[Editor: This poem by C. J. Dennis was published in A Book for Kids, 1921.]
The Band
Hey, there! Listen awhile! Listen awhile, and come.
Down in the street there are marching feet, and I hear the beat of a drum.
Bim! Boom!! Out of the room! Pick up your hat and fly!
Isn’t it grand? The band! The band! The band is marching by!
Oh, the clarinet is the finest yet, and the uniforms are gay.
Tah, rah! We don’t go home —
Oom, pah! We won’t go home —
Oh, we sha’n’t go home, and we can’t go home when the band begins to play.
Oh, see them swinging along, swinging along the street!
Left, right! buttons so bright, jackets and caps so neat.
Ho, the Fire Brigade, or a dress parade of the Soldier-men is grand;
But everyone, for regular fun, wants a Big — Brass — Band.
The slide-trombone is a joy alone, and the drummer! He’s a treat!
So, Rackety-rumph! We don’t go home —
Boom, Bumph! We won’t go home —
Oh, we sha’n’t go home, and we can’t go home while the band is in the street.
Tooral — ooral, Oom — pah!
The band is in the street!
Source:
C. J. Dennis. A Book for Kids, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, [1921], pages 90-91
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