[Editor: This poem (or song) by Irene Jones was published in the Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (Mudgee, NSW), 5 August 1915 (during the First World War, 1914-1918).]
Boys! Listen!
The Empire is calling.
The following appropriate and inspiring verses, from the pen of a local young lady, should surely touch the chord of patriotic sentiment and appeal to the gallant instincts of the Australian boys who have not responded to the call of their noble, heroic comrades at Gallipoli:—
Australia’s Call.
Listen! The Empire is calling,
Let us fight for our country or die.
Though thousands of heroes are falling,
Our ensign will e’er float on high.
Many brave lads from Australia
Have fought in the strife and have died;
Whilst others are bearing the honors
That England alone gives with pride.
Oh! many true hearts have been broken,
For the brother and son o’er the sea;
But the same noble hearts are joining
In the cause of the just and the free.
For listen! the Empire is calling,
Let us fight for our country or die;
Though thousands of heroes are falling,
Our ensign will e’er float on high.
Who’ll be the next from Australia?
Oh, who’ll be the next to enlist?
If a man gives his life for his country,
Surely nothing is greater than this!
We! We! hear the thousands of voices
That are answering in chorus back,
God save the King and the Empire,
WE will fight ’neath the Union Jack.
’Tis the ensign of freedom and valor,
’Tis the flag of the brave and the true;
Three cheers for the dear old banner,
Our colors — the red, white and blue!
— IRENE JONES.
Source:
Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (Mudgee, NSW), 5 August 1915, p. 37
Also published in:
The Democrat (Lithgow, NSW), 21 August 1915, p. 1 [“from the pen of a Dunedoo young lady”]
Editor’s notes:
e’er = (vernacular) an archaic contraction of “ever”
Empire = in the context of early Australia, the British Empire
ensign = a flag, banner, or standard; a flag which is used to show the country of origin, or country of allegiance, of a base, building, person, place, unit, or ship; a national flag, or a variation of a national flag; a flag, the design of which is based upon a national flag, although with a distinctive alteration (such as a different background colour; an added badge, emblem, or symbol; or superimposed characters or letters), used by a branch of the military services, an organisation, or a unit or section of a larger body
’neath = (vernacular) beneath
o’er = (archaic) over (pronounced the same as “oar”, “or”, and “ore”)
’tis = (archaic) a contraction of “it is”
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