Poem

The Route March

by Henry Lawson · 1915

Did you hear the children singing, O my brothers?Did you hear the children singing as our troops went marching past?        In the sunshine and the rain,        As they’ll never sing again—Hear the little school-girls singing as our troops went swinging past?
Did you hear the children singing, O my brothers?Did you hear the children singing for the first man and the last?        As they marched away and vanished,        To a tune we thought was banished—Did you hear the children singing for the future and the past?
Shall you hear the children singing, O my brothers?Shall you hear the children singing in the sunshine or the rain?        There’ll be sobs beneath the ringing        Of the cheers, and ’neath the singingThere’ll be tears of orphan children when        Our Boys come back again!
Sources, publication & text notesReference details
Canonical recordPOEM-000644
Copy-textLawson — My Army, O, My Army! and Other Songs (1915); selected digital copy-text retained exactly; first-edition scan controls manifestation and meaningful layout under D-180/D-208
Source recordSRC-000071
Rights determinationRGT-000736
Text statusCANONICAL TEXT READY
TranscriptionDIPLOMATIC_D208_D180

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