Poem

Lachlan Side

by Henry Lawson · 1888

Region of damper and "junk" and tea, Region of pastures wide!The fairest spots in the world to me Are out on the Lachlan Side.
CHORUS:I'm off to the Lachlan Side,Where the bright lagoons are wide;I long for river and grass and tree,And someone dearer than all to me,Far out on the Lachlan Side.
My heart was hardened against advice And reason I would not see,For by the ocean a paradise The city appeared to me.
CHORUS:I'm off to the Lachlan Side, etc.
"Not I for a bumpkin's fate," I cried, "I'll not be a country clown!A life's too slow on the Lachlan Side; I'll go to the shining town!"
CHORUS:I'm off to the Lachlan Side, etc.
I've lost the battle, I strike the flag, The town may sink in the tide;A wiser head and a lighter swag I take to the Lachlan Side.
CHORUS:I'm off to the Lachlan Side, etc.
When crops of wool on the plains shall grow, Shall flourish in drought or rain,And when the shearers begin to mow I'll come to the town again.
CHORUS:I'm off to the Lachlan Side, etc.
But now I go to a kinder fate, If her love still conquers pride;Her heart was true when she sobbed, "I'll wait For you on the Lachlan Side."
CHORUS:I'm off to the Lachlan Side,Where the bright lagoons are wide;I long for river and grass and tree,And someone dearer than all to me,Far out on the Lachlan Side.
Sources, publication & text notesReference details
Canonical recordPOEM-000363
Copy-textProject Gutenberg Australia, Collected Poems of Henry Lawson (2022), anchor p101; selected digital copy-text retained exactly; wording and layout confirmed against Ironbark Resources under D-180
Source recordSRC-000066
Rights determinationRGT-000538
Text statusCANONICAL TEXT READY
TranscriptionDIPLOMATIC_D208_D180

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

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