Genoa. Words by Henry Lawson/ tune by Martyn Wyndham-Read
Henry Lawson and his wife Bertha set out from Australia to Britain to further his writing and poetical career, this was in 1900. The idea was to spend two years, but their marriage was not ideal and Bertha left two months before they were due to return to Australia. Henry followed shortly after as he had heard that another love of his life, Hannah Thorburn had died, Lawson romanticised her as his “spirit girl”. The liner that he was on stopped at the various ports on the way back to Australia and Genoa was one of them. Reading between the lines Lawson had a brief but passionate affair with a young lady in Genoa and he was loath to leave her.
Genoa by Henry Lawson
Oh it’s a long farewell to Genoa that rises to the sky
Where the barren coast of Italy like our own coast line lies
Oh a sad farewell to Genoa and long my heart will grieve
The only city in the world that I was loath to leave.
Oh she was fair in Genoa and she was very kind
Those pale blue seeming eyes that seem most beautifuly blind
But they are sad in Genoa why I can not tell
I had but three Italian words that she knew very well.
Oh love is cheap in Genoa love and wine is cheap
And neither leaves an aching head nor cuts the heart too deep
Save when the knife goes straight and then there’s little time to grieve
The only city in the world that I was loath to leave.
I have said farewell to tinted days and glorious starry nights
I have said farewell to Naples with it’s straight long lines of lights
But it is not for Naples but for Genoa I grieve
The only city in the world that I was loath to leave.