Talk:Clancy of the Overflow

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To whoever uploaded the poem here: Wikisource would be much more appropriate. Snargle 02:56, 7 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Meter[edit]

The article currently says that the poem is written in trochaic octameter. I don't scan it that way at all. I don't know what the term for this would be, but the rhythm strikes me as //X///X///X///X/ //X///X///X///X (using / for unstressed and X for stressed). That breaks up into 4 units of //X/ alternating with lines that leave off the last unstressed syllable. The meter is quite clear throughout. I will revise accordingly--if someone sees this and disagrees, please comment here.24.199.119.162 19:10, 26 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It would appear to be seven tertius paeons followed by an anapest, but I have no idea how to express that as a descriptive term. Like most of the Banjo's stuff, it's good galloping rhythm:


I had written
him a letter
which I had for
want of better
knowledge sent to
where I met him
down the Lachlan
years ago...

Eric TF Bat (talk) 03:17, 24 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]


Actually mate, Clancy is not supposed to be 'galloping' but lyrical, and your form here is not authentic to how it should be read -- see Patterson's own notes on that. And I'm not sure who wrote this article, but some info is flat-out wrong: ie., 'The Overflow' is not a sheep-station (and you don't have too many sheep-stations in Outback Queensland -- they're all cattle-stations mate) but an area of Queensland -- where the Darling River overflows it's banks in a big Wet. But I'll leave it up to the writer to amend such details -- it's their page.

Book by Robert Ingpen[edit]

How related? What is Ingpen's contribution? (poorly catalogued if merely to illustrate the poem)

I added this to the foot of Robert Ingpen#Works with the tag {clarify}.

--P64 (talk) 15:48, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Two maybe helpful listings at AUSTLIT: Ingpen. 1889; 1982 picture book.
--P64 (talk) 16:07, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Palazzo Editions (Bath, England) says:[1] "To mark the 150th birthday of Banjo Paterson, award-winning illustrator Robert Ingpen has journeyed into the Australian outback, exploring the myth of Clancy through words and stunning illustrations, to find out what it is that has made Clancy such an enduring figure in Australian folklore."

Features a biography of A. 'Banjo' Paterson. Written and illustrated by Ingpen. If I understand correctly, Palazzo is the publisher, owns world rights, "excluding Australia/New Zealand (National Library of Australia)".

--P64 (talk) 17:37, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Boldrewood quote[edit]

A citation note was placed on the following text in this page: "The poem was well-received and raised much curiosity about the identity of "The Banjo". Soon after its publication, Rolf Boldrewood, author of Robbery Under Arms (1882), wrote in his literary column for The Australasian that "Clancy of the Overflow" was "the best bush ballad since Gordon". ref The Australasian, 8 January 1890. ref "

I have removed this as I am unable to find the quote in The Australasian. If a certifiable reference can be found then this text may be added back in. Perry Middlemiss (talk) 00:03, 13 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]