He watched those faces round the camp--
The miner, drover, bushman, tramp--
And scaled their stories with his stamp.
And in some circulating page
The actors found a wider stage,
And sang within a larger cage.
We listened and we heard the strain
Of love or sorrow, joy or pain :
So old, and yet so fresh again.
We know by some, far distant shore
We've heard those sparkling tales before ;
What is it makes us love them more ?
Goodge--that's the man ! He gave them power
And brightness of a fresh-blown flower,
And merry made a lonely hour.
The little lives around us set,
All but our own we soon, forgot,
He made them living with us yet.
And now his little life is o'er,
And here beside this southern shore
The red dust gathers round my door ;
Blown from the dry hot western plain
The humor of a desert rain,
By tracks he will not tread again.
Nor mark the fierce dim sun o'erhead,
When drought is nigh and hope has fled.
The living humor of the dead.
Poor Goodge ! Who drew life's varied scene,
Some darker shades you' too have seen,
And brighter tints that might have been.
Take this poor tribute for those hours
In which you changed our weeds for flowers,
And brighter made this world of ours.
M.O'G.
Notes
From the NSW Newspaper The Illawarra Mercury 21 Dec 1909 p. 4.
William Thomas Goodge (28 September 1862--28 November 1909) was an English writer and journalist, who arrived in Australia in 1882, after jumping ship in Sydney. He worked in various jobs in New South Wales, including as a coal-miner, until he was engaged to write for "The Tribune" in North Sydney, a small weekly associated with the "Daily Telegraph". From there he was chosen by Harry Newman (Member of Parliament and newspaper proprietor) to edit "The Leader" newspaper in Orange, NSW. Goodge remained in Orange, becoming part-owner of "The Leader" at some point, until in the early 1900s he returned to Sydney and began writing for that city's newspapers, especially "The Sunday Times". Goodge was first married on 21 January 1892. His wife died 3 January 1895 of typhoid, leaving behind two children. Sometime later he remarried and had another child. Goodge died on 28 November 1909 in North Sydney. During his writing career, Goodge wrote mainly light-verse poems and short stories. Although he did have one novel, The Fortunes of Fenchurch, serialised in the pages of The Sunday Times, the book was never published separately. His best known works were "The Great Australian Adjective", and "The Oozlum Bird". Norman Lindsay, who illustrated the reprint volume of Goodge's only poetry collection, considered the poet better than C. J. Dennis. "Goodge, with his Hits! Skits! and Jingles!, is a much better light-verse writer than Dennis, and his book should be reprinted.
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