Poem

Kangaroo Power

by Henry Lawson · 1891

(Suggested to the office Muse by the Kangaroo Dance)
Now, Yankee inventors can beat a retreat,And German professors may take a back seat, For their colours we're going to lower:They've invented a wonderful plough in the West,The scientists call it "the latest and best";It ploughs, sows, and reaps without taking a rest, And they drive it by kangaroo power. Sing hey! Sing ho! Then it's bully for kangaroo power!
O wondrous the changes our children shall meet,For soon we may travel the principal street In something far short of an hour.The traffic shall flow without stoppage or jambsAnd sharp little screeches and naughty big damns,For soon all the hansoms and 'busses and trams Shall travel by kangaroo power. Sing hey! Sing ho! Then it's bully for kangaroo power!
Advance, Young Australia, thy banner unfurled,And jump through the years and astonish the world; Thou art of all nations the flower.And Bismarck with envy shall grind his old stumps,And Yankee inventors shall sit in the dumps,To see young Australia advancing by jumps,When driven by kangaroo power. Sing hey! Sing ho! Then it's bully for kangaroo power!
Sources, publication & text notesReference details
Canonical recordPOEM-000356
Copy-textProject Gutenberg Australia, Collected Poems of Henry Lawson (2022), anchor p97; selected digital copy-text retained exactly; wording and layout confirmed against Ironbark Resources under D-180
Source recordSRC-000066
Rights determinationRGT-000533
Text statusCANONICAL TEXT READY
TranscriptionDIPLOMATIC_D208_D180

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While The Billy Boils · Public-domain text · www.whilethebillyboils.com.au/poems/kangaroo-power

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