the men of a
nation
Who are heroes to the
core
To stand in fact by the
Motherland
And they’re sending
thousands more!
We’ve watched the ships
returning,
With the cripple and the
maim,
With limbs that trail and
falter
Their’s an immortal name.
The deathless name of
“Anzac”
That thrills from pole to
pole,
The remnants of the
heroes
On the long and glorious
roll.
And now in their tens of
hundreds
Come the men to fill
their ranks,
And what can we do to
show them
Our love, our pride, our thanks,
We can’t do much (I own
it)
But give them a passing
cheer
While the real elite,
beat a shocked retreat
Why, they saw one
drinking beer.
O God! could we show
these misers
The path that the
“Anzacs” went!
Could they talk with a
sneer of Australians
When one or two get
drunk!
I’d rather a drunk
Australian
Than a wealthy Durban
funk!
He’s a better man than
you are,
You dear teetotal saint!
You do not drink – you
will not fight!
What a wonderful restraint!
We stand on the shore of
Durban,
For we’re not all made
like you,
And the glorious name of
“Anzac”
Thrills us through and
through!
But all we can do is to
cheer them,
And throw them a trifle
from shore,
We’re not millionaires
(like some are)
Or perhaps we would try
to do more.
They’re coming in tens of
thousands,
And here’s to their
honour to-day,
Here’s to the sister
dominion
Who is showing us the
way?
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