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The Road That Has No End
By Joseph Burrows
Hast ever tramped along the road
That has no end?
The far brown winding road, your one
Fast friend
A tattered weather-beaten swag,
A silent mate
To send
His dumb warm comfort to the heart,
A fount where dreams ascend.
There’s wondrous freedom on the road
That has no end;
A man’s heart glows, his spirit leaps
To blend
Its joy of life with fierce wind’s gust
Upon his face:
To lend
Its cry to Nature’s tumult, full
And shrill, as twilight shades descend.
The flowers bloom along the road
That has no end
Cool breezes blow, the gum trees sway
And bend;
The wild doves woo, and softly coo
Their soothing notes,
And mend
Heart’s throbbing pain to sweet content,
And peace lights on the mind’s sad trend
There’s pain and toil along the road
That has no end;
A sinking heart, and weary feet
That spend
Their strength, and lag and crave respite;
And dim tired eyes
That tend
To close their heavy lids upon
The stinging dusts that upward wend.
There are sweet still hours along the road
That has no end
’Neath twinkling stars when night’s deep shades
O’erpend;
A man’s eyes shine with gathered tears,
And memories come
To rend
His straining heart strings, while above
The paling lights his mood commend.
I love the road, the swagman’s road
That has no end;
I love its joys, that pains and toils
Transcend;
It is my dreams, the life that fills my heart
And when death comes and would
My peacefulness
Amend,
I pray that God may let my soul depart
With my tattered swag beside me,
’Mid my friends that never chide me,
And my face towards the distant clouded hill,
Where leads the far brown winding road
That has no end.
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| David Carr on January 29, 2008, 7:58 pm | I love this poem. It is very moving. Perhaps my favourite. Much pathos. At high school (Newcastle Boys High) 1959-63, I had an English/poetry teacher named Joseph Burrows, but when asked whether he was the Joseph Burrows who wrote this poem, he only smiled! I have never been able to confirm this, or indeed find out anything at all about the author of this wonderful poem, but I would dearly love to. If you can help me, please email me at aadcarr @ bigpond.net.au.
Many thanks
David
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