Horns outspread and heads bent low, Two and two the bullocks go;Black and brown, and white and red, Heads bent low and horns outspread; Red and white, and brown and black, Curving up the rugged track;Draw by Allan T. Bernaldo
"Through the scented bush they swing."
Plodding, patient, steady, slow, Two and two the bullocks go.
Fresh and early is the day; Roughly jolts the empty dray; While the driver strolls along,Whistling, humming scraps of song. Through the scented bush they swing; Gum-trees tower, and tree-ferns spring; Bending boughs against them sway; Sturdily they make their wayTowards its heart, where, tall and grand, Giant splitting-trees do stand.
Now the morning"s wide awake, Sounds of work the silence break- Tap of mallet, knife-wrench fleet, Palings drop like swift-reaped wheat Heavy thud of falling axe,Fresh-cut timber piled in stacks. Horns outspread and heads bent low, Two and two the bullocks go.
Level glows the setting sun;
Working day is nearly done;
Down the winding homeward road Come the bullocks with their load, Palings piled upon the dray; Patiently they plod their way, Steady step, and powerful swing, Wheels behind them lumbering.
Redder burns the evening glow; Long and dusk the shadows grow; Night and rest are coming soon; Out of twilight sails the moon.
Red and white, and brown and black, Curving down the rugged track;Two and two the bullocks go,
Horns outspread: and heads bent low.
-VeroniCa Mason
About the Author.-VeroniCa Mason is a Tasmanian poetess, now living in England. A charming little book of her verses, entitled I Heard a Child Singing, was published by Elkin Mathews, London.
About the Poem.-Why are bullocks yoked two and two? Why not three and three, or four and four? Why is the track rugged? What scents are in the bush? Explain "tap of mallet, knife-wrench fleet." What kinds of trees yield palings? Does the swing of the poem suit the swing of theteam? What words suggest slow progress?
Suggestion s for Verse-speaking.-This poem can be divided into several speaking parts-the bullocks, the bush, the workmen, and evening.
Verse 1, spoken by the "bullocks" arranged in pairs, each pair speaking two lines or, if there are only two pairs of "bullocks" available, all four can speak the first and last pairs of lines and divide the second and third pairs.
Verse 2, spoken by the "bush."
Verse 3, first six lines spoken by the "workmen", last two lines by the "bullocks."Verses 4 and 5, first four lines spoken by "evening", last four lines by the bullocks.
The "bullocks" can keep moving in time with the beat of their lines-two steps to each line.
