Drums!  A whisper of drums . . .
The elm is dreaming of the Spring,
   Against the pearl of clouded skies.
   Where soft a filtered sunlight lies,
The planes their woodland earrings swing.


The waiting city throbs and hums -
   Ten thousand people stand at gaze
   And fill her barricaded ways.
For lo! this day . . . but hark! the drums!


Drums!  Drums!  Drums!
The air is a-tremble - what comes? . . . 


Was ever man whose heart could beat
   Its normal pace to the bugle's call?
   The high stern note, the dying fall,
And through it all the tramping feet!


The drums again: and loud and clear
   A hundred bugles pierce the sky.
Rejoice, O heart, and know no fear,
   'Tis young Australia's battle cry!


Ring through the world, O sounding brass!
   Beat, beat, O wild compelling drum!
Who saw has seen Australia pass,
   Has seen the Nation yet to come!

The Mooch of Life
"R.H.C."
Herald 20 May 1922, p26
with The Day by C.J. Dennis