(On hearing the news of the capture of the Emden.)
O! Sydney, I must tell you how glad I am to-day!
Send a message to your villas stretching out to Watson's Bay,
And your South Head and your North Head and the jewels of your spray.
I can almost hear the cheering, and my heart is full of song,
For the wind has brought me whispers as it sweeps the paean along,
And it beats the heart to laughter as a swift stroke on a gong.
Yes, there must be flags in Sydney, waving like a bunch of flowers,
When the southerly is carrying off the heat of earlier hours,
When the drought of noon is broken by a silver rush of showers.
All the World was waiting for you, O! you cruiser, staunch and grey,
Barely two years old, you beauty, an as fresh as child at play;
With the gallant ensigns streaming and a spirit brave as they.
Just two knots (top speed) the swifter! and the Emden for a catch!
The ship that blocked the trade doors till your touch was on the latch;
By the corralled Cocos Islands, there the German met his match.
O, my dear, dear Sydney's namesake! I could should and dance and sing,
For the dining brought a message on a happy, hurtling, wing,
And I heard the cry of "Sydney!" rising high o'er everything.
First published in The Sydney Mail, 23 December 1914