'Sez You'

When the heavy sand is yielding backward from your blistered feet,And across the distant timber you can SEE the flowing heat;When your head is hot and aching, and the shadeless plain is wide,And it's fifteen miles to water in the scrub the other side —Don't give up, don't be down-hearted, to a man's strong heart be true!Take the air in through your nostrils, set your lips and see it through —For it can't go on for ever, and — 'I'll have my day!' says you.

When you're camping in the mulga, and the rain is falling slow,While you nurse your rheumatism 'neath a patch of calico;Short of tucker or tobacco, short of sugar or of tea,And the scrubs are dark and dismal, and the plains are like a sea;Don't give up and be down-hearted — to the soul of man be true!Grin! if you've a mate to grin for, grin and jest and don't look blue;For it can't go on for ever, and — 'I'll rise some day,' says you.

When you've tramped the Sydney pavements till you've counted all the flags,And your flapping boot-soles trip you, and your clothes are mostly rags,When you're called a city loafer, shunned, abused, moved on, despised —Fifty hungry beggars after every job that's advertised —Don't be beaten! Hold your head up! To your wretched self be true;Set your pride to fight your hunger! Be a MAN in all you do!For it cannot last for ever — 'I will rise again!' says you.