The Days When We went Swimming

The breezes waved the silver grass,     Waist-high along the siding,     And to the creek we neer could pass     Three boys on bare-back riding;     Beneath the sheoaks in the bend     The waterhole was brimming,     Do you remember yet, old friend,     The times we went in swimming?     The days we played the wag from school,     Joys shared, and paid for singly,     The air was hot, the water cool,     And naked boys are kingly!     With mud for soap the sun to dry,     A well planned lie to stay us,     And dust well rubbed on neck and face     Lest cleanliness betray us.     And youll remember farmer Kutz,     Though scarcely for his bounty,     He leased a forty-acre block,     And thought he owned the county;     A farmer of the old world school,     That men grew hard and grim in,     He drew his water from the pool     That we preferred to swim in.     And do you mind when down the creek     His angry way he wended,     A green-hide cartwhip in his hand     For our young backs intended?     Three naked boys upon the sand,     Half buried and half sunnin,     Three startled boys without their clothes     Across the paddocks running.     Weve had some scares, but we looked blank     When, resting there and chumming,     One glanced by chance along the bank     And saw the farmer coming!     And home impressions linger yet     Of cups of sorrow brimming;     I hardly think that well forget     The last day we went swimming.