Verses, Popular and Humorous

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Verses, Popular and Humorous
Author Henry Lawson
CountryAustralia
Language English
Publisher Angus and Robertson
Publication date
1900
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages244
Preceded by In the Days When the World was Wide and Other Verses  
Followed by On the Track  

Verses, Popular and Humorous (1900) was the second collection of poems by Australian poet Henry Lawson. It was released in hardback by Angus and Robertson publishers in 1900. [1] It features some of the poet's earlier major works, including "The Lights of Cobb and Co", "Saint Peter" and "The Grog-An'-Grumble-Steeplechase". Most of the poems in the volume had been written after the publication of In the Days When the World was Wide and Other Verses in 1896. [1]

Contents

The original collection includes 66 poems by the author that are reprinted from various sources. Later publications split the collection into two separate volumes: Popular Verses and Humorous Verses, though the contents differed from the original list. [1]

Title page of first edition VPH-title page.png
Title page of first edition

See also

Notes

My acknowledgments of the courtesy of the editors and proprietors of the newspapers in which most of these verses were first published are due and are gratefully discharged on the eve of my departure for England. Chief among them is the Sydney Bulletin; others are the Sydney Town and Country Journal, Freeman's Journal, and Truth, and the New Zealand Mail.

A few new pieces are included in the collection.
H.L.

Sydney, March 17th, 1900.

Contents

Critical reception

Writing in The Age soon after the book's publication a reviewer stated that the poems "...exhibit the old power of rhythm, cynical humor, and knowledge of the seamy side of Australian life, and will not lessen the writer's claim to be the first of purely Australian authors, as distinct from those who have wielded the pen with success to set forth a point of view derived from other lands." [3]

A reviewer in The Queenslander was effusive in their praise: "There is the same keen observation of the under side of life in the colonies, the same acute sympathy with the woes of the swaggie, or the dead-beat, or the horny-handed son of toil, the same socialistic standpoint, and the same hatred of class distinction. Lawson has always been of the people, and has written for the people. He has endeavoured to open the eyes of luxury to the condition of life in those who work in order that such luxury may be enjoyed. He knows the feeling of despair, of hopeless, helpless rage that the sons of labour have against their more fortunate brethren, and in a fearless way he sets down his impressions." [4]

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References