‘The Days When The World Was Wide’

Henry Lawson (excerpt)

The world is narrow and ways are short,

And our lives are dull and slow,

For little is new where the crowds resort,

And less where the wanderers go;

Greater, or smaller, the same old things

We see by the dull road-side—

And tired of all is the spirit that sings

Of the days when the world was wide.

When the North was hale in the march of Time,

And the South and the West were new,

And the gorgeous East was a pantomime,

As it seemed in our boyhood’s view;

When Spain was first on the waves of change,

And proud in the ranks of pride,

And all was wonderful, new and strange

In the days when the world was wide.

They sailed away in the ships that sailed

Ere science controlled the main,

When the strong, brave heart of a man prevailed

As ’twill never prevail again;

They knew not whither, nor much they cared—

Let Fate or the winds decide—

The worst of the Great Unknown they dared

In the days when the world was wide.

They raised new stars on the silent sea

That filled their hearts with awe;

They came to many a strange countree

And marvellous sights they saw.

The villagers gaped at the tales they told,

And old eyes glistened with pride—

When barbarous cities were paved with gold

In the days when the world was wide.

’Twas honest metal and honest wood,

In the days of the Outward Bound,

When men were gallant and ships were good—

Roaming the wide world round.

They tried to live as a freeman should—

They were happier men than we,

In the glorious days of wine and blood,

When Liberty crossed the sea

The good ship bound for the southern seas

When the beacon was Ballarat,

With a ‘Ship ahoy!’ on the freshening breeze,

‘Where bound?’ and ‘What ship’s that?’—

The emigrant train to New Mexico—

The rush to the Lachlan Side—

Ah! faint is the echo of Westward Ho!

From the days when the world was wide.