Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BEEN THERE BEFORE, by ANDREW BARTON PATERSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BEEN THERE BEFORE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There came a stranger to walgett town
Last Line: On a previous visit to walgett town.
Alternate Author Name(s): Paterson, 'banjo'
Subject(s): Hope; Rivers; Strangers; Optimism


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 he 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.





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