The Secret Key and Other Verses/A Federal Song

by George Essex Evans

A FEDERAL SONG

In the greyness of the dawning we have seen the
 pilot-star,
In the whisper of the morning we have heard the
 years afar.
    Shall we sleep and let them be
    When they call to you and me?
Can we break the land asunder God has girdled with
 the Sea?
    For the Flag is floating o'er us,
    And the track is clear before us,
From the desert to the ocean, let us lift the mighty
 chorus
    For the days that are to be.

We have flung the challenge forward: "Brothers,
 stand or fall as One!"
She is coming out to meet us in the splendour of the
 Sun.

    From the graves beneath the sky
    Where Her nameless heroes lie,
From the forelands of the Future they are waiting
 our reply!
    We can face the roughest weather
    If we only hold together,
Marching forward to the Future, marching shoulder-
 firm together,
    For the Nation yet to be.

All the greyness of the dawning, all the mists are
 over-past,
In the glory of the morning we shall see Her face at
 last.
    He who sang, "She yet will be,"
    He shall hail her, crowned and free!
Could we break the land asunder God has girdled
 with the Sea?
    For the Flag is floating o'er us,
    And the star of Hope before us,
From the desert to the ocean, brothers, lift the
 mighty chorus
    For Australian Unity.