John Shaw Neilson Wrote Poems Poem by Francis Duggan

John Shaw Neilson wrote poems of the country out there
Home to wallaby, roo and brolga and in Summer often where
The voice of the brown creek for months on end is still
In that flat brown and dry countryside of the Mallee near Nhill

John Shaw Neilson he was a remarkable poet
He lives in his beautiful poems as one worthy of literary note
The best of the Mallee of him one can say
With words he was one who surely had a way

Born in Penola he moved to Nhill with his family as a boy
From an early age writing poems was a thing he did enjoy
His poetry has withstood the great test of time
He surely was one who had rhythm and rhyme

John Shaw Neilson a poor man who never had children or never had a wife
He labored hard for a living never knew of an easy life
In Nhill the old cottage he lived in preserved as a monument to his fame
His does live as the Mallee's greatest literary name

As one of Australia's great poets many claim him to be so
John Shaw Neilson he died many decades ago
A poet of the people of him one can say
And one whose name lives on in his poetry today.