Last Week
Last Week - meaning Summary
Everything Happened Last Week
Paterson’s comic ballad follows a new-comer to the Australian bush who repeatedly misses every good thing because he arrives too late. Each stanza relates an opportunity — hunting, sightseeing, transport, hospitality — undone by timing, while locals repeat that the event occurred "last week." The poem sketches rural life with ironic understatement, turning bad luck into genial storytelling about timing, local knowledge and bush camaraderie.
Read Complete AnalysesOh, the new-chum went to the backblock run, But he should have gone there last week. He tramped ten miles with a loaded gun, But of turkey of duck saw never a one, For he should have been there last week, They said, There were flocks of 'em there last week. He wended his way to a waterfall, And he should have gone there last week. He carried a camera, legs and all, But the day was hot and the stream was small, For he should have gone there last week, They said, They drowned a man there last week. He went for a drive, and he made a start, Which should have been made last week, For the old horse died of a broken heart; So he footed it home and he dragged the cart -- But the horse was all right last week, They said, He trotted a match last week. So he asked all the bushies who came from afar To visit the town last week If the'd dine with him, and they said "Hurrah!" But there wasn't a drop in the whisky jar -- You should have been here last week, He said, I drank it all up last week!
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