Lachlan Side

Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)



REGION of damper and junk and tea,
Region of pastures wide!
The fairest spots in the world to me
Are out on the Lachlan Side.

CHORUS:
I’m off to the Lachlan Side,
Where the bright lagoons are wide;
I long for river and grass and tree,
And someone dearer than all to me,
Far out on the Lachlan Side.

My heart was hardened against advice
And reason I would not see,
For by the ocean a paradise
The city appeared to me.

CHORUS:
I’m off to the Lachlan Side, etc.

“Not I for a bumpkin’s fate,” I cried,
“I’ll not be a country clown!
A life’s too slow on the Lachlan Side;
I’ll go to the shining town!”

CHORUS:
I’m off to the Lachlan Side, etc.

I’ve lost the battle, I strike the flag,
The town may sink in the tide;
A wiser head and a lighter swag
I take to the Lachlan Side.

CHORUS:
I’m off to the Lachlan Side, etc.

When crops of wool on the plains shall grow,
Shall flourish in drought or rain,
And when the shearers begin to mow
I’ll come to the town again.

CHORUS:
I’m off to the Lachlan Side, etc.

But now I go to a kinder fate,
If her love still conquers pride;
Her heart was true when she sobbed, “I’ll wait
For you on the Lachlan Side.”

CHORUS:
I’m off to the Lachlan Side,
Where the bright lagoons are wide;
I long for river and grass and tree,
And someone dearer than all to me,
Far out on the Lachlan Side.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:19 min read
65

Quick analysis:

Scheme abab CBBAAB dada CE bfbf CE xbeb CE gxgx CE hbhb CBBAAB
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,316
Words 266
Stanzas 12
Stanza Lengths 4, 6, 4, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 4, 6

Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson 17 June 1867 - 2 September 1922 was an Australian writer and poet Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period more…

All Henry Lawson poems | Henry Lawson Books

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