Ballad of the Cornstalk

Henry Lawson, 1900

      He hung up the stock whip and laid by the shears —
      It may be for months and it may be for years;
      It may be for ever — but restless was he:
      "I'm tired of the Bush and I'm off for a spree!

             "I'm going to the war, and I don't know what it's for,
             But the other chaps are going with the Bush Contingent men,
             But if I should stay behind, there'll be trouble on my mind,
             For my girl would throw me over when they come back agen."

      He rode to the homestead to bid her good-bye,
      And pride for her boy lit the tear in her eye.
      They kissed at the slip-rails again and again —
      And long may she wait by the slip-rails in vain.

             "For I'm going to the war," etc.

      He mounted his waler and rode to the sea
      (He was sick of the Bush and he longed for a spree),
      He looked up the "member" and called for his aid
      To go to the war in the Bushman's Brigade.

             "For I'm going to the war," etc.

      To spy out the Boer lines he rode with a force,
      And he in the gloaming lay shot from his horse,
      A gum-tree transplanted that grew on the veldt —
      And that's where they laid him, for that's how they felt.

             "For I'm going to the war," etc.

      She waits by the slip-rails at sunset again,
      But long may she wait by the slip-rails in vain!
      She'll fret till her heart breaks, but such things shall be
      While Cornstalks are restless and go for a spree.

             "I'm going to the war, and I don't know what it's for,
             But the other chaps are going with the Bush Contingent men,
             And if I should stay behind, there'll be trouble in the wind,
             For my girl will throw me over when they come back agen."

      Children of the Bush