Poetry

One of my favourite late 19th and early 20th century Australian poets is Henry Lawson. Here’s a taste of why. Faces In The Street by Henry Lawson They lie, the men who tell us, for reasons of their own, That want is here a stranger, and that misery’s unknown; For where the nearest suburb and the…

I thought I might share one of my favourite poems with you today. If you’ve ever heard Rod McKuen recite this, you’ll know how wonderfully touching it is. He is truly one of my all-time favourite poets, and was so lucky to have met him once briefly when I was young. Enjoy. A Cat Named…

Every now and again I like to post a favourite Australian poem. So here we are again with an unusually light-hearted verse from the normally dark Henry Lawson. Mary Called Him Mister by Henry Lawson (1867-1922) They’d parted but a year ago – she thought he’d ne’er come back; She stammered, blushed, held out her…

There is nothing that pumps stronger in the heart of true Australians than the Man From Snowy River. From its origins as a poem written in 1890 to songs and movies, it is the pulse of what it is to be Australian. The fact that the Snowy River was dammed in the 1950s and has…

Some weeks ago I posted a taste of two of my favourite Australian poets, A.B ‘Banjo’ Patterson and Henry Lawson. So, as I did it once, I thought I would do it again, with one of my all time favourites. The Geebung Polo Club  BY A. B. ‘Banjo’ Patterson It was somewhere up the country,…

It has been some time since I posted some classic Australian poetry. So I thought I would right that wrong with one of my favourites that opens with an unforgettable line that was burned into my memory in my schooldays. I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better I recall…