LESSON 1 THE AUSTRALIAN

THE AUSTRALIAN

He swings his axe in the golden morn;

The blade bites clean and free;

The trees must fall ere the land be ploughed,

And an axeman strong is he.

He drives his plough through the yellow mould [1] ;

The share [2] cuts clean and free;

The soil must break ere the seed be sown,

And a ploughman strong is he.

He sows the seed in the furrowed field;

With a tireless hand sows he;

When sun and rain have wrought [3] their will,

What shall the harvest be?

If trees alone his axe-blade hewed,

If he but ploughed the plain,

And ploughed no more, and sowed the wheat,

Twould be but golden grain.

But more than trees he brings to earth—

Old wrongs that bind and thrall [4] ;

And from his harvest shall be made

The sweetest bread of all.

A young man in a young land, he

Dreams noble dreams of youth;

And, foremost in the van [5] of years,

He sows the seeds of truth.

—RODERIC QUINN

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[1] mould: Fine soft earth.

[2] share: Ploughshare; blade.

[3] wrought: worked.

[4] thrall: Enthrall, enslave.

[5] van: The front, especially of an army.