# A Dream of the Melbourne Cup : A Long Way After Gordon

First published in The Bulletin, 30 October 1886.
Bring me a quart of colonial beer
And some doughy damper to make good cheer,
I must make a heavy dinner;
Heavily dine and heavily sup
Of indigestible things full-up,
Next month they run the Melbourne Cup,
And I have to dream the winner.
Stoke it in, boys! the half-cooked ham,
Ihe rich ragout and the charming cham,
I've got to mix my liquor;
Give me a gander's gaunt hind leg,
Hard and tough as a wooden peg,
And I'll grease it down with a hard-boiled egg,
Twill make me dream the quicker.
Now I am full of fearful feed,
Now I may dream a race indeed,
In my restless troubled slumber;
While the night-mares race through my heated brain
And their devil-riders spur amain,
The tip for the Cup-will roward my pain,
And I'll spot the winning number.
Thousands and thousands and thousands more
Like sands on the white Pacific shore,
The crowding people cluster; For evermore it's the story old,
While races are bought and backers are sold
Drawn by the greed of the gain of gold,
In their thousands still they muster.
  And the bookie’s cries grow fierce and hot
"I’ll lay the Cup! The double, if not!"
"Five monkeys, Little John, sir!"
"Here’s fivers bar one, I lay, I lay!"
And so they shout through the livelong day,
And stick to the game that is sure to pay,
While fools put money on, sir!   And now in my dream I seem to go
And bet with a "book" that I seem to know— A Hebrew money-lender;
A million to five is the price I get—
Not bad! but before I book the bet
The horse’s name I clean forget,
His number and even gender.
Now for the start, and here they come,
And the hoof-strokes roar like a mighty drum
Beat by a hand unsteady;
They come like a rushing, roaring flood,
Hurrah for the speed of the Chester blood!
For Acme is making the pace so good
There are some of 'em done already.
But round the back she begins to tire,
And a mighty shout goes up "Crossfire!"
The magpie jacket’s leading;
And Crossfire challenges fierce and bold,
And the lead she’ll have and the lead she’ll hold,
But at length gives way to the black and gold,
Which away to the front is speeding.
Carry them on and keep it up—
A flying race is the Melbourne Cup,
You must race and stay to win it;
And old Commotion, Victoria’s pride;
Now takes the lead with his raking stride,
And a mighty roar goes far and wide—
"There’s only Commotion in it!"   But one draws out from the beaten ruck
And up on the rails by a piece of luck
He comes in a style that’s clever;
'It’s Trident! Trident! Hurrah for Hales!
"Go at 'em now while their courage fails
"Trident! Trident! for New South Wales!" "The blue and white for ever!”
Under the whip! with the ears flat back,
Under the whip! though the sinews crack,
No sign of the base white feather;
Stick to it now for your breeding's sake,
Stick to it now though your hearts should break,
While the yells and roars make the grand-stand shake,
They come down the straight together.
Trident slowly forges ahead,
The fierce whips cut and the spurs are red,
The pace is undiminished;
Now for the Panics that never fail!
But many a backer’s face grows pale
As old Commotion swings his tail
And swerves—and the Cup is finished.
* * *   And now in my dream it all comes back;
I bet my coin on the Sydney crack,
A million I’ve won, no question!
Give me my money, you hook-nosed hog!
Give me my money, bookmaking dog!
But he disappears in a kind of fog,
And I wake with "the indigestion."
This work is in the public domain in Australia because it was created in Australia and the term of copyright has expired. According to Australian Copyright Council - Duration of Copyright, the following works are public domain:
* published non-government works whose author died before January 1, 1955,
* anonymous or pseudonymous works and photographs published before January 1, 1955, and
* government works published more than 50 years ago (before January 1, 1974).
This work is also in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in Australia on the URAA date (January 1, 1996). This is the combined effect of Australia having joined the Berne Convention in 1928, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.
Because the Australian copyright term in 1996 was 50 years, the critical date for copyright in the United States under the URAA is January 1, 1946.
This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse