Wendouree Poem by Francis Duggan

The magpie singing in the sun shine on high branch of old grey gum tree
And black duck with her ducklings swimming on the great lake of Wendouree
And black swan is out with her grey cygnets and moorhen and coot almost tame
In a beautiful part of Victoria in a Town with a historical name.

In Ballarat the famous Gold City where colonial history was made
Where the poems and stories were written of the men who fought at the stockade
But Ballarat can boast of more than Colonial History or so it would appear to me
There is such great natural beauty around the lake of Wendouree.

On Lake Wendouree in September a beautiful time of the year
The water birds out with their babies and even in darkness one hear
The masked lapwing call in the quiet park they too have a nest to defend
They mob the red fox in the moonlight they know that he is not a friend.

I have not been to Ballarat for a few years but I will return to there again
I love that historical old City and fond memories with me still remain
Of the evenings in the Spring and Summer where the wonders of Nature I see
Off of Pleasant Street in the sunlit park by the great lake of Wendouree.