State Library of NSW
[Page 150]
30 July, 1916
"In a Tent"Old Lawson has sung of the stringy-bark tree(And the old stringy-bark aint no stranger to meHe has praised the rough roof that has sheltered his restAnd although Im no Lawson, Im doing my best,To give thanks to the tent that has given a roofTo shelter my bunk when from padding the hoofThrough the dust of the desert Ive often been tiredAnd to dream in the blankets was all I desired.
There are songs that are sung of the stitching of shirtsAnd fellows who wrangle over various skirtsEven Homer has told of heros who foughtFor a tart known as Helen €“ ( I don't think they ought.-My theme is more humble, praps more to the pointThe metres erratic and oft out of jointIn stating here that, to a certain extentTheres considerable merit attached to a tent.
On the edge of the plain where the desert sands glareOur tents are afly in the sand smothered airThe distant mirage spreads its shimmering gleamsThat we never can reach like a river of dreamsAnd the arch of the sky where the desert hawks wheelIts as hard & as blue as the polish of steel €“But in spite of the sand & the desert immenseWe made it a home when we put up our tent
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