Poem by Andrew Barton Paterson

Weary Will

The strongest creature for his size 
But least equipped for combat 
That dwells beneath Australian skies 
Is Weary Will the Wombat. 

He digs his homestead underground, 
He’s neither shrewd nor clever; 
For kangaroos can leap and bound 
But wombats dig forever. 

The boundary rider’s netting fence 
Excites his irritation; 
It is to his untutored sense 
His pet abomination. 

And when to pass it he desires, 
Upon his task he’ll centre 
And dig a hole beneath the wires 
Through which the dingoes enter. 

And when to block the hole they strain 
With logs and stones and rubble, 
Bill Wombat digs it out again 
Without the slightest trouble. 

The boundary rider bows to fate, 
Admits he’s made a blunder 
And rigs a little swinging gate 
To let Bill Wombat under. 

So most contentedly he goes 
Between his haunt and burrow: 
He does the only thing he knows, 
And does it very thorough.

1. A Grain of Desert Sand
2. That Half-Crown Sweep
3. Under the Shadow of Kiley’s Hill
4. White Cockatoos
5. Song of the Artesian Water

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