Conroy's Gap

"Conroy's Gap"
by A. B. Paterson
Written	1890
First published in	The Bulletin
Country	Australia
Language	English
Published in English	20 December 1890
Full text
Conroy's Gap at Wikisource

"Conroy's Gap" is a poem by Australian bush poet Banjo Paterson (Andrew Barton Paterson). ^[1]

It was first published in The Bulletin on 20 December 1890, as by "The Banjo", under the title "The Story of Conroy's Gap", ^[2] and subsequently reprinted in the author's poetry collections and other poetry anthologies. ^[1]

Critical reception

In a review of the poet's collection The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses a reviewer in The Argus (Melbourne) noted: "The swing of the verse is as various as the pace of a horse–now ambling along in an easy, careless measure, now breaking into a rough trot, and presently springing into full gallop, with a long stride, and a rhythmical recurrence of the rapid hoof-beats on the ringing around. And the general effect of the free and animated movement of the verse is thoroughly exhilarating, as in [this poem, among others], where the metre suits well with the hurry and excitement of the narrative." ^[3]

Publication history

After its original publication in The Bulletin ^[2] the poem was later reprinted as follows:

• The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses , Angus and Robertson, 1895 ^[4]
• The Collected Verse of Banjo Paterson edited by Clement Semmler, Viking O'Neill, 1982 ^[5]
• Singer of the Bush, A. B. (Banjo) Paterson : Complete Works 1885-1900 edited by Rosamund Campbell and Philippa Harvie, Lansdowne, 1983 ^[6]
• My Country : Australian Poetry and Short Stories, Two Hundred Years edited by Leonie Kramer, Lansdowne, 1985 ^[7]
• A Vision Splendid: The Complete Poetry of A. B. 'Banjo' Paterson, Angus and Robertson, 1990 ^[8]
• Selected Poems : A. B. Paterson edited by Les Murray, 1992 ^[9]
• A. B. (Banjo) Paterson : Bush Ballads, Poems, Stories and Journalism edited by Clement Semmler, University of Queensland Press, 1992 ^[10]
• Banjo Paterson : His Poetry and Prose edited by Richard Hall, Allen & Unwin, 1993 ^[11]
• The Collected Verse of A. B. Paterson : Containing 'The Man from Snowy River', 'Rio Grande' and 'Saltbush Bill, M.P.', 1921 ^[12]
• The Penguin Book of Australian Ballads edited by Elizabeth Webby and Philip Butterss, Penguin, 1993 ^[13]

Notes

• Conroy's Gap, and Conroy's sheep, would later be mentioned by Paterson in his 1894 poem "The Travelling Post Office", and also in his 1896 poem "Mulga Bill's Bicycle"

See also

• 1890 in Australian literature

References

1. "Austlit — "Conroy's Gap" by Banjo Paterson". Austlit. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
2. ""The Story of Conroy's Gap"". The Bulletin, 20 December 1890, p13. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
3. ""A New Poet"". The Argus 7 December 1895, p13. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
4. "The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses by Banjo Paterson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
5. "The Collected Verse of Banjo Paterson edited by Clement Semmler". Austlit. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
6. "Singer of the Bush, A. B. (Banjo) Paterson : Complete Works 1885-1900 edited by Rosamund Campbell and Philippa Harvie". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
7. "My Country : Australian Poetry and Short Stories, Two Hundred Years edited by Leonie Kramer". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
8. "A Vision Splendid: The Complete Poetry of A. B. 'Banjo' Paterson (A&R)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
9. "Selected Poems : A. B. Paterson edited by Les Murray". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
10. "A. B. (Banjo) Paterson : Bush Ballads, Poems, Stories and Journalism edited by Clement Semmler". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
11. "Banjo Paterson : His Poetry and Prose edited by Richard Hall". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
12. "Austlit — The Collected Verse of A. B. Paterson (1921)". Austlit. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
13. "The Penguin Book of Australian Ballads edited by Elizabeth Webby and Philip Butterss". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2026.