With apologies to the shade of Browning

   O to be in Melbourne
         Now the Show is there;
         For whoever goes to Melbourne
      Sees now the broad brood mare
   And the lowing bull and the champion sheaf
   Of golden grain, nigh past belief,
   And the litter of pigs with their fine, fat sow,
         In Melbourne -- now!

I hear again the hooves a-rattle,
The barking dogs and the bellowing cattle.
   Hark, where old Blossom o'er the Show stall's ledge
Looks out and dreams of pleasant fields of clover.
   Leaning her dewlap on the door's hard edge -
That's the wise calf, he bellows ten times over
   As if he thought -- altho' she stands quite near him --
   His parent couldn't hear him ...
And, tho' the beards, look rough that lean about,
They have been very carefully combed out.
   So the talk ebbs and flows of crops and seasons,
Costs and world prices and the threat of war
   And war's effect; while men discover reasons
Why this year will be well worth waiting for.
   "Stick to the land," they say, "The land's all right.
   Since twenty-eight it's been a fair tough fight;
But, Lord, the world has got to have its tucker
And clothes to wear." Then Smith, with brows a-pucker,
   Says, "Look; my sow had ought of won that Cup
   After the hours I spent dollin' her up."
Then someone calls, "Come on!  The jumpin's started!"
   And there are sights to see, smells on the air,
Old friends I know-it makes a man downhearted
   Thinking.  Heigh-ho! I wish that I was there.

"Den"
Herald, 21 September 1935, p6