[Editor: This poem, by Tom Freeman, was published in The Worker (Sydney, NSW), 2 January 1908.]
The Bilby and the Bunny.
[For The Worker.]
The Bilby came to the Wombat’s lodge
While out on a jaunt one day.
“Ho, Sloucher! How fares the world with you?”
He hailed in a jovial way.
But instead of the old familiar form
A stranger’s face he saw.
“Old Sloucher is dead,” the Unknown said,
“And I am his heir-at-law.
“Oho!” said Silky. “Indeed!
Now, who can this party be?
Such queer long ears and a comical tail
I never before did see.”
Then he hopped away with intent to call
On his neighbor the Bandicoot.
“Hey, Bandy, wake up. Bad news,” he cried,
By way of a sharp salute.
But the same strange voice from within replied:
“Your friend Mr. What’s-his-name
Had a fancy to roam too far from home,
So I quietly jumped his claim.”
“Heyday,” said Silky, “what next?
This fellow is smart, I’ll admit,
And as full of points as a porcupine,
And I don’t like his style a bit.”
Then he bounded off for the Wallaby’s camp,
’Mongst the gibbers away on the hill,
But the greeting he got from the same weird face
Upset him more sadly still.
“What, you?” He snapped in a testy way,
“Why you’re everywhere, I see.”
Quoth the Fiend: “Well, yes, you’re right, I confess —
’Tis my nature so to be.”
“Dear, dear!” said Silky. “How now?
Why, he’s slippery enough for the Deuce;
I begin to think it time for me
To look to my caboose.”
He reached his home, but was shocked to find
The Stranger already there.
“Sir, who are you that you make so free?”
He asked, with an injured air.
“My name is Bunny,” the sleek one said,
“And these quarters are snug, I must say;
But, frankly with you, there’s no room for two,
So I wish you a fair good-day.”
“Oh, mercy,” pined Silky, “poor me,
To be thrust from my dear old home,
And over the face of my native land
As an outcast forced to roam!”
As he wandered forlorn he came upon
His crony the ’Possum in pain.
“Poor Frisky, what ails you?” he tenderly asked.
“Oh,” the stricken one moaned, “I’m slain.
Good-bye, little Silky; I’m going the way
Of our old-time friends, every one:
We must all give place to an alien race.
Oh, the poison, the poison! — I’m done!”
“Oh, woe,” wailed Silky, “I’m lost!”
As he crouched by the corpse of his friend;
Then a shiver of death shook his delicate frame,
And the sweet, gentle life was at end.
TOM FREEMAN.
Source:
The Worker (Sydney, NSW), 2 January 1908, p. 15
Editor’s notes:
It appears that this poem is an allegory regarding the immigration of alien immigrants, or outsiders, who subsequently replace the native Australian population. The 6th-last line of the poem gives confirmation to this hypothesis, with the words “We must all give place to an alien race”.
caboose = a euphemism for someone’s rear end, bottom, bum, buttocks; a reference to one’s self (e.g. the phrases “to cover my rear end” and “to cover my caboose” both mean to look after one’s self or to look after one’s own self-interest); derived from the term “caboose”, as used in the USA, which refers to a guard’s van, being a small car (carriage) which is usually attached to the rear end of a freight train, and is commonly used as the crew’s quarters, incorporating cooking and sleeping facilities
Deuce = (also spelt: deuce) a replacement for the word “Devil” (considered to be a polite substitution, or euphemism, for the word “Devil”), e.g. as used in the phrases “We have had the deuce of a time” and “What the Deuce?” (similar to “What the dickens?”)
gibber = (noun) someone who is gibbering; (verb) to talk in a rapid inarticulate, incoherent, or unintelligible manner (such as may be caused by anxiety, excitement, fear, or nervousness); to talk very fast in a confused, foolish, or meaningless fashion; to rapidly utter foolish nonsense (to speak gibberish); to unintelligibly chatter, jabber, or prattle
jump a claim = to seize, take possession of, or occupy a mining claim, piece of land, or property which someone else has already claimed by right of discovery, occupation, or usage (usually regarding the takeover of an unattended mining claim, piece of land, or property)
jumped his claim = seized, took possession of, or occupied a mining claim, piece of land, or property [see: jump a claim]
’mongst = (vernacular) amongst
’Possum = an opossum or “possum”, a tree-dwelling marsupial species native to Australia; opossums are actually those animals of the Didelphimorphia order of marsupials (which are colloquially known as “possums”), whilst the term “possums” technically refers to those animals of the suborder Phalangeriformes, of the Diprotodontia order of marsupials; however, the two are often confused as being the same animal; the confusion arises from when Joseph Banks (the botanist with Captain Cook’s expedition) thought the Australian marsupial was an opossum, as it looked similar to the American opossum
quoth = (archaic) said
testy = irritable, peevish, snappy, touchy; easily roused to a state of annoyance or irritability; a state of ill temper or impatience
’tis = (archaic) a contraction of “it is”
What’s-his-name = a reference to a male person whose name has been forgotten, is unknown, or has been deliberately ignored or overlooked; a reference to a male person whose name the speaker does not want to mention or wants to imply has been forgotten, as a show of contempt or distain
[Editor: Changed “was at end” to “was at end.” (added a full stop).]
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