Read 60 Classic Australian Poems for Children Online
Authors: Cheng & Rogers
60 Classic Australian Poems for Children (16 page)
Neilson is buried in Footscray cemetery and a bust of him is on display at Footscray Library.
AB (Banjo) Paterson
Born: | 17 February 1864, Narrambla (NSW) |
Died: | 5 February 1941, Sydney (NSW) |
Â
Andrew Barton Paterson
had many occupations throughout his life including solicitor, army officer during World War I,
Sydney Morning Herald
war correspondent during the Boer War and in China, journalist and novelist, but he is mainly remembered as one of Australia's most famous bush poets. He had a lifelong love of horses and the outdoors and this showed in his wonderful ballads of Australian life, the landscape and his passion for Australia. His first poem appeared in 1885 in
The Bulletin
, where many of his works were published, often under the pseudonym of âB' or âthe Banjo' which was probably the name of a family racehorse. In 1938 he was appointed CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for his services to Australian literature. He was known as âBarty' to family and friends but to most Australians he is known as âBanjo'.
GM Smith
Born: | Unknown |
Died: | Unknown |
Â
Very little is known about
GM Smith
. He also wrote as âSteele Grey'. He co-wrote a history book about World War I.
Thomas E Spencer
Born: | 30 December 1845, London (England) |
Died: | 6 May 1911, Glebe Point (NSW) |
Â
Thomas Edward Spencer
arrived in Sydney in 1875. He was a stonemason by trade, but was also employed as a building contractor, and as a representative for the Court of Arbitration. The verse and prose that he wrote, some for
The Bulletin
, was created for his own enjoyment. This too was very successful. Some of his work was written under the names âMcSweeney' and âMrs Bridget'. Spencer is buried at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney.
DH Souter
Born: | 30 March 1862, Aberdeen (Scotland) |
Died: | 22 September 1935, Bondi (NSW) |
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David Henry Souter
was born in Scotland, moved to South Africa in 1881 and finally settled in Sydney in about 1887. He was one of the first book-plate designers but he was also a poster artist, composer, illustrator, editor, journalist and poet. He is best known for the cartoons and sketches that he created for
The Bulletin
magazine
where he had one cartoon published in every edition for forty years from 1895. The âSouter cat' is a feature of many of his sketches and possibly originated as an inkblot. Even a child's chair he owned was decorated with a carved and painted image of the black cat!
WT Goodge,
Hits! Skits! & Jingles!
The Bulletin Newspaper Company, Sydney, 1904
Mary Hannay Foott,
Where the Pelican Builds and other poems
, Gordon & Gotch, Brisbane, 1885
Henry Kendall,
The Poems of Henry Kendall
(with biographical note by Bertram Stevens), Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1920
DH Souter,
Bush-Babs:
with pictures, Endeavour Press, Sydney, 1933
Also
Barcroft Henry Boake,
Where the Dead Men Lie and other poems
, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1897
CJ Dennis,
A Book for Kids
, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1921 &
http://nla.gov.au/nla.aus-f2678
Louis Esson,
Bells and Bees
, Lothian, Melbourne, 1910
George Essex Evans,
The Secret Key and other verses
, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1906
Adam Lindsay Gordon,
Poems of Adam Lindsay Gordon
,
Edited with introductory notes by Frank Maldon Robb, Oxford University Press, London, 1913
Henry Kendall,
Poems of Henry Kendall
, George Robertson & Co., Melbourne, 1886
John Neilson,
The Men of the Fifties
, Hawthorne Press, Melbourne, 1938
John Shaw Neilson,
Collected Poems of John Shaw Neilson
, Edited with an introduction by RH Croll, Lothian Book Publishing Co., Melbourne, 1934
John O'Brien (PJ Hartigan),
Around the Boree Log and other verses
, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1922
AB Paterson,
The Animals Noah Forgot
, Endeavour Press, Sydney, 1933
GM Smith (Steele Grey),
The Days of Cobb & Co. and other verses
, Federal Printing Works, Parramatta, 1906
Thomas E Spencer,
The Bulletin Reciter: a collection of verses for recitation from
The Bulletin, NSW Bookstall Co., Sydney, 1901
A cloud of dust on the long white road
A peaceful spot is Piper's Flat. The folk that live aroundâ
A pleasant shady place it is, a pleasant place and coolâ
A short time back while over in Vic
As I rode in to Burrumbeet
Australia's a big country
By channels of coolness the echoes are calling
Did you see them pass to-day, Billy, Kate and Robin
Each poet that I know (he said)
Far from the trouble and toil of town
Fire-lighted, on the table a meal for sleepy men
Have you seen the bush by moonlight, from the train, go running by?
He crouches, and buries his face on his knees
Here's a ridiculous riddle for you
Hey, there! Hoop-la! the circus is in town!
Hist!⦠Hark! The night is very dark
I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better
I have a trim typewriter now
I'd like to be a pieman, and ring a little bell
I'd like to be a teacher, and have a clever brain
I'd like to be a Tram-man, and ride about all day
It chanced out back at the Christmas time
It lies beyond the Western Pines
It was somewhere up the country, in a land of rock and scrub
It was the man from Ironbark who struck the Sydney town
Mr Smith of Tallabung
Now the stock have started dying, for the Lord has sent a drought
Oh there once was a swagman camped in the billabong
Oh, he was old and he was spare
On the blue plains in wintry days
On the outer Barcoo where the churches are few
On the Sunday morning mustered
Once a little sugar ant made up his mind to roamâ
Our Andy's gone to battle now
Out on the wastes of the âNever Never'
Scrape the bottom of the hole, gather up the stuff
The baker-man was kneading dough
The bell is set a-ringing, and the engine gives a toot
The bishop sat in lordly state and purple cap sublime
The darkâbut drudgin's never done
The Emus formed a football team
The horses were ready, the rails were down
The night too quickly passes
The ocean heaves around us still
The roving breezes come and go, the reed beds sweep and sway
The sun burns hotly thro' the gums
The weather has been warm for a fortnight now or more
There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around
There's a very funny insect that you do not often spy
They came of bold and roving stock that would not fixed abide
They left the vine-wreathed cottage and the mansion on the hill
Though poor and in trouble I wander alone
Through forest boles the stormwind rolls
'Tis Spring! Sing hey!
'Tis the everyday Australian
'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze
We are the old-world people
We have Telephones and Cables
âWe'll all be rooned,' said Hanrahan
âYou talk of snakes,' said Jack the Rat
Author | Poem Title |
Barcroft Henry Boake | The Digger's Song |
Barcroft Henry Boake | Where the Dead Men Lie |
CJ Dennis | Hist! |
CJ Dennis CJ Dennis | The Ant Explorer A Bush Christmas |
CJ Dennis | The Circus |
CJ Dennis CJ Dennis | Going to School The Pieman |
CJ Dennis | Poets |
CJ Dennis | A Ruined Reversolet |
CJ Dennis CJ Dennis | The Swagman The Teacher |
CJ Dennis | The Tram-Man |
CJ Dennis | The Traveller |
CJ Dennis | The Triantiwontigongolope |
CJ Dennis | Woolloomooloo |
Edward Dyson | My Typewriter |
Louis Esson | The Shearer's Wife |
George Essex Evans | The Women of the West |
Mary Hannay Foott | Where the Pelican Builds |
WT Goodge | The Australian Slanguage |
WT Goodge | âOugh!' |
WT Goodge | A Snake Yarn |
Adam Lindsay Gordon | An Exile's Farewell |
PJ Hartigan (John O'Brien) | Pitchin' at the Church |
PJ Hartigan (John O'Brien) | Said Hanrahan |
PJ Hartigan (John O'Brien) | Tangmalangaloo |
Frank Hudson | Pioneers |
Henry Kendall | Bell-birds |
Henry Kendall | The Last of His Tribe |
Henry Kendall | The Warrigal |
Henry Lawson | Andy's Gone With Cattle |
Henry Lawson | Freedom on the Wallaby |
Henry Lawson | The Lights of Cobb & Co. |
Henry Lawson | On the Night Train |
Henry Lawson | The Roaring Days |
Henry Lawson | The Teams |
Henry Lawson | Waratah and Wattle |
John Neilson | Waiting for the Rain (A Shearing Song) |
John Shaw Neilson | Native Companions Dancing |
John Shaw Neilson | Old Granny Sullivan |
Banjo Paterson | A Ballad of Shearing (Shearing at Castlereagh) |
Banjo Paterson | Brumby's Run |
Banjo Paterson | A Bush Christening |
Banjo Paterson | Clancy of the Overflow |
Banjo Paterson | Fur and Feathers |
Banjo Paterson | The Geebung Polo Club |
Banjo Paterson | The Man from Ironbark |
Banjo Paterson | The Man from Snowy River |
Banjo Paterson | Mulga Bill's Bicycle |
Banjo Paterson | Old Man Platypus |
Banjo Paterson | Pioneers |
Banjo Paterson | Santa Claus in the Bush |
Banjo Paterson | Song of the Artesian Waters |
Banjo Paterson | The Travelling Post-Office |
Banjo Paterson | Waltzing Matilda |
GM Smith (Steele Grey) | The Days of Cobb & Co. |
GM Smith (Steele Grey) | Post-Hole Mick |
Thomas E Spencer | How M'Dougal Topped the Score |
DH Souter | Mr Smith |
Poem | Reference |
Andy's Gone With Cattle | Australian Town and Country Journal |
Ant Explorer, The | A Book for Kids, |
Australian Slanguage, The | The Bulletin |
Ballad of Shearing, A (Shearing at Castlereagh) | The Bulletin |
Bell-birds | Poems of Henry Kendall |
Brumby's Run | The Bulletin |
Bush Christening, A | The Bulletin |
Bush Christmas, A | The Herald, |
Circus, The | A Book for Kids |
Clancy Of The Overflow | The Bulletin |
Days of Cobb & Co., The | The Days of Cobb & Co. and other verses |
Digger's Song, The | The Bulletin |
Exile's Farewell, An | Poems of Adam Lindsay Gordon |
Freedom on the Wallaby | The Worker |
Fur and Feathers | The Animals Noah Forgot |
Geebung Polo Club, The | The Antipodean |
Going to School | A Book for Kids |
Hist! | A Book for Kids |
How M'Dougal Topped the Score | The Bulletin |
Last of His Tribe, The | Poems of Henry Kendall |
Lights of Cobb and Co., The | The Bulletin |
Man From Ironbark, The | The Bulletin |
Man From Snowy River, The | The Bulletin |
Mr Smith | Bush-Babs |
Mulga Bill's Bicycle | The Sydney Mail |
My Typewriter | The Bulletin |
Native Companions Dancing | Collected Poems of John Shaw Neilson |
Old Granny Sullivan | The Bookfellow |
Old Man Platypus | The Animals Noah Forgot |
On the Night Train | Birth, A Little Journal of Australian Poetry |
âOugh!' | The Bulletin |
Pieman, The | A Book for Kids |
Pioneers | The Song of Manly Men and other verses |
Pioneers | Australian Town and Country Journal |
Pitchin' at the Church | Around the Boree Log and other verses |
Poets | The Herald |
Post-Hole Mick | The Days of Cobb & Co. and other verses |
Roaring Days, The | The Bulletin |
Ruined Reversolet, A | The Bulletin |
Said Hanrahan | Around the Boree Log and other verses |
Santa Claus in the Bush | Australian Town and Country Journal |
Shearer's Wife, The | The Bulletin |
Snake Yarn, A | The Bulletin |
Song of the Artesian Waters | The Bulletin |
Swagman, The | A Book for Kids |
Tangmalangaloo | Around the Boree Log and other verses |
Teacher, The | A Book for Kids |
Teams, The | Australian Town and Country Journal |
Tram-Man, The | A Book for Kids |
Traveller, The | A Book for Kids |
Travelling Post-Office, The | The Bulletin |
Triantiwontigongolope, The | A Book for Kids |
Waiting for the Rain | The Men of the Fifties |
Waltzing Matilda | |
Waratah and Wattle | When I was King and other verses |
Warrigal, The | Leaves from Australian Forests |
Where the Dead Men Lie | The Bulletin |
Where the Pelican Builds | The Bulletin |
Women of the West, The | The Brisbane Courier |
Woolloomooloo | A Book for Kids |
