• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Institute of Australian Culture

Heritage, history, and heroes; literature, legends, and larrikins

  • Home
  • Articles
  • Biographies
  • Books
  • Ephemera
  • Poetry & songs
    • Recommended poetry
    • Poetry and songs, 1786-1900
    • Poetry and songs, 1901-1954
    • Rock music and pop music [videos]
    • Early music [videos]
  • Slang
  • Timeline
    • Timeline of Australian history and culture
    • Calendar of Australian history and culture
    • Significant events and commemorative dates
  • Topics

Australia For Ever [poem, 21 January 1895]

12 May 2012 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: This poem, by F. S. Lewin, was published in The Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW), 21 January 1895.]

Australia For Ever

Firmly we stand on our native land,
Washed by Southern waters,
Heart to heart and hand to hand,
Australia’s sons and daughters.
And this be our pride, whatever betide —
The foeman shall conquer us never;
Should it come to the sword, we’ll trust in the Lord,
And shout “Australia for ever.”

Others may claim a more ancient name,
A name that is famous in story;
May boast of the dead and the blood they have shed,
We ask not such dearly earned glory.
Though our land be but young, yet from freemen we sprung,
And this is our earnest endeavor,
To raise up her fame, sing success to her name,
And shout “Australia for ever.”

We may not have wealth, but we’ve vigor and health,
And surely they’re good compensation;
For by them we’ll rise till our bright Southern skies
Look down on a glorious nation
And this be our motto, till hillside and grotto
Shall ring with the noble endeavor,
Till valley and plain shall take up the strain,
And shout “Australia for ever.”

Should the foeman’s strong hand be raised ’gainst our land,
We’ll rise to a man to defend it;
Though their numbers be more, we’d shrink not from the war,
But fight till our valor should end it.
Though we have not a fleet such invaders to meet,
And baffle by stratagem clever,
Yet our soldiers, though few, are brave men and true,
And their motto’s “Australia for ever.”

F. S. LEWIN.
January 17.



Source:
The Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW), Monday 21 January 1895, p. 3

Editor’s notes:
’gainst = (vernacular) against

Lord = in a religious context, and capitalized, a reference to God or Jesus Christ

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: 500x500, Frances Sescadorowna Lewin (author) (1861-1946), patriotic poetry, poem, recommended poetry, SourceTrove, year1895

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Australian flag, Kangaroo, Wattle, 100hThe Institute of Australian Culture
Heritage, history, and heroes. Literature, legends, and larrikins. Stories, songs, and sages.

Search this site

Featured books

The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses, by Banjo Paterson A Book for Kids, by C. J. Dennis  The Bulletin Reciter: A Collection of Verses for Recitation from The Bulletin The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke, by C. J. Dennis The Complete Inner History of the Kelly Gang and Their Pursuers, by J. J. Kenneally The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen The Australian Crisis, by C. H. Kirmess Such Is Life, by Joseph Furphy
More books (full text)

Featured lists

Timeline of Australian history and culture
A list of significant Australiana
Significant events and commemorative dates
Australian slang
Books (full text)
Australian literature
Rock music and pop music (videos)
Folk music and bush music (videos)
Early music (videos)
Recommended poetry
Poetry and songs, 1786-1900
Poetry and songs, 1901-1954
Australian explorers
Topics
Links

Featured posts

Advance Australia Fair: How the song became the Australian national anthem
Brian Cadd [music videos and biography]
Ned Kelly: Australian bushranger
Under the Southern Cross I Stand [the Australian cricket team’s victory song]

Some Australian authors

E. J. Brady
John Le Gay Brereton
C. J. Dennis
Mary Hannay Foott
Joseph Furphy
Mary Gilmore
Charles Harpur
Grant Hervey
Lucy Everett Homfray
Rex Ingamells
Henry Kendall
“Kookaburra”
Henry Lawson
Jack Moses
“Dryblower” Murphy
John Shaw Neilson
John O’Brien (Patrick Joseph Hartigan)
“Banjo” Paterson
Marie E. J. Pitt
A. G. Stephens
P. R. Stephensen
Agnes L. Storrie (Agnes L. Kettlewell)

Recent Posts

  • Boy soldiers: Cadets fine physique [29 March 1911]
  • Military: Notes for senior cadets [1 March 1911]
  • Compulsory military training [letter to the editor, from “Little Red Riding Hood”, 11 February 1911]
  • Compulsory military training [letter to the editor, from “Mary…”, 11 February 1911]
  • Compulsory military training [letter to the editor, from the Rev. William Shaw, 11 February 1911]

Top Posts & Pages

  • Taking His Chance [poem by Henry Lawson]
  • Australian slang
  • Timeline of Australian history and culture
  • The Man from Snowy River [poem by Banjo Paterson]
  • The Complete Inner History of the Kelly Gang and Their Pursuers [by J. J. Kenneally]

Archives

Categories

Posts of note

The Bastard from the Bush [poem, circa 1900]
A Book for Kids [by C. J. Dennis, 1921]
Click Go the Shears [traditional Australian song, 1890s]
Core of My Heart [“My Country”, poem by Dorothea Mackellar, 24 October 1908]
Freedom on the Wallaby [poem by Henry Lawson, 16 May 1891]
The Man from Ironbark [poem by Banjo Paterson]
Nationality [poem by Mary Gilmore, 12 May 1942]
The Newcastle song [music video, sung by Bob Hudson]
No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest [poem by Mary Gilmore, 29 June 1940]
Our pipes [short story by Henry Lawson]
Rommel’s comments on Australian soldiers [1941-1942]
Shooting the moon [short story by Henry Lawson]

Recent Comments

  • IAC on [Group of Australian soldiers, or soldier-cadets] [postcard, WW1 era (1914-1918)]
  • Raymond on [Group of Australian soldiers, or soldier-cadets] [postcard, WW1 era (1914-1918)]
  • IAC on Australia Shearing [postcard, 1907]
  • Raymond on Australia Shearing [postcard, 1907]
  • Raymond on Advance Australia [postcard, WW1 era (1914-1918)]

For Australia

Copyright © 2023 · Log in