Barcroft Henry Thomas Boake

“ The Empress crept up to him, stride upon stride.
No need to say Charlie was riding her now,
Yet still for all that he had something in hand,
With here a sharp stoop to avoid a low bough,
Or quick rise and fall as a tree-trunk they spanned.
In his terror the brumby struck down the rough falls
Towards Yiack, with fierce disregard for his neck:
Tis useless, he finds, for the mare overhauls
Him slowly: no timber could keep her in check.
There's a narrow-beat pathway that winds to and fro
Down the deeps of the gully, half-hid from the day ”

“ For the Lord of the Hills struck a spur for the flat
And followed it, leaving his mob, mares and all,
While Empress (brave heart! she could climb like a cat)
Down the stony descent raced with never a fall. ”

“ And a sun-shrunken hide o'er a few whitened bones
Marks the last resting-place of the Lord of the Hills.
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, 1973) . ”