Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AUSTRALIAN BILL, by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AUSTRALIAN BILL, by                 Poet Analysis    
First Line: Australian bill is dying fast
Last Line: Or stands outside a school.
Alternate Author Name(s): Davies, W. H.
Subject(s): Alcoholism & Alcoholics; Drunkards; Alcohol Abuse


Australian Bill is dying fast,
For he's a drunken fool:
He either sits in an alehouse,
Or stands outside a school.

He left this house of ours at seven,
And he was drunk by nine;
And when I passed him near a school
He nods his head to mine.

When Bill took to the hospital,
Sick, money he had none --
He came forth well, but lo! his home,
His wife and child had gone.

'I'll watch a strange school every day,
Until the child I see;
For Liz will send the child to school --
No doubt of that,' says he.

And 'Balmy' Tom is near as bad,
A-drinking ale till blind:
No absent child grieves he, but there's
A dead love on his mind.

But Bill, poor Bill, is dying fast,
For he's the greater fool;
He either sits in an alehouse
Or stands outside a school.





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