THE VAGABOND
Flax and tussock and fern,
Gum and mulga and sand,
Reef and palm—but my fancies turn
Ever away from land;
Strange wild cities in ancient state,
Range and river and tree,
Snow and ice. But my star of fate
Is ever across the sea.
Gum and mulga and sand,
Reef and palm—but my fancies turn
Ever away from land;
Strange wild cities in ancient state,
Range and river and tree,
Snow and ice. But my star of fate
Is ever across the sea.
A god-like ride on a thundering sea,
When all but the stars are blind—
A desperate race from Eternity
With a gale-and-a-half behind.
A jovial spree in the cabin at night,
A song on the rolling deck,
A lark ashore with the ships in sight,
Till—a wreck goes down with a wreck.
When all but the stars are blind—
A desperate race from Eternity
With a gale-and-a-half behind.
A jovial spree in the cabin at night,
A song on the rolling deck,
A lark ashore with the ships in sight,
Till—a wreck goes down with a wreck.
A smoke and a yarn on the deck by day,
When life is a waking dream
And care and trouble so far away
That out of your life they seem.
A roving spirit in sympathy,
Who has travelled the whole warld o’er-
My heart forgets, in a week at sea,
The trouble of years on shore.
When life is a waking dream
And care and trouble so far away
That out of your life they seem.
A roving spirit in sympathy,
Who has travelled the whole warld o’er-
My heart forgets, in a week at sea,
The trouble of years on shore.
A rolling stone!—’tis a saw for slaves—
Philosophy false as old—
Wear out or break ’neath the feet of knaves,
Or rot in your bed of mould!
Philosophy false as old—
Wear out or break ’neath the feet of knaves,
Or rot in your bed of mould!
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