'Twas a Land Set Apart

Henry Lawson, 1899

      'Twas a land set apart for a nation
      Predestined for times like these —
      Set apart, in the Great Creation,
      By its place in the midst of the seas;
      'Tis a land where national honour
      Might rise with a stainless name!
      And the people be wise and prosper,
      And freedom forget her shame!
      And the wealth of the people only
      Be told by the wealth of the State
      In the dawn of the World's enlightment
      To the old lands come too late!