[Editor: This poem by Barcroft Boake was published in Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems (1897).]
A Song from a Sandhill
Drip, drip, drip! It tinkles on the fly —
The pitiless outpouring of an overburdened sky:
Each drooping frond of pine has got a jewel at its tip —
First a twinkle, then a sprinkle, and a drip, drip, drip.
Drip, drip, drip! They must be shearing up on high.
Can’t you see the snowy fleeces that are rolling, rolling by?
How many bales, I wonder, are they branding to the clip?
P’r’aps the Boss is keeping tally with this drip, drip, drip.
Drip, drip, drip! while the sodden branches sigh:
The jovial jackass dare not laugh for fear that he should cry:
The merry magpie’s melody is frozen on his lip;
He glowers at the showers, with their drip, drip, drip.
Drip, drip, drip! and one’s ‘nap’ is far from dry:
’Tis hard to keep the water out, however one may try:
I’d sell myself to Satan for three fingers of a nip:
There’s cramps and vile rheumatics in that drip, drip, drip.
Pat, pat, pat! how it patters on the land!
’Tis certainly consoling to be camped upon the sand:
There’s naught but mud and water over yonder on the flat,
Where the spots of rain are splashing with their pat, pat, pat.
Rain, rain, rain! and the day is nearly done:
I wonder shall we see another rising of the sun?
Has the sky shut down and stifled him; or will he come again
And stop the cursed clatter of this rain, rain, rain?
Drop, drop, drop! monotonous as Life,
With now and then a western breeze that cuts one like a knife:
Sputter on the fire: is it never going to stop?
Has the weather-clerk gone crazy, with his drop, drop, drop?
Drip, drip, drip! the squatter wouldn’t say
‘Thank God!’ so earnestly if he were camped in it to-day.
’Tis in at last: I knew it! there’s a pool about my hip:
Oh, ’tis maddening and sadd’ning, with its drip, drip, drip!
Source:
Barcroft Boake, Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems, Sydney (NSW): Angus and Robertson, 1897, pp. 58-59
Also published in:
The Bulletin (Sydney, NSW), 2 April 1892, p. 13, column 1 [by Barcroft H. Boake]
Relevant notes from the “Notes to poems” section in this book:
12. A SONG FROM A SANDHILL, p. 58. — Printed in The Bulletin, April 2, 1892. Signed ‘Barcroft H. Boake.’
Editor’s notes:
finger = a measurement of liquid (usually regarding alcoholic drinks); an informal or rough unit of measurement based upon the width of a human finger, used to measure an amount of liquid poured into a glass (e.g. “he poured three fingers into the empty glass”, “he poured a three-finger nip of raw overproof fiery rum”)
fly = a flysheet, used to protect the tent from water, being a waterproof sheet erected as an outer roof above the main tent structure, so as to keep the tent dry from rainfall; a flap of material which covers the front of a tent, and functions as a door
See: “Tent”, Wikipedia
jackass = “laughing jackass” (kookaburra)
naught = nothing; zero; failure, without result; lost, ruined (older meanings are: ruined, useless, worthless; morally bad, wicked)
nip = a small mouthful, or a sip, of a drink, especially an alcoholic drink; a small amount of an alcohol drink
p’r’aps = a contraction of “perhaps”
sadd’ning = (vernacular) saddening
squatter = in the context of Australian history, a squatter was originally someone who kept their livestock (mostly cattle and sheep) upon Crown land without permission to do so (thus illegally occupying land, or “squatting”); however, the practice became so widespread that eventually the authorities decided to formalise it by granting leases or licenses to occupy or use the land; and, with the growth of the Australian economy, many of the squatters became quite rich, and the term “squatter” came to refer to someone with a large amount of farm land (they were often regarded as rich and powerful)
’tis = (archaic) a contraction of “it is”
yonder = at a distance; far away
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