AustLit
Latest Issues
Contents
-
The Drover's Wife,
single work
short story
First appearing in The Bulletin in 1892, Henry Lawson's short story 'The Drovers Wife' is today regarded as a seminal work in the Australian literary tradition. Noted for it's depiction of the bush as harsh, potentially threatening and both isolated and isolating, the story opens with a simple enough premise: an aggressive--and presumably deadly--snake disrupts the working life of a bushwoman and her young children. Brave but cautious, the woman resolves to protect her children since her husband is, characteristically, away from home and of no help.
As time passes within the story, tension builds, and the snake's symbolic threat takes on layers of meaning as the sleepless heroine recalls previous challenges she faced while her husband was away. A series of flashbacks and recollections propel the story through the single night over which it takes place, and by the time the climax arrives--the confrontation with the snake--readers have learned much about the heroine's strengths and fears, most of the latter involving the loss of children and dark figures who encroach upon her small, vulnerable homestead. To be sure, this "darkness" is highly symbolic, and Lawson's use of imagery invokes Western notions of good and evil as well as gendered and racial stereotypes.
-
The Loaded Dog,
single work
short story
humour
Dave and Andy create a bomb to blast fish out of the waterhole. However their dog picks the bomb up and begins a deadly, yet hilarious, game of 'fetch'.
-
The Union Buries Its Dead,
single work
short story
humour
Describes a bush funeral.
-
An Old Mate of Your Father's,
single work
short story
The narrator remembers how his father would be visited by old mates and how they sit together talking about their days on the Ballarat and Bendigo goldfields.
-
The Bush Undertaker,
single work
short story
An old shepherd discovers his mate, Brummy, dead and mummified in the bush. Saddened, he feels compelled to bury him.
-
That There Dog O' Mine,
single work
short story
Injured in a drunken brawl, a shearer refuses treatment in a hospital unless his dog, also injured, is allowed to stay as well.
-
The Geological Spieler,
single work
short story
humour
Steelman poses as a geologist, with Smith as his offsider. They are offered accommodation in a railway camp and stay for several days, but decide to move on when they discover they are not the only tricksters in the camp.
-
His Country - After All,
single work
short story
Expatriate for fifteen years, a man denigrates Australia throughout a coach-trip in New Zealand, until he encounters the smell and sight of imported blue gum trees.
-
Bill, the Ventriloquial Rooster,
single work
short story
humour
Mitchell relates the sorry tale of Bill, a rooster mystified by the echo of his crowing.
-
A Bush Dance,
single work
short story
humour
Young people attending a bush dance fear that the musician will never arrive.
-
Telling Mrs Baker,
single work
short story
Two drovers, Andy and Jack, watch their boss drink himself to death. They lie to his wife about the cause of his death to spare her unnecessary pain.
-
Two Dogs and a Fence,
single work
short story
humour
Mitchell muses on the behaviour of dogs.
-
A Daughter of Maoriland : A Sketch of Poor-Class Maoris,
single work
short story
The story of Sarah Moses, a brooding sixteen-year-old Maori girl called 'August' by her new school teacher, and a man with literary ambitions who thinks he may be able to construct a romance from her story. One day August turns up on his doorstep, claiming her family have thrown her out. The teacher and his wife take her in and all goes well at first, but gradually they realise August's real intentions.
-
Mitchell : A Character Sketch,
single work
short story
humour
Mitchell does some clever talking to replenish his supplies.
-
A Vision of Sandy Blight,
single work
short story
humour
The narrator, Joe, is tortured by sandy blight, so he and Mitchell shelter in a hut to wait for sunset. After apparently curing Joe's affliction with a bottle of 'eye water' he finds in the hut, Mitchell reminisces about the perils of amateur bee-keeping.
-
A Child in the Dark, and a Foreign Father,
single work
short story
A man and his young son do their best to hold the family together, despite the complaints of the man's lazy wife.Note: With title: A Child in the Dark
-
The Darling River,
single work
short story
humour
Lawson describes the oddities of travel by river boat on the Darling River. He also explains how Bourke came to acquire the reputation of being the most drunken town on the Darling.
- Send Round the Hat, single work short story humour (p. 105-121)
-
Rats,
single work
short story
humour
Three travelling shearers encounter a swagman, 'Rats', having a fight with his swag.Note: With title: 'Rats'
-
A Wild Irishman,
single work
short story
Flour o' Wheat is an Irishman with a temper living in New Zealand. He uses his fists to get his way, but one day when he is passed out, drunk, the township decide to teach him a lesson.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also braille.
Works about this Work
-
Untitled
1966
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 3 December 1966; (p. 11)
— Review of Henry Lawson : Poet and Short Story Writer 1966 single work criticism biography ; Henry Lawson's Best Stories 1966 selected work short story -
Untitled
1966
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 12 November 1966; (p. 19)
— Review of Henry Lawson : Poet and Short Story Writer 1966 single work criticism biography ; Henry Lawson's Best Stories 1966 selected work short story -
Undeserving Laureate
1966
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 29 October vol. 88 no. 4521 1966; (p. 39)
— Review of Henry Lawson : Poet and Short Story Writer 1966 single work criticism biography ; Henry Lawson's Best Stories 1966 selected work short story -
Untitled
1966
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 22 October 1966; (p. 21)
— Review of Henry Lawson : Poet and Short Story Writer 1966 single work criticism biography ; Henry Lawson's Best Stories 1966 selected work short story -
Untitled
1966
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian , 31 December 1966; (p. 9)
— Review of Henry Lawson : Poet and Short Story Writer 1966 single work criticism biography ; Henry Lawson's Best Stories 1966 selected work short story
-
[Review] Seed and Henry Lawson's Best Stories
1966
single work
review
— Appears in: New Statesman , 16 December 1966; (p. 911)
— Review of Seed 1966 single work novel ; Henry Lawson's Best Stories 1966 selected work short story -
Untitled
1966
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian , 31 December 1966; (p. 9)
— Review of Henry Lawson : Poet and Short Story Writer 1966 single work criticism biography ; Henry Lawson's Best Stories 1966 selected work short story -
Untitled
1966
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 22 October 1966; (p. 21)
— Review of Henry Lawson : Poet and Short Story Writer 1966 single work criticism biography ; Henry Lawson's Best Stories 1966 selected work short story -
Undeserving Laureate
1966
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 29 October vol. 88 no. 4521 1966; (p. 39)
— Review of Henry Lawson : Poet and Short Story Writer 1966 single work criticism biography ; Henry Lawson's Best Stories 1966 selected work short story -
Untitled
1966
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 12 November 1966; (p. 19)
— Review of Henry Lawson : Poet and Short Story Writer 1966 single work criticism biography ; Henry Lawson's Best Stories 1966 selected work short story