| Walter Murdoch (1874–1970). The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse. 1918. |
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| 66. Australia |
| | | (Published on the day the Australian Fleet reached Sydney) |
| | | By Dowell O’Reilly |
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| WHAT can we give in return | |
| For her beauty and mystery | |
| Of flowering forest, infinite plain, | |
| Deep sky and distant mountain-chain, | |
| And her triumphant sea, | 5 |
| Thundering old songs of liberty? | |
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| Love—steadfast as her stars, | |
| And passionate as her sun, | |
| And joyous as the winds, that fling | |
| The golden petals of her spring | 10 |
| By gully, spur, and run, | |
| On dreaming age, and little one: | |
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| Courage—when courage fails | |
| In the blind smoke and pain | |
| Of raging fire, and lurid sky, | 15 |
| And dumb thirst-driven agony— | |
| Till river and creek again | |
| Swirl seaward through the teeming rain. | |
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| Faith—wild flower of the soul, | |
| Thrilling the breathless night | 20 |
| With fragrance, and the desolate ways | |
| Where silence fears to whisper praise, | |
| With radiant delight | |
| Of wonder—worship in God’s sight. | |
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| Duty—O great white stars, | 25 |
| And glorious red cross, shine | |
| On victory, when, rushing forth | |
| Against the peril of the North, | |
| Australia’s battle-line | |
| Flings out Trafalgar’s deathless sign. | 30 |
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