Walter Murdoch (1874–1970). The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse. 1918.
By William Gay65 . The Crazy World
T
‘My bread thou shalt not eat,
I have no place for thee
In house nor field nor street.
For thee nor home nor bread,
I scarce can give to thee
A grave when thou art dead.’
‘What is it thou canst give,
Which wanting, I must die,
Or having, I shall live?
And all thy harvests cease,
I still have nutriment
That groweth by decrease.
Thy towers of steel be rust,
Thy heights to plains decay,
Thyself be wandering dust;
From prime to endless prime,
I sit on Being’s throne,
A lord o’er space and time.
‘What is it thou canst give,
Which wanting, I must die,
Or having, I shall live?’