Australia Federata

Australia! land of lonely lake     And serpent-haunted fen;     Land of the torrent and the fire     And forest-sundered men:     Thou art not now as thou shalt be     When the stern invaders come,     In the hush before the hurricane,     The dread before the drum.     A louder thunder shall be heard     Than echoes on thy shore,     When oer the blackened basalt cliffs     The foreign cannon roar,     When the stand is made in the sheoaks shade     When heroes fall for thee,     And the creeks in gloomy gullies run     Dark crimson to the sea:     When under honeysuckles gray,     And wattles swaying gold,     The stalwart arm may strike no more,     The valiant heart is cold,     When thou shalt know the agony,     The fever, and the strife     Of those who wrestle against odds     For liberty and life:     Then is the great Dominion born,     The seven sisters bound,     From Sydneys greenly wooded port     To lone King Georges Sound,     Then shall the islands of the south,     The lands of bloom and snow,     Forth from their isolation come     To meet the common foe.     Then, only then, when after war     Is peace with honour born,     When from the bosom of the night     Comes golden-sandalled morn,     When laurelled victory is thine,     And the day of battle done,     Shall the heart of a mighty people stir,     And Australia be as one.