In the silent land,
Everywhere there is white, white sand,
And a deep and never-ending hush.
Over the grey and the sparse saltbush,
The bones of the fallen mark the track,
And life is one long, long looking back,
In the silent land.
In the silent land,
A lean Death stalks with a beck'ning hand,
The heavy swag to the back is bound,
The sweat falls salt on the thirsty ground,
Under a sun that for aeons has shone,
And the river is always "further on,"
In the silent land.
In the silent land,
Never is flower by wet wind fanned,
No bird calls cheering and musical,
But a wide-winged fear broods over all;
White sand, grey saltbush, and whiter bone--
And when men die it is all alone,
In the silent land.
First published in The Australian Town and Country Journal, 28 February 1906
Author reference sites: Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography
See also.
Everywhere there is white, white sand,
And a deep and never-ending hush.
Over the grey and the sparse saltbush,
The bones of the fallen mark the track,
And life is one long, long looking back,
In the silent land.
In the silent land,
A lean Death stalks with a beck'ning hand,
The heavy swag to the back is bound,
The sweat falls salt on the thirsty ground,
Under a sun that for aeons has shone,
And the river is always "further on,"
In the silent land.
In the silent land,
Never is flower by wet wind fanned,
No bird calls cheering and musical,
But a wide-winged fear broods over all;
White sand, grey saltbush, and whiter bone--
And when men die it is all alone,
In the silent land.
First published in The Australian Town and Country Journal, 28 February 1906
Author reference sites: Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography
See also.
