Two Men and a Maid

William Thomas Goodge 1862 – 1909



Two little dudes from the George-street block,
  Up for a brief vacation!
One little girl in a neat print frock,
  Maid of the Mulga Station!
Two little dudes with walking-sticks,
Two little heads that the collars fix!
Two little hats at nine-and-six,
  Two little dudes on a station.

One little maid with a bashful smile,
  Given for a salutation;
Two little dudes of the nan-nan style,
  Bent on a captivation.
One little maid with a smile so true,
Curly hair of a nut-brown hue;
Eyes of a liquid violet blue,
  One little maid on a station.

“Didn’t she fear her walks to take
  Over the grassy clearing?”
“Didn’t she fear some nasty snake
  His ugly head a-rearing?”
“Sirs,” she said, with an arching brow,
And a smile that was hardly a smile somehow,
“There are so many jackasses ‘round here now,
  That the snakes are disappearing!”

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

45 sec read
44

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCCCB DBDBEEEB FGFGHHHG
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 844
Words 152
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8

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…

All William Thomas Goodge poems | William Thomas Goodge Books

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