By the Grey Gulf-Water

"By the Grey Gulf-Water" is a poem by Australian bush poet Banjo Paterson (Andrew Barton Paterson).

It was first published in The Bulletin on 11 December 1897, as by "The Banjo" under the title "On the Grey Gulf-water", and subsequently reprinted in the author's poetry collections and other poetry anthologies.

Critical reception

In a review of Rio Grande's Last Race and Other Verses in The Register (Adelaide) the writer noted that the poem looks at a "little-known region" and describes it "in lines which skilfully give the impression of vague waste space".

A review of the same book in The Evening News (Sydney) called the poem "a mournful and beautiful song of 'a great grey chaos'".

Publication history After its original publication in The Bulletin the poem was later reprinted as follows:

Rio Grande's Last Race and Other Verses by A. B. Paterson, Angus and Robertson, 1902 An Anthology of Australian Verse edited by Bertram Stevens, Angus and Robertson, 1907 The Golden Treasury of Australian Verse edited by Bertram Stevens, Angus and Robertson, 1909 The Freeman's Journal, 2 February 1911 The Bulletin, 1 February 1933 The Collected Verse of A. B. Paterson : Containing 'The Man from Snowy River', 'Rio Grande' and 'Saltbush Bill, M.P., 1921 Singer of the Bush, A. B. (Banjo) Paterson : Complete Works 1885-1900 edited by Rosamund Campbell and Philippa Harvie, Lansdowne, 1983 The Banjo's Best-Loved Poems compiled by Rosamund Campbell and Philppa Harvie, Weldon Publishing, 1985 Banjo Paterson's Poems of the Bush, J. M. Dent, 1987 A Vision Splendid: The Complete Poetry of A. B. 'Banjo' Paterson, Angus and Robertson, 1990 Selected Poems : A. B. Paterson edited by Les Murray, 1992 Banjo Paterson : His Poetry and Prose edited by Richard Hall, Allen & Unwin, 1993 The Collected Verse of Banjo Paterson edited by Clement Semmler, Viking O'Neill, 1993 The Bush Poems of A. B. (Banjo) Paterson edited by Jack Thompson, FinePoets, 2008

See also 1897 in Australian literature

References