60 Classic Australian Poems for Children Read online

  Frank Hudson

  Born:

  Unknown

  Died:

  Unknown

  Not much is known about Frank Hudson. His poetry has been published in The Bulletin and he probably lived in Australia in the early 1900s for a few years. He also spent some time in New Zealand and many years travelling the world.

  Thomas Henry Kendall

  Born:

  18 April 1839, Milton (near Ulladulla) (NSW)

  Died:

  1 August 1882, Surry Hills (NSW)

  Henry Kendall’s first job was as a cabin boy on a whaling ship, but that only lasted for two years—the work was too hard! He was also a shop assistant and a civil servant. After his writing began to be published in newspapers and periodicals in Sydney and Melbourne, he became a journalist and editor. A period of ill health saw him take work as a bookkeeper. He loved writing about the Australian bush, the coast and arid inland—and about the harshness of life for the early explorers. Kendall liked names. He was married as Henry Clarence Kendall (his birth name was Thomas Henry Kendall) and he wrote under names including ‘A. Mopoke’, ‘A Literary Hack’, and ‘The Meddler’. He is buried in Waverley Cemetery (NSW) where a monument was erected to his memory in 1886.

  Henry Lawson

  Born:

  17 June 1867, Grenfell (NSW)

  Died:

  2 September 1922, Abbotsford (NSW)

  Born on the Grenfell goldfields, Henry Lawson had many occupations throughout his life. He was a journalist, novelist, short story writer, poet, shearer, coach painter and clerk. After his marriage he lived with his family in New Zealand and England for a time, although most of his life was spent in Australia. Lawson attended school for only about three years and a childhood illness left him partially deaf by the age of fourteen, yet he has become one of Australia’s greatest literary figures. Much of his writing—both verse and stories—is about the good and the bad of the land, ordinary people, mateship and life in the outback. In September 1892, The Bulletin gave Lawson a rail ticket and a small amount of money. The destination was Bourke in western NSW and it was this time experiencing outback life that provided the material for much of his most famous writing. He was the first writer to be given a state funeral.

  John Neilson

  Born:

  15 January 1845 (probably; some say 1844), Stranraer (Scotland)

  Died:

  1922, Leongatha (Victoria)

  John Neilson was the father of the poet John Shaw Neilson. Like his son he had little schooling and worked throughout his life in many labour-intensive jobs. He was also a successful bush poet. His verse appeared in local newspapers and magazines. In 1893 he and his son John Shaw Neilson entered the Australian Natives Association poetry competition. They both won first prize in their respective sections.

  It wasn’t until after his death that a collection of his verse was published, in 1938.

  John Shaw Neilson

  Born:

  22 February 1872, Penola (South Australia)

  Died:

  12 May 1942, Footscray (Victoria)

  John Shaw Neilson had very little schooling (totalling possibly two years); he read little and had poor eyesight. He often worked with his brothers and father in occupations that required lots of manual labour, such as road work, fencing, timber-cutting and scrub-clearing. He worked as a farmer and also a public servant. Working outdoors helped Neilson to observe, listen and interact with the environment around him. Some of his poetry showed his love for nature. His happiest years were when he left the bush and settled in Melbourne. Neilson had started writing poetry when he left school and his poetry appeared in papers; The Bulletin began to publish his verse in 1895. He had five books of poetry published during his life. Much of his verse was created in his head before being dictated, often to his family, because of his poor eyesight. Most of Neilson’s writing (including letters, lists, outlines for poems and household notes) was recorded in twenty-eight notebooks. Some of his work has been set to music and recorded.

  Neilson is buried in Footscray cemetery and a bust of him is on display at Footscray Library.

  AB (Banjo) Paterson

  Born:

  17 February 1864, Narrambla (NSW)

  Died:

  5 February 1941, Sydney (NSW)

  Andrew Barton Paterson had many occupations throughout his life including solicitor, army officer during World War I, Sydney Morning Herald war correspondent during the Boer War and in China, journalist and novelist, but he is mainly remembered as one of Australia’s most famous bush poets. He had a lifelong love of horses and the outdoors and this showed in his wonderful ballads of Australian life, the landscape and his passion for Australia. His first poem appeared in 1885 in The Bulletin, where many of his works were published, often under the pseudonym of ‘B’ or ‘the Banjo’ which was probably the name of a family racehorse. In 1938 he was appointed CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for his services to Australian literature. He was known as ‘Barty’ to family and friends but to most Australians he is known as ‘Banjo’.

  GM Smith

  Born:

  Unknown

  Died:

  Unknown

  Very little is known about GM Smith. He also wrote as ‘Steele Grey’. He co-wrote a history book about World War I.

  Thomas E Spencer

  Born:

  30 December 1845, London (England)

  Died:

  6 May 1911, Glebe Point (NSW)

  Thomas Edward Spencer arrived in Sydney in 1875. He was a stonemason by trade, but was also employed as a building contractor, and as a representative for the Court of Arbitration. The verse and prose that he wrote, some for The Bulletin, was created for his own enjoyment. This too was very successful. Some of his work was written under the names ‘McSweeney’ and ‘Mrs Bridget’. Spencer is buried at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney.

  DH Souter

  Born:

  30 March 1862, Aberdeen (Scotland)

  Died:

  22 September 1935, Bondi (NSW)

  David Henry Souter was born in Scotland, moved to South Africa in 1881 and finally settled in Sydney in about 1887. He was one of the first book-plate designers but he was also a poster artist, composer, illustrator, editor, journalist and poet. He is best known for the cartoons and sketches that he created for The Bulletin magazine where he had one cartoon published in every edition for forty years from 1895. The ‘Souter cat’ is a feature of many of his sketches and possibly originated as an inkblot. Even a child’s chair he owned was decorated with a carved and painted image of the black cat!

  Book References

  WT Goodge, Hits! Skits! & Jingles! The Bulletin Newspaper Company, Sydney, 1904

  Mary Hannay Foott, Where the Pelican Builds and other poems, Gordon & Gotch, Brisbane, 1885

  Henry Kendall, The Poems of Henry Kendall (with biographical note by Bertram Stevens), Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1920

  DH Souter, Bush-Babs: with pictures, Endeavour Press, Sydney, 1933

  Also

  Barcroft Henry Boake, Where the Dead Men Lie and other poems, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1897

  CJ Dennis, A Book for Kids, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1921 & http://nla.gov.au/nla.aus-f2678

  Louis Esson, Bells and Bees, Lothian, Melbourne, 1910

  George Essex Evans, The Secret Key and other verses, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1906

  Adam Lindsay Gordon, Poems of Adam Lindsay Gordon,

  Edited with introductory notes by Frank Maldon Robb, Oxford University Press, London, 1913

  Henry Kendall, Poems of Henry Kendall, George Robertson & Co., Melbourne, 1886

  John Neilson, The Men of the Fifties, Hawthorne Press, Melbourne, 1938

  John Shaw Neilson, Collected Poems of John Shaw Neilson, Edited with an introduction by RH Croll, Lothian Book Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1934

  John O’Brien (PJ Hartigan), Around the Boree Log and other verses, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1922<
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  AB Paterson, The Animals Noah Forgot, Endeavour Press, Sydney, 1933

  GM Smith (Steele Grey), The Days of Cobb & Co. and other verses, Federal Printing Works, Parramatta, 1906

  Thomas E Spencer, The Bulletin Reciter: a collection of verses for recitation from The Bulletin, NSW Bookstall Co., Sydney, 1901

  Index of First Lines

  A cloud of dust on the long white road

  A peaceful spot is Piper’s Flat. The folk that live around—

  A pleasant shady place it is, a pleasant place and cool—

  A short time back while over in Vic

  As I rode in to Burrumbeet

  Australia’s a big country

  By channels of coolness the echoes are calling

  Did you see them pass to-day, Billy, Kate and Robin

  Each poet that I know (he said)

  Far from the trouble and toil of town

  Fire-lighted, on the table a meal for sleepy men

  Have you seen the bush by moonlight, from the train, go running by?

  He crouches, and buries his face on his knees

  Here’s a ridiculous riddle for you

  Hey, there! Hoop-la! the circus is in town!

  Hist!… Hark! The night is very dark

  I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better

  I have a trim typewriter now

  I’d like to be a pieman, and ring a little bell

  I’d like to be a teacher, and have a clever brain

  I’d like to be a Tram-man, and ride about all day

  It chanced out back at the Christmas time

  It lies beyond the Western Pines

  It was somewhere up the country, in a land of rock and scrub

  It was the man from Ironbark who struck the Sydney town

  Mr Smith of Tallabung

  Now the stock have started dying, for the Lord has sent a drought

  Oh there once was a swagman camped in the billabong

  Oh, he was old and he was spare

  On the blue plains in wintry days

  On the outer Barcoo where the churches are few

  On the Sunday morning mustered

  Once a little sugar ant made up his mind to roam—

  Our Andy’s gone to battle now

  Out on the wastes of the ‘Never Never’

  Scrape the bottom of the hole, gather up the stuff

  The baker-man was kneading dough

  The bell is set a-ringing, and the engine gives a toot

  The bishop sat in lordly state and purple cap sublime

  The dark—but drudgin’s never done

  The Emus formed a football team

  The horses were ready, the rails were down

  The night too quickly passes

  The ocean heaves around us still

  The roving breezes come and go, the reed beds sweep and sway

  The sun burns hotly thro’ the gums

  The weather has been warm for a fortnight now or more

  There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around

  There’s a very funny insect that you do not often spy

  They came of bold and roving stock that would not fixed abide

  They left the vine-wreathed cottage and the mansion on the hill

  Though poor and in trouble I wander alone

  Through forest boles the stormwind rolls

  ’Tis Spring! Sing hey!

  ’Tis the everyday Australian

  ’Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze

  We are the old-world people

  We have Telephones and Cables

  ‘We’ll all be rooned,’ said Hanrahan

  ‘You talk of snakes,’ said Jack the Rat

  Index of Poets

  Author

  Poem Title

  Barcroft Henry Boake

  The Digger’s Song

  Barcroft Henry Boake

  Where the Dead Men Lie

  CJ Dennis

  Hist!

  CJ Dennis CJ Dennis

  The Ant Explorer A Bush Christmas

  CJ Dennis

  The Circus

  CJ Dennis CJ Dennis

  Going to School The Pieman

  CJ Dennis

  Poets

  CJ Dennis

  A Ruined Reversolet

  CJ Dennis CJ Dennis

  The Swagman The Teacher

  CJ Dennis

  The Tram-Man

  CJ Dennis

  The Traveller

  CJ Dennis

  The Triantiwontigongolope

  CJ Dennis

  Woolloomooloo

  Edward Dyson

  My Typewriter

  Louis Esson

  The Shearer’s Wife

  George Essex Evans

  The Women of the West

  Mary Hannay Foott

  Where the Pelican Builds

  WT Goodge

  The Australian Slanguage

  WT Goodge

  ‘Ough!’

  WT Goodge

  A Snake Yarn

  Adam Lindsay Gordon

  An Exile’s Farewell

  PJ Hartigan (John O’Brien)

  Pitchin’ at the Church

  PJ Hartigan (John O’Brien)

  Said Hanrahan

  PJ Hartigan (John O’Brien)

  Tangmalangaloo

  Frank Hudson

  Pioneers

  Henry Kendall

  Bell-birds

  Henry Kendall

  The Last of His Tribe

  Henry Kendall

  The Warrigal

  Henry Lawson

  Andy’s Gone With Cattle

  Henry Lawson

  Freedom on the Wallaby

  Henry Lawson

  The Lights of Cobb & Co.

  Henry Lawson

  On the Night Train

  Henry Lawson

  The Roaring Days

  Henry Lawson

  The Teams

  Henry Lawson

  Waratah and Wattle

  John Neilson

  Waiting for the Rain (A Shearing Song)

  John Shaw Neilson

  Native Companions Dancing

  John Shaw Neilson

  Old Granny Sullivan

  Banjo Paterson

  A Ballad of Shearing (Shearing at Castlereagh)

  Banjo Paterson

  Brumby’s Run

  Banjo Paterson

  A Bush Christening

  Banjo Paterson

  Clancy of the Overflow

  Banjo Paterson

  Fur and Feathers

  Banjo Paterson

  The Geebung Polo Club

  Banjo Paterson

  The Man from Ironbark

  Banjo Paterson

  The Man from Snowy River

  Banjo Paterson

  Mulga Bill’s Bicycle

  Banjo Paterson

  Old Man Platypus

  Banjo Paterson

  Pioneers

  Banjo Paterson

  Santa Claus in the Bush

  Banjo Paterson

  Song of the Artesian Waters

  Banjo Paterson

  The Travelling Post-Office

  Banjo Paterson

  Waltzing Matilda

  GM Smith (Steele Grey)

  The Days of Cobb & Co.

  GM Smith (Steele Grey)

  Post-Hole Mick

  Thomas E Spencer

  How M’Dougal Topped the Score

  DH Souter

  Mr Smith

  Poem

  Reference

  Andy’s Gone With Cattle

  Australian Town and Country Journal; vol. 38 no. 979, 13 October 1888 (p 757)

  Ant Explorer, The

  A Book for Kids, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1921

  Australian Slanguage, The

  The Bulletin vol. 19 no. 955, 4 June 1898, The Red Page (p 2)

  Ballad of Shearing, A (Shearing at Castlereagh)

  The Bullet
in vol. 14 no. 730, 10 February 1894 (p 20)

  Bell-birds

  Poems of Henry Kendall, George Robertson & Co., Melbourne, 1886

  Brumby’s Run

  The Bulletin vol. 16 no. 827, 21 December 1895 (p 27)

  Bush Christening, A

  The Bulletin (Christmas edition) vol. 13 no. 722, 16 December 1893 (p 16)

  Bush Christmas, A

  The Herald, 24 December 1931, (p 4)

  Circus, The

  A Book for Kids, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1921

  Clancy Of The Overflow

  The Bulletin (Christmas edition) vol. 10 no. 514; 21 December 1889

  Days of Cobb & Co., The

  The Days of Cobb & Co. and other verses; Federal Printing Works, Parramatta, 1906

  Digger’s Song, The

  The Bulletin vol. 11 no. 611, 31 October 1891 (p 22)

  Exile’s Farewell, An