Henry Lawson

Jack Cornstalk

Jack Cornstalk - meaning Summary

Outback Identity and Loyalty

The poem sketches a condensed portrait of Jack Cornstalk, a rugged Australian drover whose life balances daydreaming, carelessness, and steely endurance. It contrasts his lone, wide-camp isolation and the loss or abandonment of a love with a stubborn, masculine public identity. The closing lines claim patriotic priority—country over personal ties—framing Jack as both an individual wanderer and a symbol of national loyalty.

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Jack Cornstalk as a drover born, Jack Cornstalk gaunt and tan, Jack Cornstalk leaves his love forlorn, Jack Cornstalk man to man. Jack Cornstalk as a careless scamp, With day-dreams in his head; Jack Cornstalk on his lone, wide camp, Jack Cornstalk with his dead, Jack Cornstalk at his best and worst. The day dawns on his brow, Jack Cornstalk’s country must be first – Advance Australia now!

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