Henry Lawson’s Birthday Tribute

Henry Lawson Photograph 1902 — Henry Lawson 1902

It’s Henry Lawson’s birthday today. Writer, poet and balladist, Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867–2 Sept 1922) redefined and immortalised early Australian life despite suffering many hardships including deafness. Along with his contemporary Andrew ‘Banjo’ Paterson, Henry Lawson is among the best-known Australian bush poets and fiction writers of the Colonial period. He was the son of the poet, publisher and feminist Louisa Lawson.

Henry Lawson Bush Poem

Read the full version of this ballad on Australian Poetry Library website.

Henry Lawson Poetry Book — ‘While the Billy Boils’ is a collection of short stories in prose and verse by iconic Australian writer Henry Lawson, published by Angus and Robertson in 1896. It includes ‘The Drover’s Wife’, ‘On the Edge of a Plain’ and ‘The Union Buries Its Dead’.

Quote: “Old Mathews drank to drown sorrow, which is the strongest swimmer in the world.” The Ridiculous Family, from ‘Triangles of Life and Other Stories’ (1913)

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward