Classic Poem

It was a little English girl that talked about the War:
She said, " Mama! I never thought that brave men cried before;
But down at Harefield Hospital where Johnny went, and I,
That big Australian soldier there, he cried! — I saw him cry . "

It was a little English boy, who voted girls a bore:
He said, " Mama! I never thought that brave men ever swore;
But, down at Harefield Hospital, with Sis, and Uncle there,
That big Australian soldier's " mate", he swore — I heard him swear. "

It was the Uncle of the twain — had travelled round the world —
Who to his well-bred sister said, as his moustache he curled:
" They put some pictures on the screen — Australian scenes, you know,
And I suppose that it was that which moved those soldiers so. "

It was the little English girl that told what she had seen:
" I saw a lovely Port, Mama, with houses tall and clean!
The water seemed so clear, Mama; the hills, they seemed so bright,
With homes like ours amongst the trees — and yet they weren't quite.

" I saw great cliffs, and peaks, and snow , as real as it could be,
And valleys stretching out as far as ever you could see;
And then I saw a great grey plain that reached into the sky —
I saw the big wild bullocks stare and lots of sheep go by.

" I saw men riding ploughs, Mama — such ploughs — you never saw!
That took three horses twice as big as Leonard's horse to draw;
And then I saw the rain come down where all seemed dry and hot,
And spurts of dust came from the ploughs like guns at Aldershot.

" I saw the level railway run to where the twilight falls —
And wheat machines, and stacks of wheat as big as our St Paul's!
Big sheds and little homes, and — O, but I forgot to say,
The woods that bounded those great fields seemed miles and miles away! "

It was the little English boy that woke up in his turn:
" I saw a bally flood, Mama — I saw a Bushfire burn.
I saw the stockmen ride, Mama — I never saw the likes —
And great big Bush girls ride like men, and school girls ridin' bikes. "

(It was a fair Australian bride — had wed the eldest son —
Who seemed to stare across the " Tems " , but stared across the run.
Her hands were clasping in her lap, her eyes were open wide —
She found it chilly on the lawn, and rose and went inside.)

It was the British Matron then that rose up in despair:
" They teach my girls bad grammar now; they teach my boys — to swear!
My husband's brother takes them out to Haunts I never knew,
Where great grown men cry publicly! — and use bad language too. "

It was the little English girl that now put in her oar:
" He must have swore beneath his breath; I never heard him swore —
I mean I never heard him swear , Mama — I don't know why;
But that big soldier over there, he cried — I saw him cry! "

It was the Uncle of the World, that they called " Uncle Mac " ,
Who, when he was a ne'er-do-well, had knocked about Out Back,
That saw the scenes they could not see, on land and fore-and-aft,
And laughed a silent choking laugh — but no one knew he laughed.

It is a bad Australian bard, whose mates went to the War,
And took the times and took the things that won't come any more,
That sits in his verandah chair and takes his wrongful ease,
And looks across the Red Soil Plain and thinks of things like these.