Pull up the stakes and go! As I rode on by Eagle Hawk, The wide, blue deep of air,The wind among the glittering leaves,
The flowers so sweet and fair,
The thunder of the rude salt waves,
The creek"s soft overflow,
All joined in chorus to the words- Pull up the stakes and go!
Now, by the tent on forest skirt, By odour of the earth,By sight and scent of morning smoke,
By evening camp-fire"s mirth,
By deep-sea call and foaming green, By new stars" gleam and glow,By summer trails in antique lands- Pull up the stakes and go!
The world is wide, and we are young, And sounding marches heat,And passion pipes her sweetest call
In lane and field and street;
So rouse the chorus, brothers all, We"ll something have to showWhen Death comes round and strikes our tent- Pull up the stakes and go!
James Hebblethwaite.
Author.-Jamles Hebblethwaite (1857-1921) was born in Lancashire, England. He followed the teaching profession for twelve years, and also gave public lectures on English literature. He came to Tasmania in 1890, and engaged in teaching, then took orders in the Anglican Church, 1903. His works include Verses(published by the Hobart "Mercury"); A Rose of Regret (The "Bulletin" Co.); Meadow and Bush ( "Bookfellow," Sydney); Poems (E. A. Vidler), and New Poems (E. A. Vidler).
General Notes.-Do you like the care-free, open-air sound of theseverses? Of what does the swing of the rhythm remind you-gallop, canter, trot, walk, or amble? Can you find any anap?sts, which are so common in galloping rhymes ( " With a leap-and a bound-the swift an-ap?sts throng")? How many " beats" in each line? Pick out the rhyming lines. What line acts as a refrain! Explain the metaphor in the second last line of the poem.
LESSON 3
CHRISTmAS IN THE EARly DAyS
Though the bush may lack the attractions, the variety of sights and entertainments, and the festivities and general gaiety that the cities offer, Christmas-tide brings good cheer to the denizens of the ranges and forests, and is looked forward to and enjoyed in the humblest places.
It is a time when the scattered flocks foregather, from far and wide, under the old roof-tree. There are innumer- able homes from which many have gone out to battle with the world, as shearers, drovers, carriers, fencers, tank- sinkers, station hands, prospectors, miners, stockmen, and bush rouseabouts, leaving only the old couple and probably one or two of the younger members of the family. The "boys" may be working within easy reach, and they may be hundreds of miles" away. In either case, "mother" expects them home.
Preparations are made weeks beforehand; Willie and Jim and Bob are daily discussed, and surprises are planned for them. Their rooms are done up and readied, and the old paddock is made doubly secure for their horses, which, being strange, " are sure to try to make back." Chips and bones, leaves and pieces of paper are raked up and burnt in little heaps; the garden is trimmed up; the house is painted orwhitewashed outside; the steps and fireplace receive similar attention; and the inside walls are papered, if only with newspapers.
The sentiments of the old people in this respect are shared to a great extent by the young, whose thoughts turn now to home and kindred ties more than at any other time of the year; and some will bridge the gulf that lies between them in spite of all obstacles.
One Christmas Eve, a girl who had been at service at Winton (Queensland) started by coach for Boulia, where her parents lived. There had been heavy rains on the way, and on reaching Caddie Creek it was found impossible to cross the flood by vehicle, and the horses were taken out. But the girl was determined not to turn back, and she was equally resolved not to remain on the bank. She won the sympathy of the driver and a male passenger by telling them that she had never missed a Christmas dinner at home, and she did not want to miss this one. The men then fastened a strap round their bodies and, with the girl clinging to it between them, successfully negotiated a seventy yards" swim. At Middleton, some miles farther on, she swam another flooded creek on horse- back, and, drenched and mud-covered, she eventually reached Boulia in time to participate in the all-important function.
One of the principal features of the time is the gay array of bushes that deck the veranda-posts of the houses. In townsmen go round with dray-loads of green bushes, selling them for sixpence or a shilling a bundle; but, outside, they are cut and dragged home by the children. A big armful is lashed to each post till the veranda is hidden behind a wall of greenery. Even the selector"s hut, standing alone in a wilderness of trees, is annually decorated in this way; and the prospectors" camp, pitched where no one passes, and where the usual greetings are exchanged only between the two mates, sports an emerald cluster on the pole for "auld lang syne."Another custom favoured by those who still cling to old-world associations is the hanging of the mistletoe from the centre of the ceiling. Any bush does for a mistletoe in Australia. The bushman knows nothing of the old traditions that enshrine the bough; in his home, it is suspended mainly to minimize the annoyance caused by flies settling on the table.
More important than the mistletoe to him and his sister is the Christmas mail, which brings the pictorial annual, seasonable presents, cards, and letters from far-off friends and relatives. The arrival of the mailman, jogging along lonely tracks, is at all times welcome;but now he comes under the halo of a bush Santa Claus. The annuals are more appreciated by bush people than by city folk; the whole family will gather round, with heads clustered together, peering over one another"s shoulders, while one turns the pages.