The Far Future (1859)
by Thomas Henry Kendall
4253793The Far Future1859Thomas Henry Kendall

AUSTRALIA, advancing with rapid wing'd stride,
Shall plant among nations her banners in pride,
The yoke of dependance aside she will cast,
And build on the ruins the wrecks of the Past.
Her flag on the tempest will wave to proclaim
'Mong kingdoms and empires her national name.
The Future shall see it asleep or unfurl'd,
The shelter of Freedom and boast of the world.

Australia, advancing like Day, on the sky,
Has glimmer'd thro' darkness, will blazon on high,
A Gem in its glitter has yet to be seen, [been;
When Progress shall place her where England has
When bursting those limits above she will soar,
Outstretching all rivals who've mounted before,
And resting will blaze with her glories unfurl'd,
The empire of empires and boast of the world.

Australia, advancing with Power will entwine,
With Honour and Justice a Mercy divine;
No Despot shall trample — no slave will be bound —
Oppression must totter, and fall to the ground.
The stain of all ages, tyrannical sway,
Will pass like a flash, or a shadow away,
And shrink to a nothing 'neath thunder bolts hurl'd
From the hand of the terror — the boast of the world.

Australia, advancing with rapid wing'd stride,
Shall plant among nations her banners in pride :
The yoke of dependance aside she will cast,@
To build on the ruins the wrecks of the Past.
Her flag in the tempest will wave to praclaim,
'Mong kingdoms and empires her national name,
And Ages shall see it, asleep or unfurl'd,
The shelter of Freedom and boast of the world.

@ "I hope the above will not be considered disloyal. It is but reasonable to imagine that Australia will in the far future become an independent nation — that imagination springing as it does from a native-born Australian's brain."

This work is in the public domain in Australia because it was created in Australia and the term of copyright has expired. According to Australian Copyright Council - Duration of Copyright, the following works are public domain:

  • published non-government works whose author died before January 1, 1955,
  • anonymous or pseudonymous works and photographs published before January 1, 1955, and
  • government works published more than 50 years ago (before January 1, 1974).

This work is also in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in Australia on the URAA date (January 1, 1996). This is the combined effect of Australia having joined the Berne Convention in 1928, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.

Because the Australian copyright term in 1996 was 50 years, the critical date for copyright in the United States under the URAA is January 1, 1946.


This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

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This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

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