The Great Poet Of The Wimmera Mallee

The poet of the Wimmera Mallee in his poems he is living today
He was not college educated one who lived life in the hardest way
Born in Penola South Australia he lived most of his life in Victoria in Nhill
With words he was surely a genius he did have the wordsmith skill
He was a true poet John Shaw Neilson few with him that one could compare
A poet despite hardship and poverty his type of person always rare
In the Town of Nhill the Neilson Cottage is a memorial to his lasting fame
One who lived and died as a humble fellow though his was a great literary name
A poet who glorified people and nature though long deceased his poems live on
When so many of his contemporaries to the ways of time have long gone
In his poems in them that have a natural beauty his genius one can recognize
He was one who did live his verses on reading him one does come to realize
The great poet of the Wimmera Mallee is one who proved that poets are born not made
In his poems today he is remembered as a doyen of the wordsmith trade.