Poetic Techniques In Banjo Patterson's Waltzing Matilda

Banjo Patterson was born in 1964 in New South Wales. He was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. Most of his ballads focused on the Australian way of life in the outback. He has produced many well-known ballads such as “The Man from Snowy River “and “Clancy of the Overflow” also his infamous ballad “Waltzing Matilda”. “Waltzing Matilda” was originally created in 1895 and the title is Australian slang for ‘going walkabout with your swag’.
The ballad narrates the story of a lonely, wondering worker or swagman preparing a drink of billy tea at a bush camp in outback Australia. Swagman were common throughout the Depression years (1890’s) as they travelled from town to town trying to find work to survive. The Swagman wonders out loud “Who’ll come a waltzing with me?” which indicates his lonely existence of life on the road. When he’s confronted with a stray jumbuck (sheep) he sees this as food to take on his travels. He then grabs the jumbuck and throws it into his tucker bag, pleased that he has caught himself some food to survive. The swagman was …show more content…
The poet uses poetic techniques such as structure, language and sounds. The poem uses Australian language to paint the picture of Australian way of life. For example, “swagman”, “billabong” and “jumbuck” are all descriptive words known to Australians. We can relate to these types of words and makes the reader feel more involved with the story. Banjo Patterson used many sound techniques in the poem “Waltzing Matilda” such as rhythm and repetition. The poet has tried to connect with the audience in “Waltzing Matilda” with rhythm because it makes the readers engage with the text and actually understand the story. Rhythm encourages the reader to get involved with the poem more then they usually would if it was normally read, for example - "You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me." This shows that the poem can have a rhythmic sound and also be sung as a