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The Song of Old Joe Swallow

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"The Song of Old Joe Swallow"
by Henry Lawson
Written1890
First published inThe Bulletin
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Preceded byThe Third Murder : A New South Wales tale
Followed bySkeleton Flat
Full text
The Song of Old Joe Swallow at Wikisource

"The Song of Old Joe Swallow" (1890) is a poem by Australian poet Henry Lawson.[1]

It was originally published in The Bulletin on 24 May 1890 and subsequently reprinted in several of the author's other collections, other newspapers and periodicals and a number of Australian poetry anthologies.[1]

Critical reception

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Writing in The Australian Town and Country Journal about the author's collection, In the Days When the World was Wide and Other Verses, a reviewer noted that this poem has "a swinging, haunting refrain, a melodious simplicity and pathos which rival his contemporary on the other side of the globe, Rudyard Kipling."[2]

Publication history

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After the poem's initial publication in The Bulletin it was reprinted as follows:

  • In the Days When the World was Wide and Other Verses by Henry Lawson, Angus and Robertson, 1900
  • Humorous Verses by Henry Lawson, Angus and Robertson, 1941[3]
  • The Penguin Book of Australian Verse edited by Harry Heseltine, Penguin Books, 1972[4]
  • Poems of Henry Lawson edited by Walter Stone, Ure Smith, 1973[5]
  • A Campfire Yarn : Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900 edited by Leonard Cronin, Lansdowne, 1984[6]
  • A Collection of Australian Bush Verse Peter Antill-Rose, 1989[7]
  • Our Country : Classic Australian Poetry : From Colonial Ballads to Paterson & Lawson edited by Michael Cook, Little Hills Press, 2002[8]

Note

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Henry Lawson used the name "Joe Swallow" as a pseudonym under which he published two poems: "The Water-Lilies" in 1891, and "A Stranger on the Darling" in 1892.[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Austlit - "The Song of Old Joe Swallow" by Henry Lawson". Austlit. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  2. ^ ""New Publications"". The Australian Town and Country Journal, 22 February 1896, p8. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Austlit - Humorous Verses by Henry Lawson". Austlit. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  4. ^ "The Penguin Book of Australian Verse (Penguin)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  5. ^ "Poems of Henry Lawson (Ure Smith)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  6. ^ "A Campfire Yarn : Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900 (Lansdowne)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  7. ^ "A Collection of Australian Bush Verse (Peter Antill-Rose)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  8. ^ "Our Country : Classic Australian Poetry (Little Hills Press)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Austlit - Joe Swallow". Austlit. Retrieved 24 July 2023.