I was talking about this poem to PF a couple of days ago.

The narrator is an Irish immigrant farmer in Oz about the time of the Depression.

You need to read in in a light Irish accent. We have all met a Hanrahan. This is a bit long.



SAID HANRAHAN


"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, In accents most forlorn,
Outside the church, ere Mass began, One frosty Sunday morn.
The congregation stood about, Coat-collars to the ears,
And talked of stock, and crops, and drought, As it had done for years.

"It's lookin' crook," said Daniel Croke; "Bedad, it's cruke, me lad,
For never since the banks went broke Has seasons been so bad."
"It's dry, all right," said young O'Neil, With which astute remark
He squatted down upon his heel And chewed a piece of bark.
And so around the chorus ran" It's keepin' dry, no doubt."
"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,"Before the year is out."

The crops are done; ye'll have your work To save one bag of grain;
From here way out to Back-o'-Bourke They're singin' out for rain."
They're singin' out for rain," he said," And all the tanks are dry."
The congregation scratched its head,And gazed around the sky.
"There won't be grass, in any case, Enough to feed an ass;
There's not a blade on Casey's place As I came down to Mass."
"If rain don't come this month," said Dan, And cleared his throat to speak--
"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,"If rain don't come this week."

A heavy silence seemed to steal On all at this remark;
And each man squatted on his heel, And chewed a piece of bark.
"We want a inch of rain, we do," O'Neil observed at last;
But Croke "maintained" we wanted two To put the danger past.
"If we don't get three inches, man, Or four to break this drought, We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, "Before the year is out."

In God's good time down came the rain; And all the afternoon
On iron roof and window-pane It drummed a homely tune.
And through the night it pattered still, And lightsome, gladsome elves
On dripping spout and window-sill Kept talking to themselves.

It pelted, pelted all day long, A-singing at its work,
Till every heart took up the song Way out to Back-o'Bourke.
And every creek a banker ran, And dams filled overtop;
"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,"If this rain doesn't stop."

And stop it did, in God's good time; And spring came in to fold
A mantle o'er the hills sublime Of green and pink and gold.
And days went by on dancing feet, With harvest-hopes immense,
And laughing eyes beheld the wheat Nid-nodding o'er the fence.
And, oh, the smiles on every face, As happy lad and lass
Through grass knee-deep on Casey's place Went riding down to Mass.

While round the church in clothes genteel Discoursed the men of mark,
And each man squatted on his heel, And chewed his piece of bark.
"There'll be bush-fires for sure, me man, There will, without a doubt;
We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,"Before the year is out."


John O'Brien

Loved it. Seems almost a universal thing, finding a bit of foreboding even when our prayers are answered.

The whole poem could be set almost anywhere except the UK and Iceland. :)

Only 10 months until Christmas. :xmas:

We have an Aussie Christmas song which starts

"Dashing through the dust, in a rusty Holden Ute"

:) Our local girls High School basketball team just won their THIRD state championship IN A ROW! Only one other team has done that and they were from the Chicago area. Ours is but a small humble town of about 17,000. You might say we're pretty proud of the girls! :) :)

CONGRATS to DB's girls.

Excellent accomplishment.
:line:

Just five more days until "Steak and a Blowjob Day!" :D

Well, my alarm failed to go off this morning, so I was an hour late for work today, had to stay over, and make up hours later. Which is why I'm on Pixies so late in the day.

Well, DST is here. Lost an hours sleep and it feels like it. Oh well, at least it'll be lighter longer in the evening. :shrug:

This switchover sucks raw moose cock. Pick one, stick with it.

I can't document this as fact but my understanding of DLS being officially implemented is that it was proposed for varied purposes under different reasoning but was only passed after heavy lobbing by the charcoal industry to provide the urban populations more 'cook-out' daylight hours. :shrug:

My understanding is that it was brought in to save electricity and gas during WW1.

That was the original reasoning of the Germans when they implemented it: but there was never any actual evidence that it worked.

Gee, and I thought it was because the letters D, L and S wer:en't getting enough usage. :spin:

:roflmao:

Don't mess with Geckos
 

We stick together:
http://awesomejelly.com/huge-gecko-...m-deadly-snake/

My garden is looking great!

I noticed our neighbor who has a rather large garden was working hard on it yesterday. He alwsys has fantastic luck (more likely skill) with his garden and the neighborhood is happy for that. :D

That garden I practically destroyed my back putting in now has flower sprouts.

And our pond has frogs; there even appears to be a frog in the greenhouse.

Yay, spring.

My first cherry tomato of the season is orange.

We're going to be heading over to Indianapolis this morning. Our grandson will be in a "musical" this evening and we're going to go and watch ... then we'll head home again tomorrow. :)

The Washington Capitals beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime last night to take a 3 games to 2 lead int he best-of-seven series. Game 6 tomorrow night in Toronto.

So when will the Penguins have to beat the Leafs? :hockey:

:rofl:

Sometime next season. The Capitals won the series 4 games to 2, with an overtime win of 2-1 for last night's game.

Next round, Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins.

We've been here before.

The roads in New Zealand are twistier than a sack full of earthworms.

Went to see "The Zookeeper's Wife on Saturday. It was very good. True story of a zookeeper and his wife in Warsaw all through WWII and the German occupation. They sheltered some 300 people of the Jewish faith and the only two lost in the six years of occupation were two that left their shelter at the zoo. Very well done movie.

Yesterday (Sunday) went to the Peoria Civic Center and watched Celtic Woman perform. They were excellent! Such beautiful voices and such great musical accompaniment.

Made barbecue ribs for dinner last night. People around here seem to rave over my barbecue recipes; odd, because they are almost always improvised, seldom a set recipe.

Job search could be leading me back to a long time former employer. They want me back. Let's see how much they love me when I get their offer letter...LOL.

:wish:

My talents as an amateur historian & gamer are wanted today for :

http://www.aacpl.net/events/world-war-i-miniature-93940

Going to take & set-up my 1/144 scale WW I aircraft & give their historical context to anyone who wanders by.

Very neat.



:thumbs:

That does sound neat. Maybe you can get some photos and share them with us. Love to see them. Thanks in advance. :)

I do have photos-will post when I've downloaded and edited them.

My AV today is a picture from the Civil War Reenactment yesterday showing some the union officers discussing their plans for the battle. It was a lot of fun watching the reenactment of the Battle of Bull Run. There was artillery, cavalry and infantry all involved. This was the first of what's planned to be an annual event.

Civil War re-enactment is a big, big, sub culture in the US. Excellent that they're doing an annual event. Got any other pics, DB?

Our Civil War is big in more than just the US. I understand it is a major study in most military academies around the world.

Of course it is. Warriors learn what fighting is about by studying the evolution of war.

I'm not feeling 'great again' tonight. :rolleyes:

The Opera House may not just look good but actually work well too. :faint: