The Old Black Billy and Me

The sheep are yarded, an’ I sit

Beside the fire an’ poke at it.

Far from the booze, an’ clash o’ men,

Glad, I’m glad I’m back again

On the station, wi’ me traps

An’ fencin’ wire and tanks and taps.

Back to salt-bush plains, an’ flocks,

An’ old bark hut be th’ apple-box.

I turn the slipjack, make the tea,

All’s as still as still can be –

An’ the old black billy winks at me.

Source:

Murdoch, W. (1924). A Book of Australian Verse. England: Oxford University Press.

This poem by Esson conveys the isolation that is often coupled with life in the Australian bush. The way that the old farmer in the poem personifies the billy to “wink” at him shows his longing for a companion and furthermore suggests that there is a secret shared between the two. The author of this poem uses Australian colloquialisms “booze, an’ clash o’ men” to convey the poem as distinctly Australian ad also conveys the farm and bush as simpler than the distant city as it is shown in the simile “as still as still can be”. the use of structured rhyming couplets allows rhythm and predictability which mirrors the simple and predictable life on the farm reflected therein.