Poem

A Song of the Republic

by Henry Lawson · 1887

Sons of the South, awake! arise! Sons of the South, and do.Banish from under your bonny skiesThose old-world errors and wrongs and lies.Making a hell in a Paradise That belongs to your sons and you.
Sons of the South, make choice between (Sons of the South, choose true),The Land of Morn and the Land of E'en,The Old Dead Tree and the Young Tree Green,The Land that belongs to the lord and the Queen, And the Land that belongs to you.
Sons of the South, your time will come-- Sons of the South, 'tis near--The "Signs of the Times", in their language dumb,Foretell it, and ominous whispers humLike sullen sounds of a distant drum, In the ominous atmosphere.
Sons of the South, aroused at last! Sons of the South are few!But your ranks grow longer and deeper fast,And ye shall swell to an army vast,And free from the wrongs of the North and Past The land that belongs to you.
Sources, publication & text notesReference details
Canonical recordPOEM-000201
Copy-textProject Gutenberg Australia, Collected Poems of Henry Lawson (2022), anchor p10; selected digital copy-text retained exactly; wording and layout confirmed against Ironbark Resources under D-180
Source recordSRC-000066
Rights determinationRGT-000430
Text statusCANONICAL TEXT READY
TranscriptionDIPLOMATIC_D208_D180

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While The Billy Boils · Public-domain text · www.whilethebillyboils.com.au/poems/a-song-of-the-republic

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