<i>A New Year's Toast</i> by C.J. Dennis

Here's to every Aussie fellow,

Who refused to show the yellow

When depression's clammy hand

Cast its shadow o'er the land.

Here's to them who never altered

When the timid feared and faltered,

But with dogged confidence

Backed their nation's sound good sense.

Here's to them who, ne'er reviling,

Took the knock and came up smiling -

Battlers with their steadfast gaze

Fixed ahead on better days.

Aussie cobbers, strong thro' striving,

Chastened by ill-luck are thriving;

Now that better days are near

Here's a prosperous New Year!

First published in The Herald, 31 December 1931

Author reference sites: C.J. Dennis, Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian Poetry Library

A New Year's Toast by C.J. Dennis