The Song of Old Joe Swallow
Poem by Australian writer Henry Lawson
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"The Song of Old Joe Swallow" (1890) is a poem by Australian poet Henry Lawson.[1]
| "The Song of Old Joe Swallow" | |
|---|---|
| by Henry Lawson | |
| Written | 1890 |
| First published in | The Bulletin |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | The Third Murder : A New South Wales tale |
| Followed by | Skeleton Flat |
| Full text | |
 The Song of Old Joe Swallow at Wikisource | |
It was originally published in The Bulletin on 24 May 1890[2] 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
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."[3]
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[4]
- The Penguin Book of Australian Verse edited by Harry Heseltine, Penguin Books, 1972[5]
- Poems of Henry Lawson edited by Walter Stone, Ure Smith, 1973[6]
- A Campfire Yarn : Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900 edited by Leonard Cronin, Lansdowne, 1984[7]
- A Collection of Australian Bush Verse Peter Antill-Rose, 1989[8]
- Our Country : Classic Australian Poetry : From Colonial Ballads to Paterson & Lawson edited by Michael Cook, Little Hills Press, 2002[9]
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.[10]