Song of the Shingle Splitters

"Song of the Shingle Splitters"
by Henry Kendall
Written	1874
First published in	The Australian Town and Country Journal
Country	Australia
Language	English
Full text
Song of the Shingle Splitters at Wikisource

"Song of the Shingle Splitters" (1874) is a poem by Australian poet Henry Kendall. ^[1]

The poem was originally published in The Australian Town and Country Journal on 2 May 1874 ^[2] and subsequently reprinted in a number of Australian newspapers and magazines, as well as poetry anthologies. ^[1]

Critical reception

In his literary study of Kendall and his work, Thomas Thornton Reed noted: "His love of description led him to overlay his ballads, as he overlaid his narrative blank verse, with an ornateness which changes them into something which is neither ballad nor lyric." He went on to explain that "'Song of the Shingle Splitters' is the best that Kendall achieved in his peculiar style." ^[3]

Publication history

After the poem's initial publication in The Australian Town and Country Journal ^[1] it was reprinted as follows:

• The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse edited by Walter Murdoch, Oxford University Press, 1918 ^[4]
• Australian Bush Songs and Ballads edited by Will Lawson, Frank Johnson, 1944 ^[5]
• Selected Poems of Henry Kendall edited by T. Inglis Moore, Angus and Robertson, 1957 ^[6]
• Our Country : Classic Australian Poetry : From Colonial Ballads to Paterson & Lawson edited by Michael Cook, Little Hills Press, 2002 ^[7]

See also

• 1874 in Australian literature
• 1874 in poetry

References

1. "Austlit - "Song of the Shingle Splitters" by Henry Kendall". Austlit. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
2. ""The Song of the Shingle Splitters"". The Australian Town and Country Journal, 2 May 1874, p705. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
3. Henry Kendall by Thomas Thornton Reed, Rigby Limited, 1960, p12
4. "The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse (OUP)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
5. "Australian Bush Songs and Ballads (Frank Johnson)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
6. "Selected Poems of Henry Kendall (A&R)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
7. "Our Country : Classic Australian Poetry (Little Hills Press)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 September 2023.