The Route March

Henry Lawson, 1915

      Did you hear the children singing, O my brothers?
      Did you hear the children singing as our troops went marching past?
             In the sunshine and the rain,
             As they'll never sing again —
      Hear the little school-girls singing as our troops went swinging past?


      Did you hear the children singing, O my brothers?
      Did you hear the children singing for the first man and the last?
             As they marched away and vanished,
             To a tune we thought was banished —
      Did you hear the children singing for the future and the past?


      Shall you hear the children singing, O my brothers?
      Shall you hear the children singing in the sunshine or the rain?
             There'll be sobs beneath the ringing
             Of the cheers, and 'neath the singing
      There'll be tears of orphan children when
             Our Boys come back again!