On John Shaw Neilson Poem by Francis Duggan

In places near Penola and Nhill where he used to live you will meet people who have not heard of his name
Yet in the Literary world his poems living on and his is an enduring fame
His poems literary gems one of Australia's best and with words he did have a way
But he was poor all of his life and he died a poor man and that does seem a sad thing to say.

His poems born of beauty of one of pure mind The Wimmera Mallee's best poet
In Auistralian literature of the twenty first century his works are of literary note
Yet in places near where he lived when you mention of him by name some people do ask who is he?
Some people not knowledgeable one would have to suppose or that is how it does seem to me.

That for poets are born and cannot be made John Shaw Neilson's life does make a case
He left school quite young for to work in the fields in what was then a remote place
From Penola in South Australia to Victoria to Nhill his family moved when he was young
The Bard of the Mallee he became known as and of Nature's beauty he sung.

He sung of the Brolgas how lovely they danced in the big brown country out there
And he sung of the light he saw on the Orange Tree a poem with the best to compare
The greatest ever poet in Penola and Nhill his poems nowadays read Worldwide
Yet the wonder of it all he's a stranger to some even in his own countryside.