English Poetry. Andrew Barton Paterson. Been There Before. Эндрю Бартон Патерсон.

Andrew Barton Paterson (Эндрю Бартон Патерсон)

Been There Before

There came a stranger to Walgett town, 
To Walgett town when the sun was low, 
And he carried a thirst that was worth a crown, 
Yet how to quench it he did not know; 
But he thought he might take those yokels down, 
The guileless yokels of Walgett town. 
They made him a bet in a private bar, 
In a private bar when the talk was high, 
And they bet him some pounds no matter how far 
He could pelt a stone, yet he could not shy 
A stone right over the river so brown, 
The Darling River at Walgett town. 

He knew that the river from bank to bank 
Was fifty yards, and he smiled a smile 
As he trundled down; but his hopes they sank, 
For there wasn’t a stone within fifty mile; 
For the saltbush plain and the open down 
Produce no quarries in Walgett town. 

The yokels laughed at his hopes o’erthrown, 
And he stood awhile like a man in a dream; 
Then out of his pocket he fetched a stone, 
And pelted it over the silent stream – 
He’d been there before; he had wandered down 
On a previous visit to Walgett town.

Andrew Barton Paterson’s other poems:

1. In the Stable
2. How The Favourite Beat Us
3. The Rule of the A.J.C.
4. The Road to Hogan’s Gap
5. On the Trek

949

To the dedicated English version of this website

---