Some+Famous+Poets


 * F **** a **** m **** o **** u **** s **** P o e t s **

- Banjo Patterson
**William Shakespeare** William Shakespeare was born 26 April 1564 in England; died 23 April 1616. He was an English poet and play writer. He is often looked upon as the most famous poet in the world. His plays are performed more than any other play writer’s in the world. His poetry is often studied in many schools. Shakespeare was well regarded in his time but it was not until the Romantic period where he was regarded as a poetic genius.

This is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous poetic works - a **love sonnet**.
 * Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?**
 * Thou art more lovely and more temperate.**
 * Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,**
 * And summer's lease hath all too short a date.**
 * Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,**
 * And often is his gold complexion dimmed;**
 * And every fair from fair sometime declines,**
 * By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed.**
 * But thy eternal summer shall not fade**
 * Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;**
 * Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,**
 * When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,**
 * So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,**
 * So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.**

Robert Louis Stevenson was born 13th November in Edinburgh, Scotland. His first interest was in civil engineering but later decided to study law at the University of Edinburgh. He then decided his passion was for writing; his first publication was An Inland Voyage which was though of highly by numerous critics in 1878. He was a famous novelist, poet and essayist. His famous books included Kidnapped, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and the famous classic Treasure Island. He died in 1984 of a stroke at the age of 44 years old. This is one of hist most famous poems:

// __The Swing__ //

// How do you like to go up in a swing, //

// Up in the air so blue? //

// Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing //

// Ever a child can do! //

// Up in the air and over the wall, //

// Till I can see so wide, //

// River and trees and cattle and all //

// Over the countryside-- //

// Till I look down on the garden green, //

// Down on the roof so brown-- //

// Up in the air I go flying again, //

// Up in the air and down! //



**__Banjo Paterson __** //Andrew Barton "Banjo' Paterson (1864-1941). Poet, ballad writer, journalist and horseman // Andrew Barton ‘Banjo’ Paterson was born on the 17th of February 1864 in at Narrambla, near Orange. Banjo’s early education took place at the bush school of Binalong. He then attended the Sydney Grammar School at the age of 10. Paterson was sent to the Sydney firm of solicitors when he was 16 years old. At 31 in 1895 Andrew Paterson achieved two writing milestones. Banjo wrote his first book ‘The Man from Snowy River’ and also composed the now famous ballad ‘Waltzing Matilda’. After many years off success Andrew Barton ‘Banjo’ Paterson retired in 1930 and died on the 5th of February 1941. '

**__The Man from Snowy River by A.B Paterson __** There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around That the colt from old Regret had got away, And had joined the wild bush horses - he was worth a thousand pound, So all the cracks had gathered to the fray. All the tried and noted riders from the stations near and far Had mustered at the homestead overnight, For the bushmen love hard riding where the wild bush horses are, And the stockhorse snuffs the battle with delight.

There was Harrison, who made his pile when Pardon won the cup, The old man with his hair as white as snow; But few could ride beside him when his blood was fairly up -He would go wherever horse and man could go. And Clancy of the Overflow came down to lend a hand, No better horseman ever held the reins; For never horse could throw him while the saddle girths would stand, He learnt to ride while droving on the plains.

And one was there, a stripling on a small and weedy beast, He was something like a racehorse undersized, With a touch of Timor pony - three parts thoroughbred at least -And such as are by mountain horsemen prized. He was hard and tough and wiry - just the sort that won't say die -There was courage in his quick impatient tread; And he bore the badge of gameness in his bright and fiery eye, And the proud and lofty carriage of his head.

But still so slight and weedy, one would doubt his power to stay, And the old man said, "That horse will never do For a long a tiring gallop - lad, you'd better stop away, Those hills are far too rough for such as you."So he waited sad and wistful - only Clancy stood his friend -"I think we ought to let him come," he said;"I warrant he'll be with us when he's wanted at the end, For both his horse and he are mountain bred.

"He hails from Snowy River, up by Kosciusko's side, Where the hills are twice as steep and twice as rough, Where a horse's hoofs strike firelight from the flint stones every stride, The man that holds his own is good enough. And the Snowy River riders on the mountains make their home, Where the river runs those giant hills between; I have seen full many horsemen since I first commenced to roam, But nowhere yet such horsemen have I seen."

So he went - they found the horses by the big mimosa clump -They raced away towards the mountain's brow, And the old man gave his orders, "Boys, go at them from the jump, No use to try for fancy riding now. And, Clancy, you must wheel them, try and wheel them to the right. Ride boldly, lad, and never fear the spills, For never yet was rider that could keep the mob in sight, If once they gain the shelter of those hills."

So Clancy rode to wheel them - he was racing on the wing Where the best and boldest riders take their place, And he raced his stockhorse past them, and he made the ranges ring With the stockwhip, as he met them face to face. Then they halted for a moment, while he swung the dreaded lash, But they saw their well-loved mountain full in view, And they charged beneath the stockwhip with a sharp and sudden dash, And off into the mountain scrub they flew.

Then fast the horsemen followed, where the gorges deep and black Resounded to the thunder of their tread, And the stockwhips woke the echoes, and they fiercely answered back From cliffs and crags that beetled overhead. And upward, ever upward, the wild horses held their way, Where mountain ash and kurrajong grew wide; And the old man muttered fiercely, "We may bid the mob good day, No man can hold them down the other side."

When they reached the mountain's summit, even Clancy took a pull, It well might make the boldest hold their breath, The wild hop scrub grew thickly, and the hidden ground was full Of wombat holes, and any slip was death. But the man from Snowy River let the pony have his head, And he swung his stockwhip round and gave a cheer, And he raced him down the mountain like a torrent down its bed, While the others stood and watched in very fear.

He sent the flint stones flying, but the pony kept his feet, He cleared the fallen timber in his stride, And the man from Snowy River never shifted in his seat - It was grand to see that mountain horseman ride. Through the stringy barks and saplings, on the rough and broken ground, Down the hillside at a racing pace he went; And he never drew the bridle till he landed safe and sound, At the bottom of that terrible descent.

He was right among the horses as they climbed the further hill, And the watchers on the mountain standing mute, Saw him ply the stockwhip fiercely, he was right among them still, As he raced across the clearing in pursuit. Then they lost him for a moment, where two mountain gullies met In the ranges, but a final glimpse reveals On a dim and distant hillside the wild horses racing yet, With the man from Snowy River at their heels.

And he ran them single-handed till their sides were white with foam. He followed like a bloodhound on their track, Till they halted cowed and beaten, then he turned their heads for home, And alone and unassisted brought them back. But his hardy mountain pony he could scarcely raise a trot, He was blood from hip to shoulder from the spur; But his pluck was still undaunted, and his courage fiery hot, For never yet was mountain horse a cur.

And down by Kosciusko, where the pine-clad ridges raise Their torn and rugged battlements on high, Where the air is clear as crystal, and the white stars fairly blaze At midnight in the cold and frosty sky, And where around The Overflow the reed beds sweep and sway To the breezes, and the rolling plains are wide, The man from Snowy River is a household word today, And the stockmen tell the story of his ride.
 * //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">First published in The Bulletin, 26 April 1890. //**