<i>I'm a Poor Down-Trodden Cockie</i> by C.J. Dennis

I'm a poor down-trodden cockie, an' I'm gettin' on in years;

I have held this bit of land since eighty-three;

And in that time I thought I'd seen most all the cares an' fears

It was possible a farmin' man could see.

I've been eaten out be rabbits, an' a time or two with rust;

An' the seasons have been mostly out of joint.

I've been worried with the locusts, and the heat, an' wind, an' dust,

An' the prices have been down to starvin' point.

An' now me sons have 'listed,

Fer it couldn't be resisted;

Such a chance to get some shootin' ev'ry day.

So they're marchin' to the wars,

For to have a cut at Boers;

Gone to find a better like an' better pay --

So they say --

An' the farm can mind itself while they're away.

I've been loaded up with mortgages an' bound by bills o' sale;

I have had me turn of fire an' flood an' drought.

There's me crops been choked with oats, an' nipped by frost, an' spoilt by hail;

I've been visited by ev'ry curse about.

But, spite of all me troubles, I have brought up Jack an' Ned,

So that useful, handy farmin' men they've grown;

But they've chucked away their chances to do soldierin' instead,

An' they've left their poor old father on his own.

For me sons have gone away now,

An' mother chucks the hay now,

While Mary does the ploughin' 'sted of Jack;

An' Sissy lumps the wheat,

An' father kills the meat,

For me sons have gone to strike a burger's track --

Ned an' Jack --

An' the farm can go to h__l till they come back.

First published in The Critic, 8 February 1902

Author reference sites: C.J. Dennis, Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian Poetry Library

I'm a Poor Down-Trodden Cockie by C.J. Dennis