You only know him groomed and combed
And bridled on parade ;
I know the paddocks where he roamed,
I saw him roped and made.
I saw him on a Queensland plain
Unbranded and unthrown,
With mud upon his tangled mane
And forelock backward blown.
I saw him in the breaker's yard
Bereft of half his pride,
The foam upon his shoulder starred,
The sweat upon his side.
He loved the wide-fenced fields, and I,
Who loved those fields as dear.
Lived with him where the long plains lie
Six hundred leagues from here.
You only know him groomed and combed,
A charger on parade ;
I know the paddocks where he roamed
Ere he was roped and made.
