Today is the anniversary of the birth of Henry Lawson (1867), an Australian patriot who was one of this nation’s most famous and popular writers. Lawson wrote of Australia’s way of life and in doing so he helped to shape our national identity.
Much of Lawson’s prose and poetry was insightful into the ways of everyday life, and often humourous; however, he also wrote of his serious concerns for Australia’s future.
In fact, Henry Lawson’s warnings about the future of our country still resonate today. He would have been shocked to see the extent of foreign ownership, foreign imports, Third World immigration and Islamification that has occurred in Australia to date. Lawson had deep concerns that Australia’s population should remain predominantly of European descent, rather than the country be handed over to the peoples of the Third World along with all of the changes to our way of life that such a displacement would necessarily entail. His economic concerns included the need for training of more tradesmen and engineers, as well as for ways to harness our land’s waters to offset the effects of our many droughts – and all these concerns are still relevant even now.
Keep the wealth you have won from the cities, spend the wealth you have won on the land,
Save the floods that run into the ocean – save the floods that sink into the sand!
Make farms fit to live on, build workshops and technical schools for your sons;
Keep the wealth of the land in Australia – make your own cloth, machines, and guns!
[“Australia’s Peril (The Warning)”, 1905]
A war with reason you would wage
To be amused for your short span,
Until your children’s heritage
Is claimed for China by Japan
[“To Be Amused”, 1906]
Yet Lawson still had faith in the ability of the Australian people to overcome the odds and win through.
they hear the thud of a distant gun, or the distant rifles crack,
And Australians spring to their arms as one to drive the invaders back.
And far in the future (I see it well, and born of such days as these),
There lies an Australia invincible, and mistress of all her seas;
With monuments standing on hill and head, where her sons shall point with pride
To the names of Australia’s bravest dead, carved under the words “Here died.”
[“Here Died”, 1909]
On this day we remember the man Henry Lawson, his writings and his contribution to Australia. This is a day that ought to be commemorated in our nation’s schools and one that should be celebrated by patriotic Australians everywhere.
May the spirit of Henry Lawson forever live within our ranks and inspire our people for generations to come.
Henry Lawson was the greatest Australian poet ever!!!
And what a prophet he was too.
We need to heed his warnings.
We could do with more Henry Lawsons today.
Until your children’s heritage
Is claimed for China by Japan
Some words don't date.
What a great Australian.
It was talented people like him that made our country great and put us on a pedestal world wide.
God bless him