Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE STREETS OF FORBES, by JOHN MCGUIRE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE STREETS OF FORBES, by                    
First Line: Come all you lachlan men
Last Line: To show the prize they had!
Subject(s): Crime & Criminals; Grief; Hero-worship; Heroism; Murder; Sorrow; Sadness; Heroes; Heroines


COME all you Lachlan men,
A sorrowful tale I'll tell
Concerning a bold hero
Who through misfortune fell.
His name it was Ben Hall,
A man of great renown,
Who was hunted from his station
And like a dog shot down.

Three years he roamed the highway
And had a lot of fun,
A thousand pounds was on his head,
With Gilbert and John Dunn.
Ben parted from his comrades;
The outlaws did agree
To give up their bushranging
And cross the briny sea.

Ben went to Goobang Creek,
And this was his downfall;
For riddled like a sieve
Was valiant Ben Hall.
It was early in the morning
Upon the fifth of May,
When the police surrounded him
As fast asleep he lay.

Bill Dargin he was chosen
To shoot the outlaw dead;
The troopers fired madly
And filled him full of lead.

They threw him on his horse
And strapped him like a swag,
Then led him through the streets of Forbes
To show the prize they had!





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