Poem by Henry Lawson

Kangaroo Power

NOW, Yankee inventors can beat a retreat,
And German professors may take a back seat,
        For their colours we’re going to lower:
They’ve invented a wonderful plough in the West,
The scientists call it “the latest and best”;
It ploughs, sows, and reaps without taking a rest,
        And they drive it by kangaroo power.
                        Sing hey!
                        Sing ho!
                Then it’s bully for kangaroo power!

O wondrous the changes our children shall meet,
For soon we may travel the principal street
        In something far short of an hour.
The traffic shall flow without stoppage or jambs
And sharp little screeches and naughty big damns,
For soon all the hansoms and ’busses and trams
        Shall travel by kangaroo power.
                        Sing hey!
                        Sing ho!
                Then it’s bully for kangaroo power!

Advance, Young Australia, thy banner unfurled,
And jump through the years and astonish the world;
        Thou art of all nations the flower.
And Bismarck with envy shall grind his old stumps,
And Yankee inventors shall sit in the dumps,
To see young Australia advancing by jumps,
        When driven by kangaroo power.
                        Sing hey!
                        Sing ho!
                Then it’s bully for kangaroo power! 

1. Up the Country
2. Eureka
3. The Star of Australasia
4. In the Storm that Is to Come
5. The Free-Selector’s Daughter

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