66 . Australia

(Published on the day the Australian Fleet reached Sydney)

WHAT can we give in return

For her beauty and mystery

Of flowering forest, infinite plain,

Deep sky and distant mountain-chain,

And her triumphant sea,

Thundering old songs of liberty?

Love—steadfast as her stars,

And passionate as her sun,

And joyous as the winds, that fling

The golden petals of her spring

By gully, spur, and run,

On dreaming age, and little one:

Courage—when courage fails

In the blind smoke and pain

Of raging fire, and lurid sky,

And dumb thirst-driven agony—

Till river and creek again

Swirl seaward through the teeming rain.

Faith—wild flower of the soul,

Thrilling the breathless night

With fragrance, and the desolate ways

Where silence fears to whisper praise,

With radiant delight

Of wonder—worship in God’s sight.

Duty—O great white stars,

And glorious red cross, shine

On victory, when, rushing forth

Against the peril of the North,

Australia’s battle-line

Flings out Trafalgar’s deathless sign.