‘Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes’—itself an echo of Swinburne's dedication to ‘Poems and Ballads’—and commences:
I cannot climb Fame's tower and ring
An ever-sounding chime;
I only have the art to string
Poor phrases into rhyme:
Nor can I strike that subtle chord
Of melody flung heavenward,
Like those whose names are deeply scored
Upon the walls of time.
However faint, I yet may catch
A gentle undertone;
However humble, yet a snatch
Of song to call my own—
An echo from that Alpine height
Too steep for me, yet still in sight,
Where, emulating swallow flight,
The songs of these have flown.
Ten verses follow referring to scenes in ‘Rolf Boldrewood's’ novels, and the address closes—
Chieftain! whose banner is unfurled
Upon the Murray's banks;
You who throughout the lettered world
Have won undying thanks—
A veteran's honours on your breast:
Deal gently by these lines addressed
By one who must remain at best
A private in the ranks.
