Banjo (1932)
I can't stand readin' pomes erbout grannie's ole armchair,An' lowin' 'erds wot cum slowly o'er the lea ;
I dunno why blokes rite erbout locks uv golden 'air,
Or wot colour the sun wuz shinin' on er tree. Bill Shakespeare makes er mouthful uv wot poor Juiie et,
As if eatin' wuz a crime in days er yore ;
Lawson makes a sorng erbout 'is swag once gettin' wet,
While yer only 'ear uv Irelan' from Tom More. I've orfen 'eard it menshuned that ole Wordsworth noo 'is job,
But er corse is sorter stuff is 'outer date.
I 'aven't got no time fer that "we are seven" mob --
It would be no diffrunce to me if they wuz eight. But gimme dear ole 'Banjo '-- is "Man from Ironbark,"
Or 'is rattlin' tale uv the old 'orse Rio Grande,
An' I won't want no poets from out uv ages dark ;
The 'ole lots not worth ole Banjo secon' 'and. BILLABONG JIM. Notes From the Rockhamton newspaper The Central Queensland Herald April 1932 p. 2. The poetry of Robert Burns was a firm favorate for many Australian newspapers from the first years of colonisation Top