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phantom in In the Days When the World Was Wide and Other Verses

a swagman's ghost out late; And the horseman blurs in the distance, While still the stars remain, A low, faint dust-cloud haunting His track on the Great Grey Plain. And all day long from before them The mirage smokes away -- That daylight ghost of an ocean Creeps close behind all day With an evil,…

Record ID
2,768
Year
1,896
Source
Project Gutenberg
Index status
Public search-ready

This page records what a public source contains. It is not verification of the supernatural claim described by that source.

Record context

Record ID
2768
Source
Project Gutenberg
Publication
In the Days When the World Was Wide and Other Verses; Henry Lawson
Published
1896; Project Gutenberg public-domain transcription
Narrative type
Retellings and Adaptations
Public-text label
phantom
Archive period
Federation Era
Location
Australia (Australia): B
Source voice
Source Grounded Section Record
Publicness
Public Domain Public Web

Source-grounded excerpt

a swagman's ghost out late; And the horseman blurs in the distance, While still the stars remain, A low, faint dust-cloud haunting His track on the Great Grey Plain. And all day long from before them The mirage smokes away -- That daylight ghost of an ocean Creeps close behind all day With an evil, snake-like motion, As the waves of a madman's brain: 'Tis a phantom NOT like water Out there on the Great Grey Plain. There's a run on the Western limit Where a man lives like a beast, And a shanty in the mulga That stretches to the East; And the hopeless men who carry Their swags and tramp in pain -- The footmen must not tarry Out.

The excerpt is presented as public-source context. Terminology belongs to the cited source and may be historical, contested, culturally specific, or outdated.

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