Poem by Andrew Barton Paterson

Waltzing Matilda

Oh! there once was a swagman camped in the Billabong,
    Under the shade of a Coolabah tree;
And he sang as he looked at his old billy boiling,
    ”Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.” 

Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda, my darling,
     Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
Waltzing Matilda and leading a water-bag—
     Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?

Down came a jumbuck to drink at the water-hole,
    Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him in glee;
And he sang as he put him away in his tucker-bag,
    ”You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me!” 

Down came the Squatter a-riding his thorough-bred;
    Down came Policemen—one, two, and three.
”Whose is the jumbuck you’ve got in the tucker-bag?
    You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.” 

But the swagman, he up and he jumped in the water-hole,
    Drowning himself by the Coolabah tree;
And his ghost may be heard as it sings in the Billabong,
    ”Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?”

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

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