Poem

The Watch on the Kerb

by Henry Lawson · 1900

Night-lights are falling; Girl of the street,Go to your calling If you would eat.Lamplight and starlight And moonlight superb,Bright hope is a farlight, So watch on the kerb.
Watch on the kerb, Watch on the kerb;Hope is a farlight; Then watch on the kerb.
Comes a man: call him-- Gone! he is vext;Curses befall him, Wait for the next!Fair world and bright world, Life still is sweet--Girl of the night-world, Watch on the street.
Dreary the watch is: Moon sinks from sight,Gas only blotches Darkness with light;Never, Oh, never Let courage go down;Keep from the river, Oh, Girl of the Town!
Sources, publication & text notesReference details
Canonical recordPOEM-000708
Copy-textLawson corpus evidence graph; selected complete copy-text with independently corroborated wording and retained line/stanza boundaries; selected copy-text retained exactly under D-180/D-208
Source recordSRC-000066
Rights determinationRGT-000785
Text statusCANONICAL TEXT READY
TranscriptionDIPLOMATIC_D208_D180

How texts and rights are checked →

While The Billy Boils · Public-domain text · www.whilethebillyboils.com.au/poems/the-watch-on-the-kerb

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