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This is the complete poem “Where the Dead Men Lie “ (Ref #1) published under the pseudonym 'Surcingle' in The Bulletin in 1891. Barcroft Henry Thomas Boake (1866 - 1892) (Ref #2) was born in Sydney, but preferred the bush, living and working in the Monaro and Snowy regions, and in Western Queensland. Tragically, less than six months after the publication of this fine poem, he was dead by his own hand, aged 26. A collection of his poetry titled “Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems” (Ref #3) was published posthumously in 1897. There is a review from the 1890s (Ref #4) And more details about his life (Ref #5)
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LINKS
(Ref #1) “Where the Dead Men Lie “ : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_the_Dead_Men_Lie
(Ref #2) Barcroft Boake : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcroft_Boake_(poet)
(Ref #3) “Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems” : gutenberg.net.au/ebooks12/1203871h.html
(Ref #4) Review : trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/87768208
(Ref #5) More about his life here : adb.anu.edu.au/biography/boake-barcroft-henry-3018
==================================

lyrics

Where the Dead Men Lie
by Barcroft Boake (1866 - 1892)
Tune by Doug Owen
-----------------------------
[V.1] Out on the wastes of the "Never Never,"
That's where the dead men lie,
There where the heat-waves dance forever,
That's where the dead men lie;
That's where the Earth's lov'd sons are keeping
Endless tryst - not the west wind sweeping
Feverish pinions, can wake their sleeping -
Out where the dead men lie !

[V.2] Where brown Summer and Death have mated,
That's where the dead men lie,
Loving with fiery lust unsated,
That's where the dead men lie;
Out where the grinning skulls bleach whitely,
Under the saltbush sparkling brightly,
Out where the wild dogs chorus nightly,
That's where the dead men lie.

[V.3] Deep in the yellow, flowing river,
That's where the dead men lie,
Under the banks where the shadows quiver,
That's where the dead men lie;
Where the platypus twists and doubles,
Leaving a trail of tiny bubbles;
Rid at last of their earthly troubles,
That's where the dead men lie.

[V.4] East and backward pale faces turning,
That's how the dead men lie;
Gaunt arms stretched with a voiceless yearning,
That's how the dead men lie;
Oft in the fragrant hush of nooning,
Hearing again their mother's crooning,
Wrapt for aye in a dreadful swooning,
That's how the dead men lie.

[V.5] Nought but the hand of Night can free them;
That's when the dead men fly;
Only the frightened cattle see them -
See the dead men go by;
Cloven hoofs beating out one measure,
Bidding the stockman know no leisure,
That's when the dead men take their pleasure,
That's when the dead men fly.

[V.6] Ask, too, the never-sleeping drover,
He sees the dead pass by,
Hearing them call to their friends - the plover,
Hearing the dead men cry.
Seeing their faces stealing, stealing,
Hearing their laughter pealing, pealing,
Watching their grey forms wheeling, wheeling
Round where the cattle lie.

[V.7] Strangled by thirst and fierce privation -
That's how the dead men die
Out on "Moneygrub's" furthest station,
That's how the dead men die;
Hard-faced greybeards, youngsters callow,
Some mounds cared for, some left fallow,
Some deep down, yet others shallow,
Some having but the sky.

[V.8] "Moneygrub" as he sips his claret
Looks with complacent eye
Down at his watch-chain, eighteen-carat,
There in his club hard by:
Recks not that every link is stamped with
Names of the men whose limbs are cramped with
Too long lying in grave-mould, camped with
Death where the dead men lie.

credits

from Drovers, Stockmen and Bullockies, track released November 7, 2023
Tune by Doug Owen
Cello by Lillian Penner

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The Queensland Tiger

The Queensland Tiger covers traditional Australian ballads mainly from 19C.: e.g. Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson, Breaker Morant, Charles Thatcher, etc…. true to the original works.
website : www.thequeenslandtiger.com or Youtube channel : The Queensland Tiger ... more

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