Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BARCOO JIM'S BATH, by C. H. WINTER


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BARCOO JIM'S BATH, by                    
First Line: The water was scarce on the dead horse run one year when the land was bare
Last Line: That the brownest man on the dead horse run is that very same barcoo jim.
Alternate Author Name(s): Riverina
Subject(s): Baths & Bathing; Dirt; Disappointment


THE water was scarce on the Dead Horse run one year when the land was bare,
There was little enough to drink, and a wash was out of the question there;
So the men grew dustier every hour and duskier day by day;
And some got sick of the life and went to different parts away.

And Barcoo Jim grew tired of the drought and mused on the life in town:
He longed for the men of the faces white—he tired of his comrades brown.
"I'd be white an' clean as the best of them," said he, "if I had a bath!"
So he drew his cheque and rolled his swag and went on the city path.

He passed through the land where the tanks were dry; he passed through the
lonely scrub;
He took the track o'er the drifting plains, nor stopped at each wayside pub;
And at last to the city he came one day, and there at the best hotel
They fancied he was an Indian or a dark Egyptian swell.

For Barcoo James was dark and brown with the dust of the Dead Horse path,
And he didn't want any public wash in a public Turkish bath.
So he filled a tub in a secret way and he splashed for an hour that night,
And the water kept thickening all the time that Jimmy was turning white;
Till at last, alarmed at the awful change, the bushman essayed to shift
But he found himself bogged in dark brown mud, and in vain was his strongest
lift.

Some three hours later they found him there, and got him out with a pull.
He informed them then, in a violent strain, that he of the place was full.
This washing was only a parson's game, he said, with a mighty curse;
Just fit for a place where the men are soft and each one requires a nurse.

And so he took his swag again; and one night at set of sun
A dark brown man appeared on the ridge that stands by the Dead Horse run.
And over that land the legend hangs like a spectre unwashed and grim
That the brownest man on the Dead Horse run is that very same Barcoo Jim.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net