It is the aim of this site to reproduce most, or all, of the poetical works of Henry Lawson, so that his legacy to Australia's culture may be accessed via the Internet by all interested persons. It should be noted that this is an extremely large project, and will therefore take quite some time to complete.
Henry Lawson was born on the Grenfell goldfields, on 17th June 1867.
He is one of the most famous and most popular of all Australian writers. His poetry and short stories are still widely read and republished today.
His writings were a significant influence upon the development of the Australian culture and national identity, and played a strong part in the expression of that identity.
Henry Lawson continued his vast literary output right up until his death on 2nd September 1922.
Note: The standard references for the writings of Henry Lawson are:
A Camp-Fire Yarn: Henry Lawson, Complete Works 1885-1900, first published by Lansdowne, Sydney, 1984.
A Fantasy of Man: Henry Lawson, Complete Works 1900-1922, first published by Lansdowne, Sydney, 1984.
If you are interested in the works of Henry Lawson, these are well worth purchasing, as they include all of Lawson's poetry and prose writings (that were known of at that time; although a handful of others have since been discovered); also included is some biographical information.
The poems on this site have been arranged in a similar fashion to the arrangement of Lawson's poetry in the above books, being arranged via two lists: alphabetical and chronological. Also, whenever differing versions of the same Lawson poem are encountered, the version used in the above books has been followed. In the lists of Lawson's poetry on this site, any poem that has not been included in the above volumes has been marked on the lists with three stars ***. Those poems which were reproduced in the above two books as manuscript works (that is, those which had not been published during Lawson's lifetime) have been marked on the lists with the notation "(MS)".
Another volume of interest is The Songs of Henry Lawson (compiled by Chris Kempster; published by Viking O'Neil, 1989) which has tunes for over 100 of Henry Lawson's poems. Due to the nature of writing music to fit poems, many of the songs in the book are not 100% the same as the original poetry, but that is a minor consideration - for those interested in the works of Henry Lawson, this book is well worth looking at.
The Australian Nationalism Information Database was established in March 1998 as an educational resource to promote Australia's national identity and culture, and to offer criticism of mass immigration, multiculturalism, and Asianisation as major threats to our environment, our people, and our way of life. A wide range of on-line publications and articles are provided on these issues, as well as on other issues of interest to Australian Nationalists. Also, information is provided on how to contact Nationalist organisations within Australia.
