A Song from a Sandhill

A Song from a Sandhill

Original Text
Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems, ed. A.G. Stephens (Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1897): 52. Internet Archive. Sydney Electronic Text and Image Service (SETIS), digital text sponsored by AustLit: http://setis.library.usyd.edu.au/oztexts
1Drip, drip, drip! It tinkles on the fly--
2The pitiless outpouring of an overburdened sky:
3Each drooping frond of pine has got a jewel at its tip--
4First a twinkle, then a sprinkle, and a drip, drip, drip.
5Drip, drip, drip! They must be shearing up on high.
6Can't you see the snowy fleeces that are rolling, rolling by?
8P'r'aps the Boss is keeping tally with this drip, drip, drip.
9Drip, drip, drip! while the sodden branches sigh:
10The jovial jackass dare not laugh for fear that he should cry:
11The merry magpie's melody is frozen on his lip;
12He glowers at the showers, with their drip, drip, drip.
14'Tis hard to keep the water out, however one may try:
15I'd sell myself to Satan for three fingers of a nip:
16There's cramps and vile rheumatics in that drip, drip, drip.
17Pat, pat, pat! how it patters on the land!
18'Tis certainly consoling to be camped upon the sand:
19There's naught but mud and water over yonder on the flat,
20Where the spots of rain are splashing with their pat, pat, pat.
21Rain, rain, rain! and the day is nearly done:
22I wonder shall we see another rising of the sun?
23Has the sky shut down and stifled him; or will he come again
24And stop the cursed clatter of this rain, rain, rain?
25Drop, drop, drop! monotonous as Life,
26With now and then a western breeze that cuts one like a knife:
27Sputter on the fire: is it never going to stop?
28Has the weather-clerk gone crazy, with his drop, drop, drop?
29Drip, drip, drip! the squatter wouldn't say
30"Thank God!" so earnestly if he were camped in it to-day.
32Oh, 'tis maddening and sadd'ning, with its drip, drip, drip!

Notes

7] clip: the total amount sheared. Back to Line
13] "nap": bedding for sleeping in the open air (Australian slang; see OED "nap," n. 10). Back to Line
31] 'Tis in: inside the tent. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1892
Publication Notes
The Bulletin, April 2, 1892.
RPO poem Editors
Cameron La Follette
RPO Edition
2011
Rhyme
Form