The Teams

{{Short description|1889 poem by Henry Lawson}} {{Use Australian English|date=February 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox poem | name = "The Teams" | image = File:The Teams - illo.png | image_size = | caption = Illustration from original publication of "The Teams" | subtitle = | author = Henry Lawson | original_title = | original_title_lang = | translator = | written = 1889 | first = ''The Australian Town and Country Journal'' | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = Australia | language = English | series = | subject = | genre = | form = | meter = | rhyme = | publisher = | publication_date = 21 December 1889 | publication_date_en = | media_type = | lines = | pages = | size_weight = | isbn = | oclc = | preceded_by = | followed_by = | wikisource = The Teams (Lawson) }}

'''''The Teams''''' is a poem by Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson.<ref name=Austlit>{{cite web|title= Austlit — "The Teams" by Henry Lawson |publisher= Austlit|url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C151006|access-date= 1 February 2026}}</ref> It was first published in the ''Australian Town and Country Journal'' on 21 December 1889.<ref name="ATACJ">{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71127069 |title=THE TEAMS. |newspaper=Australian Town and Country Journal |volume=XXXIX |issue=1040 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=21 December 1889 |accessdate=25 August 2019 |page=16 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> It was later published in the poet's poetry collection ''In the Days When the World Was Wide and Other Verses'' in 1896. thumb|right|Illustration from original publication of "The Teams"

==Text== The text of the poem, as published in the Australian Town and Country Journal, is as follows:<ref name="ATACJ"/> <poem> A cloud of dust on the long white road; And the teams go creeping on, Inch by inch with the weary load; And by the power of the green-hide goad The distant goal is won. With eyes half-shut from the blinding dust, And necks to the yokes bent low, The beasts are pulling as bullocks must, Till the shining rims of the tire-rings rust; While the spokes are turning slow. With face half hid 'neath a wide brimm'd hat That shades from the heat's white waves, And shoulder'd whip with its green-hide plat, The driver plods with a gait like that Of his weary, patient slaves. He wipes his brow, for the day is hot, And spits to the left with spite; He shouts at "Balley," and flicks at " Scot," And raises dust from the back of " Spot," And spits to the dusty right. He'll sometimes pause as a thing of form In front of a lonely door, And ask for a drink, and remark " 'Tis warm," Or say "There's signs of a thunder-storm;" But he seldom utters more. But, ah ! there are other scenes than these; And, passing his lonely home, For weeks together the bushman sees The teams bogg'd down o'er the axletrees, Or ploughing the sodden loam. And then when the roads are at their, worst, The bushman's children hear The cruel blows of the whips revers'd While bullocks pull as their hearts would burst, And bellow with pain and fear. And thus with little of joy or rest Are the long, long journeys done; And thus—'tis a cruel war at the best— Is distance fought in the lonely west, And the lonely battles won. </poem>

==Critical reception==

In a review of the poet's collection ''In the Days When the World Was Wide and Other Verses'' a writer in ''Freeman's Journal'' (Sydney) stated that "If one piece were to be chosen as an example of Mr. Lawson's quality as a writer of true bush ballads, the best piece is 'The Teams'".<ref>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article111099333''The Freeman's Journal'', 22 February 1896, p20]</ref>

==Further publications==

* ''In the Days When the World was Wide and Other Verses'' by Henry Lawson (1896) * ''The Children's Treasury of Australian Verse'' edited by Bertram Stevens (1913) * ''Selected Poems of Henry Lawson'' by Henry Lawson, Angus and Robertson, 1918<ref name="NLA1">{{cite web|title= ''Selected Poems of Henry Lawson'' (A&R) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1669820|access-date= 8 October 2023}}</ref> * ''The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse'' edited by Walter Murdoch (1924) * ''New Song in an Old Land'' edited by Rex Ingamells (1943) * ''Favourite Australian Poems'' edited by Ian Mudie (1963) * ''From the Ballads to Brennan'' edited by T. Inglis Moore, Angus & Robertson, 1964<ref>{{cite web|title= ''From the Ballads to Brennan'' edited by T. Inglis Moore |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2161782|access-date= 2 March 2026}}</ref> * ''Bards in the Wilderness : Australian Colonial Poetry to 1920'' edited by Adrian Mitchell and Brian Elliott(1970) * ''Poems of Henry Lawson'' edited by Walter Stone, Ure Smith, 1973<ref name="NLA2">{{cite web|title= ''Poems of Henry Lawson'' (Ure Smith) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2222860|access-date= 8 October 2023}}</ref> * ''The World of Henry Lawson'' edited by Walter Stone, Hamlyn, 1974<ref name="NLA3">{{cite web|title= ''The World of Henry Lawson'' (Hamlyn) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/696187|access-date= 8 October 2023}}</ref> * ''The Collins Book of Australian Poetry'' compiled by Rodney Hall (1981) * ''The Essential Henry Lawson : The Best Works of Australia's Greatest Writer'' edited Brian Kiernan, Currey O'Neil, 1982<ref name="NLA4">{{cite web|title= ''The Essential Henry Lawson'' (Currey O'Neil) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1879250|access-date= 8 October 2023}}</ref> * ''A Treasury of Colonial Poetry'' (1982) * ''A Campfire Yarn : Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900'' edited by Leonard Cronin, Lansdowne, 1984<ref name="NLA5">{{cite web|title= ''A Campfire Yarn : Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900'' (Lansdowne) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2585468|access-date= 8 October 2023}}</ref> * ''My Country : Australian Poetry and Short Stories, Two Hundred Years'' edited by Leonie Kramer (1985) * ''Henry Lawson : An Illustrated Treasury'' edited by Glenys Smith, Lansdowne, 1985<ref name="NLA6">{{cite web|title= ''Henry Lawson : An Illustrated Treasury'' (Lansdowne) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1619602|access-date= 8 October 2023}}</ref> * ''A Collection of Australian Bush Verse'' (1989) * ''A Treasury of Bush Verse'' edited by G. A. Wilkes, Angus and Robertson, 1991<ref>{{cite web|title= ''A Treasury of Bush Verse'' edited by G. A. Wilkes |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/3007113|access-date= 2 March 2026}}</ref> * ''Australian Bush Poems'' (1991) * ''Classic Australian Verse'' edited by Maggie Pinkney (2001)

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teams, The}} Category:1889 poems Category:Poetry by Henry Lawson