Aussie [poem, 16 February 1918]

[Editor: A poem published in Aussie: The Australian Soldiers’ Magazine, no. 2, 16 February 1918.]

Aussie.

There is a land across the sea
That means the world to you and me —
A land that’s fair and rare to the eye,
With scented hills ’neath a sunny sky.

There’s wattle bloom in golden showers,
There’s scrub and hill and shady bowers
There’s the pad of the ’roo on the old bush track
It blends in my dreams with the stock-whip’s crack.

There’s the “Jackies” laugh and the “Coo-ee” call
They echo and ring in the hearts of us all;
There’s the song of the trail and the tall gum tree —
There’s to Aussie — dear Aussie — happy and free!

Dickinson.

Source:
Aussie: The Australian Soldiers’ Magazine, no. 2, 16 February 1918, page 12

Editor’s notes:
Jackie = “laughing jackass” (kookaburra)