Old Mate! In the gusty old weather, <br /> When our hopes and our troubles were new, <br /> In the years spent in wearing out leather, <br /> I found you unselfish and true -- <br /> I have gathered these verses together <br /> For the sake of our friendship and you. <br /> <br /> You may think for awhile, and with reason, <br /> Though still with a kindly regret, <br /> That I've left it full late in the season <br /> To prove I remember you yet; <br /> But you'll never judge me by their treason <br /> Who profit by friends -- and forget. <br /> <br /> I remember, Old Man, I remember -- <br /> The tracks that we followed are clear -- <br /> The jovial last nights of December, <br /> The solemn first days of the year, <br /> Long tramps through the clearings and timber, <br /> Short partings on platform and pier. <br /> <br /> I can still feel the spirit that bore us, <br /> And often the old stars will shine -- <br /> I remember the last spree in chorus <br /> For the sake of that other Lang Syne, <br /> When the tracks lay divided before us, <br /> Your path through the future and mine. <br /> <br /> Through the frost-wind that cut like whip-lashes, <br /> Through the ever-blind haze of the drought -- <br /> And in fancy at times by the flashes <br /> Of light in the darkness of doubt -- <br /> I have followed the tent poles and ashes <br /> Of camps that we moved further out. <br /> <br /> You will find in these pages a trace of <br /> That side of our past which was bright, <br /> And recognise sometimes the face of <br /> A friend who has dropped out of sight -- <br /> I send them along in the place of <br /> The letters I promised to write.<br /><br />Henry Lawson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-an-old-mate/
