A Spark From Banjo

Only in the embers of hindsight do I appreciate how the spark of inspiration from the poem "Clancy of the Overflow" by Banjo Paterson would ignite such significant life changes.

My journey started accidentally in my father-in-law's study. It was one of those Summer afternoons where the light was a hazy-orange glow, the sun hadn't set but it was starting to hide behind the neighbour's houses, and the heat was in perfect harmony with the breeze.

And there it stood framed in black, a poem by Banjo. T'was Clancy of the Overflow, 'bout a cowboy who slept under the stars and a book-keeper who just dreamt of them.

I initially fell in love with its sensory language; lines such as "a thumbnail dipped in tar” or “in the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars".

Yet beyond the language, the story made me feel discontent and envy. The poem's story of a city man longing for the beauty of the country hit too close to home. I wanted to be the cowboy, Clancy, who slept under the stars and roamed on horseback.

After many months of Banjo's whispers urging me to do something about my discontent, an opportunity to make the move presented itself. Somehow the stars aligned; our children starting primary school and my in-office job abruptly ended; and the family was now free to live anywhere. We chose a country town in New South Wales' Southern Highlands, and now I write to you with a mental state of relief.

Nowadays I’ve left the city,
And nature fills my sight,
Where the red air's crisp sunrise,
And the stars shimmer at night.

Thanks, Banjo, for the vision,
For the logs of life you fired,
Now I live where Clancy wandered,
In the bushland, wild inspired.

Now I see this poem as a symbol of connection to my local bush landscape and to my fellow Australian countryman.

The country life has only emboldened my obsession with Banjo and Clancy of the Overflow. I started studying him. I learned about his peers, the Bush Poets, and his other poems like Waltzing Matilda and The Man from Snowy River. Sadly, I'm a month too late to attend the 2025 Man from Snowy River Festival in Corryong, VIC near Mt. Kosciuszko where they commemorate Banjo's ballads. My office is littered with several amateur charcoal and pencil drawings of Banjo and his peers . And with great pride I play the Man from Snowy River Youtube video to my children.

So I guess what I’m saying is, if a random poem can change my life, maybe it’s worth keeping your mind open too. And you never know which little line stuck in your head or that pip of an idea you that magically appeared mid-shower will be the one acting as your north star.

Without further ado, here’s A.B. Paterson's aka Banjo's 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,
He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,
Just "on spec", addressed as follows, "Clancy, of The Overflow".

And an answer came directed in a writing unexpected,
(And I think the same was written with a thumb-nail dipped in tar)
Twas his shearing mate who wrote it, and verbatim I will quote it:
"Clancy's gone to Queensland droving, and we don't know where he are."

In my wild erratic fancy visions come to me of Clancy
Gone a-droving "down the Cooper" where the Western drovers go;
As the stock are slowly stringing, Clancy rides behind them singing,
For the drover's life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know.

And the bush hath friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him
In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,
And at night the wond'rous glory of the everlasting stars.

I am sitting in my dingy little office, where a stingy
Ray of sunlight struggles feebly down between the houses tall,
And the foetid air and gritty of the dusty, dirty city
Through the open window floating, spreads its foulness over all

And in place of lowing cattle, I can hear the fiendish rattle
Of the tramways and the buses making hurry down the street,
And the language uninviting of the gutter children fighting,
Comes fitfully and faintly through the ceaseless tramp of feet.

And the hurrying people daunt me, and their pallid faces haunt me
As they shoulder one another in their rush and nervous haste,
With their eager eyes and greedy, and their stunted forms and weedy,
For townsfolk have no time to grow, they have no time to waste.

And I somehow rather fancy that I'd like to change with Clancy,
Like to take a turn at droving where the seasons come and go,
While he faced the round eternal of the cash-book and the journal —
But I doubt he'd suit the office, Clancy, of "The Overflow".

Some facts and insights about it all:

1^ Banjo and the Bush Poets

Banjo—Andrew Barton (A.B.) Paterson (1864–1941)—was a lawyer turned poet and journalist. He wrote Clancy of the Overflow, as well as other iconic Australian poems like The Man from Snowy River and Waltzing Matilda.

He was one of several Bush Poets, alongside Henry Lawson, Will Ogilvie, C.J. Dennis, and Barcroft Boake.

These poets were among the first to romanticise rural life. They highlighted the bush as a place of purity and purpose reciting "at night the wond'rous glory of the everlasting stars", while contrasting it with the grime and greed of the city and it's "gutter children fighting...".

These poets were celebrities in their day - Banjo in particular with Man from Snowy River turned into a famous Aussie Western in the 80s and Waltzing Matilda adopted into a song that every Aussie and non-Aussie in this country sings proudly at the pub.

2^ The Bulletin

The Bulletin was founded in the late 1800s by the famed art supporter J.F. Archibald (of the Archibald Prize) and John Haynes. It was home to the original Bush Poets as well as a healthy dose of nationalism and misogyny - distributed to some 80K households weekly.

After I learned about The Bulletin² magazine, and the Bush Poets¹ from a stranger at an art shop in rural Australia, I found further inspiration.

The Bulletin was known as “The Bushman’s Bible”. I became inspired by how a group of rouge poets could inspire a nation to fall in love with nature.

The Bush Poets were the 1890s version of advertising for country life. Through their poetry, published in the Bulletin, they popularised the image of the rugged, self-sufficient bushman taming wild horses as well as working class willing to fight against the authority aka the 'Aussie Battla'. And by somewhat accident they defined some of the most quintessential Australian cultural values of all time: fairness, endurance, and mate'ship.

While The Bulletin was famous for supporting the arts, it was also infamous for its editorial stance—deeply racist, misogynistic, and hyper-nationalist. Understanding The Bulletin’s history is challenging without the context of its time. Until 1960, its slogan was “Australia for the White Man.” Also at this time in Australia it was illegal to be gay in Australia and Aboriginal people couldn't vote. It was a little yoo-hoo back then.