'Don't interrupt the poet, friend,
Until his poem's at an end.'
and went on writing harder than ever. He wrote all down one side of the slate and all up the other, and then remarked—
'As there's no time to finish that,
The time has come to have our chat.
Be quick, my friend, your business state,
Before I take another slate.'
'The fact is,' said the Bunyip, 'I have decided to see the world, and I cannot make up my mind whether to be a Traveller or a Swagman. Which would you advise?'
Then said the Poet—
'As you've no bags it's plain to see
A traveller you cannot be;
And as a swag you haven't either
You cannot be a swagman neither.
For travellers must carry bags,
And swagmen have to hump their swags
Like bottle-ohs or ragmen.
As you have neither swag nor bag
You must remain a simple wag,
And not a swag- or bagman.'
'Dear me,' said Bunyip Bluegum, 'I never thought of that. What must I do in order to see the world without carrying swags or bags?'
The Poet thought deeply, put on his eyeglass, and said impressively—