The skies that arched his land were blue, <br /> <br />His bush-born winds were warm and sweet, <br /> <br />And yet from earliest hours he knew <br /> <br />The tides of victory and defeat; <br /> <br />From fierce floods thundering at his birth, <br /> <br />From red droughts ravening while he played, <br /> <br />He learned to fear no foes on earth – <br /> <br />“The bravest thing God ever made!” <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />The bugles of the motherland <br /> <br />Rang ceaselessly across the sea, <br /> <br />To call him and his lean brown band <br /> <br />To shape imperial destiny; <br /> <br />He went, by youth’s grave purpose willed, <br /> <br />The goal unknown, the cost unweighed, <br /> <br />The promise of his blood fulfilled – <br /> <br />“The bravest thing God ever made!” <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />We know - it is our deathless pride! – <br /> <br />The splendour of his first fierce blows, <br /> <br />How, reckless, glorious, undenied, <br /> <br />He stormed those steel-lined cliffs we know. <br /> <br />And none who saw him scale the height <br /> <br />Behind his reeking bayonet blade <br /> <br />Would rob him of his title-right – <br /> <br />“The bravest thing God ever made!” <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Bravest, where half the world of men <br /> <br />Are brave beyond all earth’s rewards, <br /> <br />So stoutly none shall charge again <br /> <br />Till the last breaking of the swords; <br /> <br />Wounded or hale, won home from the war, <br /> <br />Or yonder by the Lone Pine laid, <br /> <br />Give him his due forever more – <br /> <br />“The bravest thing God ever made!”<br /><br />William Henry Ogilvie<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-australian/
