The Song of Old Joe Swallow

{{Short description|Poem by Australian writer Henry Lawson}}

{{Use Australian English|date=July 2023}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}

{{Infobox poem

|name = "The Song of Old Joe Swallow"

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|author = Henry Lawson

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|written = 1890

|first = The Bulletin

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|country = Australia

|language = English

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|preceded_by = The Third Murder : A New South Wales tale

|followed_by = Skeleton Flat

|wikisource = The Song of Old Joe Swallow

}}

"The Song of Old Joe Swallow" (1890) is a poem by Australian poet Henry Lawson.{{cite web|title= Austlit - "The Song of Old Joe Swallow" by Henry Lawson |publisher= Austlit|url= https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C215041|access-date= 24 July 2023}}

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.

Critical reception

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."{{cite web|title="New Publications" |publisher= The Australian Town and Country Journal, 22 February 1896, p8|url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71242207|access-date= 24 July 2023}}

Publication history

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{{cite web|title= Austlit - Humorous Verses by Henry Lawson |publisher= Austlit|url= https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C101124|access-date= 24 July 2023}}
  • The Penguin Book of Australian Verse edited by Harry Heseltine, Penguin Books, 1972{{cite web|title= The Penguin Book of Australian Verse (Penguin) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1904539|access-date= 24 July 2023}}
  • Poems of Henry Lawson edited by Walter Stone, Ure Smith, 1973{{cite web|title= Poems of Henry Lawson (Ure Smith) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2222860|access-date= 24 July 2023}}
  • A Campfire Yarn : Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900 edited by Leonard Cronin, Lansdowne, 1984{{cite web|title= A Campfire Yarn : Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900 (Lansdowne) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2585468|access-date= 24 July 2023}}
  • A Collection of Australian Bush Verse Peter Antill-Rose, 1989{{cite web|title= A Collection of Australian Bush Verse (Peter Antill-Rose) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2200215|access-date= 24 July 2023}}
  • Our Country : Classic Australian Poetry : From Colonial Ballads to Paterson & Lawson edited by Michael Cook, Little Hills Press, 2002{{cite web|title= Our Country : Classic Australian Poetry (Little Hills Press) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2339836|access-date= 24 July 2023}}

Note

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.{{cite web|title= Austlit - Joe Swallow |publisher= Austlit|url= https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A12464|access-date= 24 July 2023}}

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Henry Lawson}}

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Category:1890 poems

Category:Poetry by Henry Lawson