Banjo’s Director’s Cut (The Man from ironbark)
“For the drover’s life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know” – A.B Paterson. It’s almost been 75 years since A.B or Banjo Patterson died, yet his work is still recognised as some of the greatest of all time, not only in Australian bush poetry, but in the whole of Australian literature. One of his most famous pieces is The Man from Ironbark. This poem is about a bush man from Ironbark who receives a haircut from a Sydney barber. While exaggerated, the basis of this poem would be relatable to bush men and women who struggle with the adjustment of life in the city.
The invited reading of this poem is that it is about a country man who goes to the barber shop where he meets a witty barber. Like many of Patterson’s poems, this one compares how the country folk and city folk react back in the early 1890’s, Sydney. In the poem the barber plays a trick on the man by shaving his neck so the man thought it was cut. Since the man was new to the area he acted destructively not understanding the joke. The overall message of this poem is to know your audience - which is shown by the barber playing a joke on the bushman, not realising he would take it so seriously. “‘Twas all in fun – Twas just a little harmless joke, a trifle overdone.’ ‘A joke!’ He cried. ‘By George that’s fine; a lively sort of lark; I’d like …show more content…
The fifth stanza contains an example of metaphor, “You blessed murderous shark!”. This line compares the barber – a man – to relentless, killing animal. Symbolism is used throughout the poem, for example “I s’pose the flats is pretty green up there in Ironbark,” (stanza three). This has two meanings: 1. the land is quite green and floral and 2. that the people there are quite foolish and unaware of the world. Overall the use of visual imagery allows readers to be fully immersed in the action and understand the both character’s
“For the drover’s life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know” – A.B Paterson. It’s almost been 75 years since A.B or Banjo Patterson died, yet his work is still recognised as some of the greatest of all time, not only in Australian bush poetry, but in the whole of Australian literature. One of his most famous pieces is The Man from Ironbark. This poem is about a bush man from Ironbark who receives a haircut from a Sydney barber. While exaggerated, the basis of this poem would be relatable to bush men and women who struggle with the adjustment of life in the city.
The invited reading of this poem is that it is about a country man who goes to the barber shop where he meets a witty barber. Like many of Patterson’s poems, this one compares how the country folk and city folk react back in the early 1890’s, Sydney. In the poem the barber plays a trick on the man by shaving his neck so the man thought it was cut. Since the man was new to the area he acted destructively not understanding the joke. The overall message of this poem is to know your audience - which is shown by the barber playing a joke on the bushman, not realising he would take it so seriously. “‘Twas all in fun – Twas just a little harmless joke, a trifle overdone.’ ‘A joke!’ He cried. ‘By George that’s fine; a lively sort of lark; I’d like …show more content…
The fifth stanza contains an example of metaphor, “You blessed murderous shark!”. This line compares the barber – a man – to relentless, killing animal. Symbolism is used throughout the poem, for example “I s’pose the flats is pretty green up there in Ironbark,” (stanza three). This has two meanings: 1. the land is quite green and floral and 2. that the people there are quite foolish and unaware of the world. Overall the use of visual imagery allows readers to be fully immersed in the action and understand the both character’s