Excerpt from "The Ballad of the Black Swan" (1897)
I met the Black Swan just after dawn,
in a camp just northwest of Glory.
I offered some chow: fried eggs, pig and cow.
As we ate, I asked for her story.
She told me that morn of the oath that she'd sworn
to bury the murderous crooks.
"Those culpable four," she said furthermore,
"will pay for all that they took."
Of no small repute were these men she'd pursued
from halfway across the green Earth
(She came to to this nation planning assassination,
from a town just northwest of Perth.)
I feared to explain that her plan was in vain.
Her journey had been all for naught.
Despite the miles she'd travelled, her plan would unravel
when I told her who it was that she sought.
As she spoke of her ire, I tended the fire,
eating the last off my plate.
With a mouthful of bacon I finally said, "You're mistaken,
they're the most powerful men in the state!"
With a smile she crowed, "I already know,
and I have a bullet with the name of each one."
I cried, "You're mad as a hatter!" she replied, "Even better,
I'm bloody Australian!"
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