Andy's Gone with Cattle
Andy's Gone with Cattle
Original Text
Henry Lawson, In the Days when the World was Wide and Other Verses (Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1896): 57-58. x.908/13059 British Library. shel 0660 Fisher Rare Book Library
1Our Andy's gone to battle now
2 'Gainst Drought, the red marauder:
3Our Andy's done with cattle now
5He's left us in dejection now;
6 Our hearts with him are roving.
7It's dull on this selection now,
8 Since Andy went a-droving.
9Who now shall wear the cheerful face
10 In times when things are slackest?
11And who shall whistle round the place
12 When Fortune frowns her blackest?
14 When he comes round us snarling?
15His tongue is growing hotter now
17The gates are out of order now,
19For far across the border now
20 Our Andy's gone with cattle.
21Poor Aunty's looking thin and white;
22 And Uncle's cross with worry;
23And poor old Blucher howls all night
24 Since Andy left Macquarie.
25Oh, may the showers in torrents fall,
26 And all the tanks run over;
27And may the grass grow green and tall
29And may good angels send the rain
30 On desert stretches sandy;
31And when the summer comes again
32 God grant 'twill bring us Andy.
Notes
4] Queensland: state in eastern Australia. Back to Line
13] cheek: face, confront. Back to Line
16] the Darling: the longest river in Australia, flowing from Queensland through New South Wales and into the Indian Ocean. Back to Line
18] `riders': "timber used to hold down the bark roofs of primitive bush houses" (An Anthology of Australian Verse, ed. Bertram Stevens (London: Macmillan, 1906). Back to Line
28] drover: someone who herds droves of livestock. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1888
Publication Notes
See Stone, 12
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 2001.
Rhyme