An Australian Advertisement

1890

Henry Lawson


WE WANT the man who will lead the van,
    The man who will pioneer.
We have no use for the gentleman,
    Or the cheating Cheap-Jack here;
We have no room for the men who shirk
    The sweat of the brow. Condemn
The men who are frightened to look for work
    And funk when it looks for them.

We’ll honour the man who can’t afford
    To wait for a job that suits,
But sticks a swag on his shoulders broad
    And his feet in blucher boots,
And tramps away o’er the ridges far
    And over the burning sand
To look for work where the stations are
    In the lonely Western land.

He’ll brave the drouth and he’ll brave the rain,
        And fight his sorrows down,
And help to garden the inland plain
    And build the inland town;
And he’ll be found in the coming years
    With a heart as firm and stout,
An honoured man with the pioneers
    Who lead the people out.


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