Kendall, Henry

Australia, (1839-1882)

When Underneath the Brown Dead Grass

  1. When underneath the brown dead grass
  2. My weary bones are laid,
  3. I hope I shall not see the glass
  4. At ninety in the shade.
  5. I trust indeed that, when I lie
  6. Beneath the churchyard pine,
  7. I shall not hear that startling cry
  8. ” ‘Thermom’ is ninety-nine!”
  9.  
  10. If one should whisper through my sleep
  11. “Come up and be alive,”
  12. I’d answer — No, unless you’ll keep
  13. The glass at sixty-five.
  14. I might be willing if allowed
  15. To wear old Adam’s rig,
  16. And mix amongst the city crowd
  17. Like Polynesian “nig”.
  18.  
  19. Far better in the sod to lie,
  20. With pasturing pig above,
  21. Than broil beneath a copper sky —
  22. In sight of all I love!
  23. Far better to be turned to grass
  24. To feed the poley cow,
  25. Than be the half boiled bream, alas,
  26. That I am really now!
  27.  
  28. For cow and pig I would not hear,
  29. And hoof I would not see;
  30. But if these items did appear
  31. They wouldn’t trouble me.
  32. For ah! the pelt of mortal man
  33. Weighs less than half a ton,
  34. And any sight is better than
  35. A sultry southern sun.

Henry Kendall. Songs from the Mountains. Sydney: W. Maddock (1880).

About the Poet:

Thomas Henry Kendall, Australia, (1839-1882), was a bush poet and journalist. At age 20 in 1859, Kendall began contributing poems to literary journals and newspapers. His first published collection, Poems and Songs, appearing in 1862.
Kendall published three volumes of poetry in his lifetime. His last and most successful collection of poems was Songs from the Mountains.

Through much of his life, Kendall remained a steady contributor of poetry to newspapers and journals while also being engaged in a series of clerical positions in government departments and doing additional work as a journalist.

After his death, Kendall was recognized as one of Australia’s finest poets of his time. His skill with the lyric form invited some to compare his work to that of Wordsworth, and he was also noted for his satirical verse. His continued popularity today results from his unique voice in calling up the images and spirit of the Australian landscape and peoples. [DES-03/18]

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