Banjo Paterson: Collected Verse

Description

The poet A B 'Banjo' Paterson, best known for his rousing folk classics "The Man from Snowy River" and "Waltzing Matilda," is widely acknowledged as Australia's greatest and most popular balladist. His poems, written with great gusto and humour, celebrate all the romance and rough-and-tumble of old Australia. In this collection, leading Paterson scholar Clement Semmler presents more than 100 of Paterson's poems that reflect the remarkable richness and range of his writings. Generously illustrated with period drawings, this first Penguin edition of Paterson's verse pays tribute to one of Australia's favourite sons - 'the Banjo of the Bush.'

Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson (1864-1941) was born near Orange in outback NSW. He had a comfortable upbringing in the country, and later, in Sydney where he lived with his grandmother Emily Barton, an educated woman who nurtured his literary talent. He practised as a solicitor from 1886 and began to submit verse to the influential Sydney magazine the Bulletin. The publication of "Clancy of the Overflow" and "The Man from Snowy River" secured his reputation as Australia's pre-eminent folk poet. Paterson exchanged law for journalism in 1901 and subsequently worked as a newspaper correspondent and editor in Australia and abroad. He wrote prolifically, producing four books of verse, two novels and several collections of sketches and reminiscences. His war dispatches were highly acclaimed. In 1939, two years before his death, he was appointed a Commander of the British Empire for his contribution to Australian literature.