A blackened billy steaming over a small fire beneath gum trees at dusk

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Read 16 verified classics by Paterson, Lawson and Boake—presented with their sources, context and integrity intact.

Poem of the day · verified text

Clancy of the Overflow

“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…”
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16 canonical public texts

Start with a classic

Every poem below has a selected copy-text, recorded rights determination and verified transcription status.

01

Ride, courage & legend

The Man from Snowy River

A. B. Paterson · 1890
02

City & country

Clancy of the Overflow

A. B. Paterson · 1889
03

City & hardship

Faces in the Street

Henry Lawson · 1888
04

Sport & satire

The Geebung Polo Club

A. B. Paterson · 1893
05

Humour & tall tale

The Man from Ironbark

A. B. Paterson · 1892
06

Droving & rivalry

Saltbush Bill

A. B. Paterson · 1894
07

Goldfields & memory

The Roaring Days

Henry Lawson · 1889
08

Absence & hope

Andy's Gone With Cattle

Henry Lawson · 1888
09

Road, weather & loss

The Ballad of the Drover

Henry Lawson · 1889
10

Never Never & mortality

Where the Dead Men Lie

Barcroft Boake · 1891
11

Racing & satire

An Idyll of Dandaloo

A. B. Paterson · 1889
12

Outback wit

Been There Before

A. B. Paterson · 1891
13

Bush humour

Last Week

A. B. Paterson · 1893
14

Railway work

The Flying Gang

A. B. Paterson · 1891
15

Family & law

The Man Who Was Away

A. B. Paterson · 1894
16

Homestead & memory

Under the Shadow of Kiley's Hill

A. B. Paterson · 1895

Curated journey

After “The Man from
Snowy River”

Follow the hoofbeats outward: from a famous mountain ride to work, memory, satire and loss.

Begin the journey
  1. The Man from Snowy RiverThe legend
  2. Clancy of the OverflowThe imagined life
  3. The Geebung Polo ClubThe joke turns wild
  4. The Ballad of the DroverThe cost of the road

Canonical reader · POEM-000811

I had written him a letter which I had, for want of betterKnowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago,He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,Just 'on spec', addressed as follows, 'Clancy, of The Overflow'.

Opening stanza shown here; the permanent poem page contains the complete verified transcription.

Read the complete poem →

Three voices in the first circle

Meet the poets

AB

A. B. Paterson

Eleven cleared poems spanning ride, rivalry, work, memory and comic velocity.

HL

Henry Lawson

Four cleared poems of work, separation and remembrance.

BB

Barcroft Boake

One cleared poem rendering the Never Never with beauty and unease.