The Ballad of the Drover

"The Ballad of the Drover"
by Henry Lawson
Written	February 1889
First published in	The Australian Town and Country Journal
Country	Australia
Language	English
Publication date	9 March 1889
Lines	88
Full text
The Ballad of the Drover at Wikisource

"The Ballad of the Drover" (1889) is a poem by Australian poet Henry Lawson. ^[1]

It was originally published in The Australian Town and Country Journal on 9 March 1889 ^[2] and subsequently reprinted in several of the author's collections, other periodicals and a number of Australian poetry anthologies. ^[1]

Critical reception

A reviewer on the PoetryVerse website noted that the poem initially "exudes optimism and anticipation, painting a picture of a joyful reunion." But that ultimately "the poem serves as a tragic reminder of the harsh realities faced by those who lived and worked in the Australian outback." ^[3]

Publication history

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

• The Australian Town and Country Journal , 21 September 1889 ^[4]
• In the Days When the World was Wide and Other Verses by Henry Lawson, Angus and Robertson, 1900 ^[5]
• The Coo-ee Reciter : Humourous, Pathetic, Dramatic, Dialect, Recitations and Readings compiled by W.T. Pyke, Ward, Lock, 1904 ^[6]
• The Children's Treasury of Australian Verse edited by Bertram Stevens and George Mackaness, Angus and Robertson, 1913 ^[7]
• Selected Poems of Henry Lawson by Henry Lawson, Angus and Robertson, 1918 ^[8]
• Winnowed Verse by Henry Lawson, Angus and Robertson, 1924 ^[9]
• Selections from Australian Poets edited by Bertram Stephens and George Mackaness, Cornstalk Publishing, 1925 ^[10]
• Poets of Australia : An Anthology of Australian Verse edited by George Mackaness, Angus & Robertson, 1946 ^[11]
• The Children's Lawson edited by Colin Roderick, Angus and Robertson, 1949 ^[12]
• An Anthology of Australian Verse edited by George Mackaness, Angus & Robertson, 1952 ^[13]
• Songs from Lawson edited by John Meredith, Bush Music Club, 1956 ^[14]
• From the Ballads to Brennan edited by T. Inglis Moore, Angus & Robertson, 1964 ^[15]
• Poems of Henry Lawson edited by Walter Stone, Ure Smith, 1973 ^[16]
• The World of Henry Lawson edited by Walter Stone, Hamlyn, 1974 ^[17]
• A Treasury of Colonial Poetry, Currawong, 1982 ^[18]
• A Campfire Yarn : Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900 edited by Leonard Cronin, Lansdowne, 1984 ^[19]
• The Illustrated Treasury of Australian Verse edited by Beatrice Davis, Nelson, 1984 ^[20]
• Cross-Country : A Book of Australian Verse edited by John Barnes and Brian MacFarlane, Heinemann, 1984 ^[21]
• Henry Lawson : An Illustrated Treasury edited by Glenys Smith, Lansdowne, 1985 ^[22]
• Favourite Australian Poems, Child and Associates, 1987 ^[23]
• A Collection of Australian Bush Verse, Peter Antill-Rose, 1989 ^[24]
• Australian Bush Poems, Axiom, 1991 ^[25]
• A Treasury of Bush Verse edited by G. A. Wilkes, Angus and Robertson, 1991 ^[26]
• Classic Australian Verse edited by Maggie Pinkney, Five Mile Press, 2001 ^[27]
• Henry Lawson edited by Geoffrey Blainey, Text Publishing, 2002 ^[28]
• An Australian Treasury of Popular Verse edited by Jim Haynes, ABC Books, 2002 ^[29]
• Two Centuries of Australian Poetry edited by Kathrine Bell, Gary Allen, 2007 ^[30]
• Australian Poetry Since 1788 edited by Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray, University of NSW Press, 2011 ^[31]

Notes

• The original publication of the poem in The Australian Town and Country Journal was mis-printed. In the third line of the fourth verse the word "twinkles" should have been printed as "trickles". ^[32] This was corrected when the poem was re-printed in the Journal in September 1889.

See also

• 1889 in Australian literature
• 1889 in poetry

References

1. "Austlit - "The Ballad of the Drover" by Henry Lawson". Austlit. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
2. ""The Ballad of the Drover" by Henry Lawson". The Australian Town and Country Journal, 9 March 1889, p30. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
3. ""The Ballad of the Drover"". PoetryVerse. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
4. ""The Ballad of the Drover" by Henry Lawson". The Australian Town and Country Journal, 21 September 1889, p33. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
5. "In the Days When the World Was Wide and Other Verses by Henry Lawson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
6. "The Coo-ee Reciter compiled by W.T. Pyke". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
7. "The Children's Treasury of Australian Verse edited by Bertram Stevens and George Mackaness". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
8. "Selected Poems of Henry Lawson by Henry Lawson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
9. "Winnowed Verse (A&R)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
10. "Selections from Australian Poets edited by Bertram Stephens and George Mackaness". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
11. "Poets of Australia : An Anthology of Australian Verse (A&R)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
12. "The Children's Lawson edited by Colin Roderick". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
13. "An Anthology of Australian Verse edited by George Mackaness". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
14. "Songs from Lawson edited by John Meredith". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
15. "From the Ballads to Brennan edited by T. Inglis Moore". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
16. "Poems of Henry Lawson edited by Walter Stone". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
17. "The World of Henry Lawson edited by Walter Stone". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
18. "A Treasury of Colonial Poetry (Currawong)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
19. "A Campfire Yarn : Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900 edited by Leonard Cronin". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
20. "The Illustrated Treasury of Australian Verse edited by Beatrice Davis". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
21. "Cross-Country : A Book of Australian Verse edited by John Barnes and Brian MacFarlane". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
22. "Henry Lawson : An Illustrated Treasury edited by Glenys Smith". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
23. "Favourite Australian Poems (Child and Associates)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
24. "A Collection of Australian Bush Verse (Peter Antill-Rose)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
25. "Australian Bush Poems (Axiom)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
26. "A Treasury of Bush Verse edited by G. A. Wilkes". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
27. "Classic Australian Verse edited by Maggie Pinkney". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
28. "Henry Lawson edited by Geoffrey Blainey". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
29. "An Australian Treasury of Popular Verse edited by Jim Haynes". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
30. "Two Centuries of Australian Poetry edited by Kathrine Bell". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
31. "Australian Poetry Since 1788 edited by Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
32. ""Ballad of the Drover"". The Australian Town and Country Journal, 23 March 1889, p29. Retrieved 18 January 2026.