You farmers who lately
Have suffered so greatly
From agricultural depression
Shake off gloom and sorrow
A brighter tomorrow
Will dawn in the course of the session.
By no relaxation
Of rates or taxation
By a certain sure-never-to-fail way
Through government's pleasure
To bring in a measure
For giving some districts a railway:
A tight little, light little, railway,
A nice little, light little, railway.
O think of the joy
Of that exquisite toy
A tight little, light little, railway.
Your wheat may grow cheaper,
The pay of your reaper
May rise to a figure outrageous;
The weather may lay all
Your crops, and your hay all
Be ruined by tempests rampageous;
Your stock mayn't grow fatter,
But that does not matter,
Except in a bargain and sale way:
What are these to the blessing
Of really possessing
A tight little, light little, railway.
(Chorus)
You may not have a fraction
Of produce for traction,
Not a stone's weight to put in a wagon,
Not a horse in your stable,
No bread on your table,
Not a shoe to your foot, not a rag on:
All this would be frightful
Were it not so delightful
To see in a slow as a snail way
The trucks all go gliding
From track into siding,
From siding to track on your railway.
(Chorus)
Then, oh fortunati
Agricola, wait, aye
Wait, for the clouds to roll by you:
Your troubles are over;
Your'll laugh at the ills that now try you.
'Ex machina Deus
Is coming to free us,
Not in the old-fashioned or stale way.'
Let this be your chorus
'A future's before us;
Three cheers for the light little railway!'
