A PSALM OF VICTORY.

(A psalm of David upon an instrument of 10 strings.)

Behold a troop cometh up from the sea, yea, mighty men of valor are landing upon the
seashore;
Guns that turn upon wheels are at the place of landing; even cannon that cast forth the
thunderbolts of war.
There is sound of many horses prancing, of horses that buck and of steeds that rear upon
their hind props.
Behold, the bugle bloweth, hear ye the horn of battle.
There be ten thousand that feast and rejoice, yea, an hundred thousand that eat rice with
chop-sticks.
Their faces be yellow as tarnished brass, their visages are fashioned after the similitude of
the monkey which hangeth down his tail from the top branch.
They cry with a loud voice, they set up their tents upon the seashore, they make a great
tumult. The banner over them is the banner of the ising !un.
Behold, they come to slay, to burn with fire, to divide the spoil.
They are a mighty host. "ho shall stand against them#
!hall words stay them# !hall they be salved with the ointment of speech#
Behold they are angry, and their hands are trained to shoot straight. "ho shall oppose
their might#
$all with the voice of a trumpet% &$ome forth ye that love 'ustralia, come forth ye men
of white skin and high countenance. The day of your testing is at hand()
"ho answereth to the call#
*o, the legion of !toush cometh, the men of many battles draw nigh. "ho shall stand
against them#
They come with the cut that is called the upper, with the left that is straight, with the
crouch that dismayeth the belly of the warrior.
They come, they draw near, they vaunt themselves.
"ho cometh after#
Behold, the legion of them that be mighty with the bat that is of willow, and the ball that
pitcheth to the off and breaketh to the leg% "ho shall stand against them#
These shall smite them to the s+uare-leg, these shall cut them to the boundary, these shall
drive them with might to the mid-on.
These shall cause their middle stump to fall to the earth, and make them to be caught in
the slips.
They shall see the ball, they shall smite upon it, and behold it is not, yea, verily, and the
umpire shall give them out l.b.w.
They shall bowl all day and scatter nothing, they shall pursue leather in the sunshine and
the chase shall be vain.
,
"ho cometh after#
Behold a troop cometh.
They ride upon the moke that is swift, yea, they are high-seated on the racing prad.
Their flight is swifter than the eagle-s. "ho shall stand against them#
Their limbs are the limbs of children, and their faces are the faces of old men, and one
who hath a banjo singeth to them and rimeth like the .evil.
They leap the hurdle and the stone wall, they smite one another in the straight place, they
pull upon the reins of the bridle and are not ashamed in the gate.
"herefore /atrick 'braham rejoiceth and the devices of the punter are brought low.
!o shall it be with those of the yellow visage, and the countenance that hath the seal of
the monkey.
"ho cometh after#
*o, they that smite upon the ball with the hoof, they who stay the swift in his flight, and
wrestle with the strong the miry way.
The voice of the barracker is loud0lo, he barracketh e1ceedingly as these make haste to
the war.
Behold when the scrum is set these shall overcome, and jiu-jitsu shall be as the play of
the ring-tailed possum in the gum trees of forgetfulness.
2ow are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war become even as the tinned fish of
yesterday(
"ho cometh after#
Behold the men that make music upon instruments of brass,
The men that smite with the racket in the courts of afternoon tea,
They that urge the skiff over the deep waters,
They that make the wheels to spin about the black circle
They that sit upon the chariots that smell, whom men call the swine of the highway.
'll these and more follow after the war.
"ho is he that speaketh to the foe afar off#
*o, the prophet from among the strong cattle whose name is Bill the Bullocky, he
speaketh to the foe afar off.
2im hath the Governor-General appointed to curse the enemy in the gate, and the curses
that he maketh are as the smoke of !heol and as the wind that breaketh the mountains in
sunder.
3
2ow speedeth the battle that is joined upon the seashore.
Behold, the men of yellow countenance cannot face the bowling, and the play is made in
their twenty-five.
They are smitten on the jaw and cannot counter; they divide the spoil with 'braham, and
they cannot pick a winner.
!o shall it be to all the workers of ini+uity when the men of 'ustralia are on the job.
2ow are the mighty fallen( 2ow is the blanky cow die comfited(
They fall, they lie down, they rise; where they lie down there they fall, then they are
kicked upright again.
"ho hath done this#
'ustralia, mighty in battle, behold she hath done this(
The land mighty in stoush hath wrought it(
4t is the work of them that play at the wickets,
5f them that follow hard after the ball,
5f them that ride upon swift mokes,
5f them that lay the great odds.
The land mighty in stoush hath wrought it(
'ustralia, mighty in battle, behold, she hath done this.
6et behold( This tale of victory seemeth too dashed thin.
.avid 7c8ee "right.
7aoriland.
The Bulletin, 9 'pril ,:;:.
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