By Staff Writers
First published in The Age on September 4, 1922
A POET OF THE BUSH
DEATH OF HENRY LAWSON
COMMONWEALTH FUNERAL ARRANGED
Crowds line George Street, Sydney, following the state funeral of Henry Lawson.Credit: Sydney Mail
SYDNEY - The death occurred on Saturday morning, in a little cottage at Abbotsford, of Henry Lawson, the Australian poet, who was born in a tent on the Grenfell goldfields on 17th June, 1867.
The late Mr. Lawson had been in very indifferent health for some time. On Thursday he visited Sydney, and on Friday informed his housekeeper, an elderly woman named Mrs. Byers, that he was about to undertake a considerable amount of writing. He then had tea, and afterwards was seen conversing with a neighbour at the front gate of the cottage. A few seconds later he had a seizure, and was carried to his bedroom and attended to by a Mrs. Wheatland and Mrs. Byers. His last words uttered were, “What about that curtain rod?” referring to an article in the room. He passed a very bad night, being apparently semi-conscious, and died on Saturday morning.
Arrangements have been made for the funeral to take place in Sydney on Monday at 2.15 p.m. It has been decided to have a Commonwealth funeral, and it is hoped the Prime Minister will be able to attend.
Lawson’s remains will be interred in Waverley Cemetery in a grave which is now unoccupied, but which at one time contained those of Henry Kendall, another poet, whose body was removed to higher ground, where a monument was erected over it. This site is the only one available in the cemetery.
For many years Henry Lawson has been regarded as Australia’s national poet. He had some claim to the title. An Australian born, he was brought up in what was then the back country.
Henry Lawson
At seventeen, he drifted to the city, and became a coach painter. At twenty, he was writing verse and receiving the judicious encouragement of the late Mr. J. F. Archibald. Thereafter he travelled in the various States and New Zealand, often with his swag up. He knew and understood the “underdog,” and his writings show how close he was to the hearts of the common people. “The Star of Australasia” is almost prophetic in its application to Australia’s part in the great war. Much of his verse is rugged, but it is none the worse for lacking the smooth polish of technical correctness. Lawson always went right to the heart of his subject, and no man could sing of the outback people and do justice to them in faultless metro and polished language.
Lawson’s first book was a mixture of prose and verse, published in 1894. His best known volume of verse, “In the Days When the World was Wide,” followed, and then came a number of publications of both verse and prose. Some of his prose work is very striking. Here again he goes to the hearts of the people, and in a few casual sentences invests the most commonplace event with absorbing interest. “Joe Wilson’s Courtship”, “Brighten’s Sister-in-Law,” “Water Them Geraniums”, “The Double Buggy at Lahey’s Creek” and other sketches are full of the tragi-comedy of the lives of simple people.
Lawson tried his luck in London in 1900, and returned in 1903. Although he was compared by the critics with de Maupassant and Bret Harte, he was appreciated most in his own country. Although inclined to deal with the sadder side of life, he was a great humorist. The “Loaded Dog” may be classed among the funniest stories ever written.
Prime Minister’s Tribute
“ Australia’s Greatest Minstrel”
The Prime Minister on Sunday stated that towards the close of a busy day he had heard of the death of Henry Lawson, the poet whose genius all acknowledged, and who was the most typical of all Australian poets. He had gone, but his memory was enshrined in their hearts.
Mr Hughes said it was his privilege to know Lawson, and to range himself with that great host of Australians who admired and loved him. His death left a gap that would not soon be filled. He knew intimately the real Australia, and was its greatest minstrel.