Unfinished - individual poem - Gilmore, Lawson, Harpur, Kendall, Paterson
| "The Travelling Post Office" | |
|---|---|
| by A. B. Paterson | |
| Written | 1894 |
| First published in | The Bulletin |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Publication date | 10 March 1894 |
| Lines | 34 |
| Full text | |
 The Travelling Post Office at Wikisource | |
"The Travelling Post Office" is a poem by Australian bush poet Banjo Paterson (Andrew Barton Paterson). [1]
It was first published in The Bulletin on 10 March 1894. [2]
An old man's son has left home to go drovng sheep along the Castlereagh. The old man asks the author to write a letter to his son and to post it "Care of Conroy's sheep along the Castlereagh," thinking that the various mailmen along the way will pass it along until it reaches the son.
While reviewing The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses a writer in The Sydney Morning Herald noted of this poem, among others, that it "finds the authentic transcript of the moods of inland Australia, the life of her people, and sometimes in their own words." [3]
Another critic, reviewing the same collection in Freeman's Journal, commented that in reading the poem "we feel that indefinable charm which distinguishes all true poetry, but which defies analysis." [4]
In his commentary on the poem in 60 Classic Australian Poems Geoff Page noted that while the story in the poem is "minimal" it is "no less real" than some of the poet's other works. And while the "history and scoiology of the poem are simplistic at best", the "virtues of the ballad stanza appear" timeless. [5]
After its original publication in The Bulletin [2] the poem was also included in the following anthologies, among others:
Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author, widely considered one of the greatest writers of Australia's colonial period.
"Clancy of the Overflow" is a famous Australian poem written by Banjo Paterson and first published in The Bulletin, an Australian news magazine, on 21 December 1889. The poem is typical of Paterson, offering a romantic view of rural life, and is one of his best-known works.
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The City Bushman is a poem by iconic Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. It was first published in The Bulletin magazine on 6 August 1892, under the title In Answer to "Banjo", and Otherwise. It was the fourth work in the Bulletin Debate, a series of poems by both Lawson and Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, and others, about the true nature of life in the Australian bush.
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Saltbush Bill is a humorous poem by Australian writer and poet Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson. It was first published in The Bulletin magazine on 15 December 1894, the Christmas issue of that publication.
Saltbush Bill's Gamecock is a humorous poem by Australian writer and poet Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson. It was first published in Brooks's Australian Xmas Annual Volume 1 1898.
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Saltbush Bill, J.P. is a humorous poem by Australian writer and poet Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson. It was first published in The Evening News on 16 December 1905.
A Bush Christening is a humorous poem by Australian writer and poet Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson. It was first published in The Bulletin magazine on 16 December 1893, the Christmas issue of that publication. It has been called "a rollicking account of how the traditional pre-occupations, whisky and religion, come together".
Rio Grande's Last Race is a racing poem by Australian writer and poet Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson. It was first published in the London Sketch magazine on 16 December 1896. It was later published as the title poem for Paterson's second poetry collection, Rio Grande's Last Race and Other Verses, in 1902.
"A Bushman's Song" (1892) is a poem by Australian poet A. B. Paterson.
"Bullocky" (1944) is a poem by Australian poet Judith Wright.
"Nationality" is a poem by Australian poet Mary Gilmore. It was first published in Australian Poetry 1942, edited by Robert D. Fitzgerald in 1942, and later in the poet's collection Selected Verse, and other Australian poetry anthologies.
"The Orange Tree" is a poem by Australian poet John Shaw Neilson. It was first published in The Bookfellow on 15 February 1921, and later in the poet's collections and other Australian poetry anthologies.
"The Beautiful Squatter" (1845) is a poem by Australian poet Charles Harpur.
"Middleton's Rouseabout" is a poem by Australian poet Henry Lawson. It was first published in The Freeman's Journal on 8 March 1890, and later in the poet's collections and other Australian poetry anthologies.