[Editor: This is a poem from Beyond the City Gates: Australian Story & Verse (1923) by Jack Moses.]
The Tweed
(Mount Warning was observed and named by Captain Cook when he was sailing along the North Coast of New South Wales.)
The Tweed, once more, I’m glad to see,
And feel its welcome grip for me;
I love its bonnie hills, so green,
And all its beauty in between.
I like to see the corn and cane,
And have “one” with old friends again.
To talk of pals who’ve gone before,
And sport and politics and war.
I like to hear the tales they tell,
And laugh to keep things going well,
And just as we are feeling fine,
A “deoch-an’-doris” and Auld Lang Syne.
I love to hear the wagtails sing,
On river banks, where willows swing,
And see the gum trees, straight and tall
With Warning* watching over all.
*Mt. Warning is situated at the heart of the Tweed River.
Source:
Jack Moses, Beyond the City Gates: Australian Story & Verse, Sydney: Austral Publishing Co., 1923, pages [64b]-65 (the photograph associated with the poem is on an unnumbered page placed between pages 64 and 65)
Editor’s notes:
Auld Lang Syne = (Scottish) “times long past” (literally, “old long since”), similar to “the good old days”; commonly known in relation to the song “Auld Lang Syne”, being the poem written by Robert Burns (and later set to music) which was based upon an old Scottish song
deoch-an’-doris = (Scottish) translates as “drink at the door”, a farewell drink, a final drink before departing (also spelt “doch an dorris”, “deoch an doruis”); by tradition, such a parting drink is imbibed whilst standing
have “one” = have an alcoholic drink; have a beer; to imbibe several beers (to have “one or two” beers can often mean to have several beers, or a lot of beers)
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