The Two Samaritans and the Tramp

Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)



A TRAMP was trampin’ on the road—
The afternoon was warm an’ muggy—
And by-and-by he chanced to meet
A parsin ridin’ in a buggy.
Said he: “As follerers ov the Loard,
To do good offices we oughter!”
An’ from a water-bag he poured,
An’ guv the tramp, a drink er water.

The parsin he went rattlin’ ’ome
To ware his fam-i-lee was thrivin’,
The tramp went on until he met
A bullick-driver, bullick drivin’—
“It’s bilin’ ’ot,” the driver sed
As soon’s the dirty tramp drawed nearer,
And from a little keg he poured,
And giv the tramp a pint of beer—“ah!”

(P.S.—The “ah” is meant to stand for the tramp a-drinking ov it.)

I ain’t agin the temperance cause,
Nor yet no advocate ov drinkin’—
I only tells the yarn because—
Well, at the time it somehow seemed
Ter kind ov set me thinkin’.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

46 sec read
111

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABXBACDC XEXEACDX X XEXXE
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 827
Words 154
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 1, 5

Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson 17 June 1867 - 2 September 1922 was an Australian writer and poet Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period more…

All Henry Lawson poems | Henry Lawson Books

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