Saturday, December 1, 2007

Introduction

(reproduced from the original 2nd Ed 1916)

In byways of duty that led me through danger,
By valleys and slopes that were tinted with blood
In crackle of Maxims and roar of shrapnel
When death in its coming rolled up to the flood
In heat, dust, and vermin and stench of the fallen
In sweat and in sorrow, in struggle and toil,
In waiting and watching, in nerve-racking vigil,
In sap and in traverse entrenched in the soil,
In dreams of Australia and hours of remembrance,
In longing and sighing, in hope and regret,
In vision of bushlands and homes of my fathers,
In myriad scenes that a man can't forget,
In pride in our army the men of Australia,
The living, the broken, the maimed and the dead,
In sympathy keen for the loved ones who sorrow,
In pride for the cause that we've fought for and bled.
In brilliant transcendence of sunrise and splendor,
In colours of grandeur the sunsets have worn,
In shade, shine and shower, and days of forebodings,
In mirth and grey sorrow these verses were born.

ANZAC, April 25 to Oct 8, 1915