“You see, I understand them and their lives, and they know it.” — Banjo Paterson | V2Melody

“You see, I understand them and their lives, and they know it.”

Explaining the bond between his writing and the people of the Australian bush · Interview with Bernard Espinasse, Table Talk, 31 January 1896

Poetry
Truth

About Banjo Paterson

Banjo Paterson

17 February 1864–5 February 1941

Andrew Barton Paterson, known to generations of readers as “Banjo” Paterson, was born on 17 February 1864 at Narrambla station, near Orange in New South Wales. He died in Sydney on 5 February 1941, twelve days short of his seventy-seventh birthday. Between those dates he became one of the most familiar literary voices…

More by Banjo Paterson

Poems by Banjo Paterson

More remarks by Banjo Paterson

“This appeals to me very much, the only trouble being to write the stuff well enough.”

Revealing the modest self-doubt that accompanied his enthusiasm for a new project · Letter to Major W. T. Conder, 12 December 1934

Art
Truth

“You can't write about a thing unless you know it thoroughly, or at least, you shouldn't.”

Affirming that credible writing must be grounded in genuine knowledge · Interview with Bernard Espinasse, Table Talk, 31 January 1896

“In private life he was just a hard-working commonsense, level-headed man, without any redeeming vices, less of a quack, less of a showman, and less of a time-server than any public man I ever met.”

Praising Kipling's disciplined character while gently mocking conventional celebrity · Published reminiscence of Rudyard Kipling