Writ in Barracks

Sez John of the Isles,
'The tenants 'e rules
Are a very peculiar lot.
'Is bailifs are 'Ollanders, chock full of guile,
An' they run the estate in a Guy-foxy style.
Which is Dynamite, Treason and Plot!'

Sez John of the Isles,
'Don't mind 'is remarks,
For the land which is 'is – it was mine;
But 'e took it to Law in a court rather grim,
An' a kopje-'id jury decided for 'im!
An' awarded the land as a fine.'

Sir John of the Isles,
'E sez to the swell,
'You're a gentleman, breedin' an birth,
An' in case of a row, without losin' your 'ead,
You may take my gamekeepers, an' mark 'is land red!
On the survey-map of the Earth!'

THE SEA-NATION

We rose, a people of the sea,
Nursed by the wind, and rocked by wave.
Our hard, rock-founded history,
Was born from stories of our brave.
And northern ice-blasts steeled our frames
When war was but the best of games.

We saw a Roman Empire fall,
And fell; but falling, learned to rise.
We heard the voice of Progress call,
And in our folly we were wise:
When Briton, Saxon, Norman, Dane,
Bequeathed their progeny the main.

And conquered joined with conqueror;
And Norman fire, with Saxon zeal
Combined; we swept the world before
The twanging bow, and clanging steel.
Tyrants unmurm'ring bore our yoke,
And braggarts thought before they spoke.

Then Iron Might took Right to wife;
And lo! our liberty was born!
We revelled in the newer life
When King was mated by a pawn.
Men lived between, of mighty worth;
From Montfort's death to Cromwell's birth.

We bore the arrogance of kings,
But bravèd death in fear of God.
We rose from great, to greater things.
The weak grew potent at our nod.
And nations watched the scales of Fate,
To see where England threw her weight!

We took our seed to other climes,
And from it sprang by divers seas,
An Oak – that grew among the Limes!
An Oak – among the Blue-gum trees!
The Cactus left the land because
The Acorn brought its ordered laws.

And like a giant, bearing stings
Of gnats, who joy to see him wince,
We stand – the envy of the kings
Despised by every petty prince!
Who know, that while enduring yet,
We bear – but we do not forget.

We lived, and live! The world shall see
An inextinguishable flame.
The nations fade; but we shall be!
When Gaul and Teuton are a name!
For us the seven seas in one:
For landlocked hordes – oblivion.

NATURE FAILS

You can eas'ly understand
That the green of medder-land
Doesn't strike the bloke that 'as to push the roller;
An' Nature at the best,
When you put 'er to the test,
Undiluted, is a very poor consoler.

An' the blue of summer skies
'As no beauties for the eyes
Of defaulters on parade in marchin' order;
An' the rainiest of morns
Brings no feelin's – 'cept to corns,
Of a feller pickin' oakum with a warder.

Wot's the beauty of the spot,
When you're bein' drilled with shot?
Wot is Nature when you're checked for bein' dirty?
An' eternity's a blank
To a feller on the crank,