The Great Australian Adjective

William Thomas Goodge 1862 – 1909



The sunburnt ---- stockman stood
And, in a dismal ---- mood,
  Apostrophized his ---- cuddy;
"The ---- nag's no ---- good,
He couldn't earn his ---- food -
  A regular ---- brumby,
                    ----!"

He jumped across the ---- horse
And cantered off, of ---- course!
  The roads were bad and ---- muddy;
Said he, "Well, spare me ---- days
The ---- Government's ---- ways
  Are screamin' ---- funny,
                    ----!"

He rode up hill, down ---- dale,
The wind it blew a ---- gale,
  The creek was high and ---- floody.
Said he, "The ---- horse must swim,
The same for ---- me and him,
  Is something ---- sickenin',
                    ----!"

He plunged into the ---- creek,
The ---- horse was ---- weak,
  The stockman's face a ---- study!
And though the ---- horse was drowned
The ---- rider reached the ground
  Ejaculating, "----!"
                    "----!"

This poem was originally published under the title "----!" (The Great Australian Adjective).
C.J. Dennis borrowed the style for his poem 'The Australaise.'

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 15, 2023

51 sec read
59

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCABD EECFFC GGADDX HHCIIH XE
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,013
Words 176
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7, 7, 2

William Thomas Goodge

William Thomas Goodge (28 September 1862 – 28 November 1909) was an English writer and journalist, who arrived in Australia in 1882, after jumping ship in Sydney. He worked in various jobs in New South Wales, including as a coal-miner, until he was engaged to write for "The Tribune" in North Sydney, a small weekly associated with the "Daily Telegraph". From there he was chosen by Harry Newman (Member of Parliament and newspaper proprietor) to edit "The Leader" newspaper in Orange, NSW. Goodge remained in Orange, becoming part-owner of "The Leader" at some point, until in the early 1900s he returned to Sydney and began writing for that city's newspapers, especially "The Sunday Times". Goodge was first married on 21 January 1892. His wife died 3 January 1895 of typhoid, leaving behind two children. Sometime later he remarried and had another child. Goodge died on 28 November 1909 in North Sydney. During his writing career, Goodge wrote mainly light-verse poems and short stories. Although he did have one novel, The Fortunes of Fenchurch, serialised in the pages of The Sunday Times, the book was never published separately. His best known works were "The Great Australian Adjective", and "The Oozlum Bird". Norman Lindsay, who illustrated the reprint volume of Goodge's only poetry collection, considered the poet better than C. J. Dennis. "Goodge, with his Hits! Skits! and Jingles!, is a much better light-verse writer than Dennis, and his book should be reprinted."  more…

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