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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE FALLEN TREE HOTEL, by WILL CARTER Poet's Biography First Line: On the lonesome line of traffic Last Line: Of the fallen tree hotel. Alternate Author Name(s): Prooshan, The Subject(s): Bars & Bartenders; Drovers; Pubs; Taverns; Saloons | |||
ON the lonesome line of traffic Where the Tumbarumba track Forks for Bargo, and for Taradale as well, Where the wallabies and wombats And the kangaroos have combats, I once beheld the "Fallen Tree Hotel". The owners of the hostel Were two coachmen of the line, Jack Galvin, and another known as "Ned", Who bravely ploughed the highways And the lonesome tracks and by-ways With lots of falling timber overhead. Now the pub was never licensed, There were boarders never one, No billiards and no tap-room, and for bar There was just the muddy highway, And the lamps hung in the skyway, The ever-changing moon or gleaming star. Once a mighty tree had fallen, Was it gum? I cannot tell, But 'twas partly burnt and hollow at the end, And into this a frisky Little bottle of good whisky Was hidden well from sight, you may depend. And twice a week 'twas empty, And twice a week 'twas full, Both Jack and Ned maintained the measure well, And nightly drank and boasted To the wallabies, and toasted Each other at the Fallen Tree Hotel. But alas, some drovers voted For "reduction" and the tree The Fallen Tree Hotel was soon in flames; But the language isn't printed That could register unstinted The record of those adjectival names That the drivers called the drovers, That the drovers called their luck, That burnt a flask of whisky! But there fell A cloud of glooma sadness, And a momentary madness Round the embers and the ashes Of the Fallen Tree Hotel. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HOUSE OF SILENCE by PHILIP LEVINE SPRING STREET BAR by MEI-MEI BERSSENBRUGGE DISCOVERING THE PHOTOGRAPH OF LLOYD, EARL, AND PRISCILLA by LYNN EMANUEL THE NIGHT MAN AT THE BLUE LITE by LYNN EMANUEL DRAFT OF THE SMOKY LIFE by FORREST GANDER ANY NEWS FROM ALPHA CENTAURI by ANSELM HOLLO CONTRA MORTEM: THE ECSTASY by HAYDEN CARRUTH |
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