As I rode in the early dawn, While stars were fading white.
I saw upon a grassy slope
A camp-fire burning bright;
With tent behind and blaze before, Three loggers in a rowSang all together joyously-"Three loggers in a row."
Pull up the stakes and go! As I rode on by Eagle Hawk, The wide, blue deep of air,The wind among the glittering leaves,The flowers so sweet and fair,
The thunder of the rude salt waves,
The creek"s soft overflow,
All joined in chorus to the words- Pull up the stakes and go!
Now, by the tent on forest skirt, By odour of the earth,By sight and scent of morning smoke,By evening camp-fire"s mirth,
By deep-sea call and foaming green, By new stars" gleam and glow,By summer trails in antique lands- Pull up the stakes and go!
The world is wide, and we are young, And sounding marches heat,And passion pipes her sweetest callIn lane and field and street;
So rouse the chorus, brothers all, We"ll something have to showWhen Death comes round and strikes our tent- Pull up the stakes and go!
James Hebblethwaite.
Author.-Jamles Hebblethwaite (1857-1921) was born in Lancashire, England. He followed the teaching profession for twelve years, and also gave public lectures on English literature. He came to Tasmania in 1890, and engaged in teaching, then took orders in the Anglican Church, 1903. His works include Verses(published by the Hobart "Mercury"); A Rose of Regret (The "Bulletin" Co.); Meadow and Bush ( "Bookfellow," Sydney); Poems (E. A. Vidler), and New Poems (E. A. Vidler).
General Notes.-Do you like the care-free, open-air sound of theseverses? Of what does the swing of the rhythm remind you-gallop, canter, trot, walk, or amble? Can you find any anap?sts, which are so common in galloping rhymes ( " With a leap-and a bound-the swift an-ap?sts throng")? How many " beats" in each line? Pick out the rhyming lines. What line acts as a refrain! Explain the metaphor in the second last line of the poem.
