This poem originally appeared in The Mercury on Wednesday 25 October 1899.

‘Tasmania’s Gift’

By W.H.D.

A cry rang out front the sore oppressed
To the Mother, calm and strong;
And She said, “Let the evil be redressed
“Let there be an end to the wrong!”
But the wrongers hardened their hearts, and went
Their accustomed way, nor paused nor bent:
So it comes to War’s arbitrament;
And we have a word to say.
A peaceful folk, in our island home,
(The Pearl of the Southern Sea!)
There is Royal blood in our veins – we come
Of a race whose sons are free!
Once again the ancient spirit stirs;
Once again the lust of battle spurs;
For we know that a righteous cause is Hers,
And none shall say her nay I
She needs no help; but seeing us keen
To prove our love complete.
Gladly and frankly accepts, like a Queen,
The offering laid at Her feet;
By the cost to the giver She measures the worth
Of the gift that comes from the end of the earth;
And men in the land of our fathers’ birth
Are proud of us to-day!
Words are cheap; and wealth we have none
To spare; what we have, we send;
Our best and dearest – brother and son –
Comrade, lover, and friend:
Send – with the cheer that chokes a sigh;
Send – be their fortune to live or to die;
Send where Her banner floats on high
O’er the battle’s stern array!
Go, then, our own! And remember well
What trust in your hands is laid;
Let dauntless, dogged courage tell
What men in our isle are made I
Prove to the world we have kept the strain
Of the old true blood! In joy and pain
We send you forth; let it not be in vain.
Be the issue what it may!
And Thou, our Mother, beloved, revered I
By the unsought gift of our best,
Leam that in growth we have only neared
Moro close to the Home in the West;
That the tics of race and blood hold fast;
That the days of ignoble counsel are past;
That Thy children are with Thee, first and last.
With Thee – with Thee away!

‘Tasmania’s Gift’ by W.H.D. The Mercury, 25 October 1899, page 2. Retrieved from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12761378.

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