Banjo, of the Overflow

Banjo, of the Overflow is a poem by Australian poet Francis Kenna.^[1] It was first published in The Bulletin magazine on 27 August 1892^[2] in reply to fellow poets Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson and Edward Dyson. This poem formed part of the Bulletin Debate, a series of works by Lawson, Paterson, and others, about the true nature of life in the Australian bush.

"Banjo, of the Overflow"
by Francis Kenna
First published in	The Bulletin
Country	Australia
Language	English
Publication date	27 August 1892 (1892-08-27)
Full text
Banjo, of the Overflow at Wikisource

In Up The Country, Lawson had criticised "City Bushmen" such as Banjo Paterson who tended to romanticise bush life. Paterson, in turn, accused Lawson of representing bush life as nothing but doom and gloom.^[3] Kenna's poem is a parody of Paterson's popular work, Clancy of the Overflow, playfully pointing out the irony of a city-dweller writing poems about life in the country. The author of the poem was initially credited only as "K."^[4]

Further publication

After the poem's initial publication in The Bulletin it was reprinted in The Penguin Book of Australian Ballads edited by Elizabeth Webby and Philip Butterss (1993).^[1]

See also

• 1892 in poetry
• 1892 in literature
• Australian literature