The Song of Old Joe Swallow

"The Song of Old Joe Swallow"
by Henry Lawson
Written	1890
First published in	The Bulletin
Country	Australia
Language	English
Preceded by	The Third Murder : A New South Wales tale
Followed by	Skeleton Flat
Full text
The Song of Old Joe Swallow at Wikisource

"The Song of Old Joe Swallow" (1890) is a poem by Australian poet Henry Lawson. ^[1]

It was originally published in The Bulletin on 24 May 1890 ^[2] and subsequently reprinted in several of the author's other collections, other newspapers and periodicals and a number of Australian poetry anthologies. ^[1]

Critical reception

Writing in The Australian Town and Country Journal about the author's collection, In the Days When the World was Wide and Other Verses, a reviewer noted that this poem has "a swinging, haunting refrain, a melodious simplicity and pathos which rival his contemporary on the other side of the globe, Rudyard Kipling." ^[3]

Publication history

After the poem's initial publication in The Bulletin it was reprinted as follows:

• In the Days When the World was Wide and Other Verses by Henry Lawson, Angus and Robertson, 1900
• Humorous Verses by Henry Lawson, Angus and Robertson, 1941 ^[4]
• The Penguin Book of Australian Verse edited by Harry Heseltine, Penguin Books, 1972 ^[5]
• Poems of Henry Lawson edited by Walter Stone, Ure Smith, 1973 ^[6]
• A Campfire Yarn : Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900 edited by Leonard Cronin, Lansdowne, 1984 ^[7]
• A Collection of Australian Bush Verse Peter Antill-Rose, 1989 ^[8]
• Our Country : Classic Australian Poetry : From Colonial Ballads to Paterson & Lawson edited by Michael Cook, Little Hills Press, 2002 ^[9]

Note

Henry Lawson used the name "Joe Swallow" as a pseudonym under which he published two poems: "The Water-Lilies" in 1891, and "A Stranger on the Darling" in 1892. ^[10]

See also

• 1890 in Australian literature
• 1890 in poetry

References

1. "Austlit - "The Song of Old Joe Swallow" by Henry Lawson". Austlit. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
2. ""The Song of Old Joe Swallow"". The Bulletin, 24 May 1890, p13. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
3. ""New Publications"". The Australian Town and Country Journal, 22 February 1896, p8. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
4. "Austlit - Humorous Verses by Henry Lawson". Austlit. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
5. "The Penguin Book of Australian Verse (Penguin)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
6. "Poems of Henry Lawson (Ure Smith)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
7. "A Campfire Yarn : Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900 (Lansdowne)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
8. "A Collection of Australian Bush Verse (Peter Antill-Rose)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
9. "Our Country : Classic Australian Poetry (Little Hills Press)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
10. "Austlit - Joe Swallow". Austlit. Retrieved 24 July 2023.