60 Classic Australian Poems for Children Page 10
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