Up the Country

Up The Country is a popular poem by iconic Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson.[1] It was first published in The Bulletin magazine on 9 July 1892, under the title Borderland, and started the Bulletin Debate, a series of poems by both Lawson and Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson about the true nature of life in the Australian bush.

For the novel by Miles Franklin, see Up the Country (novel).

"Up The Country"
by Henry Lawson
Original title"Borderland"
Written1892
First published inThe Bulletin
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Bulletin Debate
Publication date9 July 1892
Full text
Up The Country at Wikisource

In Up The Country, Lawson recounts his trip to the barren and gloomy Australian bush, and criticises "City Bushmen" such as Banjo Paterson who tended to romanticize bush life.[2][3]

Paterson later responded with a poem of his own, entitled In Defense of the Bush, in which he accused Lawson of representing bush life as nothing but doom and gloom, famously ending with the line "For the bush will never suit you, and you'll never suit the bush."[4]

Publication details

After its initial publication in The Bulletin on 9 July 1892, the poem was then included in the following collections and anthologies:

  • In the Days When the World was Wide and Other Verses, 1896
  • Humorous Verses by Henry Lawson, Angus and Robertson, 1941[5]
  • The World of Henry Lawson edited by Walter Stone, Hamlyn, 1974[6]
  • The Collins Book of Australian Poetry edited by Rodney Hall, Collins, 1981[7]
  • A Campfire Yarn : Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900 edited by Leonard Cronin, Lansdowne, 1984[8]
  • Cross-Country : A Book of Australian Verse edited by John Barnes and Brian MacFarlane, Heinemann, 1984[9]
  • The Penguin Book of Australian Satirical Verse edited by Philip Neilson, Penguin, 1986[10]
  • Australian Verse : An Oxford Anthology edited by John Leonard, Melbourne University Press, 1998[11]
  • The Puncher & Wattmann Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Leonard, Puncher & Wattmann, 2009[12]

See also

References
  1. "Up the Country". Austlit. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  2. Wikisource article – Up the Country by Henry Lawson
  3. Henry Lawson: Australian Writer Australian Government Culture and Recreation Portal
  4. Wikisource article – In Defense of the Bush by Banjo Paterson
  5. "Austlit - Humorous Verses by Henry Lawson". Austlit. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  6. "The World of Henry Lawson (Hamlyn)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  7. "The Collins Book of Australian Poetry (Collins)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  8. "A Campfire Yarn : Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900 (Lansdowne)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  9. "Cross-Country : A Book of Australian Verse (Heinemann)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  10. "The Penguin Book of Australian Satirical Verse (Penguin)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  11. "Australian Verse : An Oxford Anthology (MUP)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  12. "The Puncher & Wattmann Anthology of Australian Poetry (P&W)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
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