The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses

by A.B. Paterson

Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson (1864-1941) was a famous Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales where he spent much of his childhood. Paterson's more notable poems include Waltzing Matilda (1895), The Man from Snowy River (1890) and Clancy of the Overflow (1889). In 1885, Paterson began submitting and having his poetry published in the Sydney edition of The Bulletin under the pseudonym of "The Banjo," the name of a favourite horse. Paterson, like The Bulletin, was an ardent nationalist, and in 1889 published a pamphlet, Australia for the Australians. In 1890, he wrote The Man from Snowy River, a poem which caught the heart of the nation, and in 1895 had a collection of his works published under that name. Paterson authored two novels; An Outback Marriage (1906) and The Shearer's Colt (1936), wrote many short stories; Three Elephant Power and Other Stories (1917), and wrote a book based on his experiences as a war reporter; Happy Dispatches (1934).

Genres: Poetry, Australia, Classics, Westerns, Fiction, Collections

175 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1928

About the author

Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson was an Australian poet, ballad writer, journalist and horseman. See also Banjo Paterson.

A. B. 'Banjo' Paterson, known as Barty to his family, was born Andrew Barton Paterson at Narrambla, near Orange on 17 February 1864. His parents, Andrew Bogle and Rose Isabella Paterson were graziers on Illalong station in the Yass district.

Paterson's early education took place at home under a governess and then at the bush school in Binalong, the nearest township. From about the age of ten years he attended the Sydney Grammar School. He lived with his grandmother in Gladesville and spent the school holidays at Illalong station with his family.

After completing school the 16-year-old Paterson was articled to a Sydney firm of solicitors, Spain and Salway. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1886 and formed the legal partnership, Street and Paterson. During these years Paterson began publishing verse in the Bulletin and Sydney Mail under the pseudonyms 'B' and 'The Banjo'.

In 1895, at the age of 31 and still in partnership with Street, Andrew Barton Paterson achieved two milestones in Australian writing. He composed his now famous ballad 'Waltzing Matilda' and his first book, The Man from Snowy River, and other verses, was published by Angus & Robertson, marking the beginning of an epoch in Australian publishing. This hallmark publication sold out its first edition within a week and went through four editions in six months, making Paterson second only to Kipling in popularity among living poets writing in English. His poetry continues to sell well today and is available in many editions, some of which are illustrated.

Paterson travelled to South Africa in 1899 as special war correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald during the Boer War, and to China in 1901 with the intention of covering the Boxer Rebellion but he arrived after the uprising was over. By 1902 Paterson had left the legal profession. The following year he was appointed Editor of the Evening News (Sydney), a position he held until 1908 when he resigned to take over a property in Wee Jasper.

In 1903 he married Alice Walker in Tenterfield. Their first home was in Queen Street, Woollahra. The Patersons had two children, Grace born in 1904 and Hugh born in 1906.

During World War I Paterson sailed to Europe hoping for an appointment as war correspondent. Instead, during the course of the war he was attached as an ambulance driver to the Australian Voluntary Hospital in France and was commissioned to the 2nd Remount Unit of the AIF. He was eventually promoted to Major.

In Australia again he returned to journalism, retiring in 1930. He was created CBE in 1939. At the time of his death on 5 February 1941 his reputation as the principal folk poet of Australia was secure. His body of work included seven volumes of poetry and prose in many editions, a collection The Collected Verse of A.B. Paterson (1923), a book for children The Animals Noah Forgot (1933), and an anthology The Old Bush Songs (1905), in addition to his many pieces of journalism and reportage.

Paterson's role in Australian culture has been celebrated on the Australian $10 note.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu5byI...

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you a woman of a certain age, and if you were (or still are) a horse lover, you most likely did what I did -watched The Man from Snowy River over and over and over again.

Which means you most likely also tracked down the poem. Paterson is actully more well known than most people think. What is the song everyone thinks of when thinking of Down Under? No, the one not by an 80s band. Yes, and guess who wrote it?


Paterson writes wonderfully about horses, really fun poems about nags that aren't old, and steeplechases, and the surprise of Pastor's Horse. He also, however, writes about drink, bicyles, and robbers (with an eye to realism).

Also, I swear his political power foresees American politics.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prelude
I have gathered these stories afar,
In the wind and the rain,
In the land where the cattle camps are,
On the edge of the plain.
On the overland routes of the west,
When the watches were long,
I have fashioned in earnest and jest
These fragments of song.

They are just the rude stories one hears
In sadness and mirth,
The records of wandering years,
And scant is their worth
Though their merits indeed are but slight,
I shall not repine,
If they give you one moment's delight,
Old comrades of mine.

Do you sit in your office, staring out the window, and wonder how the breeze would feel on your skin? On the drive home, do you sometimes imagine instead driving out into the sunset, to the edge of the sea, or to the edge of the world? Are you the type of person that was made for a frontier, for the sweat and the toil, instead of the city?

Me too. This is your kind of poetry. It captures the heart of Australia. It captures the essence of Wanderlust and the heart of the real rolling stone. The poetry is sweet, simple, unrefined, because that’s exactly how it needs to be. It paints a beautiful vivid picture, it calls to the heart.

And, if you enjoy this, try reading Robert W. Service the Song of the Yukon and Other Verses. It’s the same sort of thing.

Sidenote: Remember that if you are reading poetry by a name named Banjo you are winning at life.

This book was provided for free as an audiobook on Librivox.org

[Velvetink · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who didn't have to read this at school? Iconic now, and responsible for the continuing huge sales of Driza-Bone coats and R.M. Williams riding boots. ;P

[Stephanie Ricker · Rating 4 out of 5]

You've heard some of A.B. "Banjo" Paterson's poetry before, probably without realizing it; he wrote the lyrics for "Waltzing Matilda," which is more of Australia's national anthem than Australia's *actual* national anthem, which practically no one outside of Australia has heard. I had of course read the poem "The Man from Snowy River" before, which is in itself something of an Australian cultural icon--it's even commemorated on their $10 bill. (Side note: I was basically raised on the 1982 movie of the same name, and for our wedding, I walked down the aisle to this piece from the soundtrack. The movie features some of the best riding in cinematic history, in my opinion.)

Even with all of that backstory, I had never read any of Banjo's other poetry until picking up this book. All you need to know boils down to two words: Australian Kipling. If you like Kipling, you will no doubt eat this up. Coincidentally, Kipling and Paterson became lifelong friends, so maybe there was some cross-pollination of ideas there.

I will say that my edition (which isn't on Goodreads--this was the closest I could find) has a long introduction by someone who clearly knows the bush but doesn't particularly know writing, which was unfortunate.

[Overbooked ✎ · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I chose this book, I was looking for bush life stories and I wasn’t expecting so many poems dedicated to horse racing.
My favourite poems in this collection: Conroy’s Gap, In the Droving Days and How Gilbert Died.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little poem!

Should be read after The Clancy of the Overflow by the same author and if you want some more, be sure to read Clancy's Reply which is just fun to read although is not written by Banjo Paterson and it shows.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never knew that a favorite childhood movie was inspired by/based on a poem! I enjoyed the poetry and learning about the Australian bush.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book of narrative rhyming poetry that is often humorous and includes recurring places and characters. It departs from the cowboy outback when it goes to the steeplechases and also to war (the poet was a war correspondent for some years and began his professional life as a lawyer). I enjoyed these poems in the same way I enjoy the poetry of Ogden Nash. They have a story telling rhythm and fun with language and the foibles of human nature. Paterson has a lot of fun with Australian place names and horse lineage names. He does a send up of The Raven:

As I pondered very weary o'er a volume long and dreary --
For the plot was void of interest -- 'twas the postal guide, in fact,
There I learnt the true location, distance, size, and population
Of each township, town and village in the radius of the Act.

And I learnt that Puckawidgee stands beside the Murrumbidgee,
And the Booleroi and Bumble get their letters twice a year,
Also that the post inspector, when he visited Collector,
Closed the office up instanter, and re-opened Dungalear.

But my languid mood forsook me, when I found a name that took me,
Quite by chance I came across it — ‘Come-by-Chance’ was what I read;
No location was assigned it, not a thing to help one find it,
Just an N which stood for northward, and the rest was all unsaid.

Most of the poems are at least a full page since they are narratives.

I was quite baffled when I came across a poem that had the echo of being a ghazal. Surely not, I thought. But then several poems later Hafiz made an appearance in the name of a poem which served as confirmation for me.

In any case, the poetry in this volume mostly spins humorous yarns and I've enjoyed it and am glad to have encountered it on my poetry journey.

And thus ends my adventures in cowboy poetry for now.

[Krisloves.books · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good glimpse into the Australian mindset of the late 19th and early 20th century, but I only really like 3 of the poems.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun collection of poems.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I watched The Man from Snowy River a LOT when I was a child. Here’s what I didn’t care about (and in fact hardly remember, having had to cobble it together from a wikipedia synopsis): gold prospecting, the love story, Jim’s financial difficulties, Jessica being threatened with being sent to (gasp) women’s college, brotherly strife between two secondary characters (seriously, this movie had a lot of subplots, which I guess is crucial when you’re basing your main plot on a 100-line poem about rounding up horses). Here’s what I cared about: HORSES! And so I think I might have been better off just reading Paterson’s poems in the first place. They’re full of horses. The man was obsessed with horses.
The poems in this book are entertaining and often funny, with a galloping cadence that makes you want to read them out loud. While I don't think they're the most stunning or thought-provoking examples of poetry I've ever read, they're clever enough to provide a few hours' worth of happy distraction.

I've reviewed this collection for my blog, Around the World in 2000 Books, wherein I compare and contrast it with Henry Lawson's short story collection, While the Billy Boils.

[Garth Mailman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ten years or so past I went looking to find the poem that inspired the Tom Burlison movie, The Man from Snowy River. After a Google or related search discovered I could download Banjo Patterson’s book for free from Gutenberg Press. The .zip file led me to download and install µBook Reader to cope with the file. After reading the titular poem I put the book aside until just recently. Anyone who has sung Waltzing Matilda whether drunk or sober knows that Aussies particularly those in the Outback where these poems are set have unique colloquial expressions many of which only loosely translate into common English and Patterson uses a lot of them. The poems are written in rhyming couplets a style that seems all to quaint in this age of blank verse. They benefit from being read aloud. No one will mistake this verse for Tennyson or Wordsworth but it is well worth a read.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Man From Snowy River and Other Verses
Paterson, A.B.
my favorite poet captures the time and place that was the turn of the century in Australia, looking at the dreams and the realities, with rose colored glasses

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

a beautiful collection of stories, bought in australia, was a historical reprint of the 100th anniversary of the original printing of the book

[Patrick Lum (Jintor) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love Banjo Paterson's poetry, but after a while you get bloody sick of horse racing and droving, you know?

[Sarah Fairbairn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A spoken collection of 19th century Australian bush poetry by the one and only Banjo Paterson. With poems featuring the land, its people and their ways. A time capsule of sorts.

[Trish Goodgame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Borrowed from Library to use for Balaklava Eisteddfod Speech & Drama Poetry reading section. Didn't read all of it though, as I'm not really a poetry fan.

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prelude: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Man from Snowy River: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Old Pardon, The Son of Reprieve: ⭐⭐⭐
Clancy of the Overflow: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Conroy's Gap: ⭐⭐⭐⭐