Old acquaintance unforgotten,Though you may be "ugly brutes",Though your leather's cracked and rotten,Worn-out pair of Blucher boots.
'Tis the richer man before you,Dearer leathers grace his feet;'Twas the better man that wore youIn the tramps through dust and heat!
Oft rebuffed by "super's" snarling,When I asked him for a "show",On that long tramp to the DarlingIn the days of long ago;
Tell me, if you know it, whether,As I sadly tramped away,Bore I heavy on your leather,Worn-out pair of Bluchers, say?
Though your leather's cracked and rotten,Though you may be ugly brutes,I'll preserve you unforgotten,Worn-out pair of Blucher boots!
Sources, publication & text notesReference details
Canonical recordPOEM-000725
Copy-textProject Gutenberg Australia, Collected Poems of Henry Lawson (2022), anchor p311; selected digital copy-text retained exactly; wording and layout confirmed against Ironbark Resources under D-180
While The Billy BoilsSearch