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City v Country |
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In 1892 Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson and others engaged in a lively poetic debate in The Bulletin. Although the language was strong and the sentiments somewhat fierce, it was conducted in good humour and there's no doubt that the protagonists enjoyed every moment of it - and the paper enjoyed the circulation boost.
I've collected the original poems as published in The Bulletin (with the assistance of the staff at the National Library). Some of these have been revised by the authors at a later date, and I've been able to find them online - so you can see what has been changed, sometimes for the better.
Publication Date | Author | Original | Later Version |
9 July 1892 | Henry Lawson | Borderland | Up the Country |
23 July 1892 | Banjo Paterson | In Defence of the Bush | In Defence of the Bush |
30 July 1892 | Edward Dyson | The Fact of the Matter | The Fact of the Matter |
6 August 1892 | Henry Lawson | In Answer to "Banjo" and Otherwise | The City Bushman |
20 August 1892 | H.H.C.C. - probably Henry Lawson |
The Overflow of Clancy | The Overflow of Clancy |
27 August 1892 | Francis Kenna | Banjo, of the Overflow | Banjo, of the Overflow |
1 October 1892 | Banjo Paterson | In Answer to Various Bards | An Answer to Various Bards |
8 October 1892 | Henry Lawson | The Poets of the Tomb | The Poets of the Tomb |
There's another poem of Paterson's - not strictly part of the sequence, but along the same lines. A Voice from the Town was published in The Bulletin on 20 October 1894, in response to A Voice fom the Bush, which is believed to be written by Mowbray Morris in 1871.
Kerry Webb
July 2013
kwebb@grapevine.com.au