The Ballad of the Drover
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
WrittenFebruary 1889
First published inThe Australian Town and Country Journal
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
| "The Ballad of the Drover" | |
|---|---|
| by Henry Lawson | |
| Written | February 1889 |
| First published in | The Australian Town and Country Journal |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Publication date | 9 March 1889 |
| Lines | 88 |
| Full text | |
 The Ballad of the Drover at Wikisource | |
"The Ballad of the Drover" (1889) is a poem by Australian poet Henry Lawson.[1]
It was originally published in The Australian Town and Country Journal on 9 March 1889[2] and subsequently reprinted in several of the author's collections, other periodicals and a number of Australian poetry anthologies.[1]
A reviewer on the PoetryVerse website noted that the poem initially "exudes optimism and anticipation, painting a picture of a joyful reunion." But that ultimately "the poem serves as a tragic reminder of the harsh realities faced by those who lived and worked in the Australian outback."[3]
Publication history
After the poem's initial publication in The Australian Town and Country Journal it was reprinted as follows:
- The Australian Town and Country Journal, 21 September 1889[4]
- In the Days When the World was Wide and Other Verses by Henry Lawson, Angus and Robertson, 1900[5]
- The Coo-ee Reciter : Humorous, Pathetic, Dramatic, Dialect, Recitations and Readings compiled by W.T. Pyke, Ward, Lock, 1904[6]
- The Children's Treasury of Australian Verse edited by Bertram Stevens and George Mackaness, Angus and Robertson, 1913[7]
- Selected Poems of Henry Lawson by Henry Lawson, Angus and Robertson, 1918[8]
- Winnowed Verse by Henry Lawson, Angus and Robertson, 1924[9]
- Selections from Australian Poets edited by Bertram Stephens and George Mackaness, Cornstalk Publishing, 1925[10]
- Poets of Australia : An Anthology of Australian Verse edited by George Mackaness, Angus & Robertson, 1946[11]
- The Children's Lawson edited by Colin Roderick, Angus and Robertson, 1949[12]
- An Anthology of Australian Verse edited by George Mackaness, Angus & Robertson, 1952[13]
- Songs from Lawson edited by John Meredith, Bush Music Club, 1956[14]
- From the Ballads to Brennan edited by T. Inglis Moore, Angus & Robertson, 1964[15]
- Poems of Henry Lawson edited by Walter Stone, Ure Smith, 1973[16]
- The World of Henry Lawson edited by Walter Stone, Hamlyn, 1974[17]
- A Treasury of Colonial Poetry, Currawong, 1982[18]
- A Campfire Yarn : Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900 edited by Leonard Cronin, Lansdowne, 1984[19]
- The Illustrated Treasury of Australian Verse edited by Beatrice Davis, Nelson, 1984[20]
- Cross-Country : A Book of Australian Verse edited by John Barnes and Brian MacFarlane, Heinemann, 1984[21]
- Henry Lawson : An Illustrated Treasury edited by Glenys Smith, Lansdowne, 1985[22]
- Favourite Australian Poems, Child and Associates, 1987[23]
- A Collection of Australian Bush Verse, Peter Antill-Rose, 1989[24]
- Australian Bush Poems, Axiom, 1991[25]
- A Treasury of Bush Verse edited by G. A. Wilkes, Angus and Robertson, 1991[26]
- Classic Australian Verse edited by Maggie Pinkney, Five Mile Press, 2001[27]
- Henry Lawson edited by Geoffrey Blainey, Text Publishing, 2002[28]
- An Australian Treasury of Popular Verse edited by Jim Haynes, ABC Books, 2002[29]
- Two Centuries of Australian Poetry edited by Kathrine Bell, Gary Allen, 2007[30]
- Australian Poetry Since 1788 edited by Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray, University of NSW Press, 2011[31]